High Performance Management Accomplishing Organizational

High Performance Management

Accomplishing Organizational Goals according Total Quality Management

Given the importance of effective management in any type of organization today, the recent attention paid to management initiatives such as the ISO 9000 series and the total quality movement approach embody a single primary component: the producers of products and services must achieve the highest attainable quality; in fact, nothing short of this less will succeed in an increasingly globalized and competitive environment. Consequently, the two past few years have witnessed the rise of a philosophy that has been aimed at maximizing organizational quality. The use of existing world standards for quality control, such as the standards in the ISO 9000 series, can provide almost any type of organizations with the tools it requires to achieve these goals, but there are some constraints to the process that must be resolved before the maximum benefits of such approaches can be realized. These comprehensive and extensive standards are characterized by fundamental differences in product categories and sectors, but all of these provide important general quality control principles for all types of products and services today.

Without a doubt, the current trend toward making do with less to accomplish more is clear, and ISO 9000 quality systems standards or their equivalent have been adopted in more than 90 countries as national standards. In this regard, compliance with the comprehensive ISO 9000 standards has become less obligatory for businesses that want sell medical devices or telecommunications equipment in Europe, where more than 20,000 companies are registered. In the U.S., suppliers to the electrical, chemical, and nuclear industries are anticipating certification has also become mandatory (Barnes, 1998). Furthermore, managers have not been isolated from these trends and the number of ISO 9000 registrations is doubling every nine to 12 months in the U.S., from 100 in 1990 to 4000 in 1994 (Barnes, 1998). Despite these trends, it is important for managers at every level to recognize that successful TQM outcomes make it possible to more efficiently use an organization's resources by ensuring the optimal allocation of tasks, processes, and responsibilities within the concept of accountability. Consequently, every aspect of the business's operation that serves to contribute to quality within the organization is differentiated, and to the extent possible, improved.

To accomplish this broad goal, a TQM system can apply a company's resources to operate in union with improved efficiency in satisfying customer needs and thus achieving higher profitability. Good manufacturing practices (GMP) are regarded as a part of the Quality Control System for companies producing pharmaceutical products (Lorsch, 1986). GMP principles seek to ensure the regular production for products that confirm with the health standards required from regulatory bodies. In this regard, good manufacturing practices provides many companies with the general basics to determine the minimum acceptable requirements for the production at good products, covering all the activities related to the production process (Lorsch, 1986).

By all accounts, some type of change is going to be inevitable in a "new" organization if total quality management is the path selected to achieve organizational goals. In this regard, any type of change may include new processes to adopt more precise technologies; flexible and efficient human resource development through education, training, and retraining; shifts in communication patterns and information flow; increased power sharing through teamwork and greater responsibilities for workers; top management commitment to and participation in total quality management; a heightened understanding of customer need (pers. obs.). These new directions necessitate management of change in a proactive manner to achieve organizational goals and mission, and accomplish the vision set by the organization (Madu & Kuei, 1993).

According to the author selected for this analysis, the quality standards embodied in the ISO 9000 quality systems standards have clearly become more prevalent over the last few years, in fact, more than 90 countries out of the world's 220 or so burgeoning nations have adopted the ISO 9000 series or its equivalent as their national standards; furthermore, adherence to ISO 9000 standards has become mandatory for companies looking to market medical devices or telecommunications equipment in Europe, where more than 20,000 companies are currently registered (Barnes, 1998. According to this analyst, "In the U.S., suppliers to the electrical, chemical, and nuclear industries are expecting certification to become mandatory. The number of ISO 9000 registrations is doubling every nine to 12 months in the U.S., from 100 in 1990 to 4000 in 1994" (Barnes 1998, p. 24).

What is typically referred to as the ISO 9000 standard are actually comprised of five different subcategories; the ISO 9000 standards are the general guide to the other categories involved:

ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive, covering research, design, building, shipping, and installing.

ISO 9002 is for companies that only produce and supply existing products;

ISO 9003 is for companies which do even less, such as assembly;

ISO 9004 is a document to guide further internal quality development; and ISO 14000 is a new standard to address environmental issues (Barnes, 1998).

In truth, though, the strict standards embodied in ISO 9000 can be considered be the most influential standards of their specific type in the world today (Simmons & White, 1999). The impact of this widespread acceptance of ISO 9000 indicates that many organizations have identified a course of action that pays dividends on a regular basis. Notwithstanding the fact that there is no overwhelmingly compelling evidence that the standards codified by the ISO 9000 series are ultimately good or bad (Simmons & White, 1999), the fact remains that when an organization is able to garner a lot of support for one approach or another, substantive outcomes will likely result. In this regard, the concept behind the ISO 9000 series that can potentially mostly contribute to competitive advantage has unfortunately attracted less attention from scientific researchers. Nevertheless, a growing number of organizations have questioned the association between ISO 9000 and their business-related outcomes. According to some recent observers, "Does the size of the firm affect the benefits obtained? Do firms that are committed to international markets or export extensively benefit more than firms competing domestically?" (Simmons & White, 1999, p. 331).