Many "quality approaches" have been put forward over the years, such as Total Quality Management (TQM), the Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria, Six Sigma, Quality Is Free, Zero Defects, the Balanced Scorecard, standards developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO), and others. One of the problems in deploying quality programs has been convincing management and the organization that they are worth-while. Another problem is that, often, quality initiatives are difficult to sustain.

From my experience, quality in an organization or on a project is more a way of life than a separate program, and the choice of the quality model to be used is less important than focusing on meeting customers' real needs. Quality is the way we work, not a separate function. This chapter is important to the RA because there is a direct connection between meeting customers' real requirements and a quality approach. There is a set of business drivers (high-level customer needs and expectations) that are really high-level customer requirements, which RAs must address. Management has a critical role relative to quality. If management does not value quality, quality won't happen. There is a set of principles in any organization that serves to provide guiding values for the work that is performed in the organization. This requires a set of quality improvement techniques (described below). Individuals are responsible for the quality of their products and services. This chapter explains an integrated quality approach that facilitates and supports the work of the RA. It will show that an effective...