Quality: consensual or controversial definition?

Abstract

In the first decades of the 20th century, the beginnings of a new concept appeared in managerial discourse and practice: quality. Since then, the concept and its implications have been attracting attention. It worries customers, intrigues quality specialists and concern researchers. People want to know more, to better understand the ins and outs of quality and its management. This is how quality inspection was born at the beginning of the 20th century. A century after pioneering research and the accumulation of experience, the concept has moved on to other stages, metamorphosing to give rise to new perspectives, notably ethics, social responsibility and even participatory democracy. In this article, we trace the evolution of definitions and approaches to quality through a presentation and analysis of the historical review of quality. We consider it useful to examine the meaning of the term by exploring its history and its variations, to map the concepts related to the notion of quality, to expose the different paradigms that have marked the quality movement. In fine, we relate the questions in the new millennium on the trends of quality with a prospecting of the concerns of the future. We conclude with a discussion of the consensual or controversial nature of the notion of quality. We conclude with a discussion of the consensual or controversial nature of the notion of quality.

JEL Classification: O15

Paper type: Theoretical Research