Title: Chapter 14 Introduction
Course: Canvas Practice Course > Section: Week 3, 06 April to 09 April

KEY CONCEPTS

The problem with improving quality is that the quality of many products and most services is a subjective attribute (opinion), which makes it difficult to identify major factors and to explain them to others. Personality issues and negative findings are often viewed by the recipient as personal attacks. But when objective data is placed in front of an individual it is hard to argue against facts because the data speaks for itself and removes personalities from the discussion. Statistical data displays the problem in an objective, standardized fashion.

The core of quality improvement methods can be summed up in two words: scientific approach, which is management by data and facts. Quality tools use this scientific approach to help individuals and teams to continuously improve their work processes. A quality tool can be a chart, graph, statistics, or a method of organizing or looking at things. Companies have many quality tools they can use to develop statistics about their processes and make continuous improvements.