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What Is Quality Management?

Whitney Leigh White
Whitney Leigh White

Quality management, also known as quality control, is a system used by all types of businesses all around the world. This type of management system can help any type of business provide consumers with the best product and/or service possible by coordinating its activities, which leads to an increase in its effectiveness and efficiency. There are many different types of quality management systems utilized by businesses. Through these types of systems, a business can monitor and measure the quality of its products and/or services being offered to consumers. An effective quality management system helps a business to increase its competitive edge, augment its organizational development, highlight its customer satisfaction, and more.

Through quality management, a business finds that it is able to gain a competitive edge because it can better understand all of its operational processes. Understanding operational processes enables a business to improve them, which, in turn, allows for innovation and enhancing of the quality of its products and/or services being offered to consumers. Some of the most commonly utilized quality control process improvement tools are process mapping, brainstorming, scatter diagrams, control charts, and force field analyses. These tools help an organization's employees to stay creative and productive, which increases a business’ competitive edge. It is important for a business to carefully choose what quality management tools it uses, as different types of businesses will use different types of systems.

Brainstorming is a common process improvement tool.
Brainstorming is a common process improvement tool.

Organizational development is improved for businesses that utilize a quality control system. This increase in development stems from all organizational employees staying aware of their organization’s product and/or service quality. The more focused and educated an organization’s employees stay about quality, the higher quality the organization’s products and/or services will be. Quality management systems also lead to quality planning, which leads to an improvement in employee communication skills, a broadening of employee skills and knowledge, as well as an increase in organizational flexibility. These systems also improve an organization’s internal customer/supplier relationships.

Also known as quality control, quality management is deployed in manufacturing and service companies to maintain high standards.
Also known as quality control, quality management is deployed in manufacturing and service companies to maintain high standards.

One of the most valued aspects of utilizing a quality management system is that it leads to an increase in customer satisfaction. This type of system increases a business’ ability to reduce the waiting time of its consumers, improve its delivery and shipping methods, as well as increase its customer loyalty. The higher the rate of customer loyalty a business has, the higher its profit levels will be. A quality control system is able to analyze the experiences of existing and past customers to meet existing and potential customers’ expectations. Meeting customers’ expectations is the key element in providing superb customer satisfaction.

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Discussion Comments

Melonlity

When it comes to quality management and customer satisfaction, a lot of businesses seem to have adopted a depressing tactic -- if something breaks, fix it. Let's say, for example, you've got a smartphone. If a bad model got through quality control, the attitude of the company that made it seems far to often to be -- "OK, we'll just replace. No harm, no foul, right?"

If that item is critical to your daily or business life, however, it is a big deal to have something replaced that shouldn't have been released in the first place.

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    • Brainstorming is a common process improvement tool.
      By: Monkey Business
      Brainstorming is a common process improvement tool.
    • Also known as quality control, quality management is deployed in manufacturing and service companies to maintain high standards.
      By: Lisa F. Young
      Also known as quality control, quality management is deployed in manufacturing and service companies to maintain high standards.
    • Total quality management can be used to improve performance within a division or an entire organization.
      By: Lisa F. Young
      Total quality management can be used to improve performance within a division or an entire organization.