Abstract
The topic we chose to research is ethics in quality. We will discuss four main topics in this paper. Total quality management vs. ethics quality management is the first where we will talk about two different approaches to quality management methods. Total quality management has a process and customer satisfaction focus while ethics quality management focuses on company image and keeping high ethical standards in production processes. Next, we will discuss an internship experience at United Technologies (UTC). UTC employs a quality system called Achieving Competitive Excellence where it is closely paired with an ethics training system. This must be completed by every employee within the organization yearly. We will provide an example of how ethics plays a large role in the production and development of software. The last subject we will discuss is a consulting company, Ethics Inc, that focuses on implementing ethics programs and standards within other companies. They provide onsite and online courses for improving ethical practices. The paper will provide better insight for the importance of ethics in quality.
Total vs. Ethics Quality Management
Total Quality Management is a method focusing on the optimization of industrial processes under economic aspects. When compared with Ethics Quality Management there are certainly many differences in these two types of methods. Under Total Quality Management customer satisfaction is a central value with absolute priority and assumes that achieving customer satisfaction automatically implies optimal economic results. When breaking down this method there are is a three level approach; total management, quality management, and management (Julliard, 2004).
"Total" management is when all act ...