Construction Quality Management

Principles and Practice

Tim Howarth, David Greenwood

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317191391
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

Quality management is essential for facilitating the competitiveness of modern day commercial organisations. Excellence in quality management is a requisite for construction organisations who seek to remain competitive and successful. The challenges presented by competitive construction markets and large projects that are dynamic and complex necessitate the adoption and application of quality management approaches.

This new edition of Construction Quality Management provides a comprehensive evaluation of quality management systems and tools. Their effectiveness in achieving project objectives is explored, as well as applications in corporate performance enhancement. Both the strategic and operational dimensions of quality assurance are addressed by focusing on providing models of best practice.

The reader is supported throughout by concise and clear explanations and with self-assessment questions. Practical case study examples show how various evaluative-based quality management systems and tools have been applied. Subjects covered include:

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• business objectives – the stakeholder satisfaction methodology

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• organisational culture and Health and Safety

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• quality philosophy

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• evaluation of organisational performance

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• continuous quality improvement and development of a learning organisation.

New chapters consider the influence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on quality management. The text should be of interest to construction industry senior managers, practicing professionals and academics. It is also an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of construction management, project management and business management courses.

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An Overview of Key Theorists and Quality Philosophy

Introduction

This chapter presents a concise introduction to key theories and people that have contributed significantly to the development of the concepts and practices of quality management in modern-day organisations.

Various definitions and notions of quality are presented and the development of quality management practice in modern-day organisations is briefly outlined. The contributions of key proponents, theorists and pioneers of quality management are concisely outlined. Finally, the principles and philosophy of Total Quality Management (TQM) are explored and the advantages and problematic issues associated with implementing TQM within a commercial context are identified.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this chapter the reader will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• Differing definitions, notions and classifications of ‘quality’.
• The contribution of seven key theorists to the development of quality within organisations.
• Key quality theories that inform and underpin the development and implementation of quality management approaches in modern-day organisations.
• Total Quality Management (TQM) and the advocated advantages and problematic issues associated with implementing TQM within a modern-day commercial context.

Defining quality

‘Quality’ is a word that is regularly applied and expressed within a great variety of contexts. In this modern-day commercial society, it is common to see advertisements that hold claims such as: ‘premium quality’, ‘purveyors of quality’, ‘where quality comes first’, ‘superior quality’, ‘only the best quality materials’, ‘the place where quality counts’ and so on.

It is difficult to contest that an association with the term ‘quality’ offers anything other than positive connotations. To be readily associated and affiliated with ‘quality’ and the notion of ‘quality’ is an aspiration of many modern-day organisations. Whilst being closely associated with ‘quality’ is entirely desirable to commercial organisations, establishing just what ‘quality’ means and what the quest to ‘achieve quality’ entails can be a matter open to some debate.

In a search for a definition of ‘quality’, Reeves and Bednar (1994) point out that

the definition of quality has yielded inconsistent results.… [R]egardless of the time period or context in which quality is examined, the concept has had multiple and often muddled definitions and has been used to describe a wide variety of phenomena. Continued inquiry and research about quality and quality related issues must be built upon a thorough understanding of differing definitions of the construct.

When considering ‘quality’ as a term or concept it soon becomes apparent that it means many different things to many different people. There is quite clearly no one singular, universally accepted definition of ‘quality’. The idea or concept of ‘quality’ is one that is multi-faceted. A survey of the ‘definitions of quality’ highlights this and is presented in Table 1.1. This survey identifies a range of suggested definitions and alternatives that serve to assist understanding, use and articulation of the term ‘quality’ within public and private sector organisations.

It is easy to identify from Table 1.1 that there is no one singular, universally accepted definition of ‘quality’. Indeed attempts to research and define quality within the commercial and organisational contexts of economics, manufacturing, the service industries and strategic and operations management have resulted in, as Garvin (1988) points out, a “host of competing perspectives each based on a different analytical framework, and employing its own terminology”.

Whilst it can be recognised that definitions of quality are differing, they are not necessarily conflicting or contradictory. Rather, the diversity of definitions underlines the fact that quality is viewed in various ways. This diversity of views and definitions can be problematic, though – it can result in confused understanding, articulation and application of the quality concept within public and private sector organisations.

Classification of both the perspectives from which quality is viewed and the differing definitions of quality serves to clarify understanding regarding the quality concept. Such classification also serves to underpin and inform both communication and quality management practice. The following section offers an attempt at classifying quality definitions and serves to provide some meaning and structure to the diverse variety of quality definitions.

Table 1.1 Definitions of quality

Definition of quality — a thing is said to have the positive attribute of conformance to specified standards	Shewhart (1931)
Quality is a customer determination which is based on the customer’s actual experience with the product or service, measured against his or her requirements — stated or unstated, conscious or merely sensed, technically operational or entirely subjective and always representing a moving target in a competitive market Conformance to requirements	Feigenbaum (1961)
	Crosby (1979)
Quality is (1) product performance which results in customer satisfaction (2) freedom from product deficiencies, which avoids customer dissatisfaction	Juran (1988)
Quality: the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to meet a stated or implied need	ISO 8402-1986, “Quality Vocabulary”
Quality is anything which can be improved	Masaaki (1986)
Quality is the loss a product causes to society after being shipped	Taguchi (1986)
Quality is the total composite product and service characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacture and maintenance through which the product in use will meet the expectations of the customer	Feigenbaum (1951)
Good quality means a predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at a low cost with a quality suited to the market	Deming (1986)
Fitness for use	Juran (1988)
Quality is the extent to which the customer or users believe the product or service surpasses their needs and expectations	Gitlow et al. (1989)

Classifying the ways of looking at quality

The quality of a product or service can be viewed in purely objective or subjective terms, or in a manner that utilises both objective and subjective evaluation together. Table 1.2 illustrates the classification of objective and subjective ways of viewing quality.

A research study undertaken by David Garvin (1986) drew upon surveys of ‘first-line supervisors’ in the USA and Japan and compared practices and attitudes concerning quality. Within this study Garvin identifies five distinct classifications for quality definitions. These five classifications are identified and expanded within Table 1.3.

Further to these classifications Figure 1.1 illustrates Zhang’s (2001) ‘map of quality perspectives’. This brings together Garvin’s five classifications of quality definitions and the objective and subjective measurement of quality. In Figure 1.1 Zhang considers each of Garvin’s five quality definition classifications in terms of:

• the extent of the objective-subjective determination of each classification of quality definition; and
• the location of where each quality definition classification is determined (internal or external to and organisation).

Table 1.2 Objective and subjective classifications of quality

Objective quality	Subjective quality
Here the concept of quality is grounded within the precept that the characteristics of a product or service are tangibly measurable and assessable in absolute terms such as size, design conformance, durability and performance.	Here the concept of quality is grounded in the perceived ability of a product or service to satisfy various needs and aspirations. Here each individual’s perceptions can vary regarding the very same product or service.

Table 1.3 Garvin’s five classifications of quality definitions

1	Transcendental definition of quality	Quality is viewed from a perspective of‘abstract properties‘, evaluated with innate knowledge gained from experience. In other words, “I can tell quality when I see it”. Within this context, the determination of quality is subjective and is based upon ‘the view of an individual’, this view being developed with experience.
2	Product–based definition of quality	Quality is viewed from a perspective of‘desired attributes’. In this context, the prescribed features of a product, including its performance, serve to define its quality.
3	User–based definition of quality	Quality is viewed from a perspective of‘client/customer satisfaction’. In other words, quality relates to the extent to which client/customer needs and wants are satisfied by the ‘fitness for purpose’ of the serv...