What is quality?

A Deep Dive into the True Meaning of Quality

At the Quality Improvement Institute of Nigeria (QIIN), we often kick off our Quality Management System (QMS) training sessions with a seemingly simple question: “What is quality?” The responses are as diverse as the participants themselves—some highlight product durability, others mention service excellence or customer satisfaction. However, a comprehensive understanding of quality, particularly in the context of global best practices such as the ISO 9001:2015 standard, necessitates a fundamental examination.

According to ISO 9000:2015, quality is defined as:

“The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfills requirements.”

This definition may sound technical at first, but unpacking its key elements provides deep insight into the full scope of what quality really entails.

1. Objects: The Focus of Quality

At the heart of quality is the object—anything that can be perceived or conceived. This could be a product, service, person, organisation, process, resource, or even nature itself. At QIIN, we include nature deliberately, as its laws govern sustainability, balance, and the very essence of life—qualities we must also respect in our systems and standards.

Objects may be material (e.g., equipment or a lab sample), non-material (e.g., a strategy or project plan), or imagined (e.g., a hospital’s future state). The goal of every quality intervention is to enhance the object.

2. Characteristics: What Makes an Object Distinct

Objects possess inherent or assigned characteristics that distinguish them. These may be:

• Physical (e.g., temperature resistance),
• Sensory (e.g., clarity or texture),
• Behavioural (e.g., honesty or reliability),
• Temporal (e.g., timeliness or continuity),
• Ergonomic (e.g., ease of use or safety),
• Functional (e.g., speed or output rate).

These characteristics can be qualitative (e.g., aesthetics) or quantitative (e.g., weight). We assess these features when determining the quality of an object.

3. Degree: Measuring the Fulfilment

Quality is not binary—it is measured in degrees. It answers questions like: To what extent does this product meet its performance target? or How closely does the service align with customer expectations? This measurement may use scales, percentages, scores, or descriptors like “high”, “moderate”, or “low”.

4. Requirements: The Benchmark of Quality

Requirements represent the needs or expectations an object is supposed to fulfil. These may be:

• Stated (e.g., in policies or contracts),
• Generally implied (e.g., industry norms), or
• Obligatory (e.g., regulatory standards).

They can come from customers, regulators, the organisation itself, or even ethical or cultural practices. Quality is only truly achieved when an object satisfies these multi-sourced, dynamic expectations. Sometimes, even unstated expectations must be considered in order to meet customer satisfaction.

Final Thought

Quality, therefore, is not merely about labels or surface impressions. It is a comprehensive, context-specific evaluation of how well an object—be it a product, service, or system—meets defined and evolving expectations.

At QIIN, we continue to drive this understanding forward by making quality a lived experience for organisations, professionals, and the communities they serve. Join us as we turn quality into a movement, one concept at a time.