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What relevance do general quality principles that have been developed in other fields have to softwaredevelopment and software quality?

Let us consider a brief overview of the principles advocated by foremost quality experts. In particular:

1) Kaoru Ishikawa 2) Joseph. M. Juran 3) W. Edwards Deming 4) Philip Crosby

Some people suggest that Japan listened to these quality experts while the Western World ignored them.

ISHIKAWA

Ishikawa gives six features of quality work:

1) Company-wide quality control 4) Quality circles

2) Top management quality control audit5) Application of statistical methods

3) Industrial education and training 6) Nationwide quality control promotion

Quality Policy -Is crucial that all work is guided by quality policies. Must formulate quality requirements forprojects. Use quality plans for projects. A quality manual is used to define a quality management system toimplement quality policy.

Ishikawa Diagrams - These are cause-and-effect diagrams used to identify and resolve problems. Theyfocus on influential factors that can impact various aspects of quality in a given situation.

Quality Circles - Small groups that meet regularly to discuss quality issues.

JURAN

Juran prescribes the following strategy for achieving quality:

Structured annual improvements in quality

A massive quality-oriented training programme

Upper management must lead company's approach to product quality

Achieving Quality Improvement

Study the symptoms of defects and failures

Develop a theory on the causes of the symptoms

Test the theory until the cause is known

Stimulate remedial action by appropriate action.Defects can be separated into those that are worker-controllable and those that are managementcontrollable.

Worker Responsibility

worker knows what to do

worker knows result of own work

worker has means of controlling result

If the three conditions apply and is a defect then worker is responsible otherwise is a management-controllable defect

Sequence of events for improving quality and reducing quality costs

Universal feedback loop for control Fundamental is data collection and analysis

DEMING

Deming lists fourteen principles that may be employed by management to achieve quality results. They are:

1. Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service

2. Adopt the new philosophy

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality - build quality in, in the first place

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag - get single supplier for any oneitem. Instead minimize total cost

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service to improve quality andproductivity - this constantly decreases costs

6. Institute training on the job7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision is to help people to do a better job

8. Drive out fear, so everyone may work effectively for the company

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9. Break down the barriers between departments - work in teams

10. Eliminate slogans, and targets for the workforce asking for zero-defects and new levels ofproductivity. They create adversarial relationships. The bulk of the causes of low quality and lowproductivity belong to the system

11. Eliminate work standards and management by objectives - substitute leadership

12. Remove barriers that rob workers/managers of the right to pride of workmanship - abolish annualmerit rating

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self improvement14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation - the transformation is

everybody's job

Quality Control

Deming's major contribution has been his emphasis on the statistical control of quality in all stages ofproduction, maintenance and service. Deming remarked on one occasion: "The economic and socialrevolution which took hold in Japan, upset in 15 years the economy of the world and shows what can beaccomplished by serious study and adoption of statistical methods and statistical logic in industry at alllevels from the top downwards".

The analysis of errors for either type or cause will help control errors - this is particularly important for

software.

The results enable improvement of the process so that less errors are produced

You cannot inspect quality into a product - you must build in quality right from the outset.

The Deming Cycle

In addition to statistical knowledge Deming urges a common approach to attacking and describingproblems. Commonality is important to integrate quality improvement efforts in different parts of anorganization.

Deming's Four-step Repetitive Cycle is:

Repeatedly

1. Plan work out strategy for carrying out task

work out strategy for improvement

identify measures to determine whether improvement has been successful and qualitygoals have been achieved

2. Do Carry out the task incorporating any improvement strategies designed to eliminatedefects, etc based on problem causes.

3. Check Identify problems and relate them to quality measures established

4. Act Analyse the root causes of the problem

CROSBY

Crosby suggests there are five maturing stages through which quality management evolves.

These are: 1. Uncertainty 4. Wisdom

2. Awakening 5. Certainty

3. EnlightenmentCrosby has used a Quality Management Maturity Grid to define his approach.

Quality Improvement

The advantage claimed for the Crosby approach is that it defines a quality improvement path for anorganization as well as a means for assessing where at any time the organization is on the path to quality.Crosby focuses on defining quality as "conformance to requirements" and satisfying what the customer/userwants and needs.

Misconceptions about software quality

There are several misconceptions about quality that follow from Crosby's work

quality means goodness, cannot be defined or measured

people do not produce quality because they don't care

it costs a lot more to produce quality software

people make mistakes - it is inevitable there will be errors in large systems

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There is an underlying assumption that the three goals of Quality, Cost, Schedule are conflicting andmutually exclusive. In contrast, Deming claims that the only way to increase productivity and lower cost isto increase quality.

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