A quality management based approach to community development

Abstract

Quality management has its genesis in manufacturing industry but is now practiced in most sectors of the economy. What quality has learned as it has evolved is of great benefit to society and community development. Similarly, the methods employed in community development have much to contribute to organizational quality. Both professions seek to improve the current situation. Unfortunately, quality and community speak different languages and any attempt to impose one on the other meets resistance. This paper shows how community and quality can work in harmony. It builds on a 4-year immersive, ethnographic action research project which sought to promote the use of quality management principles throughout a small industrious village community in Ireland. It develops images and terminology encapsulating core concepts of: Quality, Excellence, and Systems tailored to community engagement and application. This is expressed in a simple mantra ‘To achieve quality outcomes we must practice excellence and we must design, install and maintain systems fit for that purpose’. The mantra provides a framework for understanding complex situations and a methodology for the harmonious resolution of fractious issues. You need no background in quality to appreciate this paper. As a manufacturing engineer I ask your forbearance in my lack of detailed knowledge of your field.