BOOK REVIEW

‘Quality Without Tears’

- Philip B. Crosby
Quality Without Tears

 Quality Without Tears, a book by Philip Crosby

 Written in the year 1984
 It came about as a result of the author’s desire to make it clear that
the key to quality improvement was understanding concepts, not
implanting some complex system.
 The author wants to emphasize that causing quality was an ordinary
part of the management job, not something that a special group was
supposed to, or could, accomplish.
 The author believes that a hassle-free organisation was possible
without beating up on the employees.
 People could use this a pragmatic guide for causing quality.
 The profile of a Problem Organization

 The outgoing product or service normally contains deviations

from the published, announced, or agreed-upon requirements
 The company has an extensive field service or dealer network
skilled in the work and resourceful corrective action to keep the
customers satisfied
 Management does not provide a clear performance standard or
definition of quality, so the employees each develop their own
 Management does not know the price of nonconformance
 Management denies that it is the cause of the problem
 The Quality Vaccine

 The organization can be vaccinated against nonconformance.

 The vaccine ingredients are: Integrity, Systems,
Communications, Operations, Policies.
 The strategy to administer this will be three different
management actions: Determination, Education, Implementation
 Quality Circles and Statistical Quality Control are excellent tools
but are not management tools.
 To dehassle forever, it is necessary to change the company’s
culture, to eliminate the causes that produce nonconforming
products and service.
 Demotivation

 Getting employees “turned on” has become a major industry

 A “hassle” company is one in which management and employees
are not on the same side.
 The hassle free company is one which has all employees are
together and there are no sides.
 “Hassle-free” offers pleasant working relationships, a smooth
system, and happy employees. It is an environment for
maximum profit and growth potential
 Hassle means that the people inside the company spend more
time working on each other than they do making something
happen
 A Quality Carol

 Dickens story “The Christmas Carol”

 The author clarifies that the story is not his original, as imagined
by many who had not heard of Dickens, but an adaptation of the
original one.
 Through the story the author tries to explain the hassles of
nonconformance
 The CEO and the other employees in the story can be imagined
to an organization in the real world
 The purpose of the story is to drive the need for quality
Determination
 Companies showing NOT much improvement have following
characteristics:
Effort is called a program rather than a process (process
– never finishes & requires constant attention).
All effort is aimed at the lower level of the organization.
Training material is prepared by the training function.
Management is impatient for results. Managers just lay
back and wit for results. It brings everything to slowdown.
Misconceptions like – “Zero defects is eastern thinking”,
“We just have to satisfy customer’s perception of quality”,
“Its impossible to do things right first time”.
Determination

 Real problem – MANAGEMENT does not take the

REQUIREMENTS seriously.
 Success Mantra of Japanese – ‘Take requirements
seriously’
 Management think that problem is the ‘worker’ and
hence just ask workers to act like Japanese workers.
 Not enough to look determined. Subject we are being
determined about has to be clear in the minds of all
involved.
 Credibility of commitment is the biggest problem, it has
to be reinforced all the time.
First Absolute

 Definition of Quality is conformance to requirements,

not as goodness.
 Quality improvement is built on “DIRFT”
 ‘It’ – Requirements
 Causing it to happen is what the book is about
 Resolving same situation over and over cost service companies
around 40% of their operating cost.
 Managers tend to get worried when subject of setting requirements
comes up.
 Requirements, like measurements, are communications
 Three basic tasks to be performed by Management :
 Establish requirements that employees are to meet
 Supply whatever employees need to meet requirements
 Spend all time encouraging and helping employees to meet those
requirements.
Second Absolute

 Thesystem for Quality is Prevention, not

appraisal.
 Appraisal (checking, inspection, testing, etc.)is always
done after the fact.
 Appraisal is anexpensive & unreliable way of getting
quality.
 ‘Prevention’ – business people just don’t talk about.
 Secret of prevention – ‘look at the process & identify
opportunities for error’.
 Massive opportunities for error eliminated = ‘prevention’.
 Best laid plans for prevention can be undone by a
careless executive policy.
 Third Absolute
 Performance standard must be “Zero Defect”,
not “that’s close enough”.
 Companies try all kinds of ways to help people not meet their requirements.
{AQL: establish acceptance plan for inspection. However it represents no.
of non-conforming items that can come in acceptable lot}
 Unfortunately, ‘ZD’ was accepted by industry as ‘motivation’ program and
not as ‘Management Standard’.
 Advertising programs will show that people are working hard on quality. But
products are NOT error free!
 Most companies don’t get serious about quality until survival becomes a
question!
 Causes of Mistakes: Lack of knowledge & Lack of attention.
 Lack of attention is attitude problem, which must be corrected by person
himself through reappraisal of his moral values.
 Error is function of importance that a person places on specific things.
 People will perform to the standard they are given, provided they
understand it.
Fourth Absolute

 Measurementof quality is the ‘price of

nonconformance’.
 Quality is never looked at in financial terms the
everything else is.
 Cost of Quality divided into:
 PONC – All expenses involved in doing things wrong
{Represent 20% of sales in Manufacturing & 30% of operating
costs in Service companies}.
 POC – What’s necessary to spend to make things right, which
includes quality functions, prevention effort, quality education.
{represents 3-4% of sales}.
 Main problem of quality as a management concern is
that it is not taught in Management’s schools.
 EDUCATION

 Continuous information interchange.

 Education should become routine.
 Common language.
 Individual’s role.
 Do it right at first time.
 Executive Education.

 Roleclarification.
 What should be taught to others.
 Two and one-half days at a minimum.
 No more than 22 students.
 Management Education

 Executive education + several things.

 Emphasis on presentation.
 Four and one-half days.
 No more than 22 students.
 Employee Education

 95% of employees.
 Prior subject material.
 15 mins. Video clipping.
 Real time simulation.
 Discussion.
 Work assignment.
 Consistent process with equipped trainers
 Employee Education…

 Need for quality improvement.

 Concepts of quality improvement.
 Requirements.
 Measurement of conformance.
 Prevention of Nonconformance.
 Need for performance standards.
 Price of Nonconformance.
 Employee Education…

 Quality Brief Company.

 Elimination of Nonconformance.
 Team approach to problem elimination.

Causing Quality Improvement

 Company’s Role.
 Manager’s Role.
 Supplier’s Role.
 Implementation

Step 1:Management Commitment

 A corporate policy on quality needs to be issued
 Quality should be made the first item on the
agenda of the regular mgmt. status meetings.
 The CEO and COO need to compose clear
quality speeches in their minds and deliver them
to everyone.
 Implementation (contd..)
TEAM ACTIONS
Step 2:The Quality Improvement team(QIT)
Purpose of a team:To guide,coordinate & support the process
QIT’s are set up with the thought that they will take on the task

of “improving things around here”

Team requires a clear direction and leadership
Should represent all functions of the operation
Top mgmt,the co-ord.,and the team chairperson lay out the

overall strategy
 Implementation (contd..)

Step 3:Measurement
 It is just the habit of seeing how we are going
along
 Many QIT’s look on it as the ultimate hassle.
 Once we’ve got the input, process and output,it
easily leads to measurement.
 Implementation (contd..)

Step 4:The Cost of Quality

 Set up a special workshop, bring together
comptroller and other interested parties and help
them work out a procedure that fit their
accounting system.
 Once it has been identified and fed into the
regular mgmt process, it serves as a very good
and positive stimulus for the QIT’s.
 Implementation (contd..)

Step 5:Quality Awareness

 Becomes a part of the regular company
newsletter.
 It is spreading information.
 Must be adapted to the culture of the company.
 Extends all the way thro mgmt’s actions
 Implementation (contd..)

Step 6:Corrective Action

 Real purpose is to identify and eliminate problems
forever.
Corrective action systems have to be based on:
 Data that show what the problems are &
 Analysis that show the causes of the problems
 Implementation (contd..)

Team Executions
Step 7:Zero Defects Planning
 The ZD’s commitment represents a major step forward
in the thrust and longevity of the Quality mgmt process
Step 8:Employee Education
 Traditional-Training Dept.
 Complete quality education system that provide a
standard message.
 Implementation (contd..)

Step 9:Zero Defects Day

Step 10:Goal Setting
Step 11:Error-Cause Removal
Step 12:Recognition
Step 13:Quality Councils
Step 14:Do It All Over Again….
 Some Success Stories
Cost of Quality
 Computer Manufacturer
 Semiconductor Manufacturer
 Communication Company
 Sweeper Manufacturer
 Contd…

PAPER WORK

Computer Manufacturer
- reduced paper work from $154,000

Sweeper Manufacturer
- reduced invoice errors by 38%
 Data Entry Errors

 Chemical Company

 Energy Company

 Power Company

 Automobile Supplier
 Defect Reduction

 Semiconductor Manufacturer

 Computer Manufacturer

 Sweeper Manufacturer
MIXING THE VACCINATION SERUM

Integrity :
Determination
Education
Implementation
Systems:
Determination
Education
Implementation
MIXING THE VACCINATION SERUM

Communications:
Determination
Education
Implementation
Operations:
Determination
Education
Implementation
MIXING THE VACCINATION SERUM

Policy:
Determination
Education
Implementation
SEMINAR : Book Review

Thank You !