The history of quality

The paper "Histoire de la qualité: le cas français, 1919-1993" ("The history of quality: the French case, 1919-1993") by Patrick Fridenson, follows a paradigm, developed by Takahiro Fujimoto, focusing on the way that a model "lives" and diffuses by adapting; this paradigm reverses the traditional argument which focuses on the incapacity of other countries, especially in Europe, to apply Fordism. Quality, which does not have a universally shared definition, is analyzed through the images, tools and practices of companies. The paper develops three themes: the three major phases in the adaptation of Fordism in France and French specificities in the understanding of quality issues; the delicate relationship, rather contradictory during periods of strong growth, between the logic of quantity and the logic of quality; and the late integration of quality into the strategies of French companies.

Debate started with a critique of the characterization of the pre-Fordist period as "artisanal": most of the industry at this point was not characterized by craft methods, but by small-series production. Moreover, this form endured.

How is quality defined? The idea has different meanings for different actors, countries and periods. For instance, pre-Fordist production was destined for a "pioneer", well-off clientele who favoured the aesthetic and tolerated reliability problems. Another, more current example, is that studies of quality and customer satisfaction in Sweden and Germany have different results. The measure of quality during the 1920s was statistical and was applied to the product, whereas the current concept of total quality combines product and process, and takes account not only of the client but society's reactions. However, while norms and measures change, the definition of quality cannot be reduced to mere image, but is a sort of "putting to the test": the test of production, as at Peugeot in the past, when it was decided to develop interchangeable components; or the test of the market, the client relationship being the most important in the final analysis. This explains the commercial difficulties of Citroën prior to the 1980s, which worsened as each new model was brought out, despite the attraction of its innovations. The state of the market has a strong influence on the role and definition of quality: when competition is heightened, quality becomes a sensitive issue within the company.

Within the company, the logic of quality does not evolve simply in terms of a more or less regular growth; it is a relational variable within the company, and thus subject to advances and retreats. The institutional place of the structures dedicated to quality certainly bears witness to the importance of the issue, but not mechanically: for instance, the function actually fulfilled by the many quality circles is controversial; or again, the dissolution of specific structures may, within a total quality logic, be interpreted as the diffusion of this paradigm so that it is taken over by all the functions of the company. According to circumstances, either centralization or decentralization may be most appropriate

The Japanese influence in the return to a logic of quality at the French car makers after the 1970s is complex. It was not immediate, as indicated by the rather reserved reports of study visits by French engineers from Renault and Peugeot in the mid 1970s. Later the influence was clear, though uneven across the brands, Citroën undertaking the greatest efforts towards quality. But influences were not exclusively Japanese: as well as the Japanese consultants, many American consultancy companies participated in the diffusion and implementation of quality procedures. Moreover, a "Japanese" discourse sometimes served to legitimate previous initiatives.

The diffusion of a quality strategy to foreign subsidiaries generally came after a time lag; often explicable by the fact that the subsidiaries worked with old models and materials. Although there is not a mechanical linkage, process and product often go together, especially at times of innovation. Nonetheless, the implementation of a trans-European production system requires quality to be homogenous, which in turn implies similarities among factories. Other dimensions should also be taken into account: on the one hand, there is diversity among each company's factories, including within France. On the other hand, the experience of Renault in Slovenia reveals that the transfer and adoption of a quality procedure cannot rely simply on the transfer of practices appropriate to a French factory. After having assimilated the procedures, the Slovenes had to find procedures appropriate to their own context, making use of their particular aptitudes, and inspired by the experiences of Renault's other foreign factories.

Finally, the role of the [distribution] network in company quality strategies is complex. Its importance for the client was not understood by the car makers until later. The size of the network greatly declined. The improvement of networks requires, on the one hand, a significant and continuous training effort, but also that they are given sufficient resources. The size of discounts is a variable difficult to manipulate from this point of view. The immediate interest of the client does not coincide with that of the network. Conversely, as in the area of the exclusivity for the producer in the supply of spare parts to the network, interests may coincide

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