Quality has been identified as one of the competitive strategies for improving business performance in a global market. Organizations all over the world are using different techniques for quality improvement. ISO 9000, is both a management tool, and a source of competitive advantage, with the potential to stimulate the company in moving towards Total Quality Management (TQM). Indian industries have gone for ISO certification in a big way since the beginning of the 1990s. This paper describes the findings from a survey conducted on a sample of Indian companies that have been ISO 9000:2000 certified. This survey mainly focuses on the reasons for certification and the benefits after certification. The survey also tries to find out the major benefits and difficulties of introducing TQM in Indian industries. The results of this survey show that there is a significant difference between the Indian and foreign industries with regard to internal reasons for ISO 9000 certification. The major benefits achieved by them after certification include customer satisfaction, improved customer service and product quality.
The
industrial scene in India has undergone a significant change in the past ten years
of liberalization - Indian industries have gone for ISO 9000 certification in
a big way (Acharya and Ray 2000). There are about 15,000 organizations in India
that have been certified for ISO 9000 series standards.
ISO 9000 is a family of standards that provides a series of guidelines on how
to establish a quality system in order to manage the process that affects its
product or services. This family of standards was first published by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1987 and was subsequently updated in
1994 and 2000. The worldwide total of certificates to the ISO 9001:2000 Quality
Management System (QMS) standards at the end of 2004 was 670, 399, an increase
of 35% over the previous year, and 64% over 2000; the year before the transition
to ISO 9001:2000 began. The certificates had been issued in 154 countries.
The
quality system has to be documented and employees are expected to follow the documented
procedures consistently (Quazi et al., 2002). One of the important aspects
of ISO 9000 series is its structurewhich gives a consistent set of procedures,
elements and requirements that can be applied universally. It creates an internationally
common language for trade, and standards of quality for the business community
(Kanji 1998). |
