Many companies argue about offering quality products or processes, however in most cases this is very different from reality.
To turn a company into an organization with quality, it must start from the most fundamental of its being: its human team. Working with values and principles, which comply with what both employees and companies commit, respecting the environment and the community, ensuring that all products and services work from the first attempt, and that, from that first attempt, fully comply with the function for which they exist or were designed.
Quality more than a word a culture of life
In our days the concept of quality culture is very extensive, ambiguous, intangible and therefore difficult to detail, for this reason it is necessary to refer first to the definition of culture which indicates that it is a model through which all inhabitants of a society are educated, with principles that govern the way of acting. This becomes dynamic, as it changes depending on the time, and the circumstances that surround society.
Kahn argues that "culture enables man with an additional enlargement of his anatomical apparatus, with a protective shell of defenses and security, with mobility and speed through the means in which direct bodily equipment would have completely let him down." It is the fundamental basis of any culture or country in the world. It is the foundation on which the ideals and values of a society seen as such rest; it is the pillar of the thought of the individuals and forges their character and their actions within other members of the group in question.
Each society has a unique lifestyle, work and behavior. Of the most important aspects that stand out are: their form of coexistence, work methods, the use of new technologies for information and communication (telephony, computer science, etc.), the form of application of justice and the degree of level of studies.
It is said that a society produces a change in its culture when the intellectual maturation of its inhabitants increases thanks to an adequate education policy, resulting in greater civic participation.
Another definition that must be cited is quality, which means adding value to the customer, that is, offering conditions of use of the product or service higher than those that the customer expects to receive and at an affordable price.
Also, quality refers to minimizing the losses that a product can cause to human society by showing a certain interest on the part of the company to maintain customer satisfaction. It is very important to name some of the definitions that philosophers of quality present:
According to Crosby: “The first wrong assumption is that quality means good, luxurious, shine or weight. The word "quality" is used to give the relative meaning to phrases like "good quality", "poor quality" and now "quality of life". Quality of life is a cliché because each receiver assumes that the speaker says exactly what he (she) "the receiver" means. That is precisely why we define quality as "Compliance with requirements", if that is how we are going to handle it. This is the same in business. The requirements have to be clearly stated so that there are no misunderstandings. Measurements must be taken continuously to determine compliance with those requirements. The non-conformity detected is a lack of quality. Quality problems become nonconformity problems and quality becomes definition. "
Feigenbaum affirms that: “Quality is a determination of the client, or a determination of the engineer, not of Marketing, nor of the General Manager. It is based on the customer's current experience with the products or services, compared to their requirements, established or not established, conscious or unconscious, technically operational or entirely subjective. And always representing a moving target in a competitive market. The quality of the product and service can be defined as: All the characteristics of the product and service coming from Marketing, Engineering, Manufacturing and Maintenance that are directly related to the client's needs ”.
Now that you have the concept of quality and that of culture, you immediately conceptualize the word quality culture; Trying to arrive at a specific definition that includes all the aspects that this word involves, it is worth quoting Humberto Cantú with the following: It is the set of values and habits that a person possesses, which, complemented with the use of quality practices and tools In daily action, they allow you to collaborate with your organization to face the challenges that arise, in the fulfillment of the organization's mission. Values and habits are those deep impressions that you have about the way you live, about what is considered correct or incorrect.
As for the culture of personal quality, it must be closely related to the practice of a morally balanced quality of life, so it must put into practice the values of the decalogue of development, which is a doctrine that consists of 10 key attitudes (values and principles) for personal development and community well-being. This decalogue arose when Mr. Octavio Mavila was intrigued by the marked differences between developed and underdeveloped countries. Doing historical analysis of certain countries and discovered that the difference between living in development and underdevelopment was not in the economic, intellectual wealth or the amount of natural resources that a country has, but in the attitudes of its inhabitants.
Mavila classified these attitudes, and from there the Decalogue of Development was born, which seeks the development of the country based on the improvement of each person.
The 10 principles of the Decalogue:
1. Order.
2. Cleaning.
3. Punctuality.
4. Responsibility.
5. Desire for Overcoming.
6. Honesty.
7. Respect for the rights of others.
8. Respect for the law and regulations.
9. Love of work.
10. Eagerness for savings and investment.
Organizations that aspire to face current challenges need to change their prototype and incorporate the quality approach, both in planning, execution, control and in all their production or service provision processes. The change to this paradigm of quality requires the existence of an "ad hoc" cultural environment, I mean a culture of quality both at the level of the people and the organization itself, with regard to habits, customs, values, etc., which both individuals and the organization must have and put into practice to meet today's challenges.
When talking about quality culture, reference is made to the set of values and habits that a person possesses, which, integrated with the use of quality practices and tools in daily action, allow them to collaborate with their organization to challenge the challenges they face. present you in the fulfillment of your mission.
Bibliography
Crosby Philip, “Quality is Free. Mc Graw Hill, New York, 1979.
Feigenbaum: "Total Quality Control", 3rd ed. 1994.
Kahn: The concept of culture: fundamental texts. Compiled and prefaced by JSSkahn. Anagram. Barcelona. 1975.
Mavila Medina.1985. Decalogue of Development. San Isidro, Lima, Peru. 1985.
