The process approach applied to quality management has allowed the identification of four general processes that have been represented in the Process Model for Quality Management that serves as the basis for the ISO 9000: 2000 standards (ISO 9001: 2000)
One of these processes is resource management, which comprises "those resources necessary to apply and maintain the Quality Management System, continuously improve its effectiveness and increase customer satisfaction by meeting their requirements" (ISO 9001 Standard: 2000).
In the age of knowledge, one of these «necessary resources» is undoubtedly organizational knowledge, understood as «the organic capacity to generate new knowledge, disseminate it among the members of an organization and materialize it in products, services and systems» (Nonaka, 1995), and not managing it effectively can simply mean a matter of life and death for organizations.
Achieving quality is not possible without applying the philosophy of continuous improvement, for three fundamental reasons: the changing nature of customer expectations, pressure from competitors and the constant development of technology.
In turn, in order for the organization to continuously improve, it first has to learn and know, and this idea is the key to understanding the importance of knowledge management for quality management, as a «discipline that promotes an integrated solution and collaborator for the creation, capture, organization, access and use of the information assets of a corporation. These assets include databases, documents, and the skills and experiences of employees ”(Peña, 2001).
There are other points of contact between knowledge management and quality management, such as:
- Both the object of quality management (customer needs and expectations) and that of knowledge management (organizational knowledge) are intangible and do not exist independently of man's consciousness. Both are integrative processes, as they must be managed in all the key processes of the organization. Both are supported by the organization's documentary system, considering as a document any form of physical support of the information (videos, photographs, plans, regulations, standards, procedures, manuals, records, etc.) Both involve all the organization's personnel and they fail without active leadership from top management. They are closely linked to organizational culture. In both, techniques such as benchmarking, cause-effect diagrams, affinity diagrams can be used.They have common exit indicators such as increased customer satisfaction levels, reduced costs, and increased market share.
ISO 9000 and knowledge management
The ISO 9000 standards, in their version of the year 2000, are based on eight principles for quality management that reflect the international consensus on the subject. These principles are (ISO 9000: 2000):
a) Customer focus: Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, satisfy customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.
b) Leadership: Leaders establish unity of purpose and orientation of the organization. They should create and maintain an internal environment, in which staff can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives.
c) Staff participation: Staff, at all levels, are the essence of an organization and their total commitment enables their skills to be used for the benefit of the organization.
d) Process-based approach: A desired result is achieved more efficiently when the activities and related resources are managed as a process.
e) 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.
f) Continuous improvement: Continuous improvement of the overall performance of the organization should be a permanent objective of the organization.
g) Fact-based approach to decision making: Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information.
h) Mutually beneficial supplier relationships: An organization and its suppliers are interdependent, and a mutually beneficial relationship increases the ability of both to create value.
Knowledge management contributes to the materialization of all these principles, but there are two that depend especially on it: customer focus and continuous improvement.
Future customer needs cannot be understood and their expectations exceeded without innovative and flexible organizations capable of adapting to the requirements of the environment.
The improvement also necessarily passes through organizational learning, which is not achieved without proper knowledge management.
Although the ISO 9000 standards do not make any reference to knowledge management, they are not incompatible with it and their implementation can contribute to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of quality management.
The EFQM Model and knowledge management.
The EFQM Excellence Model, which serves as the basis for the European Quality Award, is a non-normative model and does not imply the opposition to other approaches but rather its integration into a broader and more complete management scheme.
It consists of two parts: a set of criteria and a set of rules for evaluating the organization's behavior in each criterion. In 1999 it was modified to include aspects related to knowledge management, which underline the importance of innovation and learning.
In the Collaborators and resources agent criterion, it was included in subsection e information and knowledge management, and in the Processes criterion, improvement and innovation are emphasized in subsection b.
On the other hand, the KMAT (Andersen and APQC, 1999), KPGM (Tejedor and Aguirre, 1998) and KEP (Knolewdge Transformation International) models for knowledge management contain elements that are present in the EFQM Model such as leadership, strategy, structure, processes, people, results and measurement.
Conclusions
From the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- There are common elements between knowledge management and quality management.
- The ISO 9000 model for quality management, although it does not include knowledge management, is not incompatible with it.
- The EFQM Excellence Model, based on the European Quality Award, as it is a broader and more complete management scheme, includes knowledge management among its agent criteria and has common elements with some knowledge management models.
Bibliography
1. Andersen, Arthur. "Model KMAT", 1999.
2. Andersen, Arthur. "Andersen Model", 1999.
3. Knowledge Transformation International. «KEP model».
4. Nonaka, Takeuchi. "Knowledge creation process", 1995.
5. Standard ISO 9000: 2000 «Standards for quality management. Fundamentals and vocabulary »
6. ISO 9001: 2000 Standard “Standards for quality management. Requirements »
7. Peña Vendrel, P. «To know or not to be. Knowledge: the gray gold of organizations ”. Dintel Foundation, Spain, 2001.
8. TQM Asesores. «The EFQM Model of Excellence. New version"
9. Tejedor and Aguirre. "KPGM Consulting Knowledge Management Model", 1998.
