'Achieving quality" is said to be a major issue throughout industry, commerce and government bodies. It"s just not passing craze of flavour of the month. Quality is vital for growth, survival and prosperity of every organisation. Nowadays, more and more organisations are placing greater emphasis on quality in order for them to prosper and become successful.

             In this essay I will be explaining the different concepts of quality, which are established by different institutes and people. I will then compare these concepts and give my view on each of them. In the second part of this essay I will be looking at areas of commonality and difference between 'quality of product manufacture" and 'quality in service".

             Quality is difficult to define but what is sure is that we all know when it is achieved and when it is not. This assessment of quality is subjective and it can vary from different perceptions of individuals. It is the perception of the individual, by what influences his experience and what he thinks.

             Overall, the word quality can mean different things to different people. For example, the first car that I bought appeared to me to be of superior quality, even though it was thirteen years old, had many rust patches and the roof was leaking. On the other hand, a company director who drives a Rolls Royce may think that the car is a load of scrap. The second-hand car to me was quite satisfactory where it got me to my required destinations, but the company director may think it is bad advertisement and unreliable. For this reason, quality can be defined as 'fitness for purpose". It can be defined as fitness for purpose because the second-hand car was fit for my purpose.

             The definition 'fitness for purpose", was defined by an early American quality guru, Dr Joseph Juran. He always believed that if a product was fit for purpose, then it was a quality product. But from my perspective, this is not always true.