P B Crosby

Philip B. Crosby is one of the American quality gurus who rose to

international fame thanks to his teachings on quality management.
Crosby has taught thousands of company executives and is best known
in relation to the concepts of Zero Defects (ZD) and “Do it right first
time
First Absolute-- The Definition of Quality is Conformance to
Requirements, not Goodness
The definition of quality can never make any sense unless it is based on
exactly what the customer wants.. Consequently, the management has
the following three tasks to perform:
1. Establish the requirements to be met and communicate them to
the employees
2. Provide the appropriate tools and techniques and the necessary
training in them
3. Provide continuous support and encouragement

Second Absolute – The System of Quality is Prevention

In other words, prevention is better than detection or appraisal. The
secret of success is to study the process and perform some sort of risk
analysis, i.e. identify opportunities for error.

Third Absolute-- The Performance Standard is Zero Defects

Here Crosby is stating that nothing less than perfect quality has to be
the aim. Setting targets below 100 per cent is the start of a downward
spiral.
Fourth Absolute-- The Measurement of Quality is the Price of Non-
Conformance
This is how quality can become a management function and not just a
technical term that is measured for the cost consequences involved in
doing things wrong (due to rejects, reworking, warranty costs etc.).

1|Page
Crosby's Fourteen Steps for Quality Improvement
The quality improvement process is never-ending.
Step 1-- Management Commitment
Crosby's suggested form of words for the policy is-- “Perform exactly
like the requirement”. These include the following:
 Writing a treatise instead of a short statement
 Allowing for non-conformance with an Accepted Quality Level
(AQL) built into the policy
 Indicative statements on how to deviate from the policy
 A delegation of the responsibility for evaluating the policy away
from the chief executive

Step 2-- The Quality Improvement Team

As Crosby sees it, the responsibilities of the team members are the
following:
 To lay out the entire quality improvement program
 To represent their departments in the team
 To represent the team to their departments
 To carry out the decisions of the team within their own
department
 To make creative contributions to quality improvement

Step 3-- Measurement

The measurement should facilitate objective evaluation and corrective
action. Most companies have already established a quality control
department which measures reject rates.
Step 4-- The Cost of Quality
Crosby believes that quality costs need to be identified objectively,
pulled together and fed into the regular management process formally
and treated as a positive rather than a threatening item. Crosby's
components of the overall cost of quality are as follows:
 Scrap
 Rework
 Warranty
2|Page
  Service apart from regular maintenance
 Inspection labor
 Engineering changes
 Purchase order changes
 Software correction
 Consumer affairs
 Audit
 Quality control labor
 Test labor
 Acceptable equipment costs
 Other costs of doing things wrong
Step 5-- Quality Awareness
The quality awareness program is run by the improvement team with
the help of professionals’ in public relations, personnel, quality etc.
Step 6-- Corrective Action
The main purpose of corrective action should be to prevent errors or to
identify and eliminate causes of problems forever.
Step 7-- Zero Defects Planning
Crosby offers the following seven suggestions to plan a zero defects
program:
1. Get the message out through all supervisory people that there is
going to be a zero defects approach.
2. Determine what materials are needed and secure them.
3. Choose a launch that has a good fit with your company culture.
4. Spell out the functions that will be accomplished.
5. Design some system of recognition for improved performance.
6. Set up a detailed time schedule for the program and rehearse
people who will take part.
7. Identify the error-cause removal process and make plans to set it
in motion.
The theme of zero defects is to do it right the first time. It is a
performance standard.
Step 8-- Employee Education

3|Page
Crosby summarizes the entire education process in what he calls “The
Six Cs:”
 Comprehension (understanding of what is necessary,
abandonment of the old way of thinking and of outdated
practices)
 Commitment (management-led dedication to cultural change)
 Competence (methodical and scientific implementation of the
improvement process)
 Communication (complete cooperation throughout the
production process, including suppliers and customers)
 Correction (elimination of all causes of problems and
prevention of new ones arising)
 Continuance (never-ending effort for improvement)

Step 9-- Zero Defects Day

Another point of difference with Deming's teachings is the matter of
zero defects day. Crosby recommends that a ZD day is planned to
reward serious efforts. Step 10-- Goal Setting
Goal setting is the immediate consequence of measurement. There is no
point in measuring something unless there is a target to be met. When it
comes to quality, the ultimate goal is that of zero defects.
Step 10 – Goal Setting
Crosby advices to involve everyone in the goal setting process. He
suggests trying standardized and simple schedules and work processes
so that everyone can understand them.

 Action. During meetings with employees, each supervisor

requests they establish the goals they would like to strive for.
Usually, there should be30-, 60- and 90-day goals. All should be
specific and measurable.
 Accomplishment. This phase helps people learn to think in
terms of meeting goals and accomplishing specific tasks as a
team.

4|Page
Step 11-- Error-Cause Removal
One of Crosby's suggestions here is to set up a suggestion box into
which workers can pop a one page error-cause removal form.
1. If someone decides to do nothing about an error-cause removal
form, he or she should clear this decision with at least one but
preferably two levels of supervision.
Step 12-- Recognition
Crosby considers recognition as a necessary reference point and as a
guideline to help the improvement efforts in the right direction.
Step 13-- Quality Council
All quality professionals can be brought together in one group under the
name of the quality council. These will be the people who will define
the mission, vision, values and policies necessary for managing the
improvement process.
Step 14-- Do it All Over Again
This step indicates to do it all over again to emphasize that quality
programs never end and that they are indeed a journey not a destination.
This is shown in Crosby’s triangle.

Figure 1: Crosby’s Triangle

Crosby’s Diagnosis of a Troubled Company
Crosby recognizes interrelated symptoms which characterize a company
with a poor track record in the quality improvement effort, the most
obvious of which are as follows:
1. The improvement effort is aimed at the lower level of the
organization. It is as though senior management should not be
responsible for and are not serious about quality.

5|Page
 2. The effort is called a program rather than a process. There is an
apparent management’s non-involvement in the quality effort.

Zero Defects Program

The philosophy behind “Zero Defects” is to negate the commonly held
view that “to err is human.” Instead, ZD philosophy believes in total
perfection or “to do the job right the first time.”
Errors or defects are caused by two factors-- lack of knowledge and
lack of attention. While the former factor can be taken care of by
imparting more knowledge, the latter is an attitudinal problem.

Modern Worker vs. Traditional Worker

The main theme behind zero defects is that the worker should be
positively motivated to achieve as much perfection in his job as
possible. The modern worker, as opposed to the traditional worker, is
alienated with the product, i.e. he has little pride in his work. The mass
production of goods may be one of the causes responsible for this.
Means for Motivation
Motivation is achieved through various means-- posters, publicity,
voluntary pledges by workers, visits of customers to the plant etc.
Organization of the ZD Program
The zero defects program should be a separate activity coordinated
probably by an administrator with the help of a number of zero defects
representatives working in various functional areas and manufacturing
departments of the company.
Removal of Errors
The zero defect administrator with the help of others might sift through
these suggestions and implement only a few. But it is necessary that
he/she give positive recognition to all the workers who have shown
interest in the zero defects program.

Criticism of the ZD Program

The program is, therefore, basically a motivational program where the
workers are made more responsible, more achievement-oriented and

6|Page
more proud of their work. Such apprehensions are not warranted,
provided:
1. The management (including the top management) is itself not
demotivated toward ZD.
2. All the important precautions regarding implementing the zero
defects program are properly taken care of.

7|Page