The Quality Improvement Handbook

Citation

Narasimhan, K. (2005), "The Quality Improvement Handbook", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 5, pp. 489-490. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780510615997

The editors have a combined experience of over 100 years in the field of organization al improvement. The first two authors are, respectively, the Chair and Past Chair of the Quality Management Division (QMD) of the American Society of Quality and the last author has co‐edited the second edition of The Certified Quality Manager Handbook.

This handbook is sponsored by QMD and is organized, in authors' words “to parallel the structure of the ASQ Certified Quality Improvement Associate Body of Knowledge” (p. ix). The book covers the basics of three important areas (quality, teamwork, and continuous improvement) for effective and efficient working of a general workplace. The book comprises five chapters and four appendices grouped into four parts.

Part 1 focuses on basics of “quality” in two chapters. The first chapter briefly deals with the definitions of quality terms, concepts and principles, after a short review of the history of quality movement. The second chapter very briefly covers benefits of quality to various stakeholders and various quality Gurus' philosophies, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the ISO 9000 Quality model.

Chapter 3 forms Part 2 and deals with the various aspects of team structure and function in three sections. The first section aids to differentiate six types of teams (natural, improvement, cross‐functional, project, self‐directed, and virtual) and understand when each is used. The second section helps to understand the roles and responsibilities of team members, and attributes of good role performance. The final section deals with the formation of teams, team conflict, and how a team leader can become an effective, quality driven coach by avoiding some pitfalls and perils.

Part 3 comprising two chapters is the longest part (72 pages). The chapters, respectively, deal with continuous improvement concepts and tools and improving customer‐supplier relationships. First, the differences between incremental (based on Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act cycle) and breakthrough improvement are explained; then a 14‐step improvement process is explained in some depth. Finally, quality improvement tools (both the basic seven tools and the seven new or advanced tools) are explained with examples. Also touched upon are the concepts of cost of quality, force‐field analysis, and resource allocation matrix. The chapter on customer‐supplier relationships explains the differences between internal and external customers, effect of treatment of internal customers on that of external customers, ways of obtaining customer and supplier feedback and their importance.

Part 4 is made up of four Appendices. Appendix A is a list of the ASQ Certified Improvement Associate Body of Knowledge. The number of questions that will be asked about each major topic and the maximum cognitive level (based on Bloom's Taxonomy) to which the questions may be asked are highlighted. Appendix B is a listing of ASQ Code of Ethics. Quality Glossary forms Appendix C and Appendix D is a list of books for additional reading.

The book is full of concise information and the chapters commence with a summary of how the chapter helps the reader and the topics covered. The chapters conclude with End Notes and Additional Readings. The book includes a Supplement Section (Appendix E) that contains 100 sample test questions, answers and cross‐references. This is a useful book for anyone interested in Quality Management.