Introduction

This document introduces the eight Qualty Management Principles on which the quality

Management system standards of the revised ISO9000:2000/2008,series are based. This principles can be used by senior management as a framework to guide their organization towards improved performance. The principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of the of the international experts who participate in ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 176,Quality management and quality assurance, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the ISO 9000 standards.

Principle1 Customer focus

Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations

KEY BENEFITS:

Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and fast responses to market opportunities.

Increased effectiveness in the use of the organization’s resources to enhances customer satisfaction.

Improved customer loyalty leading to repeat business,

Applying the principle of customer focus typically leads to :

Researching and understanding customer needs and expectations,

Ensuring that the objectives of the organization are linked to customer needs and expectations,

Communicating customer needs and expectations throughoutthe organization,

Measuring customer satisfaction and acting on the results.

Systematically managing customer relationships,

Ensuring a balanced approach between satisfying customers and others interested parties (such as owners, employees, suppliers,financiers, local communities and society as a whole.)

Principle 2 Leadership

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives

KEY BENEFITS:

People will understand and be motivated towards the organization’s goal and objectives.

Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented in a unified way.

Miscommunication between levels of an organization will be minimized

Applying the principle of leadership typically leads to:

Considering the needs of all interested parties including, customers, owners, employees, suppliers’ financiers, local communities and society as a whole.

Establishing a clear vision of the organization’s future,

Setting challenging goals and targets,

Creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels of the organization.

Establishing trust and eliminating fear.

Providing people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and accountability,

Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing people’s contributions,

Principle 3- Involvement of people

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit

KEY BENEFITS:

Motivated, committed and involved people with the organization

Innovation and creativity in furthering the organisation’s objectives,

People being accountable for their own performance,

People eager to participate in and contribute to continual improvement,

Applying the principle of involvement of people typically leads to:

People understanding the importance of their contribution and role in the organization,

People identifying constraints to their performance,

People accepting ownership of problems and their responsibility for solving them,

People evaluating their performance against their personal goals and objectives,

People actively seeking opportunities to enhance their competence,knowledge and experience,

People freely sharing knowledge and experience,

People openly discussing problems and issues,

.

Principle 4 Process approach

A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related

Resources are managed as a process.

KEY BENEFITS:

Lower costs and shorter cycle times through effective useof resources,

Improved, consistent and predictable results

Focused and prioritize improvement opportunities.

Applying the principle of process approach typically leads to:

Systematically defining the activities necessary to obtain a desired result,

Establishing clear responsibility and accountability for managing key activities,

Analyzing and measuring of the capability of key activities.

Identifying the interfaces of key activities within and between the functions of the organization,

Focusing on the factors such as resources, methods, and materials that will improve key activities of the organization,

Evaluating risks, consequences and impacts of activities on customers, suppliers and other intrested parties,

Principle 5: System approach to management.

Identifying, understanding and managing inter-related processes as a system, contributes to the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives,

KEY BENEFITS:

Integration and alignment of the processes that will best achieve the desired results.

Ability to focus effort on the key processes,

Providing confidence to interested parties as to the consistency, effectiveness and efficiency of the organization,

Applying the principle of system approach to management typically leads to:

Structuring a system to achieve the organization’s objectives in the most effective and efficient way.

Understanding the interdependence between the processes of the system,

Structured approaches that harmonize and integrate processes

Providing a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities necessary for achieving, common objectives and thereby reducing cross-functional barriers,

Understanding organizational capabilities and establishing resource constraints prior to action.

Targeting and defining how specific activities within a system should operate.

Continually improving the system through measurement and evaluation,

Principle 6 Continual improvement

Continual improvement of the organization’s over all performance should be a permanent objective of the organization.

KEY BENEFITS:

Performance advantage through improved organizational capabilities,

Alignment of improvement activities at all levels to an organization’s strategic intent

Flexibility to react quickly to opportunities,

Applying the principle of continual improvement typically leads to:

Employing a consistent organization-wide approach tocontinual improvement of the organization’s performance,

Providing people with training in the methods and tools of continual improvement,

Making continual improvement of products, processes and systems an objective for every individual in the organization,

Establishing goals to guide, and measures to track,continual improvement,

Recognizing and acknowledging improvements.

Principle 7 Factual approach to decision making.

Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information

KEY BENEFITS:

Informed decisions,

An increased ability to demonstrate the effectiveness ofpast decisions through reference to factual records,

Increased ability to review, challenge and change opinions and decisions,

Applying the principle of factual approach to decision making typically leads to:

Ensuring the data and information are sufficiently accurate and reliable.

Making data accessible to those who need it,

Analyzing data and information using valid methods,

Making decisions and taking action based on factual analysis, balanced with experience and intuition,

Principle 8 Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value

KEY BENEFITS:

Increased ability to create value for both parties,

Flexibility and speed of joint responses to changing market or customer needs and expectations,

Optimization of cost and resources,

Applying the principles of mutually beneficial supplier relationships typically leads to:

Establishing relationships that balance short-term gains with long term considerations,

Pooling of expertise and resources with partners,

Identifying and selecting key suppliers clear and open communication,

Sharing information and future plans.

Establishing joint development and improvement activities,

Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing improvements and achievements by suppliers,

The next step:

This document provides general perspectives on the quality management principles underlying the ISO 9000:2000 series. It gives an overview of these principles and show how, collectively, they can form a basis for performance improvement and organizational excellence.

There are many different ways of applying this quality management principle,

The nature of the organization and the specific challenges it faces will determine how to implement them. Many organizations will find it beneficial to set up quality management systems based on these principles.

The requirements of quality management systems are supporting guidelines are given in the ISO 9000-Selection and use.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

In developing this list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s),input has been obtained from experts and users of the ISO 9000 standards from around the world. The list will be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to maintain its accuracy, and to include new questions where appropriate. It is indented that this list will also provide a good source of information for new users ofthe standards.

What are the ISO 9000 standards?

The ISO9000 standards are a collection of formal International Standards, Technical Specification, Technical Reports, Hand books and web based documents on Quality Management and Quality Assurance. There are approximately 25 documents in the collection altogether, with new or revised documents being developed on an ongoing basis.

Who is responsible for developing the ISO 9000 standards?

ISO Technical Committee (TC) number176(ISO/TC 176), and its Sub-committees, are responsible for the development of standards. The work is conducted on the basis of “consensus” among quality and industry experts nominated bt the National Standards Bodies, representing a wide range of interested parties.

Where should an organization go if it needs clarification or interpretation of the standards?

The starting point for an interpretation should be with your National Standards Body. ISO Central Secretariat and ISO/TC176 cannot accept direct request from individuals for interpretations of the ISO 9000 standards. Instead, ISO/TC 176 has established a Working Group for interpretation, with a formal procedure to provide answers to the questions that are forwarded by the National Standards Bodies.Details of agreed interpretations are now being published on the ISO/TC 176.

What happened to the 1994 editions of ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003?

Following extensive consultation with users and National Standards Bodies, it was agreed that the 1994 editions of ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 should be consolidated into a single revised document, which is represented by ISO9001:2000.Now it is further revised as ISO9001:2008

What are the main benefits to be derived from implementing an ISO 9000 quality management system?

The ISO 9000standards give organizations an opportunity to increase value to their activities and to improve their performance continually, by focusing on their major processes. The standards place great emphasis on making quality management systems closer to the processes of organizations and on continual improvement.As a result, they direct users to the achievement of business results,including the satisfaction of customers and other interested parties.

The management of an organization should be able to view the adoption of the quality management system standards as a profitable business investment, not just as a required certification issue.

Among the perceived benefits of using the standards are:

· The connection of quality management systems to organizational processes

· The encouragement of a natural progression towards improved organizational performance, via:

- the use of the Quality Management Principle

- the adoption of a “process approach”

- emphasis of the role of top management

- requirements for the establishment of measurable objectives at relevant functions and levels

- being orientated toward “continual improvement”and “customer satisfaction, including the monitoring of information on“customer satisfaction” as a measure of system performance,

- measurement of the quality management system ,processes, and product

- Consideration of statutory and regulatory requirements.

- Attention to resource availability

· The concept of a “consistent pair” of standards; with ISO9001establishing initial requirements and ISO 9004 for going beyond the requirements to further improve the performance of the organization.

· Consideration of the needs of all interested parties.

· The concept of organizational self-assessment as a driver for improvement (see ISO9004:2000)

What benefits are there to an organization implementing ISO 9004?

If a quality management system is appropriately implemented, utilizing the eight Quality Management principles, and in accordance with ISO 9004, all of an organization’s interested parties should benefit.

For example:

Customers and users will benefit by receiving the products(see ISO 9000:2000) that are:

Conforming to the requirements

Dependable and reliable

Available when needed

Maintainable

People in the organization will benefit by:

Better working conditions

Increased job satisfaction

Improved health and safety

Improved morale

Improved stability of employment

Owners and investors will benefit by:

Increased return on investment

Improved operational results

Increased market share

Increased profits

Suppliers and partners will benefit by:

Stability

Growth

Partnership and mutualunderstanding

Society will benefit by:

Fulfillment of legal and regulatoryrequirement

Improved health and safety

Reduced environmental impact

Increased security

Are the standards compatible with national quality awards criteria?

The standards are based on 8Quality Management Principles, which are aligned with the philosophy and objectives of most quality award programs. These principles are:

1. Customer focus,

2. Leadership,

3. Involvement of people,

4. Process approach,

5. System approach to management,

6. Continual improvement,

7. Factual approach to decisionmaking, and

8. Mutually beneficial supplierrelationships.

ISO 9004:2000 recommends that organizations perform self-assessments as part of their management of systems and processes, and includes an annex giving guidance on this approach. This is similar to many quality awards program.

Do the standards address financial issues?

Financial issues are not directly addressed in ISO 9001:2000, but may be inferred through the requirements for the provision of resources ISO 9004:2000 gives guidance that emphasizes the financial resources needed for the implementation and improvement of a quality management system.ISO/TR 10014:19988”Guidelines for managing the economics of quality also gives further guidance.

How will implementation of the standards help an organization to improve its efficiency?”

ISO 9001:2000aims at guaranteeing the effectiveness (but not necessary the efficiency) of an organization. For improved organizational efficiency, however, the best result can be obtained by using the guidance given in ISO9004;2000 in addition to ISO9001:2000. Additionally, the guiding Quality Management principles are intended to assist an organization in continual improvement, which should lead to efficiency throughout the organization.

Why is the requirement for monitoring “customer satisfaction”included in ISO 9001?

“Customer satisfaction “is recognized as one of the driving criteria for any organization. In order to evaluate if a product meets customer needs and expectations,it is necessary to monitor the extent of customer satisfaction .Improvements can be made by taking action to address any identified issues and concerns.

Can the standards improve “customer satisfaction”?

The quality management system details that are described in the standards are based on Quality Management principle that include the “process approach’ and “customer focus”. The adoption of these principles should provide customers with a higher level of confidence that products will meet their needs and increase their satisfaction.

What is the process approach”?

The “process approach” is a way of obtaining a desired result, by managing activities and related resources as a process. The ‘process approach” is a key element of the ISO9000 standards.

Can the “process approach be applied to other management systems?

Yes. The “process approach” is a generic management principle, which can enhance an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving defined objectives.

How can the PDCA cycle be used in the “process approach”?

The PDCA cycle be used in the “process approach”?

The PDCA cycle is an established,logical, method that can be used to improve a process.