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Philip Crosby: Quality-Management/major-Contributors-To-Tqm

Philip Crosby is a major contributor to the quality movement who argued that investing in quality returns greater benefits than costs. He took a more practical approach than Deming and Juran, asserting that high quality is relatively inexpensive. Crosby developed the zero defects program emphasizing "doing it right the first time" and a 14-point quality management program. His program included viewing quality as meeting specifications, preventing rather than inspecting for defects, granting production workers responsibility for quality, and demonstrating that higher performance leads to perfection and zero defects.

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91 views2 pages

Philip Crosby: Quality-Management/major-Contributors-To-Tqm

Philip Crosby is a major contributor to the quality movement who argued that investing in quality returns greater benefits than costs. He took a more practical approach than Deming and Juran, asserting that high quality is relatively inexpensive. Crosby developed the zero defects program emphasizing "doing it right the first time" and a 14-point quality management program. His program included viewing quality as meeting specifications, preventing rather than inspecting for defects, granting production workers responsibility for quality, and demonstrating that higher performance leads to perfection and zero defects.

Uploaded by

Gelay Borrel
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Philip Crosby

Philip Crosby is another major contributor to the quality movement. In 1979, he left ITT
(International Telephone and Telegraph) and wrote his book, Quality is Free, in which he argues
that dollars spent on quality and the attention paid to it always return greater benefits than the
costs expended on them. Whereas Deming and Juran emphasized the sacrifice required for a
quality commitment, Crosby takes a less philosophical and more practical approach, asserting
instead that high quality is relatively easy and inexpensive in the long run.
Crosby is the only American quality expert without a doctorate. He is responsible for the zero
defects program, which emphasizes “doing it right the first time,” (DIRFT) with 100 percent
acceptable output. Unlike Deming and Juran, Crosby argues that quality is always cost effective.
Like Deming and Juran, Crosby does not place the blame on workers, but on management.
Crosby also developed a 14‐point program, which is again more practical than philosophical. It
provides managers with actual concepts that can help them manage productivity and quality. His
program is built around four Absolutes of Quality Management:
1. Quality must be viewed as conformance to specifications. If a product meets design
specifications, then it is a high‐quality product.
2. Quality should be achieved through the prevention of defects rather than inspection after
the production process is complete.
3. According to Crosby, the traditional quality control approach taken by American firms is
not cost effective. Instead, production workers should be granted the authority and
responsibility to ensure that quality goods or services are produced at every step of the
process.
4. Managers need to demonstrate that a higher standard of performance can lead to
perfection—to zero defects. Crosby believed that the company goal should be zero
defects.
5. Quality should be measured by the price of nonconformity. Crosby contends that the
costs associated with achieving quality should be part of a company's financial system
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/principles-of-management/productivity-and-total-
quality-management/major-contributors-to-tqm
Contributions to Six Sigma & Process Improvement
The Zero Defect Theory: The Zero Defects theory states that there is no existence of waste in a
project. Waste refers to anything that is unproductive i.e. processes, tools, and employees etc.
Anything that is not adding any value to a project should be eliminated, thereby leading to the
elimination of waste. Eliminating waste leads to process improvement and consequently lowers
costs. The zero defects theory is the concept of “doing it right the first time” to avoid cost and
time spent later in the process of project management.
14 Steps to Quality Improvement: Crosby gave 14 steps for process improvement. They are as
follows:
1. Management’s commitment towards quality should be clear to all in the organization and
those outside it.
2. Creation of quality improvement teams with senior representatives from all departments.
3. Continuous measurement of processes to determine current and potential issues related to
quality.
4. The cost of poor quality has to be calculated.
5. Quality awareness has to be raised in the organization.
6. Corrective actions should be taken to address quality issues.
7. Establishment of a Zero Defect committee to monitor the progress of quality
improvement.
8. Quality improvement training to all the employees.
9. Organize “zero defects” days in the organization.
10. All employees should be encouraged to set their own quality improvement goals.
11. Obstacles to quality should be discussed with employees in an open communication.
12. Participants’ efforts should be recognized.
13. Quality councils should be created.
14. Quality improvement is a continuous process. It keeps going.
Conclusions:
Philip Crosby’s ideas on quality came from his vast experience of working with an assembly
line. His main focus was on zero defects which ultimately led to the adoption of this concept by
the modern Six Sigma Quality movement.
Mr. Crosby explained the idea that zero defects is not a phenomenon that originated on the
assembly line. He defined quality as a conformity to a set of specifications defined by the
management rather than a vague concept of “goodness.” However, these specifications are set
according to the needs and wants of the customer rather than being arbitrarily defined.
https://www.shmula.com/philip-crosby-contributions-to-the-theory-of-process-improvement-
and-six-sigma/27873/

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