"Quality Management for Government: A Guide to Federal, State and Local
Implementation", by V. Daniel Hunt, Quality Press: Milwaukee, WI: 1993 pp384;
$29.95 (list), $26.95 (ASQC members)
 
A Book Review by Norman C. Frank, PE, CQE, CQA
CER Corporation, Washington, DC
 
This book is an excellent follow-on to "Reinventing Government" by David
Osborne and Ted Gaebler.  It provides the background information and initial
working structure needed to bring people within and associated with any level
of government to initiate the process of reinventing government.
 
This book provides overview training for upper managers, mid-managers,
supervisors, and foremen.  It provides a complete background in a small
package that can be understood by anyone.
 
The authors stress the need for leadership in the new government, not
management.  The reader is alerted to possibilities and problems through a
discussion of the benefits and barriers to implementing quality management. 
The context and unique vocabulary of quality management is also presented to
help the reader understand the concepts and principles.
 
Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the history of quality from Shewhart, through Juran,
Deming, and Crosby.  The basic philosophy of each is also discussed and
compared so an informed decision can be made as to the philosophy that is
best for your organization.  Missing is a discussion of the contribution of
A. Feigenbaum.
 
The book provides a comprehensive overview of the national, federal, and
state quality awards for knowledge and comparison.  This is an excellent
compendium of these awards and lets the reader know what is available within
and outside of government.  The authors present and discuss the evaluation
criteria for these awards in detail and the obvious differences are
highlighted.  A discussion of the leaders in implementing quality programs
within Government along with the lessons learned in the process provides
examples of a variety of organizations from the Internal Revenue Service to
the New York State Police.
 
Anchoring the book is a "Quality Management Self-Assessment" that evaluates
the organizational climate, the processes, the management tools, and
outcomes.  Target scores help you gage your progress through comparison with
your calculated average.
 
A description of the tools and techniques normally used in a quality program
follows a step-by-step process for implementing your quality program.  These
allow you to implement your quality program with minimum chaos.
 
This book accomplishes its purpose of providing the necessary information
along with some motivation to help get the quality project off dead center. 
This book compliments "Reinventing Government" and is recommended for your
shelf of quality books.
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Mr. Frank has over 25 years experience in the field of quality, in the areas
of nuclear quality assurance, research and development, and consulting.  He
is currently in Washington, D.C., with CER Corporation out of Las Vegas,
Nevada.