Cost of quality distribution and quality system maturity: An exploratory study

Quality Congress. ASQ's___annual Quality Congress, January, 2002 by Cooper, Susan; Quarles, Ross; Sower, Victor E

KEY WORDS: accounting, costs, management, survey

SUMMARY

This study examines the relationship between the distribution of quality costs and the level of maturity of an organization's quality system using a survey of a sample of members of the Quality Management Division of the American Society for Quality. The study also investigates why more organizations do not systematically track quality costs.

BACKGROUND

ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9004-2000 (ASQ, 2000, p. 6) suggests financial measurement as an appropriate way to assess "the organization's performance in order to determine whether planned objectives have been achieved." Reporting quality system activities and effectiveness in financial terms is an increasingly important approach to linking

continual improvement...