I was perusing a study done by Forbes Insight and ASQ on "The Power of Quality." What caught my eye was the significant difference between the perception of senior executives versus quality professionals.
For the question "Most Vexing Yet-to-be Resolved or Ongoing Quality Issues" senior execs had "need for greater data quality" and "employee competence" at the top, while quality professionals ranked "’poor’ internal processes" and "quality from suppliers" as tops.
So where are quality professionals putting their efforts? Where should they be putting them? What accounts for the differences in perception, and how is this impacting progress?
A conclusion of the study is that respondents agree there is a connection between success of quality initiatives and success of the organization. What it didn’t state is how strong that link is, and what other initiatives might be deemed more significant, if any.
It’s all about focusing on the right things!