ADDRESS BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, AT THE INAUGURATION OF WORLD CONGRESS ON TOTAL QUALITY
JANUARY 19, 1993
It gives me great pleasure to be with you at this World Congress of Total Quality organized by the Institute of Directors. I am glad to see that this Congress is attended by business leaders and quality experts from different parts of the world. The theme of the Congress -- “Achieving Corporate Success in a Volatile World through Total Quality Strategies”—is a most appropriate theme for our times. It combines the narrowly and intensely particular, with the comprehensively general, involving both vertical and horizontal integration. One hears these days that the days of planning are over whether it is in economics or in society. But it seems to me that what is over is totalitarian planning of the economy and society, and not piecemeal planning of specific things and tasks in all their totality. The multi-nationals plan, the companies plan, the managements plan and the executives plan, indeed every one plans his or her portion of a job in relation to the whole. It is almost like the holistic vision of the poet who “sees the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wild flower”. The proponent of Total Quality sees a small part in a big product, and the whole global market in a single product. And every quality, physical, technical, managerial, economic, social and individual are integrated into one organized whole.
As in the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta, in which the Brahman is inherent in the Atman, in the philosophy of Total Quality Management, the vast world market is manifest in single product. According to this concept no product can be like the curate’s egg, good in parts, nor can we like the British in the old days, and the Indians to-day, muddle through to success. One may acquire an empire in a fit of absent-mindedness, but may not capture a world market in such a state of the mind. Again, it is not enough to have the right philosophy and the right knowledge to make a product. That is proved by the fact that it is the Japanese and not the Americans who have put Edwards Deming’s ideas into practice and that the Americans and the rest of us are now learning them from the Japanese.
I have read that in Japan quality means: Excellence. And Excellence means excellence of the product, excellence of management, excellence of community relations, excellence of company performance, excellence of company image in society, and excellence of work environment. Thus, we know that Quality is not a purely product - related concept. It permeates the entire organizational effort from the way the product is designed, how it is produced, how it is packaged, presented, publicised, serviced, and even consumed. The responsibility for Quality does not stop with the quality department, but extends to every individual in the organization. Total Quality encompasses both service quality and product quality.
Total Quality cannot be achieved effectively without involving people. It cannot be done without bringing about goal congruence among various work groups, departments and levels of management. Such involvement comes from responsibility, from empowerment. It is only when people feel that they are participants as well as beneficiaries—in short empowered—that the organization reaches the goal of excellence. And above all, there must be a widespread sense of justice and equity in the larger environment of the society. If such are the implications of Total Quality, I do not think it is possible to achieve it in any sort of society by merely trying to imitate the Japanese. I have once seen over the Television that American industrialists, in an effort to introduce Japanese methods of production and management in California, opening a new factory with Shinto Ceremonies. We in India start even industrial ventures with relics of old Hindu ceremonies.
I am afraid, that does not by itself increase production or improve the quality of goods. In a highly fragmented, hierarchical and tradition-bound society a total management system is not easily operable. In a society where individual merit is not recognized, but ignored or suppressed, quality cannot be achieved. In a society where one takes up a profession purely on the basis of heredity and not aptitude how can expertise be developed and excellence achieved? And in any society where corruption is widely prevalent how can quality flourish? One can go on posing questions like this that are relevant to the goal of total quality that we have placed before us.
We are, of course, not discussing total quality in this total sense. We are not even covering the whole of the economy, perhaps. The main concern is with regard to the industrial sector. But we know that the bulk of our economy lies in agriculture, and in medium, small and cottage industries. Even the major portion of our exports emanate in these sectors. So ultimately we will have to apply our sophisticated concepts of Quality to these sectors also. That is why I have tried to include in the concept of Total Quality the overarching aspect of the social environment.
Now, quality in production is something that is desirable, in any case. To-day the industry and the nation are compelled to devote attention to it because of the problem of exports, and also because of the discriminating consumer tastes emerging in developing countries like our own. The European Community is a beacon light as well as a compulsion in this respect. The need for suppliers to conform to ISO-9000 has made it compulsory for our industry to improve standards and quality. It is necessary to meet such standards in all the developed markets of the world. I am told that 16 Indian companies have received the European certification last year as against only 9 companies in 1991. That is an improvement of which our industry can be proud. But that is not much even when compared to Asian countries like Singapore. One of the reasons for India lagging behind is the absence of a national accreditation body as well as accredited certifying bodies in India. We have to make up for this drawback as quickly as possible. But we must pay attention to some of the basic considerations of a larger dimension I have mentioned earlier.
One of the major forces operating to-day in favour of Quality improvement in our country is our economic liberalisatioon policy. The outward looking trade and investment policy, and the removal of the constricting controls of the permit-license Raj system are making India rapidly an integral part of the global market. The inevitability of competition makes quality control in its totality almost unavoidable. The new industrial policy has recognized the need for a more dynamic and freer relationship between the domestic and foreign industry. This new liberalized environment can be taken advantage of by the industry to improve the standards of production and quality of goods in world as well as Indian markets.
For a developing country like India achieving the goal of Total Quality is inconceivable without rapid technological development in relevant as well as wide diffusion of appropriate technologies in the economy as a whole. Technology has to be got from abroad and there should be continuous and unimpeded exposure of our industry and agriculture to technological developments in the world. It should be a process of rapid absorption and indigenisation of technology in the midst of international inter-dependence and exchanges. It has been said that at this late stage of technological development in the world we should not try to re-invent the wheel. That is entirely true. But unless there is some basic self-reliance in technology, mere borrowing and imitation will not be of much avail. Unless we know to produce many of the things ourselves indigenously, unless there is education and training and indigenous research and development our technological knowledge will remain more theoretical than practical and our production repetitive and perpetually dependent on imported technologies. We should not reinvent the wheel, but we should know how to make the wheel.
Quality, it has been said, depends ultimately on the consumer. It must meet the needs, the tastes and the expectations of the consumer. Therefore if the consuming public is completely unsophisticated and uneducated there will be no inducement for the industry to produce quality goods. The consumer has therefore got to be educated and should be made the king and queen of the market. The demand from the consumer is the propelling force behind quality improvement -that is the real democratic aspect of the market system. Let me say that unless the ordinary products commonly in use by the people are made as high quality products we will not reach the goal of Total Quality. If quality is the outcome of an integrated approach that approach should be reflected in the manufacture of goods for the masses as well as for the European market. There is thus a democratic as well as a social justice aspect to the concept and practice of Total Quality. That one can make total quality good for export and shoddy quality goods for domestic consumption is an illusion that we have inherited from a non-egalitarian past.
In order to disseminate the culture of quality in the economy and develop expertise for achievement of quality in production it is necessary to launch a national campaign. The centre of it must be training and the establishment of a National Quality Institute. I am happy to learn that the Institute of Directors has already taken initiative in the setting up of such an Institute. Apart from this there is need for a National Accreditation Board, a national scheme for registration of Assessors and Auditors and above all a mass awareness campaign. With these and with the adoption of quality management systems by industries and enterprises we can achieve surprising results in industrial production and make “made in India” label popular in our own country and in world markets.
Thank you.
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