Quality Conundrum

July 1, 2019

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"Conundrum" is a term used to define a difficult problem. Quality conundrum is one such term that defines the consistent urge for improving a product or a service. Every product has to pass through a quality check that adheres to some standards defined by organisations like ISO, IEEE and so on. Quality holds utmost importance before a product is deployed in the market.

Quality conundrum is thus an aspect in the eyes of an organisation that has to be dealt with. In the process of software quality assurance activity the analysts, QA's and developers have equal participation.

There is a certain kind of dependency that has established between the web and the people. Can we think of doing our daily tasks like paying bills, buying products, online registrations etc, without the presence of internet? I think that will be chaotic and inconvenient. Web application is everywhere whether it's a banking application to track customer's daily transactions, or an online ordering system. Every interface that is present on the web using which a user interacts with a server can be thought of as a web application. The modern world has established an intimate connection with the virtual world out there, without which we may feel crippled sometimes.

So the question arises, when a product has already passed through a quality check prior deployment of a product , why does a topic like quality conundrum arises. Let us understand the anatomy of the term by looking at various situations that has eventually led to the derivation of the term.

Quality conundrum scenario :

Managing risks can be thought of as a part of quality conundrum. Risk factors must be considered carefully in order to attain a competitive edge. The number of risks may be enlisted as follows :

• A user may be unable to process a transaction.
• In the event of data corruption, the extent to which it occurs must be analysed.

Now everything that intended for customer use can be termed as customer intensive service. To attain customer satisfaction and to retain the goodwill of the organisation, one must aim to address issues causing failures in the software system by retesting and fixing the faults.

The audit quality conundrum :

We will understand this concept in a different context other than software applications. We take up audit quality scenario in Malaysia and corresponding world bank report.

According to reports the external audit profession deals with the low standards. That means, the external audit profession deals with challenges in the subject matter being audited in terms of appropriateness, efficiency and effectiveness of the methods adopted to carry out the audit. Considering the scenario, few strategies have been formalised to strengthen and improve the quality of the audit system.

• Review of the established framework for auditing financial statements.
• Review of private organisation's way of conducting auditing and accounting.
• An independent review on the body that governs the accountancy profession in Malaysia.

The reason we discussed quality issue in the above context is due to the fact that we aim to analyse and view the quality conundrum issue from every angle/dimension.

Conclusion :

In the past few decades service oriented approach has gained importance. An organisation emphasises on providing a quality content to its end users to ensure that they remain satisfied and loyal to their services. Sustenance is important. To sustain in the long run, one needs to keep up the good work.