“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention,sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it presents the wise choice of many alternatives.” - Willa A. Foster

During a stroll through a walkway in Switzerland, already amazed

by the display of quality in all walks of human life, I happened to

look at the railing on both sides. Standing there for years bearing all

the vagaries of climate, the railing was a monument to the quality

culture of that country. Hundreds of metres of railing without even

an inch of its coating peeling off and the plated bolts anchoring

them shining as if fresh from a factory, were telling of the quality

standards. Perhaps, a conviction exists there to run all the affairs in

a quality way only. Definitely, quality adds to cost initially to any

product or service, but when it comes to Total Cost of

Ownership(TCO), the benefits unfold. Expenses on repeated service

calls, customer dissatisfaction affecting further businesses and a host

of such other negatives will ultimately show the high price one would

pay for ignoring quality.

We always have reasons to tell why it is not practicable to maintain

high quality standards in a large country like India with a population

of over a billion, compared to places like Switzerland with just 7

million population. But, for them ‘Quality is not an act. It is a habit’, as

said by Aristotle, Greek philosopher.

In India too, we are seeing a welcome move towards quality, as in

automobile sector, consumer wares etc. There is still a long way to go

to catch up with the countries that are enjoying fruits of quality. It is

not known if they all achieved it through a nationwide quality drive

or the modern TQM programmes. Most likely, a societal commitment

to quality would have done the job. Of course, it requires an urgent

change in our mindset, including sacrifices in initial

stages. It is time, if not late, to join the quality league.

Finally, some words of wisdom:

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

- Henry Ford