The verdict is out: Indian consumers don't think they are getting better-than world-class products or services. The good news? Consumers across the board also think Corporate India will get there-and fast.

Hi! My name is Consumer India 2000. I've been asked by Business Today and the Mumbai-based Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) to tell you what I-in fact, 256 of us across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, and Bangalore-think of quality in India. Before I begin talking about that, I'd like to say a few things. First, it's high time companies in India started taking quality seriously. For one, my expectations are much higher than what they used to be. I travel, I read and I watch a lot of TV. So-like I told the BT-IMC-commissioned research agency, the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB)-I know exactly what consumers elsewhere are getting. Besides, I now have what I didn't before: choice, and plenty of it. Name a product-television, soaps, foods, clothes or even cars-and you'd find the world's best brands fighting for a piece of my wallet. So remember, you marketers, I don't have to compromise on quality. The letter Q may well be mid-way in the English alphabet. But if you are talking to me, it had better be the alpha and omega of your strategy.

FOR nearly a decade now, I- Consumer India 2000-have had foreign brands to choose from. That, in a way, is good because I can compare and contrast the local and global quality standards better. And let me make no bones about it: overall, the quality of products available in India is just a little better than average. On a scale of 10, I would put it at 6.2, which means that you, marketers, have a long way to go. In fact, 34 per cent of us feel that Indian products are somewhat worse than foreign products. That said, let me also add that we (47 per cent) think Indian product quality is same as world standards. But don't celebrate yet. Almost an equal number (45 per cent) also feel that Indian product quality standards are lower than the world's, and just 8 per cent think they are better.

Here's something you'd find interesting: in Bangalore, Calcutta, and Delhi, more of us consider Indian quality to be lower than world standards. But those in Mumbai and Chennai seem to believe that the levels are the same. Irrespective of the city they belong to, men outnumber women in their belief that Indian quality is poorer. Also, as you go up the income level, perception of Indian quality worsens, until you touch the top bracket, where only half of us polled say that India quality is lower. Could it be that a higher income allows them to buy premium Indian products, whose quality is better? I don't know. What I do know is that the most critical lot is in the Rs 15,001-20,000 income bracket, where more than two-thirds feel they are getting shortchanged. Curiously enough, my wife seems the most satisfied, with 39 per cent of women like her saying that Indian products are actually better.

Talking of that, consumers like me feel that India does manufacture some world-class products. Right on top of that list-eight out of ten agree-are textiles and garments. Think of any top Indian brand-I don't want to name anyone in particular, but you would know-and one comparable foreign brand. There will be almost no difference in quality. Next on the list-this is no surprise-is software. After all, aren't we the software nation? Almost half of us also feel that pharma companies, over the years, have done a good job of moving up the quality ladder. So have the consumer electronics firms. A big upset? Automobiles. It ranks No. 6, simply because 64 per cent of consumers like me don't believe that we are getting world-class quality. Actually, I am as intrigued as you are. Except for Maruti Udyog and Telco (incidentally, a recent JD Power Survey cited Maruti Udyog as having the most satisfied customers along with Honda Siel), all the serious players in the auto market in India are transnationals. Could it be that the local ancillary industry, which supplies to these manufacturers, isn't up to scratch?

Anyway, the number one reason why, we believe, quality suffers in India is the lack of unity and co-operation among those who can make a difference to the quality of Indian products. The next big reason is the manufacturers; they seem to pay little attention to quality or product finish. But a majority of us feel that Indian product quality will be world class in another 10 years, although 40 per cent say we'll be there in just another five years.

Let me now turn to services. It's the same story here, too. The quality is just about average, and compared to services provided by foreign companies, it is actually worse. But, again, there are some industries that match up, starting with hospitality, telecommunications, and banks. I am hopeful, though, of service quality improving along the lines of product quality. On the next page, ceo India 2000 tells you what her problems are and what she plans to do to overcome those problems. Stay tuned.

CONSUMERS may well accuse me-CEO India 2000-of failing to deliver, but they can't blame for not trying. For, the way I-and the 88 others surveyed by BT-across the six cities of Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai-measure quality is not so much in terms of defect rates, as in terms of overall customer satisfaction. I am keenly aware of the importance of quality in the day-to-day running of my company, and almost all of us (96 per cent) employ formal quality systems that typically cover the entire value chain-in other words, from my raw material supplier to my retailer and customer service agent. In fact, 87 per cent of us supplement total quality management (TQM) with other tools like Kaizen (continuous improvement), total productive maintenance (for zero-defect and zero-breakdown), and just-in-time supply.

Our quality may not be world class, but let me assure you, my demanding customer, that nearly two-thirds of us look upon international benchmarking as the key tool for identifying areas of improvement. Of course, customer satisfaction studies are the primary method by which we go about making the improvements, although the use of cross-functional teams (it cuts down on improvement time) and statistical tools are also high on our list. Yet, nearly half of us are at the involvement cycle, where we are still trying to build a commitment to quality and train our workers. But a lot of us are already at a stage where the focus is on using work groups and cross-functional teams to make improvements; indeed, 40 per cent of us are using quality to achieve cost reductions and achieve continuous breakthroughs.

Personally, too, I am on the job. A quarter of CEOs like me spend upto four hours per week on quality related issues, and another 23 per cent nearly six hours per week. With so much hard work going in, can world-class quality elude us? No. More than a third of us think we'll be there in less than four years, and one-fifth hope to make it there in just one year-wow! What worries me, though, is that a quarter of my peers don't seem sure of a time-frame. But if you asked us who our role models were, we'd primarily point to the United States and Japan. For two reasons: one, our own quality initiatives are driven by the increasing competition in the marketplace and, two, higher consumer awareness. Our quality objective? A happy customer, who gets what she expects of our products. What better nations to emulate than the hyper-competitive America and Japan?

Reaching the quality pinnacle is, literally, an uphill task. For, there are many barriers at every step of the quality trek. Internally, most of our problems relate to a lack of commitment to quality and awareness of what it actually means and how it can help transform our business. And, outside the factory, the barriers to quality improvement are the lack of a clear understanding of customer requirements and the absence of a competent vendor base.

An overwhelming number of us (94 per cent) believe that the CEO's personal commitment is critical to bring about significant qualitative changes. Specifically, a CEO's role, we believe, is to motivate and set the strategic direction and not so much to lead by example (I know what you are thinking: double-standards!). Yes, I agree that the biggest reason why quality initiatives fail has to do with the top management, although I've often heard my peers complain about the insecurity and change-aversion of middle managers.

Most of us have found a way around the motivation problem: set up a quality award as your team's target. Sundaram-Clayton, Tisco, Vikram Cement, Sundaram Fasteners all are companies that have marshalled their workforce towards world-class quality by using the award bait. The first step, however, has to be to get Indian companies formally quality-certified. Sadly enough, almost half of us can't say why we have not yet applied for one. Worse, one-fifth seem to be think that quality certification is not relevant to the industry they operate in (imagine!) and another 14 per cent say there's nothing much to be gained from that.

The irony? A staggering 80 per cent of us admit that the quality of Indian products today is lower than world standards. But give us five more years, and many of us (43 per cent) will get our products there. Meanwhile, more than four out of five CEOs think that we already make world-class software. Our other item of pride: textiles and garments.

Methinks the lack of positive attitude towards work and the lack of emphasis on providing well-finished products are our biggest barriers to international product quality. And I don't think we are faring any better in services. In fact, 89 per cent of us are of the opinion that the quality of services is lower than world standards. But two-thirds of us agree with consumers that hospitality is one services industry that's world class.

What has quality come to mean in the new millennium? Almost three-fourths of the CEOs surveyed think it means customer delight. Whereas consumers say quality should imply value for money and reliability of product performance. And am I about to dispute what they say. No way. Like I often tell my CEO friends, when in doubt, look up rule number three: it's not the boss, but the customer, who is always right. And that, my fellow CEOs, should be your cardinal rule of quality.

SINCE January, 1995, when BT published the first cross-country survey on quality perception, there have been significant changes in the way both consumers and CEOs have come to perceive quality. For one, more executives today (71 per cent versus 57 per cent in 1994) accept the fact that quality is important in the day-to-day running of their companies.

There is also an increase in the number of consumers who believe that the quality of Indian products is the same as or better than global standards. Ditto in the case of executives. Ergo, the overall ratings for Indian products have improved. In the previous survey, textiles and garments were the only products of which the people polled said India could be proud of. Now, there are two new world-class items on the list: software and pharma. The real test would lie in getting more-nay, all-Indian products on the world-class list.