How do the ISO Standards address Quality Management Principles?

Organizations need to define and manage the processes that comprise their business activities, including their sequence and interaction. This identification and management of processes is referred to as the process approach to management and the quality management system further to compliance to International Standardization Organization requirements require adoption of this approach.

In quality management, the following principles are helpful 

A principle is defined as “a comprehensive and fundamental rule or belief, for leading and operating an organization, aimed at continually improving performance over the long term by focusing on customers while addressing the needs of all other stakeholders.

The Eight Principles in Quality Management are:

1. Customer-focused Organization
   • Organizations depend on their customers.
   • Organizations should understand current and future customer needs
   • Organizations should meet customer requirements
   • Organizations should strive to exceed customer expectations
2. Leadership
   • Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization.
   • Leaders should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organizations objectives.
3. Involvement of People
   • People at all levels are the essence of an organization.
   • The full involvement of people enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.
4. Process Approach
   
   • A desired result if achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process.
5. System Approach to Management
   • Understanding, identifying and managing a system of interrelated processes for a given objective improves the organizations effectiveness and efficiency.
6. Continual Improvement
   
   • Continual improvement should be a permanent objective of the organization
7. Factual Approach to Decision Making
   
   • Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information
8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

A mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both the organization and its suppliers to create value

There is a clear requirement for top management or executive management not only to be committed to development of the system but to the improvement of its effectiveness.

Top management shall provide evidence of the commitment by:

• Communicating to the organization the importance of meeting customer as well as statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Establishing the quality policy
• Ensuring that quality objectives are established
• Conducting management reviews
• Ensuring the availability of resources

This is a guest article by Samuel Adeyemo MBA, a founding member of The Ambassadors.