Quality can have different implications for different people. In general, it has the following key perspectives:
1. Transcendent Perspective/Approach: This approach says that the quality is synonymous with the inner excellence of the product or service.
This is often applied in the area of performing arts. This approach explains that people appreciate quality through a process of sustained exposure. However, this approach is not practical when viewed from the perspective of management.
2) Product-Based Perspective/Approach: This approach views quality as something that can be measured accurately and precisely.
This approach says that differences in quality can be viewed as the excess or deficiency of an attribute or trait in the product or service.
Since this assesses quality in a very objective manner, it fails to take subjective matters like tastes, needs, and attitudes of consumers into account
3. User-Based Perspective/Approach: This approach is based on the premise that quality lies in the eyes of the beholder. It measures quality in terms of total customer satisfaction.
This is a very subjective assessment of quality and recognizes that every consumer will have a different expectation of quality as the needs of all customers are different
4. Manufacturing-based Perspective/Approach: This approach is basically concerned with manufacturing and engineering goods. In many ways, the quality is operations-driven in this set-up.
Here, the quality is measured in terms of how it conforms to internal laid down standards which are often a result of the productivity goals of the organization.
5. Value-Based Perspective/Approach: This approach defines quality in terms of value and price. By considering the trade-off between performance (or conformance) and price, quality comes to be defined as “affordable excellence”.
Value-based approaches look at quality as the interplay of price and value. Quality is considered as a trade-off between conformance and price.