Quality Management Principles
ISO 9000 defines quality management principles to facilitate the achievement of quality
objectives within an organization. The eight quality management principles are the
following:
Customer focus—Because organizations depend on their customers, they should
understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and
strive to exceed customer expectations.
Leadership—Leaders establish unity of purpose. They create the environment in
which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's
objectives.
Involvement of people—People are the essence of an organization and their full
involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization's maximum
benefit.
Process approach—A desired result is achieved more efficiently when related
resources and activities are managed as a process.
System approach to management—Identifying, understanding, and managing a
system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the
effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.
Continual improvement—A permanent objective of the organization is
continual improvement.
Factual approach to decision making—Effective decisions are based on the
logical or intuitive analysis of data and information.
Beneficial supplier relationships—The ability of the organization and its
suppliers to create value is enhanced by mutually beneficial relationships.
Customer focus
When an organization is customer focused, it continually measures customer satisfaction.
Based on this feedback, an organization continually improves products and processes
while eliminating factors that hinder customer satisfaction.
Leadership
Effective leaders provide employees with a purpose, involve them in the process, and
empower them so that everyone can contribute to the common goal of the organization.
Leadership requires open communication, trust, mutual respect, and a willingness to lead
by example. Establishing this type of atmosphere can have a dramatic impact on quality
within an organization.
Involvement of people
This principle emphasizes that quality is the result of people's efforts and that any
effective quality management system will include proactive employees who continually
look for opportunities for improvement.
Process approach
Using a process approach within an organization involves clearly identifying the
processes that contribute to quality and establishing responsibility for managing them. A
process approach:
leads to improved use of resources
encourages shorter cycle times
lowers costs and improves overall productivity.
System approach to management
A system approach involves identifying and evaluating all the related quality processes to
ensure that they produce a product that consistently meets customer requirements.
Continual improvement
Quality is an ongoing pursuit because perfection is never achieved. For this reason, the
principle of continual improvement permeates the quality management process. This is
reflected in the commonly used PDCA cycle: Plan, Do, Check, and Act.
Factual approach to decision making
Quality management involves making decisions, and the best decisions are made based
upon facts, not subjective opinion. The analysis of relevant data can be used to improve
performance and products.
Mutually beneficial relationships
The principle of mutually beneficial supplier relationships focuses on creating strategic
partnerships for quality. Organisations build mutually beneficial relationships with
suppliers. By openly communicating customer requirements with suppliers, they can
better support the organization's quality goals. In turn, the suppliers improve their own
quality and sales to the organization.
In today's competitive marketplace, organizations understand the vital role that quality
plays in being successful. Success comes from planning and implementing a quality
management system that is dedicated to continual improvement and exceeding customer
expectations.
The eight quality management principles have been adopted by ISO and other quality
organizations because they work. They provide practical guidance on implementing
proven strategies to achieve quality goals within an organization.
