What do you understand from the terms Quality, Value and Success?
What is the relationship between them?
Please cite examples from real life.
For reference, please visit: Ethics is the Key to Success & Happiness
26 thoughts on “Quality, Value and Success”
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The common theme of all our posts seem to be that quality and value are inter-twined together (including my own post) and they alone result in success. But, I can think of one or two scenarios in which value alone in the absence of quality has been successful at least for a certain time period. If you’re wondering if it’s possible for value to be present without quality – I’m thinking about cheap items manufactured in the East for example that are sold here for much lower than the price of equivalent american products, but are lacking in the same standards of quality, but is still successfully selling among consumers simply because of market price!
Anyone thinking Walmart yet? OK, that might not be fair to them as it’s not a defenitive evaluation of the company, but at least some of the products sold there can fall in that category like the $17 toaster oven I bought from there a couple of days ago that gives me a LOT of value but is not really a quality product.
I used to work for Convergys and my job was to provide technical support for US/CANADA Microsoft product users.
My main gola was to solve their issues and make sure that their belief in Microsoft remained intact and they get their faith on the products. They buy stuff for the sheer value and quality it has with it. That’s why Microsoft is the benchmark it is now.
In terms of a product Quality and value are directly propotional to each other.Sucess of a product depends on the quality and value attached to it.If the quality and value do not meet the required standard for a product then the product will not be sucessfull.The goal of any product is to not only meet the standards that has been set,but also exceed the standards that has been set.On reaching this goal,the value for the product is mostly related to the worth of the specific product.Value in terms of money,service,quicker application,easy to understand,managing customer service..etc.Sucess of the product depends on the quality and the value attached to it.
Quality, value and success are important.
Industires spend hundered thousands of dollars to improve their qualityl.
For example, ISO 9000 and 14000 are expensive to achieved by any industries.
These certification provide value to industries, as well as success.
When I think of the word quality I generally think of it in terms of a producer-consumer context, whether what was produced is a product or a service. As a consumer, when I make the decision to purchase a product I generally want to buy something that I consider to have a high degree of quality. The problem with trying to define “quality” is that there is a certain degree of subjectivity to it. What I consider a quality product may in fact not be in the eyes of another consumer. I think of quality in much the same way as one of my favorite authors, Robert Pirsig. In his book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, Pirsig states that quality is “…the result of care” [1]. I would say that a product is a quality product if it does the job well (hopefully exceeding my expectations), is durable, and generally feels as though there was a lot of attention to detail when the product was being manufactured.
Value is a slippery concept. In general when I think of value I think of utility, or what a particular product or service has to offer. For example, I am a relatively new homeowner and find myself making repairs on a fairly regular basis. These repairs require that I have certain tools, for example a circular saw. There are a lot of circular saws to choose from at Home Depot, some very expensive, some very cheap, and still more that are right in the middle. As much as I would like to have the top of the line models I’m not a contractor and thus don’t have the need. All I need is a basic circular saw that is versatile enough to do what I need it to do for the various project I have around the house. That being said, I also wanted to steer clear of the cheapest models because even though they would function as needed I felt that they wouldn’t hold up over time – they were of inferior quality. I made my selection from the saws that were right in the middle – they represented the right combination of quality, price, and functionality.
It’s hard to define quality without referring to value. Likewise it’s hard to define value without referring to quality. In my opinion a product or service is of value when it not only meets or exceeds certain consumer expectations of quality but also when it meets or exceeds the consumer’s needs. There is also the issue of price and how that relates to or effects both quality and value. Let’s take my circular saw example again. If that saw, which was right in the middle price-wise, happened to be twice as much I would say that it offered little value when compared to the other saws in that higher price range as the other saws were much better quality and had several extra features. In my mind price definitely plays a part in putting a value on a product or service.
[1] Pirsig, Robert M. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry into Values. New York, N.Y
As a quality assurance technician in the beverage plant, I deal with basic quality issues and standards every night. The goal for our department is to assure that we provide the best products, which meet or exceed our customers’ expectations. That is our goal for providing quality to our products. Generally, in the industrial world, high focus on quality is something that separates you from your competition. In order to compete successfully, you must have high quality standards not just for your suppliers, but also for your employees and their performance. High quality product naturally adds value to your business. And that leads to success for everybody involved. The reason why we are in business is to be successful = make money.
But in general, there is not an easy way to explain what value really is. Value theory is a concept concerned with the value or worth of people or things. My personal value standards differ from yours. But there are certain values, like ethical values that the majority of us have in common.
I generally don’t equate success with any type of monetary or financial gain. It would seem, or one would at least hope, that successful businesses arise from an individual’s pursuit to fulfill a vision and that any and all financial gains the business enjoys along the way are a result of the business’ purposeful decision making. I think businesses that equate success with how much money is made will ultimately fail. The current crisis on Wall Street is a perfect illustration of this (in my humble opinion).
The famous economist Milton Friedman believes that the primary role of business is to look after shareholders. Businesses do indeed have a responsibility to shareholders but not at the expense of operating ethically and purposefully. Financial gain can only come from striving to provide both value and quality.
Josh, I agree with your last paragraph completely! I still think that quality = success = monetary gain. It all goes hand in hand.