Paradigm shift and costs of quality: a reflection path to improve environmental situation
The reduction of quality-related costs has become increasingly important to managers in recent decades, primarily aimed at improving the company's profit. Indeed, a product poor quality generates additional direct and indirect costs, which in turn have negative effects on the profit of the company's shareholders. But what about the costs generated by products on the environment? Are they taken into consideration? The aim of this paper is to contribute to addressing the concept of quality costs (COQ) as a management tool related to the environment within a business. This gap persists despite the critical situation of the environment, which continues to deteriorate rapidly; climate change being one notable example. The review on the other environmental management tools aiming at preserving the environment including ISO 14001 shows their limit unless the environment is a priority for the business. Basing on a case study of COQ applied to the environment, and adopting an analytical and critical approach, we concluded that incorporating environmental COQ into a company's considerations is one of the key steps to take through a paradigm shift to preserve the environment, moving away then from a narrow profit-centered model towards a new model focused on human well-being.