Quality management
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| reputation | 声誉 | shēng yù |
| quality management | 质量管理 | zhì liàng guǎn lǐ |
| quality control | 质量控制 | zhì liàng kòng zhì |
| quality assurance | 质量保证 | zhì liàng bǎo zhèng |
| inspecting | 检验 | jiǎn yàn |
| defects | 缺陷 | quē xiàn |
| total quality management | 全面质量管理 | quán miàn zhì liàng guǎn lǐ |
| loyalty | 忠诚度 | zhōng chéng dù |
Getting it right every time
- One faulty product can lose a customer for life and wreck a reputation 声誉 online overnight.
- Quality management 质量管理 makes sure the product meets the standard customers expect — consistently.
Leadership style lab
Pick the management style that fits each situation.
Quality control mainly involves:
QC inspects the end product for defects.
Quality assurance focuses on:
QA designs quality in so defects do not occur.
Quality control 质量控制 vs quality assurance 质量保证
- Quality control (QC): inspecting 检验 finished output to catch defects 缺陷 at the end.
- Quality assurance (QA): building quality into every stage so defects don't happen.
Quality control checks at the end; quality assurance builds quality into every stage
Total Quality Management (TQM) makes quality:
TQM embeds quality across the whole organisation.
The approach where quality is everyone's responsibility is Total Quality ______.
TQM = Total Quality Management.
Total Quality Management 全面质量管理
- TQM makes quality everyone's responsibility, throughout the business.
- It aims for continuous improvement and "right first time", reducing waste and rework.
Worked example. Instead of inspecting cars only at the end (QC), a factory has each worker check their own stage (QA) and empowers anyone to stop the line for a fault (TQM) — catching problems early and cheaply.
Preventing defects (assurance) is usually cheaper than inspecting them out at the end (control).
Prevention avoids the waste of making defective output.
Why quality matters
- High quality builds reputation, customer loyalty 忠诚度 and the ability to charge more.
- Poor quality means returns, lost customers, and costly rework.
Quality control catches defects; quality assurance prevents them. QC inspects at the end (waste already made); QA designs quality in from the start. Prevention is usually cheaper than cure.
You've got it
- quality control inspects finished output; quality assurance builds quality into every stage
- TQM makes quality everyone's job, aiming for "right first time"
- good quality builds reputation and loyalty; prevention beats inspection