Quality Management on Information Services - Essay Example

? Quality Management Assignment on the ISO9001 Table of Contents Introduction ISO 9001 is the most extensively used quality management standard in the world today, its global latitude is expansive transcending numerous geopolitical divides and hundreds of thousands of companies in 170 countries worldwide use it. ISO provides universal standardization in regard to the specifications and material requirements goods, services, documentation formats and information and quality management, its certification of a firm is an internationally accepted endorsement that the management and documentation are up to standard. In a nutshell, it can be described as a system that facilitates the setting of rules to maximize opportunity while at the same time minimizing the risks for organizations or businesses. The standards are universally relevant and can potentially be applied to any business irrespective of size, scope or the field in which it operates. Background/Origins Contrary to popular assumption, ISO is not an acronym for international standards organization but a Greek word for equality signifying that all the standardized services and products are equal. ISO was initially formed in 1926 as the, International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations and by then it’s purpose was to provide, regulate and maintain standards in mechanical engineering. It disintegrated because of the World War 2, but regrouped in 1946 and assumed the name ISO, the origin of the ISO 9000 series is presumed to have been the US Navy Polaris Admiral, Hymen Rickover. He came up with the idea of investigating and analyzing the operations of perspective subcontractors and tabulating the data to get a list of the most suitable candidates as well as collectively considering their weakness. Initially the standards were used exclusively for military supplies, however they later came to be used by NASA as well as the first NATO AQAP (1968) and the DEF British standards of the early 1970’s. However it became apparent that a similar civil standard were needed and the BS5750 was developed, this was replaced by the ISO 9000 series which has been continually upgrades to ensure it remains dynamic and relevant. Requirements When a firm decides to get an ISO certification, it needs to fulfill certain requirements in order to satisfy the standards body of their eligibility; on average, ISO certification for most firms takes anything between 3 to six months depending on size and complexity. For successful application and auditing it is important for the organization to have an insider who is aware of what it takes to achieve the accreditation so they may work closely with management and lias with internal and external auditors to help carry out the groundwork (9001 Counsil, nd). The ISO 9001 manual provides a set of clauses that companies need to follow if they are desirous of attaining the certification by the accreditation body; the following are some of the major requirements: The organizations management system must be robust and effective such that the managers, employees and auditors can easily tell what parts of the overall system relate to specific clauses in the ISO- 9001 manual. This in not however to say that it should use the exact wording or structures as the manual, the firm is free to employ any format it choses as long as it can be clearly be understood in reference to ISO manuals. The firm needs to have a quality policy, which should be clearly documented, and detailing a commitment by the firm to comply with ISO through the operations of its management systems and a further commitment to quality service provision for its clients (Valeria and Waldomiro 2006, p.524). The ISO auditors will expect that key areas such as quality service provision, personnel training and methods of dealing with non-conformity should explicitly translate into measurable goals and objectives and be closely monitored. The ISO 9001 standards requires that organizations comply with 6 mandatory procedures, to this end, the firm must have documentation to satisfy that they have complied to all 6 clauses otherwise there will be serious noncompliance issues. Firms must also have a quality manual which is a document describing the scope of the management systems and detailing the steps the firm needs to take so as to comply with the standards. In addition, the auditors from ISO will want a management review so that they can assess the quality of management in the firm, therefore, organizations should keep detailed documents of their management practices. Preparations The organization needs to have clear objectives of the benefits they expect to get from the certification; in addition, it has to be ready to inculcate quality management systems in every aspect of its operations. Secondly, the firm will be expected to provide measurements that will be used to follow up on implementation of their quality policy. The employees of the organization must have full knowledge of what the firm’s expectations for them are in regard to the achievement of the ISO standards so they can collectively focus on their areas of responsibilities. The firm must provide documentation in a system that will be required for the description of the quality systems as well as the relevant procedures and policy statements that are mandated by ISO. Typically, this documentation should define and describe the organizational structure, the people responsible for the data recording and specifications of the data, the employee’s duties and responsibilities, the different channels of communication, relevant actions and the contingencies for continuation in case of changes in the staff. The firm will also need to designate an individual preferably from upper management with the authority to make and implement decisions who will serve as the ISO champion and who will be primarily tasked with the implementation of the standards. The quality management systems that have been put in place in each department will require to be defined; this will encompass definitions of several factors such as; who the customers for each department are, these clients could be internal or external depending on the nature of their activities. Furthermore, the activities in each area should be documented and the ISO 9001 manual should be reviewed to ensure that the requirements therein have been met, any problem areas should be identified and remedied expediently. The staff needs to be made aware of the need to ensure accuracy of documentation; in addition, the organization should update its documentation systems so they are using the latest and most competent ones. The firm must have in place systems for correcting and an taking preventive measure should things go wrong or in case of accidents and other unmitigated situations, there should be a preexisting process for dealing with such problems, identifying and documenting the cause and solution for future reference (9001 Counsil,nd). Sufficient training should be availed to the staff to ensure they have the capability to carry out their jobs in line with the requirements of the standards, to this end; management should keep detailed records of past training and experience so as to evaluate their capacity to perform and plan future training. Organizations must carry our regular internal auditing to ensure that the ISO manual is being followed, this should be done by internal auditors who are independent of the specific tasks they are auditing to maintain objectivity. Benefits When an organization keeps international standards, it stands to achieve significant, technological, economic and societal benefits, in the long run, technological specifications are standardized and this makes products and services more efficient and versatile for global consumption (NSAI n.d, p.2). According to the ISO 9001 website, when a company has ISO certification, it means they can be trusted to keep their promises, below is a list of specific benefits that a firm can expect to accrue from ISO certification: Efficiency is enhanced in the organization since by conforming to the standards, the levels of wastage reduce owing to the systematic facilities that exist to measure and evaluate the performance and utilization of resources. As a result organizations will have more time, space and opportunities to invest in expanding their production capacity and increasing profitability and/or effectiveness. ISO certification represents quality products to customers many who associate the body with high levels of professionalism , therefore when a firm is certified, customer satisfaction will be enhanced since they will have more confidence in the organizations abilities and effectiveness. In addition, ISO systematically tracks errors and provides relevant reports to reduce the number of customer complaints and ensure they are addressed and remedied promptly. ISO certification also comes with global recognition which means that companies can explore new international markets or/and improve their current market share; investors are also likely to be attracted by ISO certification since naturally have more confidence in the accredited firms. The ISO management standard promotes open communication between the employees and the management which ultimately increases employee morale as they feel that are involved in decisions and thus are more likely to be intrinsically motivated. Moreover, ISO certification gives firms a competitive edge since they get an advantage over the non-accredited competitors (Beck and Walgenbach 2009, p.172). In addition small firms which get accreditation can compete with industry giants since for all intents and purposes, by getting the ISO mark; they are equal and can even bid for the same tenders. Accredited firms will ultimately become more successful since achieving and maintaining ISO certification requires they implement policies which are directed towards customer centered and ethical services (NSAI, nd, p. 2). Registration Process The organization interested in attaining ISO accreditation is required to complete a registration form which can be filled either by phone, on paper online or email, they then receive a no cost obligation quotation which they sign and return to the registrar. An auditor is then designated and deployed taking to account such factors as the geographical location, scope of operations and the clients experience, this auditor will make contact with the client and arrange for the first audit (Anton and Anton, 2002). They are expected to send a copy of their plan to the customer thirty days before the scheduled audit and then 2 weeks in advance of the same, a PRI registrar member will provide the client with a list of documents they need to avail to the auditor. The audit is carried out as planned and the auditor produces an audit report in which they identify any deviation from the ISO standards, this report and NCRs are then duly recorded in the PRI registrar’s online database. The client will then work with the auditor to resolve the issues that were found to be non-conforming to the ISO standard using the online system that provide real time updates , the audit documentation is the put through expert assessment and re-assessment. When the reviewer is satisfied that the client in in full conformity they will approve the closure of the NCR and the certificate of registration is generated and issue to the client, nevertheless, the auditor is required to work with the customers so as to set up procedures for future assessment to ensure sustained adherence to the standards in posterity. How to Keep Registration Once an organization has received its certificate of accreditation, they will retain it for three years after which a reassessment will be carried out to determine if they are still compliant and therefore whether they qualify to have it renewed. Nevertheless, the process of reassessment begins before the 3 year period is over so that if there are any arising issues they can be dealt with before the certification is renewed. To ensure they retain their certification, a firm needs to take cognizance of the fact that an ISO 9001 system of quality management is dynamic and should continuously developed. To facilitate the continuity and ensure the firm maintains the ISO standards to qualify for renewal, these are some of the factors they need to put to consideration: Goal setting on different levels should be practiced throughout so as to evaluate the firm’s performance and measure it against the standards and customer’s expectations. Consequently, customer feedback should be sources and used to evaluate the organizations level of effectiveness as well as determining their attitudes towards the service and product provision. The firm should also carry out internal audits on a regular basis to ensure the firm is still adhering to the requirements of ISO 9001. Organizations should factor in systematic identification of the causative agents of problems the firm is dealing with and put to place mechanisms through which corrective actions can be taken. In addition to corrective action, the firm should invest time and resource to research on potential problem that may arise, take preventive action and make contingencies so that they improve their preparedness (Sedlack 2010, p.6). One of the key factors considered before a firm is granted ISO certification is the efficacy of the management systems in place; therefore it is critical that periodical reviews of the management process and systems should be carried out to ensure they remain faithful to the requirements of ISO 9001. Conclusion Ultimately, in modern day the ISO9001 certification of any organization is critical as it provides a multiplicity of benefits in addition to giving it an edge over non-registered companies (Pekovic, 2010). A manufacturing company will especially benefit from these standards since they will eventually culminate in its improving of the management system (Jack 2008, p.74). Furthermore, it will potentially expand it latitude even to a global scale as the certification will earn it recognition in any one of the many countries that apply the standards (Webster 1997, p.20). References "JACK" WEST, J.,E., 2008. ISO 9001 and Advantage In the Marketplace. Quality Progress, 41(4), pp. 73-76. Anton, D. And Anton, C., 2002. ISO 9000: 2000 survival guide: 30 minutes to understanding the process. Second Edition.Plastics Engineering, 58(6) Beck, N. And Walgenbach, P., 2009. The economic consequences of ISO 9000 Certification in East and West German firms in the mechanical engineering industry*. Journal for East European Management Studies, 14(2), pp. 166-185. NSAI. N.d. “ISO 9001 Quality Management System; Detailed Guide”. NSAI MD-02-12 Rev 2. [Online] Available at: http://www.nsai.ie/NSAI/files/db/db3c0675-bb94-4608-a1cd-9f458699561e.pdf Pekovic, S., 2010. The Determinants of ISO 9000 Certification: A Comparison of the Manufacturing and Service Sectors.Journal of Economic Issues, 44(4) Sedlak, J. R.2010. How to Prepare for Effective Surveillance or Re-certification Audits. Smithers Quality Assessment. [Online] Available at: http://www.smithersregistrar.com/images/stories/documents/iso9001/smithers%20quality%20-%20iso%209001%20audit%20preparation%20%20checklist.pdf [Accessed 11/11/2013] Valeria, M.V. and Waldomiro De Castro, S.V., 2006. Quality management on information services according to ISO 9000. New Library World, 107(11), pp. 523-537. Webster, S.E., 1997. ISO 9000 certification. IIE Solutions, 29(4), pp. 18-21. Read More