The contributions of Joseph Moses Juran (1904-2008) to business administration are immeasurable, so much so that he is considered one of the fathers of quality management. Regarding this, to the question, What do you think was your greatest contribution? Juran replied "I contributed to a new science: quality management."
His main contributions are summarized below:
Juran provided the most accurate and applicable definition of what we call quality. He defined two universal sequences of steps, one to achieve breakthroughs, the other to achieve control. He articulated the Pareto Principle, which holds that a small percentage of factors in any situation will lead to a large percentage of the effect. He argued that an organizational structure of support and commitment from management are essential for achieving quality.
Juran's philosophy
Juran taught quality principles to the Japanese in the 1950s and was a major force in their reorganization for quality. Among the steps that Japanese organizations took as a result of Juran's leadership were the following:
- Direct quality from the top management level Train the entire management hierarchy in quality principles Strive to improve quality at an unusual speed Report progress on quality goals to executive levels Engage the workforce on quality.Review reward and recognition structure to include quality.
These principles are still the lynchpin of modern quality culture.
Juran claimed that employees at different levels of the organization spoke a "language" of their own. Thus, directors speak the language of money; workers speak the language of things, and middle management speaks them both and translates money into things. For this reason, for the managerial level it was inclined towards the use of quality cost accounting and analysis, while for the operational level, it focused on increasing compliance with the specifications by eliminating defects, largely supported by the statistical tools for analysis.
The definition given by Juran of quality, adaptation to use, suggests that it should be considered from internal and external perspectives; that is, quality is related to
- product performance that results in customer satisfaction; products without deficiencies, preventing customer dissatisfaction.
The way in which products and services are designed, manufactured and delivered and the service in the field contribute to adaptation to use. Therefore, the search for quality is considered on two levels:
- the mission of the company as a whole is to achieve a high quality of design; ythe mission of each department in the company is to achieve high quality compliance.
Juran's recommendations focus on three main quality processes, called the Quality Trilogy:
- quality planning, the process of preparing to meet quality objectives, charity control, the process of meeting quality objectives during operations, and quality improvement, the process of achieving unprecedented levels of performance.
Juran's quality trilogy (Source: Miranda, p.36)
At the time he proposed this structure, few companies were involved in significant planning or improvement activities. Therefore, Juran promoted a significant cultural change in the way of thinking of the administration.
Quality planning begins with identifying customers, both internal and external; determine your needs; translate customer needs into specifications; develop product characteristics that meet those needs, and develop the processes capable of producing the product or providing the service. He wanted employees to know who uses his products, whether it be in the next department or in another organization. Thus, quality goals are established to meet the needs of customers and suppliers alike at a minimum combined cost. Then, the process by which a product is obtained must be designed in order to satisfy customer needs and meet quality goals under current operating conditions.Strategic planning for quality (similar to the company's financial planning process) determines short- and long-term goals, sets priorities, compares results with previous plans, AND combines plans with other corporate strategic objectives.
Quality control requires determining what is to be controlled, establishing the units of measurement to objectively evaluate information, setting performance standards, measuring actual performance, interpreting the difference between actual performance and standards, and taking action. as for the difference.
Specified a detailed program for quality improvement, in this type of program you have to prove that improvement is necessary, identify specific improvement projects, organize support for projects, diagnose causes, provide remedies for causes, test that remedies are effective under current operating conditions and offer control in order to preserve improvements. Juran's approach is reflected in the practices of a wide variety of organizations today.
The focus on top management commitment, the need for improvement, the use of quality control techniques and the importance of training are central to his philosophy. According to Juran: "Fear can bring out the best in people."
Juran was the first to apply the Pareto principle to improve quality, distinguishing the few but vital problems from the many but trivial (unimportant). He differentiated between sporadic problems and chronic problems. Sporadic ones are dramatic and should receive immediate attention, while chronic ones occur over a long period. It is on these that a process of continuous improvement must focus and on which the management must play a prominent role.
Here is a short video summary with Mr. Juran's contributions to quality management.
Bibliography
- Butman, John. They swear: A lifetime of influence. John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Evans, James Robert and Lindsay William M., Administration and Quality Control, Cengage Learning Editores, 2008. Miranda González JF et al., Introduction to Quality Management, Delta Publications, 2007.
