Quality is the set of attributes of a product or service that consistently meets or exceeds customers' expectations. Quality is achieved only through a management system that creates and sustains a quality culture. Unless the commitment of an organization's top leaders is visible and credible, transformation to a quality culture will not happen. While all employees have significant roles to play in quality improvement, the leaders of an organization control 85 percent of the potential for improvement. Top management must lead by doing.
Customer satisfaction is the goal of quality improvement .
Achieving it requires focusing on customers rather than on the organization's product or service. An organization with a quality culture listens to customers' needs and then designs products and services accordingly. Organizations have internal customers, too. The person who receives a work product is a customer, even if that person is inside the organization. Whether internal or external, customer satisfaction is always the goal.