A Research paper on Quality Management and two frameworks in Quality Management particularly ISO 9000 and the Baldrige Criteria

Introduction

Over the centuries understanding of quality has developed from inspection to total quality management (TQM). The Egyptians were the first to use inspection when building the pyramids. During the Second World War, when aircraft technology became more complex, inspection was unacceptable due to the cost in people and equipment (Kanji, 2002).  Here inspection developed into Quality Control (QC) where quality manuals, document control, self-inspection, product testing and use of statistics became the control systems used to assure product quality. The following stage was to go from QC where focus is solely on product quality, to Quality Assurance (QA) or Quality Management (QM) where focus is on the quality of the system where system audits, process control, cost of poor quality and non-production operations are used. Understanding of quality then developed into TQM, where quality is managed through principles in all parts and operations of the business (Kanji, 2002). Quality and its management have evolved over the years. From the need to inspect service to a more detailed concept such as TQM, the goal has always been to make sure that the products or service offered by businesses to clients should be the best one. 

 

Aims/Purpose

This paper intends to focus on the concept of quality, quality management and what it means to business. This paper intends to discuss quality management and two frameworks in quality management particularly ISO 9000 and the Baldrige Criteria.

 

Main body

Quality management

TQM is a philosophy applied throughout the world in all kinds of organizations, for example, hotels, stores, car manufacturers and telecoms. Since the philosophy of TQM is so fundamental to business, it is applicable to all organizations. Every organization is a complex network of processes. A process is a combination of inputs and steps to follow to produce outputs. All processes contain inherent variability. One of the main ideas of Quality Management is to progressively reduce variation. In general, the quality culture that exists in an organization would have been built upon over the years that the organization has been in existence. The many failures and successes that the workforce had endured, the attitudes of the founder, and possible subsequent Managing Directors, all go together to produce a given culture (Antony & Preece, 2002). For TQM, it is necessary to have a culture that is ready and open to change. Therefore, one of the prime aims of TQM is that the processes and products will be continually improved. Continuous improvement can also mean, especially at an early stage, a continuous change. Therefore, if employees are not open to change, then the chances for success with TQM become less and less (Antony & Preece, 2002).

 

 For many organizations, creating a quality culture strategy is a daunting task. It would seem at first glance that the larger company has the most difficult task to spread the quality culture throughout the organization. Nevertheless, some of the major companies have made that possible. The reason for this is that these companies may have practiced good quality principles for a number of years. Quality Management researchers have found that quality initiatives are generally too introspective and internally focused. TQM is viewed variously as a philosophy, which emphasizes that quality is the responsibility of everyone in an organization; as a process for managing change; as a strategy to improve organizational competitiveness and effectiveness; a value system that emphasizes striving for quality in product or services; and an approach to doing business that covers the whole organization. TQM is customer-driven and it is a strategy based on the desire to satisfy the customer’s expectation (Beckford, 2002). It is accepted that Deming has probably made the most substantial contribution to quality management. However, enthusiasm must be tempered with the knowledge that if he had provided a clearer method, a more explicit and developed recognition of the human aspects, and a precise focus on what constitutes quality of service in the contemporary world, the value of his work would have been enhanced. The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) as the way of managing for the future does, on the other hand, have considerable value. If TQM is thought of as a way of managing rather than an added extra, then other management philosophies, methods and tools must be subsumed within it (Beckford, 2002). Quality management and total quality management makes use of various strategies to achieve its purpose. TQM and QM use systems so that it can adapt to the changing need of businesses and industries. Such systems help TQM and QM answer the needs of the environment.

 

ISO 9000

An effective QMS is a vital part of any quality program; without it there is no basis for properly measuring and monitoring quality performance. It must not, though, be allowed to become an end in itself. The QMS will inform the organization how well or badly it is doing against the standards which it has set itself, nothing more. Unless action is continually taken to improve standards and performance, the measurement activity is sterile. Continued certification to the ISO 9001:2000 standard now requires that the organization demonstrate improvement over time (Stankard, 2002).  Excellent business performance accumulates from sustained, long term improvements. The kind of continual improvement capability needed to start toward high performance is actually a requirement of the current revision of the ISO9000 quality system standard. By embodying systematic and ongoing improvement in a worldwide management standard, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has opened the door for firms all over the world to begin their journeys to excellent performance. While the ISO9000 standard makes a start, it alone is insufficient to achieve durable competitive advantage and high performance; its scope is too narrow (Stankard, 2002).

 

The current ISO standard does require firms to build a continuous improvement capability; however its improvement focus is narrowed to customer satisfaction and process performance without regard to overall competitive strategy and the need for profitability. This narrow scope of the ISO standard leads to the second requirement for excellence which is to balance improvements across four main areas that includes economic opportunity and wealth creation; strategies and motivation to realize the opportunities; capabilities to execute the strategies and use of information and analysis to balance risk of loss with financial return. The ISO 9000 series is well accepted as the standard for quality management systems around the globe. It is comprehensive and has enjoyed substantial development over many years. However, as has been recognized in the inception of the ISO 14000 series, the scope of ISO 9000 is restricted to quality standards which are essential but not sufficient for contemporary organizations (Benveniste, et al., 2000).  The current revision of ISO9000 now requires that firms institute ongoing improvement of the quality management system and product and service delivery processes. However, any firm able to meet this narrow requirement for improvement need not stop with processes, customer satisfaction and management responsibility. It can use the high performance business model to guide improvement in planning, technology, workforce development, supply chain and any other area of the management system that bottlenecks growth in revenue and profits (Benveniste, et al., 2000).

 

Most third-party process standards for internal audits to ensure that all preventive measures and quality system responsibilities work as intended. Often these internal audits turn up gaps in systems, training and implementation resulting in corrective action requests and lead to improvements. These corrective actions drive a cycle of revisions or improvements in the process, documentation and practices. Many organizations need several cycles of audit and revision before processes and practices stabilize and quality management responsibilities are fully deployed.  Despite more than ten years of struggling with ISO9000 and TQM, many organizations simply lack an understanding of people and why they resist change. Processes and people that have worked with them for years will push back against change. Overcoming this resistance takes less pushing and more learning at all levels, but especially learning the importance of eleven high performance values (Neely, 2002). The high performance values form a sound and permanent foundation for the management system. They guide individuals when there are no strict rules and they keep people focused on what is important for success. An organization that cannot learn and improve systematically cannot benefit from seeing its business as a system. It cannot effectively put the eleven high performance values to use. It may use the Baldrige model as a template to find opportunities to improve, but will not turn those opportunities into business results. Its quality management system may be registered to ISO9000, but it will not progress beyond mere compliance to the standard and so will yield no competitive advantage. The missing element is the performance advancement process itself (Neely, 2002). ISO 9000 helps a company monitor and map out all the processes in the company. It is a certification of how well the company is managed and how well the company performs. Some believe that the ISO 9000 requires a lot of paperwork, finances and use of time. For critics of the ISO 9000, such issues do not help in achieving quality products or services.

 

Baldrige Criteria

In contrast to ISO9000 the Baldrige business excellence framework considers all requirements shown to be necessary and sufficient for high performance. The Baldrige framework catalogs the elements in a full management system capable of competing against the toughest competitors in any market in the world. An organization that measures up to this standard is world-class; it goes beyond just those elements needed for registration to the ISO standard. This marks the first time in business management that any well-regarded authority has attempted to catalog the genome of a highly competitive business (Milgate, 2004). When one compares their firm’s management system to the Baldrige model, they hold it up to a comprehensive and holistic standard to reveal its strengths and shortcomings. All strengths in a company’s system enhance its effectiveness, just as every gap and shortcoming limits its competitiveness and presents an opportunity for improvement. The Baldrige framework makes one describe how the organization provides effective performance management systems for measuring, analyzing, aligning, and improving performance at all levels and in all parts of the organization. Many companies are working very hard to achieve high quality goods and services and using them as competitive advantages in their businesses (Milgate, 2004).

 

In the 1990s, there are two main subjects on quality that have captured the attention of most businesses in the global markets namely, Total Quality Management (TQM) and the International Quality Management Standard ISO 9000. There is increasing worldwide acceptance of TQM systems and ISO 9000 series of standards. Implementation of TQM systems, spurred through recognition of the annual Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, has helped transform many companies and increase their competitiveness, effectiveness, and productivity. The ISO 9000′s biggest virtue, its universality, is also its greatest vice. By setting norms that are attainable across a broad range of industries and cultures, ISO 9000 falls far short of the quality that world-class corporations demand of themselves and their suppliers. But ISO 9000 makes no demands or assurances about the quality of a company’s products, and the standard virtually ignores the mantra of modern quality management, continuous improvement (Delener, 1999).  Companies do not have to show that they know how to reduce cycle time, cut inventories, or speed up delivery. Nor do they have to demonstrate that their customers are happier than they used to be, or even that their customers are happy at all. Perhaps, in a more perfect world, the Baldrige Award Criteria which do demand quality products, satisfied customers, and continuous improvements would become the international quality standard. While companies try to reaffirm their commitment to quality and concentrate on the Baldrige Award, few companies are actually ready or willing to play in that league. Still, a Baldrige Award is no guarantee of commercial success (Delener, 1999). The Baldrige Criteria was developed to promote quality awareness amongst businesses and industries; recognize quality achievements of companies and industries and give public accreditation of quality strategies used by companies.

 

Conclusion

Quality management has proven itself as a useful tool to business. It helps a business have loyal clients. Customer loyalty comes from the ability of the company to generate the consumer’s desire to purchase again in the company. It means that the company gains the client trust and the client becomes loyal to the company. Quality management has important frameworks like the ISO 9000 and the Baldrige Criteria. ISO 9000 helps a company monitor and map out all the processes in the company. It is a certification of how well the company is managed and how well the company performs. Some believe that the ISO 9000 requires a lot of paperwork, finances and use of time. For critics of the ISO 9000, such issues do not help in achieving quality products or services. The Baldrige Criteria was developed to promote quality awareness amongst businesses and industries; recognize quality achievements of companies and industries and give public accreditation of quality strategies used by companies. ISO 9000 and Baldrige helps a firm analyze its current strategies and adjust it according to the standards set by each framework.

 

Recommendation

To make sure that quality is properly managed, companies should devise their own means to monitor the delivery of quality. Companies should make their own means to monitor the quality of service. This ensures that the method of monitoring the quality of service adapts to the situation of the company. Companies should religiously check for any errors in the quality of service. This makes sure that clients would not be turned off due to the quality of service.

 

References

Antony, J. & Preece, D. (Eds.) (2002). Understanding,

managing and implementing quality: Frameworks,

techniques and cases. London: Routledge.

 

Beckford, J. (2002). Quality. London: Routledge.

 

Benveniste, J., Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A. & Sutton, P.

(Eds.) (2000). The corporate challenge of the 21st

century, Crows Nest, N.S.W: Allen & Unwin.

 

Delener, N. (1999). Strategic planning and multinational

trading blocs. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

 

Kanji, G.K. (2002). Measuring business excellence. London:

Routledge.

 

Milgate, M.A. (2004). Transforming corporate performance:

Measuring and managing the drivers of business

success. Westport, CT: Praeger.

 

Neely, A. (Ed.). (2002). Business performance measurement:

theory and practice, Cambridge University Press.

England: Cambridge.

 

Stankard, M.F. (2002). Management systems and

organizational performance: The quest for excellence

beyond ISO9000. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

 

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