Quality - General Concepts useful for PMP exam

Quality Management - General Concepts:

• everyone in the organization is responsible for the quality (project team for destined parts while PM for project quality), PM is ultimately responsible for the project quality
• prevention over inspection
• outliers are singular measurements outside the control limits
• continuous improvement to ensure quality (quality assurance)
• some costs of quality will be borne by the organization (organization quality policy, e.g. quality audit, ISO accreditation)
• Quality: the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements, decrease rework/costs, increase productivity/stakeholder satisfaction
• under ‘control’: the process is predictable and repeatable
• PM: perform continuous improvement activities (quality assurance), verify quality before completion of deliverables (control quality)
• Grade (fit for use or not) vs Quality (conformance to stated requirements)
• Accuracy (correctness) vs Precision (consistence, how closely conforms to target, standard deviation is a measure of precision, smaller standard deviation higher precision)
• Quality Management Concepts
  • Crosby Zero Defects: identify processes to remove defects, quality is built in to the processes
  • Juran Fitness for Use: does the product/service meet customer’s need? i) Grade, ii) Quality conformance, iii) Reliability/maintainability, iv) Safety, v) Actual Use
  • W. Edwards Deming: 85% of quality problem is managers’  responsibility, develop “System of Profound Knowledge” [system = components working together to achieve an aim] i) Appreciation for system, ii) Knowledge about variation (special cause vs common cause) , iii) Theory of Knowledge (built up by prediction/observation/adjustment) , iv) Psychology
  • Six Sigma: achieve 3.4/1 mil defect level (99.999%) using DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Implement, Control) or [Design for Six Sigma] DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Validate) approach, refine the process to get rid of human error and outside influences with precise measurements, variations are random in nature
  • Just In Time: eliminate build up of inventory
  • Total Quality Management (TQM): ISO 8402 all members to center on quality to drive customer satisfaction , refine the process of producing the product
  • Kaizen改善: implement consistent and incremental improvement, to reduce costs, cycle time, drive customer satisfaction using PDCA (Plan Do Check Act)
  • The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is a way of making small improvements and testing their impact before you make a change to the process as a whole. It comes from W. Edwards Deming’s work in process improvement, which popularized the cycle that was originally invented by Walter Shewhart in the 1930s.
  • Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI): improve overall software quality (design, development and deployment)
  • ISO9000: ensures the defined processes are performed in accordance to the plan
• Quality Management processes are so focused on reviewing EVERY deliverable – not just the final product, but all of the components, designs and specifications too.

Quality Approaches - Demming Juran Crosby

W Edwards Deming:
Proponent of Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
Proponent of 14 points to Quality management.

Joseph Juran:
Defined Quality as "Fitness for Use".
Proponent of 80/20 rule. 80% of defects are due to 20% of causes.
Proponent of Top Management being made responsible for Quality.

Philip Crosby:
Defined Quality as "Conformance to Requirements".
Proponent of Prevention over Inspection. The system of quality is prevention
Proponent of Cost of Poor Quality. The measurement of quality is the price of non-conformance
Proponent of Zero Defect. The performance standard is zero defect.




W Edwards Deming placed great importance and responsibility on management, at both the individual and company level, believing management to be responsible for 94% of quality problems.

PDCA - Plan Do Check Act
Was inspired by Shewart.

His fourteen point plan is a complete philosophy of management, that can be applied to small or large organisations in the public, private or service sectors: 
• Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service 
• Adopt the new philosophy. We can no longer live with commonly accepted levels of delay, mistakes and defective workmanship 
• Cease dependence on mass inspection. Instead, require statistical evidence that quality is built in 
• End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price 
• Find problems. It is management’s job to work continually on the system 
• Institute modern methods of training on the job
 • Institute modern methods of supervision of production workers, The responsibility of foremen must be changed from numbers to quality 
• Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company 
• Break down barriers between departments 
• Eliminate numerical goals, posters and slogans for the workforce asking for new levels of productivity without providing methods 
• Eliminate work standards that prescribe numerical quotas 
• Remove barriers that stand between the hourly worker and their right to pride of workmanship 
• Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining 
• Create a structure in top management that will push on the above points every day



Philip B Crosby is known for the concepts of “Quality is Free” and “Zero Defects”, and his quality improvement process is based on his four absolutes of quality: 
• Quality is conformance to requirements 
• The system of quality is prevention 
• The performance standard is zero defect 
• The measurement of quality is the price of non-conformance 

His fourteen steps to quality improvement are: 
• Management is committed to a formalised quality policy 
• Form a management level quality improvement team (QIT) with responsibility for quality improvement process planning and administration 
• Determine where current and potential quality problems lie 
• Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a management tool to measure waste 
• Raise quality awareness and personal concern for quality amongst all employees 
• Take corrective actions, using established formal systems to remove the root causes of problems 
• Establish a zero defects committee and programme 
• Train all employees in quality improvement 
• Hold a Zero Defects Day to broadcast the change and as a management recommitment and employee commitment 
• Encourage individuals and groups to set improvement goals 
• Encourage employees to communicate to management any obstacles they face in attaining their improvement goals 
• Give formal recognition to all participants 
• Establish quality councils for quality management information sharing 
• Do it all over again – form a new quality improvement team

Joseph Juran
1. The key steps in Juran's theory on quality are quality planning, quality control and quality improvement.
2. To implement a company-wide quality management process, you have to identify your customers, find out their needs and work to meet those needs. You create measures of quality and organize to meet those measures consistently. And you need to create processes that work in real-life conditions.
3. Juran's theory on quality postulates that top-level management must be sincere in its efforts to commit to quality or else all efforts as such would not work.