The 8 principles of quality management

Introduction

8 principles of quality management have been identified as a reference framework towards improving the performance of an organization. Its objective is to help Organizations achieve sustained success.

These principles can be used by the Organization's management as a framework to guide their organizations in achieving performance improvement. These principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge of international experts:

Principle 1: Customer focus Principle 2: Leadership Principle 3: Staff involvement Principle 4: Process-based approach Principle 5: System approach to management Principle 6: Continuous improvement Principle 7: Fact-based approach to decision making Principle 8: Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

In order to lead and administer an Organization successfully, it is required that it be directed and controlled in a systematic and transparent way. Success can be achieved by implementing and maintaining a management system that is designed to continually improve its performance by considering the needs of all stakeholders. The management of an Organization includes quality management among other management disciplines.

The adoption of a quality management system should be a strategic decision made by the organization's management. The design and implementation of an organization's quality management system is influenced by different needs, particular objectives, the services it provides, the processes it employs, and the size and structure of the organization.

The purpose of an Organization is:

Identify and satisfy the needs and expectations of its Clients and other interested parties (employees, suppliers, shareholders, society) to achieve competitive advantage and to do so in an effective and efficient manner, and obtain, maintain, and improve the overall performance of the Organization.

The application of the principles of quality management not only provides direct benefits but also makes an important contribution to the management of costs and risks.

Considerations of benefits, costs and risk management are important to the Organization, its clients and other interested parties. These considerations, in relation to the overall performance of the Organization, may have an impact on:

Customer loyalty, repeat business and referral or recommendation of the Organization, operational results, such as market share, etc. fast and flexible responses to market opportunities, costs and cycle times through the effective use and efficient resources, alignment of the processes that best achieve the desired results, competitive advantage through improved capabilities of the Organization, understanding and motivation of people towards the goals and objectives of the Organization, as well as participation in continuous improvement, trust of the parties interested in the effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization, as demonstrated by the financial and social benefits of the Organization's performance, service life cycle and reputation,ability to create value for both the organization and its suppliers by optimizing costs and resources, as well as flexibility and speed of response agreed jointly to changing markets.

Despite the fact that each principle is useful by itself, it is convenient to apply them in an integral way as a whole where there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the 8 principles, all with the purpose of satisfying the needs of the Client and fulfilling the purpose. of the organization.

Principle 1 - Customer-oriented organization

"Organizations depend on their customers, and therefore must understand their current and future needs, meet their requirements, and strive to exceed their expectations."

Running and operating an Organization successfully requires managing it in a systematic and visible way. Success should be the result of implementing and maintaining a management system that is designed to continually improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization's performance by considering the needs of stakeholders.

Management should establish a customer-oriented organization

by defining systems and processes that are clearly understandable, manageable and improvable, in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, and ensuring effective and efficient operation and control of processes, as well as the measures and data used to determine satisfactory performance. of the Organization.

Examples of useful activities to establish a Customer Oriented Organization are:

define and promote processes that lead to improve the performance of the Organization, acquire and use information and data from Customers on a continuous basis, direct progress towards continuous improvement of Customer satisfaction, and use appropriate methods to evaluate process improvement, such as self-evaluations and reviews by management.

Key benefits:

Improvement of the image of the Organization through a flexible and rapid response to the opportunities of the target market of Clients. Increased efficiency in the use of the Organization's resources to increase Client satisfaction. Improvement of Client loyalty, which leads to greater use of the services provided by the organization.

The application of the principle of customer focus is implemented through:

Study and understand the needs and expectations of the Client, through quantitative research such as surveys or qualitative research such as focus groups (Focus Group) Ensure that the objectives and goals of the Organization are linked to the needs and expectations of the Client Communicate the needs and expectations from the Client to the entire Organization Measure Client satisfaction and act on the results Systematically manage relations with Clients Ensure the balance between the satisfaction of Clients and other stakeholders (such as shareholders, employees, suppliers, local communities and society in general).

Principle 2 - Leadership

Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction for the Organization's Management. They should create and maintain an internal environment, in which staff can become fully involved in achieving the objectives of the Organization.

This implies:

The leadership, commitment and active participation of the Organization's management are essential to develop and maintain an effective and efficient quality management system to achieve benefits for all interested parties. To achieve these benefits it is necessary to establish, maintain and increase customer satisfaction. Management should consider actions such as

establish a vision, policies and strategic objectives consistent with the purpose of the institution, lead the Organization by example, in order to develop trust among staff, communicate the orientation of the Organization and the values related to quality and the system of quality management, participate in improvement projects in the search for new methods, solutions and services, directly obtain feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of the quality management system, identify the service provision processes that add value to the Organization, identify the support processes that influence the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation processes, create an environment that promotes active participation and staff development,and provide the structure and resources necessary to support the Organization's strategic plans.

Management should also define methods for measuring the performance of the Organization to determine whether planned objectives have been achieved. (See ISO 11620)

These methods include

financial measurements, measurements of the performance of processes throughout the Organization, external measurements, such as comparative studies with other institutions (benchmarking) and third party evaluation, evaluation of the satisfaction of customers, Organization staff and other parties stakeholders, evaluation of the perception of the Clients and other interested parties of the performance of the services provided, and measurement of other success factors identified by the administration.

Key benefits:

The staff will understand and be motivated towards the objectives and goals of the Organization Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented in an integrated way Lack of communication between the levels of an Organization will be reduced

The application of the leadership principle is implemented through:

Identify the needs of all stakeholders including Clients, staff, suppliers, financiers, local community and society in general Establish a clear vision of the future of the Organization Establish challenging objectives and goals Create and maintain shared values, fairness and Ethical role models at all levels of the Organization Build trust and eliminate fear Provide staff with the necessary resources, training and freedom to act with responsibility and authority Inspire, encourage and acknowledge the contributions of staff.

Principle 3 - Staff involvement

The staff, at all levels, is the essence of an Organization and their total commitment enables their skills to be used for the benefit of it.

This implies:

Management should improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization, including the quality management system, through the participation and support of people. To assist in achieving its performance improvement objectives, management should promote the participation and development of its staff:

providing continuous training and career planning, defining their responsibilities and authorities, setting individual and team goals, managing the performance of processes and evaluating results, facilitating active participation in setting goals and making decisions, through recognition and rewards, facilitating open and two-way communication of information, continually reviewing the needs of your staff, creating the conditions to promote innovation, ensuring effective teamwork, communicating suggestions and opinions, using measurements of staff satisfaction, and investigating the reasons why staff join and leave the organization.

The management of the Organization should ensure that the necessary competence is available for the effective and efficient operation of the organization. Management should consider analyzing both present and expected competency needs in comparison to existing competency in the Organization.

Consideration of competency needs includes sources such as,

future demands related to strategic and operational plans and objectives, anticipation of the succession needs of area managers and the workforce, changes in the processes, tools and equipment of the Organization, evaluation of the individual competence of personnel to perform defined activities, legal and regulatory requirements and standards that affect the Organization and its stakeholders.

Key benefits:

A motivated, involved and committed staff within the Organization Innovation and creativity in promoting the Organization's objectives A staff valued for their work A staff willing to participate and contribute to continuous improvement.

The application of the principle of staff participation is implemented through:

Understand the importance of their contribution and their role in the Organization Identify the limitations in their work Accept responsibility for problems and their resolution Evaluate their performance according to their personal objectives and goals Active search for opportunities to increase their Competencies, knowledge and experience Freely share knowledge and experience Openly discuss problems and issues.

Principle 4 - Process-based approach

A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related resources are managed as a process.

This implies:

Any activity, or set of activities, that uses resources to transform inputs into outputs can be viewed as a process.

For organizations to operate effectively, they have to identify and manage many interrelated and interacting processes. Often the output of one process directly forms the input of the next process. The systematic identification and management of the processes employed in the organization and in particular the interactions between such processes is known as the "process-based approach."

Promote the adoption of a process-based approach for the development, implementation and improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of a quality management system, in order to achieve the satisfaction of the interested parties by meeting their requirements.

The application of a system of processes within the Organization, together with the identification and interactions between these processes, as well as their management can be referred to as a "process-based approach".

An advantage of the process approach is the continuous control it provides over the links between individual processes within the process system itself, as well as their combination and interaction.

Such an approach, when used in a quality management system, emphasizes the importance of

the understanding and fulfillment of the requirements between the areas, the need to consider the processes in terms of the value they contribute, the obtaining of results of the performance and effectiveness of the processes, and the continuous improvement of the processes based on objective measurements.

Key benefits:

Cost and time reduction through efficient use of resources Improved, consistent and predictable results Allows improvement opportunities to be focused and prioritized

The application of the process-based approach principle is implemented by means of:

Define the process activities necessary to achieve the desired result Establish clear responsibilities and obligations for the fulfillment of the key activities of each process Analyze and measure the capacity of the key activities Identify the interfaces of the key activities within and between the Organization functions. Focus on factors, such as resources, methods and materials, that will enhance the Organization's key activities. Assess the risks, consequences and impacts of activities on Clients, suppliers and other interested parties.

Principle 5 - System approach to management

Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the effectiveness and efficiency of an Organization in achieving its objectives.

This implies:

An approach to developing and implementing a quality management system comprises different stages such as:

determine the needs and expectations of Clients and other interested parties; establish the Organization's quality policy and objectives; determine the processes and responsibilities necessary to achieve quality objectives; determine and provide the necessary resources to the achievement of the quality objectives; establish the methods to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of each process; apply these measures to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each process; determine the means to prevent non-conformities and eliminate their causes; establish and apply a process for continuous improvement of the quality management system.

A similar approach is also applicable to maintaining and improving an existing quality management system.

An Organization that adopts the above approach builds confidence in the capacity of its processes and the quality of its services, and provides a basis for continuous improvement. This can lead to increased customer and other stakeholder satisfaction and the success of the organization.

Key benefits:

Integration and alignment of the processes that will better achieve the desired results The ability to focus efforts on the main processes Provide confidence to stakeholders in the coherence, effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization.

The application of the system approach principle is implemented by means of:

Structure a system to achieve the objectives of the Organization in the most effective and efficient way Understand the interdependencies between the different processes of the system Structure the approaches that harmonize and integrate processes Provide a better interpretation of the roles and responsibilities necessary to achieving common goals, thereby reducing cross-functional barriers Understanding organizational capabilities and setting resource constraints before acting Define and target how specific activities should function within the system Continually improve the system through measurement and evaluation.

Principle 6 - Continual improvement

Continuous improvement in the overall performance of the Organization should be a permanent objective of the Organization.

This implies:

The continuous improvement of the quality management system is to increase the probability of increasing the satisfaction of Clients and other interested parties. The following are actions aimed at improvement:

analysis and evaluation of the existing situation to identify areas for improvement; establishment of objectives for improvement; search for possible solutions to achieve the objectives; evaluation of said solutions and their selection; implementation of the selected solution; measurement, verification, analysis and evaluation of the results of the implementation to determine that the objectives have been achieved; the formalization of the changes.

The results are reviewed, when necessary, to determine additional opportunities for improvement. In this way, improvement is a continuous activity. Information from customers and other interested parties, audits, and the review of the quality management system can also be used to identify opportunities for improvement.

To ensure the future of the Organization and the satisfaction of interested parties, the Organization's management should create a culture that actively involves people in the search for opportunities to improve the performance of processes, activities and services..

To engage people, management should create an environment in which authority is delegated so that people are empowered and they accept responsibility for identifying opportunities where the Organization can improve its performance. This can be achieved through activities such as the following:

establishing objectives for people, projects and for the Organization, comparing performance with other Organizations and with respect to best practices, recognizing and rewarding the achievement of improvements, and through suggestion schemes that include specific reactions from management.

To provide a structure for improvement activities, management should define and implement a process for continuous improvement that can be applied to service delivery and support of processes and activities.

To ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the improvement process, the service delivery and support processes should be considered in terms of

effectiveness (for example, results that meet the requirements), efficiency (for example, resources per unit of time or money), external effects (for example, legal and regulatory changes), potential weaknesses (for example, lack of capacity and consistency), the opportunity to employ better methods, control of planned and unplanned changes, and measurement of planned benefits.

This process for continuous improvement should be used as a tool

to improve internal effectiveness and efficiency, as well as to improve the satisfaction of Clients and other interested parties.

Management should undertake stepwise continuous improvement activities integrated into existing processes, as well as initiative opportunities, in order to achieve maximum benefit for the Organization and for stakeholders.

Key benefits:

Increase competitive advantage through improved organizational capabilities Alignment of improvement activities at all levels with the established organizational strategy Flexibility to react quickly to opportunities

The application of the improvement principle is implemented by means of:

Apply a coherent organization-wide approach to continuous performance improvement Provide Organization staff with training in continuous improvement methods and tools Make continuous improvement of services, processes and systems a goal for each person within the Organization Establish objectives to guide continuous improvement, and measures to monitor it Recognize and admit improvements.

Principle 7 - Fact-based approach to decision making

Effective decisions are based on analysis of data and information.

This implies:

Based on the analysis of data obtained from measurements and information collected. In this context, the Organization should analyze data from its different sources both to evaluate performance against the plans, objectives and other defined goals, and to identify areas for improvement including possible benefits for interested parties.

Decisions based on facts require effective and efficient actions such as

valid analysis methods, appropriate statistical techniques, and making decisions and taking actions based on the results of logical analysis, in balance with experience and intuition.

Data analysis can help determine the cause of existing or potential problems and therefore provides effective guidance on corrective and preventive actions required for improvement.

Information and data from all parts of the Organization should be integrated and analyzed to effectively assess the overall performance of the organization. The overall performance of the Bibliotteca should be presented in a format suitable for the different levels of the organization.

The results of the analysis can be used by the organization to determine:

trends, customer satisfaction, the level of satisfaction of other stakeholders, the effectiveness and efficiency of your processes, the contribution of suppliers, the success of your performance improvement goals, the economics of quality and performance financial and environment-related, comparative studies (benchmarking) of their performance, and competitiveness.

Key benefits:

Information-based decisions Increased ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of previous decisions through reference to objective and documented evidence Increased ability to review, challenge and change opinions and decisions

The application of the principle of a fact-based approach to decision-making is implemented through:

Ensure that data and information are sufficiently accurate and reliable Make data accessible to those who need it Analyze data and information using valid methods Make decisions and take action based on objective analysis, in balance with experience and the intuition.

Principle 8 - Mutually beneficial relationship with the supplier

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

This implies:

Establish relationships with suppliers and allies of the Organization to promote and facilitate communication with the aim of mutually improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the processes that create value.

There are several opportunities for Organizations to increase value through work with their suppliers and allies such as:

optimizing the number of suppliers and allies, establishing communication in both directions at the appropriate levels in both organizations to facilitate the rapid solution of problems and avoid delays and costly disputes, cooperating with suppliers in the validation of the capacity of their processes, giving follow-up to the ability of suppliers to deliver compliant products with the objective of eliminating redundant checks, encouraging suppliers to implement continuous performance improvement programs and to participate in other joint improvement initiatives, involving suppliers in design and development activities of the Organization to share knowledge and effectively and efficiently improve the processes of service provision and delivery of compliant products,involving allies in the identification of purchasing needs and in the development of joint strategies, and evaluating, recognizing and rewarding the efforts and achievements of the suppliers and allies.

Key benefits:

Increase in the ability to create value for both parties Flexibility and rapid response together to a changing environment or to the needs and expectations of the Customer Optimization of costs and resources.

The application of the principle of mutually beneficial relationship with the supplier is implemented through:

Establish relationships that balance short-term benefits with long-term considerations Pool experience and resources with Organization partners Identify and select key suppliers Clear and open communication Share information and future plans Establish joint activities development and improvement. Inspire, encourage and recognize improvements and achievements made by suppliers.

The eight principles are defined in the UNE-EN ISO 9000: 2000 Standard, Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary, and in the UNE-EN ISO 9004: 2000 Standard, Quality management systems - Guidelines for improvement performance.