Definitions The common element of the business definitions is that the quality of a product or service refers to the perception

of the degree to which the product or service meets the customer's expectations. Quality has no specific meaning unless related to a specific function and/or object. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute. Quality can be defined as the ability to achieve target operational goals. The ISO 8402-94 standard defines quality as: The set of characteristics of an entity that give that entity the ability to satisfy expressed and implicit needs. Quality in different areas of society Area Airlines Health Care Food Services Postal Services Academia Consumer Products Insurance Military Automotive Communications Examples On-time, comfortable, low-cost service Correct diagnosis, minimum wait time, lower cost, security Good product, fast delivery, good environment fast delivery, correct delivery, cost containment Proper preparation for future, on-time knowledge delivery Properly made, defect-free, cost effective Payoff on time, reasonable cost Rapid deployment, decreased wages, no graft Defect-free Clearer, faster, cheaper service

In practice, there are two types of quality:

External quality, which corresponds to the satisfaction of clients. Achieving external quality requires providing a product or services that meet client expectations in order to establish customer loyalty and therefore improve market share. The beneficiaries of external quality are a company's clients and external partners. This type of procedure therefore requires listening to clients but also must allow implicit needs that are not expressed by clients to be taken into account. Internal quality, which corresponds to the improvement of a company's internal operation. The purpose of internal quality is to implement the means that make it possible to best describe the organization, and to spot and limit dysfunction. The

beneficiaries of internal quality are the company's management and employees. Internal quality generally goes through a participative step in which internal processes are identified and formalized. The purpose of quality is therefore to provide the client with a suitable offer with controlled processes while ensuring that this improvement does not translate into additional costs. It is possible to improve a large number of problems at a low cost. However, the closer you get to perfection, the higher the costs reach.