AnalysisonBuildingupEnterprise’sQualityCulture

陈凡

【摘要】企业质量文化是保持企业持续繁荣的关键因素。它是在长期的生产和管理中形成的一系列的质量意识和质量观念。企业向消费者提供高质量的产品时，不仅仅需要企业质量管理系统，更需要的是建立一种至上而下的企业质量文化。本论文首先提出质量概念，说明了企业中存在质量问题的原因，分析说明质量文化的重要性，最后给出了构建企业质量文化的策略。

【关键词】企业 质量文化

The saying “Quality is the life of the enterprise” is widely accepted by enterprises. In modern society， violent competition between the enterprises is mainly shown by the competition of comprehensive strength which is closely connected with the quality competition. Therefore， the enterprise which wants to establish itself in an unassailable position in the competitive market must struggle to improve the product quality， firmly establish quality consciousness， analyze each factor affecting the product quality， find out the disadvantages and make corresponding improvement. Therefore， the quality culture is gradually penetrated into the interior of the enterprise and how to build up the enterprises quality culture becomes emergent.

1. Definition of Quality Culture

At present， the theory of enterprises quality culture is still imperfect. Many people mix it with the enterprises culture； therefore， the definitions of quality culture are not exactly uniform. There are generally two definitions about quality culture at home and abroad： quality culture is the sum of self-characteristic quality management concept， standard and behavior criterion formed in the quality management process and enterprises business process for a long term； another definition： quality culture is the sum of software （quality consciousness， quality spirit， quality behavior， quality value， quality image， etc） formed in the production and operation activity and hardware （product or service quality） provided by the enterprise.

2. Problems in Current Quality Culture

Since the reform and opening up， Chinas product quality has been greatly improved； high-quality and well-known goods emerges continuously； certain products enjoy great popularity in the domestic and foreign markets. But the problem of product quality is relatively serious and cannot be neglected. The construction of Chinas quality culture remains at the early stage and lags behind the requirement of market economy； the quality deficiency of the enterprise and weak quality consciousness of the staff and other problems become the key of restricting Chinas economic development and benefit gain， seriously cut the capacity for participating the market competition and developing the domestic and foreign markets by Chinas enterprises.

2.1 Poor Quality Consciousness of Leadership and Staff

The leadership of the enterprise emergently seeks quick success and does not pay attention to the quality of equipment selection， arrangement and debugging， material purchasing and sample production， in particular to great demand and short supply. The leadership has no regular quality management training， lacks quality consciousness and low awareness， can not establish concept of quality first， simply pursues benefit maximization and neglects the product quality management.

Under the condition of weak quality consciousness of the leadership， the quality consciousness of the staff is weaker. They lack the regular quality management training， which is inseparable from the enterprise. The leadership pursues maximal short-term profit and is unwilling to pay extra cost for the training. Moreover， the weak quality consciousness of the leadership is also transferred to the staff.

2.2 Poor Quality System in the Enterprise

A quality system is an organic integration consisting of organizations， responsibility， procedure， activity， capacity and resource to ensure the quality of products， process and service and meet stipulated （potential） requirement. It is established to realize the quality target， fulfill a contract， implement rules and laws， evaluate and provide evidence of implementing various system elements. The quality system comprises a set of specialized organizations， has manpower and materials for ensuring the quality of products or service and clearly defines the responsibility and authority of related departments and personnel. According to the system target， it can be divided into a quality management system and a quality assurance system.

Under non-contractual environment， the enterprise only needs to set up the quality management system； under the contractual environment， the enterprise should set up both. At present， many enterprises have disadvantages in the quality system.

2.3 Poor Product Process Control

The product process control is implemented in the production flow of products to meet the quality requirement. In the whole process， every stage and every procedure should be strictly controlled. The product process control directly determines the product quality. In the enterprise， the production process is standardized and institutionalized as the technical equipment and labor resource are insufficient and the production process does not reach an optimal state. As no scientific and standard production norm and system are formed and everyone has different experience and consciousness， the products have low qualified rate， large quality fluctuation and poor stability. In the current enterprises， poor product process control is caused because of incomplete technological information， nonstrict technological state control and poor detection flow of product quality. The enterprise mainly pays attention on the basic use value of the product， ignoring the flaw of product quality. The detection of product quality is used for analyzing and evaluating the product quality. Many enterprises care less on quality detection； they have no detection equipment and do not develop entrusted inspection. Even some enterprises have the detection equipment， the perfection ratio of the equipment is very low and the precision of the equipment can not meet the requirement of quality detection.

2.4 Lack of Internal and External Quality Monitoring

At present， the enterprises have weak monitoring consciousness that the monitoring between the same levels is weak and the monitoring between the leader-member levels is far. The monitoring subject does not give full play to ones responsibility and does not want to offend others and turns a blind eye to the mistakes； the monitoring object has poor monitoring consciousness to receive the monitoring； and he even vex， prevent and avoid monitoring inside. The external monitoring mainly comes from the society and some specialized mechanisms of the state. With the development of the total quality management and the requirement of enterprises product quality， the external and internal quality monitoring is gradually deepened； the state， the industry and the supervision department of the enterprise strengthen dynamism and depth of the quality monitoring. In consideration of self benefits and responsibility to the state and customers， the enterprise should correspondingly develop the internal quality monitoring. At present， Chinese quality monitoring has diverse forms： sampling quality supervision， evaluation quality supervision and arbitration quality supervision.

3. Necessity for Building up Enterprises Quality Culture

3.1 Quality Culture is the Life of Enterprises

Since the reform and opening up， our live has been dramatically changed. Skyscrapers， traffic， rapid and convenient communication， bright and spacious supermarkets and modern factory enrich our lives. With continuous improvement of living standard， the product quality is also closely related to our lives， thereby directly influencing our living quality.

Todays world is open and overwhelming. Our enterprises started from scratch and have been strengthened from small to large and from weak to strong， In order to forge ahead in the competition and become invincible， what should be relied on？ Excellent product quality， definitely.

If water is the source of life， the quality is the life of the enterprise. After China entered WTO， the quality became the core of the survival of the enterprise. Quality is flexible for the enterprise； but it is a standard， commitment， image， belief， system， characteristic， innovation and responsibility. The quality is the life of the enterprise， consumer and even society.

3.2 Quality Culture Facilitates Long-term Brand Strategy

The creation of the enterprises brand is the dream of many enterprises. Once their own brands are established in the market， their core competitiveness and social position are strengthened. If we say the quality culture is the life of the enterprises， the brand culture is the soul of the enterprise. The brand is the carrier of the enterprises quality culture and embodies the concept， consciousness， conduct norm and team style penetrated in the whole process of brand management. Excellent quality culture has enterprises specific spirit to excite the brand consciousness of the staff， gradually form strong centripetal force and further pull all the staff together to build the brand. In addition， the enterprise makes the staff have more recognition on the enterprises name. Identifier， scale and value， also creates scientific and standard management systems and healthy internal environment and takes measures to motivate the enterprises vitality and strengthen the brand competition through concepts， markets and human resource innovation， thereby providing continuous power for the brand growth.

The quality culture and the brand strategy are closely linked and developed together. The excellent quality culture is favorable for the internal motivation mechanism for creating the enterprises brand， strengthening the cohesion and centripetal force of the enterprise and coordinating the relation between the departments.

3.3 Quality Culture Fully Improves Integrated Competitiveness of Enterprises

Core competitiveness is super capability which is particular to the enterprise and can continuously develop new products， expand the market and reduce cost in the developing process to determine the extent and depth of the enterprises diversified operations and maintain the long-term competition advantages. Definitely， the enterprises core competitiveness is formed in the long-term development， contained inside the enterprise， brings values to the enterprise and supports the previous， current and further competitive advantages， wherein the quality competitiveness is the main component of the enterprises competitiveness； it refers to the core capability of excellent quality which has more charming and higher reputation and values than that of other competitors； and it is represented in the following three aspects： （1） through unique capability， it brings special benefits and particular skills and technology； （2） through integrating the enterprises advantageous resources， it better meets the customer requirement and does not allow the competitor to implant； （3） through comprehensively utilizing the unique capability and advantageous resources of the enterprise， it can create personalized products and service which are difficult to simulate by the competitors so as to win the customers by excellent quality.

4. Approaches to Build up Quality Culture

4.1 Building up Quality Culture by Total Customer Satisfaction （TCS）

In modern society， the competition between the states is gradually replaced by competition between the enterprises， especially products and service. Quality culture is no longer luxury， which should be possessed by any product and service. Therefore， the establishment of a total customer satisfaction （TCS） strategy becomes important and emergent for the enterprises to build up the quality culture. Whether the customer is satisfied or not after purchasing a product depends on the difference between the performance actually felt and the expectation； if the performance is less than the expectation， the customer will feel unsatisfied； otherwise， the customer will be very content. The forming of the customers expectation depends on the prior purchasing experience of the customer， the influence of friends and colleagues and information and commitment of marketers and competitors. The performance meeting the requirement is product （service） value or actual benefits for customers through marketing and information transmission of the enterprises quality culture. It is the enterprises expectation and the feeling of purchasing and using the product. Only if it is highly satisfied， the customers loyalty to the enterprise and its brand can be effectively cultivated.

There are the following steps for building up customer-first quality culture. Firstly， the enterprise should periodically investigate a consumer market to know customer requirement， know the using environment of products and analyze the market at any moment to acquire the potential requirement of customers； consensus on quality definition should be achieved between the enterprises leaders and the staff； when allocating the task to the subordinate， the superior should determine the quality requirement. Secondly， good quality lies in active operation and advanced prevention， rather than inspection. The inspection process is to pick out defected products from good ones after the production process； the inspection is the afterwards guard and can not produce quality. In order to create excellent quality， the enterprise must have main operation inspirit and establish excellent quality concept which is used for embodying customer value， pursuing customer satisfaction and loyalty， reducing resource cost， error and default and resisting risk. The active operation of quality doesnt abandon excellent tradition “prevention first”； the prevention occurs in the process designing stage comprising communication， planning， validation and elimination of each incongruent sub process.

4.2 Building up Quality Culture by using Six Sigma and Zero Defect Management as Guarantee

Six Sigma management attaches importance to product and service quality and process improvement. The core of Six Sigma is to seek zero defect products， prevent product responsibility risk， reduce cost， improve productivity and market share and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Six Sigma generates great effect on enterprises cultural construction or improvement.

Zero defect was put forward by Philip B. Crosby， a global quality management master and father of zero defect in 1960s. It is implemented in America and then transmitted to Japan. As Chinese enterprises pay more and more attention to quality management， the zero defect concept is recognized by the management level of the enterprises； and they spare no efforts to drive the recreation of intellectual modes and the reform of quality culture.

How to implant the Six Sigma and zero defect management into the enterprise？ firstly， building up an organization for implementing Six Sigma and zero defect management： in the enterprise， each assignment needs to be guaranteed by an organization； the organization can motivate and organize all the staff to positively devote to the Six Sigma and zero defect management； the organization can also analyze the staffs reasonable suggestions and hold experience communication； secondly， determining a target of Six Sigma and zero defect management： the organization should determine the specific requirements that the group or individual must achieve in certain period； the requirement comprises the determination of a target project， evaluation standard and target values. In the implementation process， the progress of the target should be timely published； meanwhile， the organization should take care the psychology of the group or individuals； thirdly， implementing performance evaluation： whether the target determined by the group is achieved or not is judged by the group； therefore， the responsibility and authority of the group should be defined； fourthly， establishing a corresponding resolution institute： the team workers can point out the errors caused by non-subjective factors， such as problems of equipment， tools and drawings； they can also attach some relevant improvement proposals for reference.

Conclusion

The enterprises quality culture as the product of economic development in modern market is valuable and intangible assets. At present， the competition among the enterprises has been deepened into the cultural level. The enterprise seeks existence and success via quality. The enterprise must improve the quality culture consciousness of the staff internally and establish its own reputation and image based on quality externally in order to position its own advantages in competition. Therefore， it is necessary for the enterprise to establish its own quality culture and penetrate the quality culture into the enterprise everywhere. The quality culture establishment aims at converting traditional quality management mode into modern quality management mode， afterward checkup into beforehand prevention and professional quality monitoring management into people monitoring and self-management. Through the development of quality culture establishment， the staff receives deep quality culture education to further improve the quality consciousness and effectively operate the quality management system in the quality culture environment. The enterprise should further perfect various quality management regulation and institutes to make quality culture executable and feasible.

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