A meta analysis of ISO 9001:2000 research – findings and future research proposals

Quality management for microenterprises and start-ups – is the ISO 9001 suitable?

Purpose

Quality management systems are well established in multinationals and SMEs. For establishing and improving such systems, there is a variety of guidelines. Furthermore, there are software tools allowing a self-assessment of the current state of the implemented systems. However, these approaches do not fit for micro-enterprises and start-ups. Their processes are rather informal or not yet specified. Moreover, these companies are often in a phase of strong growth and have only one person in charge. Hence, they face the difficulty to decide if and how a (quality) management system should be implemented. This paper aims to show a first guideline for implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

The first step comprises a definition of microenterprises and start-ups and an analysis of their specific characteristics. Following, an overview of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and its requirements is given. Next, it is analysed which requirements are relevant for or can be implemented in microenterprises and start-ups. Based on this, a guideline for decision-making is developed to examine if an application of the analysed standard is useful or necessary for the regarded companies. Also, the guideline illustrates how the requirements can be implemented.

Findings

A literature review, an analysis of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, the standards for project management, microenterprises and start-ups have been carried out. Thereby, the need to decide whether to implement implement a quality management system and assistance for the implementation process has been revealed as essential for the companies considered. Literature mostly deals with implementing a quality and/or project management system in multinationals and SMEs but not in very small companies. Furthermore, first practical examples have shown that microenterprises face difficulties when choosing and implementing a quality management system. A practical implementation guideline for these companies is lacking.

Originality/value

Although there is a lot of research dealing with quality management in SME, research about quality management in microenterprises and start-ups is scarce. This paper offers a first approach for a guideline of implementing an appropriate quality and possibly an additional or alternative project management in microenterprises and start-ups. This should facilitate the process of deciding if and how to implement an adequate management system for the regarded companies.

Quality management for microenterprises and start-ups: is the ISO 9001 suitable?

Purpose

Quality management systems (QMSs) are well established in multinationals and small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs). For establishing and improving these systems, a variety of guidelines have been established. Furthermore, there are software tools allowing a self-assessment of the current state of the implemented systems. However, these approaches are not appropriate for microenterprises and start-ups as their processes are rather informal or not yet specified. Moreover, these companies are often in a phase of strong growth and have only one person in charge; hence, they face the difficulty to decide if and how a QMS should be implemented. The purpose of this study is to report a first guideline for implementation of a QMS for microenterprises and start-ups.

Design/methodology/approach

The first step comprises a definition of microenterprises and start-ups and an analysis of their specific characteristics. An overview of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 and its requirements is given below. Next, the relevant requirements that can be implemented in microenterprises and start-ups are analyzed. Accordingly, a guideline for decision-making is developed to examine if an application of the analyzed standard is useful or necessary for these companies. Moreover, the guideline illustrates how the requirements can be implemented.

Findings

A literature review, an analysis of the DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, and of microenterprises and start-ups have been carried out. Thus, the need to decide whether to implement a QMS and assistance for the implementation process has been revealed to be essential for the companies that were considered. The literature mostly deals with implementing a quality and/or project management system in multinationals and SMEs but not for very small companies. Furthermore, the practical examples have shown that microenterprises face difficulties when choosing and implementing a QMS; thus, a practical implementation guideline for these companies is lacking.

Originality/value

Although there is a lot of research dealing with quality management (QM) in SMEs, research about QM in microenterprises and start-ups is scarce. This paper offers a first approach for a guideline of implementing an appropriate QMS and possibly an additional or alternative project management system in microenterprises and start-ups. This should facilitate the process of deciding if and how to implement an adequate management system for such companies.

Perception of TQM benefits, practices and obstacles

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify the perception of total quality management (TQM) benefits, practices and obstacles in Kuwaiti industrial organizations certified against ISO 9001:2000 (or later) and following a TQM approach. A discrepancy in perception between project managers (PMs) and quality management representatives (QMRs) of organizations in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries has already been identified (Jaeger and Adair, 2013), and this study compares the perception of these two groups in more depth.

Design/methodology/approach

– Extensive representatives of both groups have been individually interviewed, a classification system for TQM benefits, practices and obstacles has been developed, and interview responses have been analyzed against this classification system.

Findings

– It emerges that all responses matched one of the benefits, obstacles and practices of the classification system. Comparing the total group of PMs with the total group of QMRs, it was found that both groups agree on their perception of the most important practice (i.e. an implemented management system) and, the biggest obstacle (i.e. lack of employee involvement). However, they disagree on their perception of the most important TQM benefit (i.e. PMs prefer quality of products and services, and QMRs prefer productivity).

Originality/value

– The results of the total groups and sub-groups give new insights regarding the different perceptions of PMs and QMRs. Also, the results enable practitioners of these two functions to discuss the differences and align their perceptions. This should increase the effectiveness of the TQM approach in their organizations. Finally, the results allow management consultants to focus on areas with high potential for improvements.

The impact of quality management systems on the performance of manufacturing firms

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide additional evidence of the impact of ISO 9001 effectiveness on three dimensions of a firm’s performance, namely product quality, operational performance and business performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– The analysis includes an initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), in order to investigate the relations between the constructs of the proposed model. A sample of 287 ISO 9001 certified Greek manufacturing firms is used for this purpose.

Findings

– According to the study findings, ISO 9001 effectiveness directly contributes to product quality and operational performance. Although it has no direct impact on manufacturing firms’ business performance, it has an indirect impact through the moderator of operational performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample of the responding manufacturing companies is limited to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from one country (Greece). In addition, the effects of the internal business environment and endogenous business factors have not been assessed through the present study.

Practical implications

– The study offers clear implications for managers who focus on elements that will increase the ISO 9001 effectiveness and desire to choose strategies, allocate resources and improve their firm’s performance.

Originality/value

– The present study contributes to the literature gap aiming at examining the degree to which ISO 9001 effectiveness influences the performance of certified firms. The concept of “ISO 9001 effectiveness” is introduced as the extent to which its prescribed quality objectives are met.

Synergising total productive maintenance elements with ISO 9001:2008 standard based quality management system

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the integration of total productive maintenance (TPM) and ISO 9001 certification by contributing a model named as TPM 9001:2008.

Design/methodology/approach

– In the beginning of the paper, the origin, growth and capabilities of TPM and ISO 9001 certification in enabling the organizations to perform at world class level are appraised by citing research outcomes reported in literature arena. The information and knowledge thus gathered from literature arena are used to conceptualize TPM 9001:2008 model. Through this conceptualization, the eight TPM pillars are fitted into the five major clauses of ISO 9001:2008 standard. In order to illustrate this conceptualization, the contents of a sub-clause of TPM 9001:2008 model are presented and the rationale behind designating it is appraised.

Findings

– TPM 9001:2008 model brings out synergy from the two renowned world class strategies namely “TPM” and “ISO 9001 certification”.

Practical implications

– The paper points out that the practical validity of TPM 9001:2008 model shall be established by conducting real time case studies in various organizations.

Originality/value

– This paper presents a unique approach for integrating TPM elements with ISO 9001:2008 standard based quality management system, as a single framework benefiting the contemporary organizations.

Quality Management System and Risk Management System: Similarities and Possibilities for Integration

Today organizations are required to deal with and manage a variety of challenges in their day-to-day activities. Examples of these challenges are issues related to quality of products/services, environment, employees’ safety and health, corporate social responsibilities, risks and many others. In response to these challenges, several Management Systems (MSs) and Management Systems Standards (MSSs) have been introduced in recent years to systematically guide an organization to cope with these challenges. The need to create Integrated Management System (IMS) is the result of increase in the number of these MSs and MSSs. There are also evidences in literature and practice that organizations have slowly started to tackle the IMS issue. The journal papers’ related to MSs Integration field, highlight that in theory any two MSs or even more are potentially capable of being integrated. In this study, it will be shown that the attitudes and approaches behind the two important function-specific MSSs developed by ISO Organization, i.e. Quality Management System (QMS) and Risk Management System (RMS) are largely similar and complementary. Hence, the integration of these two MSs seems justifiable. The main driver for such integration is to reduce the number of MSs in an organization and hence to decrease the number of resources employed. Also it will be demonstrated that the integration of these two MSs will result in more significant background, cultural context, techniques, procedures and synergy to an organization.

ISO 9001 in health service sector: a review and future research proposal

Purpose

– This paper aims to describe the state-of-the-art in ISO 9001 research in healthcare service sector and propose the future research agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

– A comprehensive literature review of the ISO 9001 studies in healthcare service sector was carried out.

Findings

– The effectiveness of ISO 9001 implementation in healthcare service sector is still not clear. Previous researches show common stages for implementing ISO 9001 in a healthcare service organization. However, there is no previous research that reveals the content of the system implemented. In addition, there is no previous research that reveals the interpretation of ISO 9001 based on the practice of ISO 9001 implementation in an organization. Based on the review, eight future research agendas were proposed.

Originality/value

– The paper is believed to be the first to discuss the state-of-the-art of ISO 9001 researches in healthcare service sector.

ISO 9000 impact on product quality in a defense procurement environment

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the relationship between ISO 9001 conformance of suppliers and the quality of products they provide, within a procurement system of a manufacturer operating under contracts with the US Department of Defense.

Design/methodology/approach

Chi‐square tests of independence were performed to compare the receipt acceptance rate of material provided by ISO 9001‐conforming suppliers to that of non‐ISO 9001‐conforming suppliers, for more than 46,000 receipts representing 21 material commodity groups provided by almost 800 suppliers. Acceptance of receipts required conformance to both hardware and paperwork requirements. Tests were also performed on data subsets, to determine the impact of ISO 9001 conformance on product quality for each of the 21 material commodity groups, for manufacturers versus distributors, and for two material control levels.

Findings

For the overall data set, and for the majority of data subsets analyzed, the product quality of non‐ISO 9001‐conforming suppliers was significantly better than that of ISO 9001‐conforming suppliers. When only hardware non‐conformances were considered to cause rejections, the results were similar, but effect sizes were generally smaller.

Research limitations/implications

The quantities of receipts and suppliers included in this investigation were very large; however, care should be exercised in generalizing the results, because of the potential influence of the defense industry‐related requirements imposed upon the material and the suppliers.

Originality/value

This is believed to be the first paper to investigate the impact of ISO 9001 conformance on product quality using a large quantity of actual product data, for both ISO 9001‐conforming and non‐ISO 9001‐conforming suppliers, in contrast to numerous assessments of quality impact performed using interview and survey data.