ISO 8402-1986 standard defines quality as "the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs."
A more concrete definition brings it down to earth: If an automobile company finds a defect in one of their cars and makes a product recall, customer reliability and therefore production will decrease because trust will be lost in the car's quality.
Using this analogy, if an airline flight is cancelled or frequently delayed, passenger loyalty will shrink, trust will be lost. Sounds logical, but it doesn't seem it is as simple as it may look like.
We use the word quality as an abstract, subjective attribute to describe services we think to be appealing to our customers. This appeal is reflected in the price, flight punctuality, care, and relationship.
However, delivering such services is a completely different thing - turning the abstract into reality often becomes an insurmountable obstacle.
At the core of this problem are the conflicting interpretations of quality because it cannot be measured in a conventional way. It remains abstract to the decision makers, letting related problems becoming a hidden loss generator.
Despite the fact that quality is the key to long term success, current management practices and tools are not designed and organised to diagnose the root causes of quality related problems, nor to measure their impact on overall performance.
Embracing technique and tools that bring together elements of quality, cost, and revenue to improve decision can create an inimitable competitive advantage.
For some ideas visit astuteaviation.com.
