Benefits of TQM And ISO9002 Quality Standards
Benefits of TQM And ISO9002 Quality Standards
Since the establishment of ISO 9000 international quality management standards in 1987, many companies in the world have implemented the system. The number of ISO 9000 certificates awarded grew by nearly 27% in 1999 compare to 1998, demonstrating the impact of ISO’s quality management standards on business activities worldwide. These are among the findings revealed by the ninth cycle of The ISO Survey, which updates the ISO 9000 certification picture to the end of 1999. The survey shows that twelve years after the ISO 9000 quality management standards were first published, their use is still increasing. Up to the end of 1999, 343,643 ISO 9000 certificates have been awarded worldwide.
More than twenty years ago, people working in industries and commerce talked about the concept of TQM and did something for TQM in their companies.
Today the competition in business world is extremely fierce. In order to increase market share and maintain business growth, companies are very concerned about the improvement of the quality of their products, services and customer satisfaction. More and more companies are introducing the ISO 9000 quality system all over the world.
A company that has been awarded the ISO 9002 quality management standard is the law firm Andreas Neocleous & Co. Andreas Neocleous & Co is among a few law firms in the world to be awarded with the ISO 9002 for all the legal services that it offers. By obtaining the certification of ISO 9002 quality management standard, the firm is merely laying the foundation for the implementation of the Total Quality Management within its operations.
Some companies and individuals think that ISO 9000 is just another name for TQM. The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between ISO 9000 quality management standard and TQM and to provide a clearer picture for companies which are considering implementing these two quality improvement processes.
What is Quality
Quality can be interpret as “Customer’s expressed and implied requirements are met fully”. This is a core statement from which some eminent definitions of quality have derived. Some of the definitions are: “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to meet a stated or implied need” (ISO standards of 1994), “fitness for...