Page 300 - Global Project Management Handbook

CHAPTER 15

PROJECT QUALITY
MANAGEMENT IN

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

Lewis R. Ireland
President, American Society for the Advancement of Project Management
Clarksville, Tennessee

Lewis R. Ireland has more than 30 years of project experience and 16 years
of work with quality aspects of projects. He is an executive project
management consultant and author of a number of quality and project
management books. He served as the 1998 president and chair of the
Project Management Institute (PMI) and as the president of the
American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm)
since 2003.
Dr. Ireland’s achievements in volunteer work have been recognized by the
PMI through the Distinguished Contribution Award, the Person of the
Year, and being made a fellow of PMI. He continues to contribute time and
energy to the advancement of project management around the world
through professional exchanges of information on the practice and theory
of project management.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, quality initially referred to the honesty
and integrity of a person. It was not uncommon during the nineteenth century to hear
“that is a person of quality,” meaning that the person could be trusted, held high stan-

dards of integrity and honesty, and was well respected in the community. From this
original definition of quality, there has been an evolution of the term and its applica-
tion to situations.
The term quality subsequently took on the meaning of a product that possesses the
characteristics, attributes, and functions that could satisfy the needs of a buyer, con-
sumer, or other type of customer. The attributes included product durability, reliability,
and maintainability. This led the manufacturer of such products to focus on the design to
meet customer needs, workmanship to ensure proper assembly or construction of the
product, and the use of appropriate materials in the construction. There was a high relia-
bility on inspection of the product during construction and after final assembly.
Contemporary definitions of quality—and there are several—center on a prevention
approach to avoiding defects in products during the design and construction phases.
This approach focuses on process application and control with a significantly reduced
inspection function. Well-designed products that are produced through a proven
process have lower costs and achieve greater customer satisfaction—or in the current
terminology used for many projects, such products have been made “faster, better, and
cheaper.”

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