<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service is consistent . It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement . Quality management is focused not only on product and service quality, but also on the means to achieve it . Quality management, therefore, uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality . </P> <P> Quality management is a recent phenomenon but important for an organization . Civilizations that supported the arts and crafts allowed clients to choose goods meeting higher quality standards rather than normal goods . In societies where arts and crafts are the responsibility of master craftsmen or artists, these masters would lead their studios and train and supervise others . The importance of craftsmen diminished as mass production and repetitive work practices were instituted . The aim was to produce large numbers of the same goods . The first proponent in the US for this approach was Eli Whitney who proposed (interchangeable) parts manufacture for muskets, hence producing the identical components and creating a musket assembly line . The next step forward was promoted by several people including Frederick Winslow Taylor, a mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency . He is sometimes called "the father of scientific management ." He was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and part of his approach laid a further foundation for quality management, including aspects like standardization and adopting improved practices . Henry Ford was also important in bringing process and quality management practices into operation in his assembly lines . In Germany, Karl Benz, often called the inventor of the motor car, was pursuing similar assembly and production practices, although real mass production was properly initiated in Volkswagen after World War II . From this period onwards, North American companies focused predominantly upon production against lower cost with increased efficiency . </P>

What are the main areas of focus for quality management