BASIC QUALITY

Quality
Basics
L earning is not compulsory ... neither is survival.
In this nugget of wisdom from his book Out of the Crisis, W. Edwards
Deming reminds us that every day we should be making efforts to expand
knowledge and develop expertise in our work and in our lives.
That learning truly begins when we have a solid understanding of the basics.
In the spirit of Demings belief in continuous improvement, we called on several
Quality Progress contributors to write on 10 basic quality topicsthe fundamentals
essential to surviving in a quality role.
We asked our hand-picked contributors to write on one particular subject in about 500
words: a lofty challenge for authors known for their thorough and exhaustive knowl-
edge and writings on these topics.
This collection of overviews is not meant to be comprehensive. Any one of our con-
tributors to this package could have written a book on the subjectand some actually
have. Rather, this overview is designed to give quality newcomers a taste of the knowl-
edge they need to survive and succeed. Perhaps it will also inspire more seasoned quali-
ty professionals to brush up on some of the essentials they havent thought about in a
while.
If a subject leaves you wanting more, reach for the resources and information. More
than likely theyre just a few clicks awayon a corner of ASQs website devoted to
books (www.asq.org/quality-press/index.html) or publications (www.asq.org/pub),
including past issues of Quality Progress.
And always remember what Deming encourages: Seek knowledge, challenge yourself
and keep learningevery day.

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 25

BASIC QUALITY
Principles and Methods
A truly integrated quality system is based on three
principles: customer focus, process improvement and
total involvement:
1. Customer focus encompasses both the external and
internal customers needs.
2. Process improvement is the lifeblood of an organiza-
tion wishing to sustain growth.
3. Total involvement is the vehicle through which the
organization completes the daily activities that
accomplish the first two principles.
Currently, practicing quality professionals deal with
interrelated sets of requirements that form quality man-
agement systems (QMSs). The two most frequently used
QMS models are the Baldrige National Quality Program
criteria and the eight quality management principles that
are the basis of the ISO 9000 family of QMS standards.
These models provide insight into the component parts
of a QMS and define quality as it is practiced today.
The Baldrige criteria, shown in Figure 1, are:
1. Leadership.
2. Strategic planning.
3. Customer and market focus.
Measurement
Measurement is the process of determining a quantita-
tive value of something. You can measure something
intangible, such as customer satisfaction, or something
tangible, such as a truck tires air pressure, a chemical
solutions conductivity or the thickness of the paper this
article is printed on. These are examples of the two broad
types of measurements made in business quality man-
agement systems (QMSs): process oriented and physical.
Process oriented measurements appear throughout a
quality or business management system. Some measures
in sections 2.3 and 2.4 of ISO 9000,1 and conditions of their
use fall under most of ISO 9001 section 8.2.2 Many process
oriented measurement tools and methods are part of the
fundamental elements of quality management, including:
statistical process control, process and control charts,
process capability, quality of service, some types of bench-
marking, the check step of the plan-do-check-act cycle,
financial measures, customer satisfaction surveys, prod-
uct returns and warranty costs.
Physical measurements are those in which inspection,
measuring and test equipment (IM&TE) is used to mea-
sure physical parameters. IM&TE is the province of
26 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org
4. Information and analysis.
5. HR focus.
6. Process management.
7. Business results.
The eight management system standards of the ISO
9000 2000 family of standards are:
1. Customer orientation: Organizations must focus on
understanding their customers needs and require-
ments, then try to anticipate and exceed the cus-
tomers expectations.
2. Leadership: Organizations need strong leaders to estab-
lish common goals and direction. Effective leaders
establish open environments in which all employees
can participate in meeting their organizations goals.
3. Involvement: People are the most important part of
any organization. Managers must ensure that em-
ployees at all levels of the organization can fully par-
ticipate and use all their skills to make the
organization successful.
4. Process management: The most successful organiza-
tions understand they must manage all activities as
processes.
metrology, the science of measurement. For all of record-
ed history, an essential component of successful trade is
a system of measurement, which includes agreement
among people about the meaning of the units of mea-
surement. The Convention of the Metre treaty of 1875
made what is now the International System of Units (SI)
the agreed-upon standard for all international trade.3
Physical measurements are the subject of sections 7.5, 7.6
and 8.2.4 of ISO 9001.
There are several important considerations for physi-
cal measurements. To be meaningful, physical measure-
ments must be traceable to the SI. Traceability requires
calibrated IM&TE. Calibration verifies the ability of the
IM&TE to make the required measurements when used
correctly and documents the measurement uncertainty
relative to the SI value. Calibration is part of risk man-
agement. An effective calibration program will not elim-
inate all risk, but it will reduce the risk to a known and
manageable level.
Physical measurements should be managed to ensure
the correct measurements are being made and that the
IM&TE used are capable of making the measurement
 5. System management: In addition to the manage- FIGURE 1 Principles of an Integrated
ment of individual processes, successful organiza- Quality System
tions understand that their many individual
processes are interrelated and must be managed Objective Integrated quality system
within an overall system.
6. Continual improvement: Continual improvement is
the key to long-term success and high performance.
Successful managers recognize that processes must
Customer Process Total
be reviewed and improved continually to ensure Principles
focus improvement involvement
their organization stays competitive.
7. Fact based decisions: Organizations that base their
decisions on factual data are more likely to make Leadership Customer and
the correct decision. Strategic planning market focus
8. Close supplier relationships: Organizations that Elements
Information and analysis HR focus
partner and work closely with their suppliers Process management Business results
ensure that both the organization and the supplier
are better able to succeed.
There is no one right way to integrate quality princi- strategic, tactical and operational levels using the Juran
ples into a working environment. W. Edwards Deming Trilogy: quality planning, quality control and quality
espoused the data approach. He recommended we start improvement.
with statistical analysis of operations and draw conclu- Either approach to integrating the quality principles is
sions from the data by using his plan-do-study-act cycle. effective. Senior leadership should choose the approach
Joseph Juran chose the opposite approach: beginning that most closely aligns with its organizational and cus-
with the corporate vision, then drilling down through tomer requirements.
Grace L. Duffy

accurately. ISO 10012:2003 gives guidance for managing
a measurement system.4
Organizations that calibrate IM&TE can be accredited
to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025: 2005.5 Accredit-
ation verifies that the calibration laboratory has a QMS
based on ISO 9001 and also verifies the lab is competent
to make the calibration related measurements listed on
its scope of accreditation document.
Competency is assessed through an accreditation audit
and by the results of the labs mandatory participation in
regular proficiency tests. Accreditation bodies that meet
the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011:2004 perform the
audits.6 The accreditation bodies are assessed when they
apply for membership in an international cooperating
laboratory accreditation system such as the International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation or Asia Pacific
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.
Why is that important? If your calibration suppliers
accreditation body is not a member of an international
cooperation, then you will have a much harder time get-
ting your products accepted in other countriesand in
some cases by your own country or statewhich will
cost you time and money if you want to expand your
markets. A large (but not complete) list of international
cooperations and worldwide accreditation bodies is
available at www.fasor.com/iso25.
Correctly applied measurement, wherever and how-
ever it occurs, is an essential element of a successful
business QMS.
REFERENCES AND NOTE
1. ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9000-2000 Quality management systems
Fundamentals and vocabulary.
2. ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9001:2000 Quality management systems
Requirements.
3. International Vocabulary of Basic and General Terms in Metrology,
ISO, 1993. Commonly called the VIM.
4. ISO 10012:2003 Measurement management systems
Requirements for measurement processes and measuring equipment.
5. ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General requirements for the competence of
testing and calibration laboratories.
6. ISO/IEC 17011:2004 Conformity assessmentGeneral require-
ments for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodiies.
Graeme C. Payne

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 27

BASIC QUALITY
Tools
Tools are organizational or analytical techniques that
assist in understanding a problem. Quality tools are
applied to solving problems to improve quality in ser-
vice organizations and manufacturing plants.
There are basic quality tools that have been popular
for several decades and new tools, too, that have come
to the forefront in the last 15 to 20 years.
Basic quality tools are primarily numerically oriented.
Table 1 includes eight basic quality tools and their purpos-
es. Table 2 lists some of the new quality tools, which are
capable of completely analyzing and understanding a
problem. The new quality tools are primarily non-numeric.
The eight basic tools can be used in sequence to
solve a problem. The problem first needs to be under-
stood; flow charts, check sheets and histograms are
useful for acquiring and displaying basic data. If mul-
tiple sources of variation in the process need to be
investigated, then stratification is useful.
For example, a part might be produced from a sequence
of milling operations on different machines. The quality
practitioner might need to investigate if any one machine
is producing more variation in a dimension than another
machine. Examining the variation of the parts is not suffi-
cient. Control charts are needed to determine whether the
process is in statistical control.
Before making adjustments to a process, the quality
Statistics
A fundamental concept of statistics probably predates
Platos Republic and his allegory of the cave, which
describes people as being separated from the real world
and perceiving only vague shadows of its reality.
St. Paul said it more succinctly: We see through a
glass, darkly.
But the more modern, easy-to-understand American
colloquialism is: All numbers have some fuzz around
them!
Walter Shewhart, one of qualitys greatest pioneers
and a man to whom many of us owe a good part of our
careers, recognized this principle and concluded that
every observation we take from a process of any kind
has both a deterministic and a random component. Our
28 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org
practitioner must know whether the process is in control.
A control chart will reveal various hints about the prob-
lem (for example, trends in the data or correlation of out-
of-control conditions with external factors). If there is the
potential of interrelated factors, then a scatter plot can be
used to test for correlations between sets of variables to
TABLE 1 Basic Quality Tools
Tool Purpose
Flow chart Visualizes a process
Check sheet Collects and analyzes data using a
structured, prepared form
Histogram Analyzes frequency of occurrence of items
Stratification Separates data gathered from a variety of
sources to discern patterns
Control chart Studies how a process changes over time
using a graph
Scatter plot Finds correlations among variables
Pareto diagram Prioritizes bar charts to determine the
order in which to attack problems
Ishikawa diagram Brainstorms about root causes of problems
(aka fishbone, cause
and effect diagram)
job, in making decisions on the basis of data, is to distin-
guish between the two components.
Symbolically,
Y = f(x) + ,
in which Y is what you get, f(x) is the total effect of all
controls exerted on the process, intentionally or uninten-
tionally, and is random variation.
Shewhart recognized that if we sample a process
repeatedlyas he did with the first published control
chart in 1924to learn, for example, its percentage
defective, the number we get will change from sample to
sample, even though the process doesnt change.
This phenomenon is the handiwork of the random vari-
 TABLE 2 New Quality Tools about which root cause should be examined first.
There are numerous sequential processes for using the
Tool Purpose new quality tools. An affinity diagram is good if the quali-
ty practitioner does not know what the problem is. The
Affinity diagram Organizes a large number of ideas into
natural relationships remaining new tools can be systematically applied to
move from an idea of the problem to a complete plan to
Relations diagram Determines cause-and-effect relationships
solve the problem.
Tree diagram Breaks down broad categories into finer First, a relations diagram can be used to discern
levels of detail
whether there are any interacting subproblems. This tool
Matrix diagram Organizes knowledge in a matrix format is useful because merely identifying the problem is usu-
to show the relationship among groups of ally not sufficient. The practitioner must also know of
information
any causally related problems. Next, a tree diagram can
Matrix data Analyzes matrices (often replaced in this be used to break down the goal into a set of specific
analysis method list by the similar prioritization matrix)
activities, which can be prioritized using the matrix
Process decision Identifies what might go wrong in a plan method. Once the priorities of activities are known, an
program chart under development arrow diagram can be created to analyze the timing of
the process and identify any potential bottlenecks.
Arrow diagram Shows the required order of tasks in a Using either basic or new quality tools is highly
project or process dependent on the problem to be solved. However, the
examples here should prove helpful when dealing with
many common problems.
find when the highest correlation occurs.
Once a problem has been characterized using these BIBLIOGRAPHY

tools, the next step is to look for solutions. An Ishikawa Tague, Nancy R., The Quality Toolbox, second edition, ASQ Quality
(fishbone) diagram works well for teams seeking the root Press, 2005.
causes of a problem. Once the root causes are identified, James J. Rooney
they can be put into a Pareto diagram to make a decision

Our job, in making

decisions on the basis

ation component of the model above. of data, is to means in light of the variation.
Further, you can reduce this random Confidence intervals estimate
variation (or uncertainty) by increas- distinguish between parameters in the shadows of
ing the sample size. Naturally, a reduc- uncertainty.
a deterministic and
tion of the uncertainty gives greater Regression analysis finds a line
clarity to the deterministic component, a random component. or curve going through ordered
f(x), of the model. Greater sample sizes help pairs of data with a built-in reality
us cut through the random variation to detect check based on random variation.
more effects or, as Shewhart called them, assignable The analysis of variance sorts real effects and
causes of variation. interactions from noise.
This principle is fundamental to all statistical decision Without this fundamental concept, statistical decision
making. Done properly: making would be impossible.
The t-test examines the difference between two
Lynne B. Hare

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 29

BASIC QUALITY

Standards
Many of us are familiar only with management system
standards (MSSs), such as ISO 90011 or ISO 14001.2 But
thousands of national, regional and international stan-
dards are commonly used around the world. Their basic
purpose is to facilitate trade.
According to ISO/IEC Guide 2: 2004, a standard is a
document, established by consensus and approved by a
recognized body, that provides, for common and repeat-
ed use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or
their results3
In other words, standards may establish the size, shape
or other characteristics of a product (for example, the
base dimensions of light bulbs or the requirements for
the composition of gasoline).
Standards can also specify guidance or requirements
for processes used to make or deliver products and for
measuring results (such as measurement of octane in
gasoline).
Other standards might give guidance on methods of
analysis and treatment of data related to production or
sampling of products.
While most standards are product related, MSSs are
quite different. They provide requirements or guidance
for the management system an organization uses to
attain particular types of results.
For example, ISO 9001 provides requirements for a
management system for an organization that needs to
demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product
that meets customer and applicable regulatory require-
ments, and aims to enhance customer satisfaction
through the effective application of the system, including
processes for continual improvement of the system and
the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable
regulatory requirements.4
ISO 9001 also requires organizations to determine and
review customer requirements. Product related standards
are often key inputs to this process. A suppliers conformi-
ty to ISO 9001 should provide customers some degree of
confidence that the supplier can consistently provide
product that meets customer and regulatory requirements.
In addition, an organization can obtain recognition of
conformity by having a third-party certification body

Vision and Strategy

Vision and strategy are relatively new additions to vision. In practice, sharing an organizational vision is
the quality toolbox. Modern strategy principles date invaluable in focusing a large, complex organization.
back to the work of Kenneth Andrews in 1971.1 Before There have been several schools of thought related to
Andrews, many organizations were committed to strategy since Andrews work in 1971; none have been
long-range planning. Today, most strategists agree the long lived, and none are completely responsive to orga-
world is changing too fast for long-range nizations needs in a rapidly changing world.
plans to remain relevant. The most notable approaches include the
You might recognize Andrews work Boston Consulting Groups2 market
as the SWOT matrix: strengths, weak- Having strategy share enlightenment, Michael
nesses, opportunities and threats. Porters3 five forces, and the
allows everyone in an
The principal notion of this first resource-based view of D.J. Collis
generation of strategy is optimiza- organization to benefit and C.A. Montgomery.4
tionknowing your strengths and Scenario planning is at the inter-
from understanding the
capitalizing on them. section of strategic planning and
This tension can be compared organizations intent. It the reality of uncertain times, where
to the stretching of a rubber band: an organization considers several
sets the organizations
The farther you stretch the band, the future worlds in preparation of its
more energy youve created for compass. strategy. Anticipation is clearly advan-
relieving the strain by moving the end tageous in times of change; those who
points togetherin the direction of the anticipate can respond with more certainty

30 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org

 Certification or registration

of management systems can

(registrar) conduct assessments provide confidence in the does not guarantee that products
and issue a certificate of registra- management system but meet applicable product related
tion for its quality management standards. Product certification
system. does not guarantee that has a different conformity assess-
Such certification bodies are products meet applicable ment process, under which accred-
often accredited by accreditation ited laboratories test products to
bodies to provide additional confi- product related ensure they meet applicable stan-
dence in their independence and consis- dards.
standards.
tency. This conformity assessment scheme is
REFERENCES
managed under International Organization for
Standardization standards. 1. ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9001-2000, Quality Manage-ment Systems
Many organizations that use ISO 9001 do not seek cer- Requirements, ASQ Quality Press, 2000.
tification. In some cases, they use the standard as a mech- 2. ANSI/ISO/ASQ 14001-2004, Environ-mental Management
anism to achieve conformity to regulatory requirements. SystemsSpecifications With Guidance for Use, ASQ Quality Press,
Others simply find it a convenient model from which to 2004.
develop and maintain a disciplined management system. 3. ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, Standardiz-ation and Related Activities
Because ISO 9001 is process based, many find it fits General Vocabulary, International Organization for Standardization,
well with other quality related activities such as Six 2004.
Sigma and lean. 4. ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9001, see reference 1.
Certification or registration of management systems
can provide confidence in the management system but John E. Jack West

and speed than others can.
Two constant forces at work in the evolution of strat-
egy are from simple to complex and from mechanistic
to organic. While there is still a place for traditional
methods of determining strategy, most organizations
are moving toward making strategyand discussions
about the futureongoing, open-ended dialogues.
Traditional strategy appears as a pyramid (vision,
objectives, strategies and tactics) and ignores the reali-
ty that objectives, strategies and tactics interact. This
ignores the complexity of interaction. Complexity is
better handled in a systems view of strategy. Modern
approaches to strategy use systems models to more
effectively consider the complexities of the world and
strategy.
Older approaches to strategy are time basedfor
instance, on an annual cycle. New approaches are event
based. When the world changes, strategy changes.
An organization can pick from a continuum of strate-
gic approaches to find one that fits its needs, resources
and environment. In all cases, the dialogue leading to
strategic decisions represents the investment in reach-
ing clarity and focus in the organization. Having strate-
gy allows everyone in an organization to benefit from
understanding the organizations intent. It sets the
organizations compass.
While vision represents the end state, strategy repre-
sents the starting point and the context in which all
other planning begins.
REFERENCES
1. Kenneth Andrews, The Concept of Corporate Strategy, The
McGraw-Hill School Education Group, 1971.
2. Boston Consulting Group, www.bcg.com.
3. Michael Porter, Competitive Strategy, new edition, Free Press,
2004.
4. D.J. Collis and C.A. Montgomery, Competing on Resources:
Strategy in the 1990s, Harvard Business Review, July-August, 1995,
pp. 118-128.
Paul E. Borawski

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 31

BASIC QUALITY

Process Improvement And Process

Among other things, the ISO 9001 standard requires
an organization to apply a process approach to three types
of actions: management, product/service realization and
support. The standard says an organization should identi-
fy and manage all the processes necessary for achieving its
objectives and define how these processes are interrelated.
Further, there should be a process owner appointed who
has a defined responsibility and authority to implement,
maintain and improve the processes and their interactions.
The fundamentals of managing processes are:
Identifying the primary processes of the organization.
Naming the owner(s) of each process.
Mapping the flow of each process.
Specifying the metrics used to control and measure
the outputs and effectiveness of each process.
Determining the impact of each process and its
interaction with each other process.
Assessing the effect each process has on the organi-
zations desired outcomes.
Having and implementing a plan for improving
processes in which strategic improvement is worth-
while.
Process mapping, a refined flowcharting method, is
most often used to identify the primary processes, the
flow within these processes and the interactions among
them. The metrics used to control and measure process
performance (variation and capability) are derived from
a supply, input, process, output and customer diagram
and analyzed using statistical process control. Day-to-
day output metrics are compared with targets, and
longer-term analysis is done using trending techniques.
Documentation of all processes, including those used
for measurement and analysis, should include: process
objectives, procedures and work instructions, quality
plans, measurement and audit results, improvements
initiated, and results and lessons learned from improve-
ment initiatives.
Quality is monitored using an in-process and outgoing
finished product or service inspection method. Customer
satisfaction is measured with statistics derived from prod-
uct or service failures and other indicators, such as sur-
veys. Internal auditing techniquesincluding auditing the
quality management system, products and services, and
suppliersfurnish data for both management of the

Economic Case for Quality

If someone offered to sell you a gasoline additive that The key is to know how to capture the three cate-
would improve your cars fuel economy and perfor- gories of quality related costs:
mance, would you buy it? 1. Prevention activities are those intended to ensure
Your decision would likely depend on the additives that processes work without fail through actions
cost, relative gains in economy and performance, such as failure mode and effects analy-
and other potential issues such as the impact sis, training and preventive main-
on engine lifethe total economic value tenance.
of the product. 2. Appraisal activities are those
The same is true of quality activities, used to see how well
whether its risk management, such as Being able to measure and processes such as product
implementing a formal quality man- communicate the economics and process approvals are
agement system, or a business actually working via
improvement initiative based on Six of quality is a activities such as inspec-
Sigma or excellence criteria such as foundational skill for quality tion and testing.
Baldrige. In other words, whether the 3. Failure costs are those related
activities make business sense depends professionals. to failures that do occur and
on the related costs, economic benefits are further classified as internal
that would accrue and benefits resulting (failure identified before it
from alternative uses of the resources. reached the customer) or external

32 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org

Management
processes. Outcomes might
processes as well as indications of improve-
For an organization to be include customer satisfac-
ments needed.
tion and retention, prof-
Several techniques and tools are avail- effective, the silos prevalent
itability, environmental
able for improving processes, including:
in past times must be and societal actions, and
The plan-do-check-act cycle (to
ethical and legal respon-
guide planning and implementing supplanted with the process sibilities. A favorable
improvement).
approach, value stream and effect not only sustains
Problem solving techniques,
an organization but also
including prioritization and root lean thinking, and a supply fuels its growth, prosperity
cause analysis (to identify problem
chain management and contribution to society.
areas).
An organization is, in itself,
Project management techniques.
mentality. a processa system of interact-
Waste reduction methods, including cycle
ing processes, each with several
time reduction, process flow analysis, elimina-
sub-processes. Management is responsi-
tion of nonvalue added steps and preventing errors.
ble for how these processes function, react and produce
Six Sigma methods for design, process, and product
desired outcomes. For an organization to be effective, the
and service improvement.
silos prevalent in past times must be supplanted with the
Process reengineering, which reinvents a process to
process approach, value stream and lean thinking, and a
take advantage of emerging technologies, work-
supply chain management mentality.
force skills, better materials or new approaches.
Russ Westcott
The effect these efforts have on the organizations
overall outcomes is key to managing and improving

(detected after reaching the customer). The time and
expense of reprocessing failed products or services and
investigating failures could fall into either failure cat-
egory, depending on when the event occurs. Warranty
costs are decidedly external failures.
Organizations can measure the economics of quality
in different ways. Some measure total cost of quality,
including all three categories, while others measure only
the cost of poor quality, focusing on failure costs.
To assist in measuring quality costs, the International
Organization for Standardization has issued ISO 10014:
2006, Quality ManagementGuidelines for Realizing
Financial and Economic Benefits.
Financial measures of quality activities can be used as
strategic objectives, guiding organizations toward both
profitability and greater customer satisfaction. Process
owners can also use economics of quality measures at a
more tactical level to evaluate day-to-day activities and
improvement projects.
ISO 9004:2000, Quality Management Systems
Guidelines for Performance Improvement mentions econom-
ics of quality as a means for measuring and monitoring
processes, for analyzing process data and as part of man-
agement review.
Quality professionals sometimes perceive resistance
to quality activities by managers. While the idealism
that drives many to the quality profession and their
detailed knowledge of quality tools are laudable, they
must understand that they work in a capitalist economy.
Senior management is tasked with maximizing the eco-
nomic value of the resources under its control.
Senior management must achieve an acceptable
return on investment, and quality professionals must be
able to demonstrate that allocation of resources to quali-
ty activities that can support this. Being able to measure
and communicate the economics of quality is therefore
a foundational skill for quality professionals.
Duke Okes

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 33

BASIC QUALITY

Teamwork and Empowerment

Top executive teams, project teams, cross-functional
teams, product-market teams. They come in several vari-
eties, but they all have one thing in common: Teams are
constructed entities designed to get a job done.
Empowerment is key. A team that is empowered has
the authority, information and skills to make decisions
that ratchet up performance and drive results. Also, how
well a team functions depends largely on how well it is
structured (its architecture), how well team members
behave toward one another (their interpersonal relation-
ships) and the quality of team leadership.
Think of a team leader as an architect. If the architects
blueprint, or construction plan, for the team includes five
key elements, then the team is poised for high performance.
First, the team must be guided by a clear strategy.
Strategy directs decision making and gives team mem-
bers a sense of purpose. Otherwise, whats the advantage
of being empowered?
Second, operational goals that flow from the strategy
must be clear. At the day-to-day tactical level, a team
without clear, specific operational goals can easily
become a house divided, with each member empow-
ered to follow only his or her own pet initiatives.
Third, roles and responsibilities must be clear and
agreed upon. Otherwise, empowerment is apt to
devolve into passing the buck, blame fixing and silo
behavior.
Fourth, business relationships must be transparent
and honest. Effective empowerment assumes team
members can confront issuesand one another
openly. No amount of empowerment will cure a cul-
ture that avoids conflict and buries disagreements.
Fifth, protocols for decision making must be put in
place. Empowerment often gets derailed because there

Leadership
Leadership is the process by which an individual Relating to quality management, the Baldrige
influences a group to move toward the attainment of a Criteria for Performance Excellence states, Your lead-
superordinate goal. Superordinate goals benefit groups ers should ensure the creation of strategies, systems
instead of simply individuals.1 and methods for achieving performance excellence,
Leading involves a power sharing relationship between stimulating innovation, building knowledge and
two or more individuals in which the power is distributed capabilities, and ensuring organizational sustainabil-
unevenly. For example, a leader will have monetary and ity.2 As we can see, when a leader exercises leader-
organizational authority that can be applied toward ship, he or she will be involved in planning,
achieving goals. Therefore, leaders must effectively and controlling, communicating, teaching, advising and
fairly use power. delegating.
This power can take different forms: According to W. Edwards Deming, The
Expertise power: You have spe- aim of leadership should be to improve
cial knowledge. Part of effective the performance of man and machine,
Reward power: You can to improve quality, to increase out-
bestow gifts for the right leadership is to discover put, and simultaneously to bring
behavior. pride of workmanship to people.3
your own leadership
Coercive power: You can This is a positivist view of leader-
use force to get what you traits that you can develop ship that involves more than
want. assigning blame and removing
Referent power: You are to lead the quality people who are viewed as problem
charismatic and persuasive. improvement efforts in employees. In his 14 points for
Legitimate power: You have management, Deming showed what
positional authority that your organization. principles direct effective quality man-
allows you to make decisions. agement leaders.

34 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org

 A team that is empowered
has the authority, information
is no upfront agreement on and skills to make decisions
whether decisions will be made:
that ratchet up performance
Unilaterally: by one person
with no input from others. and drive results.
Consultatively: by one person
after soliciting input from the fewest
number who will add value.
By consensus: everyone has input and must
agree to live with the outcome of majority rule.
In addition to getting the team to agree on how deci-
sions will be made, team leaders must establish a deci-
sion making process that includes:
Identifying the decisions the team must make. The
old laundry list on a flip chart works well.
Identifying decision subteams. For each decision
identified, assemble a subteam that becomes a steer-
ing committee responsible for making the decision.
J.M Juran proposed his trilogy diagram for leading
quality:4
Quality planning: Learning about customers and
finding ways to satisfy them.
Quality control: Comparing product performance
to product goals and eliminating the gaps between
them.
Quality improvement: Establishing teams and pro-
viding them resources to make improvements in a
planned way.
In doing this, Juran provided a method for leading
improvement in an organization. On the other hand,
Armand V. Feigenbaum showed that individuals on the
shop floor could provide leadership of their own.5
Feigenbaums approach was reflected in the way Japanese
firms approached quality improvement. More recently, Six
Sigma Champions have provided leadership in selecting,
qualifying and rationing projects to Black Belts.6
Service quality management might be different in
some fundamental ways from product quality manage-
ment. One research study of service firms found that
effective leaders tended to display three traits:7
1. Service vision: You have a vision of how to provide
great service.
Assigning accountability.
Each decision requires a
point personsomeone
responsible for achieving clo-
sure within the subteam.
Selecting a decision making mode
for each decision. Then, setting a
deadline for the subteam to keep it on
track and ensure that members of the larger team
know their deadline for giving input.
Once the decision is made and announced to the full
team, its on to implementation.
While the leader might be the architect of the high-per-
forming, empowered team, success depends equally on
the team members willingness and ability to step up and
perform at a new level for greater results.
Howard M. Guttman
2. High standards: You communicate these standards
for others to emulate.
3. In-the-field leadership style: You get out in the
field and make things happen.
In general, effective leaders can fall into two cate-
gories: those who direct the work of others to achieve
an end and those who help others discover and achieve
their potential. Part of effective leadership is to discover
your own leadership traits that you can develop to lead
the quality improvement efforts in your organization.
REFERENCES
1. S. Thomas Foster Jr., Managing Quality: Integrating the Supply
Chain, Prentice Hall, 2007.
2. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Baldrige
National Quality Award Criteria for Performance Excellence, ASQ
Quality Press, 2007.
3. W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis, MIT CAES, 1986.
4. Joseph Juran, Juran on Leadership for Quality, Free Press, 1989.
5. Armand V. Feigenbaum, Total Quality Control, McGraw-Hill,
1983.
6. Greg Brue, Six Sigma for Managers, McGraw-Hill, 2002.
7. V.A. Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman and L.L. Berry, Delivering
Service Quality, Free Press, 1990.
S. Thomas Foster Jr.
QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 35
about the authors
PAUL E. BORAWSKI is executive
director and chief strategic officer of
ASQ. He joined ASQ in 1986 as
director of programs and technical
services and was appointed to execu-
tive director in 1988.
Borawski
GRACE L. DUFFY is vice president of
ASQ and president of Management
and Performance Systems, Tavares,
FL. She earned a masters degree in
management and information sys-
tems from Georgia State University.
A fellow of ASQ, Duffy is certified
as a quality manager, quality auditor
Duffy and quality improvement associate.
S. TOM FOSTER JR. is a professor
of quality and supply chain manage-
ment at Brigham Young University.
He is a member of ASQ and has
served twice as a Baldrige examiner.
Foster
HOWARD M. GUTTMAN is princi-
pal of Guttman Development Strat-
egies, a management consulting firm
in Ledgewood, NJ. He earned a mas-
ters degree in organizational devel-
opment from Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland.
Guttman
LYNNE B. HARE is director of
applied statistics at Kraft Foods
Research and Development in East
Hanover, NJ. He received a doctorate
in statistics from Rutgers Univers-
ity. Hare is a past chairman of
ASQs Statistics Division and a fel-
low of both ASQ and the American
Statistical Assn.
Hare
36 I JUNE 2007 I www.asq.org
(in alphabetical order)
DUKE OKES is a knowledge architect and ASQ fel-
low. He is currently a consultant, focusing on help-
ing organizations improve root cause analyses. Okes
holds a masters degree in education from Tusculum
College, Greeneville, TN. He is an ASQ fellow and a
certified quality auditor, quality engineer, quality
manager and quality technician.
Okes
GRAEME C. PAYNE is president of GK Systems, a
consulting firm near Atlanta, GA, specializing in
measurement science. He is the 2006-2007 chair of
the ASQ Measurement Quality Division. Payne is a
senior member of ASQ, certified quality technician,
calibration technician and quality engineer.
Payne
JAMES J. ROONEY is a senior risk and reliability
engineer with ABS Consulting, Public Sector
Division, in Knoxville, TN. He earned a masters
degree in nuclear engineering from the University of
Tennessee. Rooney is a fellow of ASQ and holds the
following ASQ certifications: biomedical auditor,
hazard analysis and critical control points auditor,
manager of quality/organizational excellence, quality
auditor, quality engineer, quality improvement asso-
Rooney
ciate, quality process analyst, quality technician,
reliability engineer and Six Sigma Green Belt.
JOHN E. JACK WEST is a management consultant
and business adviser. He served on the board of exam-
iners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award from 1990 to 1993 and is past chair of the
U.S. technical advisory group to ISO technical com-
mittee 176 and lead delegate to the committee respon- West
sible for the ISO 9000 family of quality management
standards. He is an ASQ fellow.
RUSS WESTCOTT is president of R.T. Westcott and
Associates, Old Saybrook, CT. He is an ASQ fellow
and a certified quality auditor and manager of quali-
ty/organizational excellence.
Westcott
Building a basic
quality Library
by Joe Conklin

key skill for any quality professional is knowing where to find the answers to questions. A well-
A stocked quality library saves considerable time and trouble. How does the conscientious quality pro-
fessional begin building such a well-stocked library, particularly if his or her employer does not have one?
Of the hundreds of quality-related books I have seen or heard of, I have devised my own personal set of
the vital few that can form the core of a good working library. The titles are organized around the cate-
gories in the body of knowledge for the certified quality engineer exam. They cover the basics well, are
written with not only the expert in mind, and have shortened many of my searches for quality-related
answers.
They might be considered the top 10 titles for the quality beginner.

Management and Leadership Quantitative Methods

Armand V. Feigenbaum, Total Quality Control, third edition,
McGraw-Hill, 1991.
National Institutes of Standards and Technology, Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality 2007 Award : Criteria for Performance Excellence
(Business), ASQ Quality Press, 2007.
The Quality System
Charles A. Mills, The Quality Audit: A Management Evaluation Tool,
McGraw-Hill, 1989.
Product and Process Design
Patrick D. T. OConnor, Practical Reliability Engineering, fourth
edition, John Wiley, 2001.
Product and Process Control
ANSI/ASQ Z1.4-2003: Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection
by Attributes, ASQ Quality Press, 2003.
Donald J. Wheeler and Richard W. Lyday, Evaluating the Measurement
Process, second edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1990.
Continuous Improvement
Michael Brassard and Diane Ritter, The Memory Jogger II, A Pocket
Guide of Management and Planning Tools for Continuous Improvement
and Effective Planning, Goal/QPC, 1994.
Shigeru Mizuno, ed., Management for Quality Improvement: The
Seven New QC Tools, Productivity Press, 1988.
and Tools
Eugene L. Grant and Richard S.
Leavenworth, Statistical Quality Control,
seventh edition, McGraw-Hill, 1996.
J. M. Juran and A. Blanton Godfrey,
Jurans Quality Control Handbook, fifth edi-
tion, McGraw-Hill, 1999.
The references under the sections man-
agement and leadership, the quality system,
and continuous improvement are particular-
ly helpful for building a broad understand-
ing of quality concepts and practices. After
all, the questions will keep coming, and
finding the answers is part of the funand
sweatof the quality business.
JOSEPH D. CONKLIN is a math-
ematical statistician at the U.S.
Department of Energy in
Washington, D.C. He earned a
masters degree in statistics from
Virginia Tech and is a senior
member of ASQ. Conklin is also
an ASQ certified quality manager, quality engi-
neer, quality auditor and reliability engineer.

QUALITY PROGRESS I JUNE 2007 I 37