The following text is an integral reproduction of the
content of the document "Quality Management Principles".
Introduction
This document introduces the eight quality management principles
on which the quality management system standards of the revised ISO 9000:2000
series are based. These principles can be used by senior management as a
framework to guide their organizations towards improved performance. The
principles are derived from the collective experience and knowledge 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.
The eight quality management principles are defined in ISO
9000:2000, Quality management systems Fundamentals and vocabulary, and
in ISO 9004:2000, Quality management systems Guidelines for performance
improvements.
This document gives the standardized descriptions of the
principles as they appear in ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9004:2000. In addition, it
provides examples of the benefits derived from their use and of actions that
managers typically take in applying the principles to improve their
organizations' performance.
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Organizations depend on their customers and therefore
should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer
requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.
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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 enhance 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 throughout the organization.
- Measuring customer
satisfaction and acting on the results.
- Systematically managing
customer relationships.
- Ensuring a balanced approach
between satisfying customers and other interested parties (such as owners,
employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a
whole).
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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.
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Key benefits:
- People will understand and be
motivated towards the organization's goals 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.
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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.
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Key benefits:
- Motivated, committed and
involved people within the organization.
- Innovation and creativity in
furthering the organization'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.
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A desired result is achieved more efficiently when
activities and related resources are managed as a process.
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Key benefits:
- Lower costs and shorter cycle
times through effective use of resources.
- Improved, consistent and predictable
results.
- Focused and prioritized
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.
- Analysing 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
interested parties.
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Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated
processes as a system contributes to the organization's effectiveness and
efficiency in achieving its objectives.
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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
interdependencies 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.
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Continual improvement of the organization's overall
performance should be a permanent objective of the organization.
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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 to continual 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.
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Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data
and information
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Key benefits:
- Informed decisions.
- An increased ability to
demonstrate the effectiveness of past 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 that 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.
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An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and
a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create
value
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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 costs 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.