Crosby Philosophy

Crosby, in his classic book Quality Is Free, provides a high level of public visibility for quality issues.
The Crosby "Quality Management Maturity Grid," traces corporate quality awareness and a quality maturation from a level of uncertainty to one of certainty.
His grid addresses quality understanding, organization, problem handling, cost, and improvement.

Crosby is best known for the concepts Do It Right First Time and Zero Defects.
He does not believe workers are responsible for poor quality - you have to get the management straight.

The essence of Crosby's quality philosophy

The essence of Crosby's quality philosophy is embodied in what he calls

(l) the "Absolutes of Quality Management" and
(2) the "Basic Elements of Improvement."

The Crosby four absolutes of Quality Management are
1-Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as 'goodness' or 'elegance'.
2-The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal.
3-The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not 'that's close enough'.
4-The measurement of quality is the Price of Non-conformance, not indices.

The fourteen basic elements of Quality Improvement are:

1-Make it clear that management is committed to quality.
2-Form quality improvement teams with senior representatives from each department.
3-Measure processes to determine where current and potential quality problems lie.
4-Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a management tool.
5-Raise the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees.
6-Take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps.
7-Establish process monitoring for the improvement process.
8-Train supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement program.
9-Hold a Zero Defect Day to let everyone realize that there has been a change and reaffirm management commitment.
10-Encourage individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their groups.
11-Encourage employees to communicate to management the obstacles they face in attaining their improvement goals.
12-Recognize and appreciate those who participate.
13-Establish quality councils to communicate on a regular basis.
14-Do it all over again to emphasize that the quality improvement program never ends.