Content area
Full Text
Research and concepts
Keywords
ISO 9000, Total quality management, Organisational effectiveness, Quality culture
Abstract
The ISO 9000 series of standards has formalised systems for evaluating the ability of organisations to consistently design, produce and deliver quality products and services. Total quality management (TQM) is seen as a relatively new concept and a way for organisations to improve the quality of their products and services, but it may well be the key to survival and achieving competitive advantage in today's turbulent business environment. However, there are mixed views in the literature concerning whether ISO 9000 and TQM complement or contradict each other. The primary objective of this paper is to address the competing views on both concepts in an attempt to show that both concepts complement each other and ISO 9000 should be used in association with TQM to secure organisational success.
Introduction
Globalisation of markets and the fast improvements in information flow capabilities have increased competition worldwide. In order to compete in today's turbulent competitive business environment, organisations are focusing on the satisfaction of customers' needs as a means of securing competitive advantage and even survival. One of the major strategic changes that have occurred is that many organisations are striving to achieve customer satisfaction through an emphasis on quality products/ services. The emphasis on quality is not surprising, because achieving, enhancing and sustaining competitiveness is dependent on achieving superior quality products/services to consumers (Lai et al., 2002; Reed et al., 1999; Carr et al., 1997).
It is clear that quality has emerged as a strategic competitive tool for organisational success (Yong and Wilkinson, 2002; Hansen, 2001). In today's business environment, organisations cannot afford to ignore the strategic implications of quality for its competitive position. In the light of this, organisations have pursued some type of quality philosophy and initiative, for example, total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), the Shing Prize, Deming Prize and ISO 9000. As a result, considerable progress has been made toward managing and controlling quality. However, organisational internal needs and motivation have controlled the choices of quality initiative to be implemented. The unification of Europe and the directives associated with EC 92 have exerted a major external force on quality initiative decisions (Withers and Ebrahimpour, 2001).