The contributors to poor quality can be categorized as either lack of involvement by management...

Lack of involvement by management

Management's unwillingness to accept full responsibility for all defects

Failure to determine the cost associated with defects (i.e., poor quality)

Failure to initiate a program to "manage defects"

Lack of emphasis on processes and measurement

Failure to enforce standards

Failure to reward people for following processes

Lack of knowledge about quality

Lack of a quality vocabulary, which makes it difficult to communicate quality problems and objectives

Lack of knowledge of the principles of quality (i.e., what is necessary to make it happen)

No categorization scheme for defects (i.e., naming of defects by type)

No information on the occurrence of defects by type, by frequency, and by location

Unknown defect expectation rates for new products

Defect-prone processes unknown or unidentified

Defect-prone products unknown or unidentified

An economical means for identifying defects unknown

Proven quality solutions are unknown and unused