Why Quality is important? Explain ISO 9001 and Quality Management Systems.

The Importance of Quality and Quality Management Systems

Introduction

Quality has always been an important issue in the manufacture of goods and services . The environment in which organizations operate has become more turbulent and dynamic and as a consequence , organizations are becoming increasingly concerned with obtaining a sustainable competitive edge (Collin , 1996 . The concept of managing quality had evolved from individual artisans taking pride in their work to today 's approach of managing organizations to achieve continuous improvement in every aspect of its operations

The key stages in this evolution

are identified as the inspection approach , quality control , quality assurance and management (TQM . TQM is a management philosophy which highlights the need to improve the quality of goods and services in to better utilize the resources of organizations (Collin , 1996 . TQM offers each individual the opportunity to participate , contribute and develop a sense of ownership . It is also defined as the strategic commitment to improving quality by combining statistical quality control method with a cultural commitment to seeking incremental improvements that increase productivity and lower costs (Stoner and Freeman , 1992 . During the last couple of years , the

TQM concept has been proven as a systematic approach to improving the organization 's overall business process , including product and services (Lau and Idris , 2001 . TQM addresses overall organizational performance and recognizes the importance of processes along with customer-supplier interfaces , both internally and externally

For TQM to be successfully adopted by an organization there need to be a perceived need for change in that organization . In putting TQM in place senior management must provide a vision by identifying what they want to achieve . This should be communicated throughout the organization Appropriate planning is necessary and work force will need to undertake appropriate training in the use of the tools and techniques of TQM (Collin , 1996 . In this , we will discuss how TQM is implemented and the various benefits organizations derive from implementation of quality management systems and policies , both in theory and with the help of real-life examples of companies . We will also shed light on ISO 9001 , often perceived as the most significant outcome of the quality movement

Implementation of TQM

Implementation of TQM approach depends on several vital factors like the structure and culture of an organization , employee involvement , and organization communication . The effectiveness of TQM implementation involves defining and deployment of several key elements . They include both the soft ' aspects of leadership , employee empowerment culture and the 'hard ' aspects which include the systems , improvement tools and techniques (Thiagarajan et al , 2000 . The main reason why TQM fails is because of lack of knowledge about the proper TQM implementation

According to Tsang and Antony (2001 , one of the most critical success factors for TQM implementation is top management and commitment . Sila and Ebrahimpour (2002 ) also found top management commitment to be the most common and critical aspect of TQM . Research conducted by McKinsey and Company (1989 ) found that 95 of the participants believed that top management commitment was the...