Quality vs Value
The primary difference between quality and value is that value often includes price but quality is price-independent.| Quality & Value Definition (1) | ||
Quality | The usefulness or worth of something. | |
Value | The usefulness or worth of something relative to price. | |
Quality = Value
Businesses seldom view value in terms of price. This is primarily because they consider a wide range of factors in their price strategy beyond value. As such, it is common for businesses to equate value and quality.| Quality & Value Definition (2) | ||
Quality | The usefulness or worth of product or service to customers. | |
Value | The usefulness or worth of product or service to customers. | |
Quality as Durability
It is common for customers to think of quality primarily in terms of durability. In other words, something that never breaks is seen as high quality. This definition is rarely used by businesses as quality is typically seen as any property that adds value.| Quality Definition (3) | ||
Quality | The durability of something. | |
Quality as Conformance
For quality management purposes, quality is often defined as conformance to requirements. This definition is used by teams who have no influence over requirements but are responsible for meeting requirements. For example, a manufacturing team may measure quality in terms of the percentage of products that pass testing where tests are based on requirements.| Quality Definition (4) | ||
Quality | Conformance to requirements. | |
Quality as Fit For Purpose
A fundamental concept of quality management is that quality is fit for purpose. For example, tissue paper does not need to be as durable as an aircraft engine because the two serve different purposes.| Quality Definition (5) | ||
Quality | The set of properties that make something fit for purpose. | |
