Philip Crosby is another major contributor to the quality movement.

In 1979, he left ITT (International Telephone and Telegraph) and wrote his book, Quality is Free, in which he argues that dollars spent on quality and the attention paid to it always return greater benefits than the costs expended on them. Whereas Deming and Juran emphasized the sacrifice required for a quality commitment, Crosby takes a less philosophical and more practical approach, asserting instead that high quality is relatively easy and inexpensive in the long run. Crosby is the only American quality expert without a doctorate. He is responsible for the zero defects program, which emphasizes doing it right the first time, (DIRFT) with 100 percent acceptable output. Unlike Deming and Juran, Crosby argues that quality is always cost effective. Like Deming and Juran, Crosby does not place the blame on workers, but on management. Crosby also developed a 14-point program, which is again more practical than philosophical. It provides managers with actual concepts that can help them manage productivity and quality. His program is built around four Absolutes of Quality Management: 1. Quality must be viewed as conformance to specifications. If a product meets design specifications, then it is a high-quality product. 2. Quality should be achieved through the prevention of defects rather than inspection after the production process is complete. According to Crosby, the traditional quality control approach taken by American firms is not cost effective. Instead, production workers should be granted the authority and responsibility to ensure that quality goods or services are produced at every step of the process. 3. Managers need to demonstrate that a higher standard of performance can lead to perfectionto zero defects. Crosby believed that the company goal should be zero defects. 4. Quality should be measured by the price of nonconformity. Crosby contends that the costs associated with achieving quality should be part of a company's financial system. Morever, Crosby proposed management fourteen steps to improvement: 1. Make it clear that management is committed to quality. [Key: Management Commitment]. 2. Form quality improvement teams with representatives from each department [Key : Quality Improvement]. 3. Determine where current and potential quality problems lie [Key : Quality Measurement].

4. Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a management tool. [Key : Cost of Quality] 5. Raise the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees. [Key : Quality awareness]. 6. Take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps [Key : Corrective action] 7. Establish a committee for the zero defects programme. [Key : Zero Defect Planning]

8. Train supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement program. [Key : Supervisor training]. 9. Hold a zero defects day to let all employees realize that there has been a change. [Key : ZD day] 10. Encourage individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their groups. [Key : Goal setting] 11. Encourage employees to communicate to management the obstacles they face in attaining their improvement goals. [Key : Error-Cause removal]. 12. 13. 14. Recognize and appreciate those who participate. [Key : Recognition] Establish quality councils to communicate on a regular basis. [Key Quality Councils] Do it all over again to emphasize that the quality improvement program never ends.