The results of the 2nd Global State of Quality survey by ASQ were released earlier this year. The international survey had 1665 responses from both service (41%) and manufacturing (59%) industries. See report here.
The report identified the following characteristics as representative of world-class quality, regardless of industry:
sees quality as a strategic asset and competitive differentiator
greater than $1 million in net savings from quality
measures the cost of remediation
increasing investment from quality
visible metrics on performance against customer needs
understands product/service performance through customer's eyes
standard reporting across the organization
trains suppliers in quality
comprehensive training offerings available
trains all employees in quality
I find it telling, but not surprising, that 3 of these 10 characteristics involve training. How does your organization stack up against these 10 practices?