This updated, paperback edition describes procedures that have been proven to significantly increase productivity, profitability and morale. It is based on the author's hands-on experience implementing a quality programme at The Paul Revere Insurance Company. This approach successfully combines the concepts of quality teams and value analysis, encouraging participation and co-operation at all levels of personnel and providing public recognition for achievement. The description of the process at Paul Revere details not only how the plan works but, more importantly, why. Progressive yet practical, with new information on quality values, this book can be adapted to meet the needs of organizations in any setting, from service or manufacturing industries to academia or community groups.
A very pragmatic model for defining a quality process.Even after more than a decade, the process for defining, initiating, and maintaining a quality process that is described in this book remains revolutionary -- yet wonderfully pragmatic. Quality is not nuclear science; it is formalized common sense that begins with senior management (a) wanting to make more money and (b) being willing to accept the idea that the personnel department has been hiring adults.
The key characteristics of the quality process described in this book are the fact that every single person on the payroll was actually, formally, honest-to-gosh, involved in the continual improvement of every aspect of the organization -- and the fact that it all happened very quickly. From the time (May 1983) that the president of the company said, "Let's do this quality thing," until the time the process was launched (January 1984) was only eight months. On January 12, 1984, there were no Quality Teams at the Paul Revere Insurance Company. The next day (yes, it was Friday the 13th), there were 125 functioning teams; every person was on at least one team; and bottom-line savings were being put in place.
Quality is not easy, it is not immediate, and it is not free. But it is very possible, it can be done far more quickly than any large consulting firm will tell you, and it is the best possible investment a firm can make.
Commit to Quality offers both a blueprint for action and the theoretical underpinning.
