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General Systems In The News
EXCERPT FROM JULY 2008 ISSUE OF QUALITY PROGRESS MAGAZINE
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AS TECHNOLOGY BRINGS the four corners of the world closer together, organizations are discovering that expansion is crucial to their survival. Companies are attempting to extend their global reach, and, as a result, corporate quality leaders face constant challenges.
Those forces can be thought of as a scissors whose sharpened blades can close in on companies as they attempt to manage their international business growth. One blade is the strong upward pressure created by the rising costs of development that companies face despite their best cost-containment efforts. The other blade puts equally intense downward pressure on pricing for products and services, created by the often brutally demanding global market changes.
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If corporate quality leaders stand still, the scissors will come together, cutting the organization out of the market. The best leaders, however, avoid that fate by emphasizing their ability to measure systematically the benefits of quality associated with achieving complete customer value satisfaction and, just as important, the business failure costs that are created when that does not take place. Then, because these costs are measured systematically, they can be managed systematically.
This allows leading companies to achieve genuine cost management and true cost leadership with their products and services compared to their competitors who are less focused on the value associated with quality.
The importance of this approach is based on the application of the economics of quality cost established long ago as a major component of total quality management (TQM). TQM provides a systematic foundation that allows companies to manage costs and spin them into a competitive advantage throughout their global operations. The explicit management and measurement of the economics of quality can set companies apart in terms of market strength and leadership.
Dr. A.V. Feigenbaum emphasizes that "Globalization makes measuring and managing quality costs even more critical to success" in his article. He stresses that in today’s enormously demanding marketplace, corporate quality leaders can take advantage of those improvement opportunities because of their ability to measure the benefits of customer satisfaction and the costs of quality problems. As a result, their companies can not only compete, but can also lead the way in an increasingly globalized marketplace.
A.V. Feigenbaum is president and CEO of General Systems Co. in Pittsfield, MA. He holds a doctorate in engineering and economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Feigenbaum is a past president and an honorary member of ASQ, and has authored several books.
READ FULL ARTICLE IN JULY 2008 ISSUE OF QUALITY PROGRESS MAGAZINE or contact www.qualityprogress.com for reprints.
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