The impact of Iso 9000 certification on TQM implementation process: in the case of Bedele Brewery

Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the popular modern management concepts with emphasis on quality in the entire organization and extends from supplier to customer. The main purpose of this study is to assess the adoption of TQM elements in 180 9000 certified company in case of Bedele Brewery. In this study Bedele brewery was selected as it has been certified in ISO 9000 Quality management system since 2007. Out of 345 employees' 181 were selected using stratified random sampling and five department heads were included. A total of 143 usable questionnaires were received and the overall response rate was 79 percent. The result of the study shows that the company practiced TQM at a moderate level. Among the elements of TQM; process management, customer focus and supplier relationship implement at a high level. Leadership, employees' participation, education and training, and reward and recognition are implemented at moderate level. However, continuous improvement is practiced at low level. The result indicated that ISO 9000 implementation contributes towards the adoption of Total Quality Management. Even though the company is moderate in practice of TQM activities, it should be do more to implement them at their full extent.Jimma Universit

Evaluating management standards: empirical research into the Scottish Quality Management System

Managers today are faced with a bewildering choice of Management Standards that are being promoted to improve personal and organisational performance by a wide range of Standards-setting bodies. Standards-based management is a well-researched field, but all the research concentrates on individual Standards such as ISO 9000 and 14000 without identifying the influences of other Management Standards. This research seeks to extend the debate about Standards-based management and to encourage other researchers to consider it as both an entity and a phenomenon and to note its divergence from other management theories. A taxonomy of Management Standards is presented to enable the principal Standards to be categorised and a definition of a Management Standard is proposed to enable the distillation of the considerable body of literature into more manageable proportions. A chronology of Management Standards development is tabled and compared with the evolution of Quality Management and Total Quality Management (TQM) and the possible future development of Management Standards is examined. The literature research confirmed that Standards-based management approaches had increased very significantly, despite a lack of empirical research to show that this method of management yielded uniform improvements. It identified a trend for integrating Management Standards and creating a “super” Management Standard that would incorporate all the functions of management within an organisation. The Scottish Quality Management System (SQMS) is an integrated Management Standard that incorporates many of the key functions of management within an audited Management Standards framework that its architects claim is based on the principles of TQM. While originally developed for the Scottish training provider network in 1993, it has spread internationally and is currently in use by circa 600 organisations in several countries. It is the only example of a Management Standard of this kind, and despite its longevity, extensive coverage and significant public investment, it has not attracted any previous research interest. The SQMS project was ambitious, seeking to impose a major new Standard on a diverse and predominately unsophisticated population of organisations within a tight time frame. The field research surveyed the entire SQMS registered organisation population using a questionnaire that was based upon the principles of ISO 9004: 1994 and some preliminary research. The questionnaire was designed to examine attitudes and motivation, as well as gauging the effectiveness of the SQMS Standard as determined by an analysis of the improvements that could be directly associated with its implementation. The survey achieved over 70% response rate and the resulting data set was comprehensive and the analysis robust. An additional element of the research compared the results of the questionnaire response analysis with the perceptions of the SQMS Auditors who had audited a majority of the respondent organisations. The field research showed that the SQMS population was very experienced and had been working with SQMS for well over three years. This is a period that the literature research indicated was the minimum time required for the benefits of quality improvement initiatives to become measurable. In the absence of any clear published objectives for the implementation of SQMS, a number of likely objectives were postulated and these objectives were measured against the results of the research. The results of the research suggest an attitude of compliance, rather than improvement as the underlying mind-set of the SQMS organisations and an absence of quality improvement planning or measurement of key performance indicators. This attitude was no different among organisations that had also adopted ISO 9000 and IiP. SQMS accreditation had not shown to provide any marketing or promotional benefit in the same way as ISO 9000 and it had not led to increased market share or profitability. Few of the possible benefits of applying a Standard of this nature had been realised by the majority of organisations and there was little evidence of tangible organisational improvement. The Standard could not be deemed to have met its proposed objectives and a comparison with an accepted model of TQM did not find sufficient compatibility to designate SQMS as a tool for TQM implementation. The interviews with SQMS Auditors identified major discrepancies between their perceptions and the views of the organisations that they audited. The admission by over half of the respondent organisations that they produced evidence purely to satisfy audits raised questions about the effectiveness of the Standard and its audits and the competence of auditors to audit “super” Standards. The novelty of the research is examined and suggestions for future research proposed

Product Costing in Lean Manufacturing Organizations

Lean manufacturing has been widely adopted by many organizations since the early 1990s. At the same time, the traditional accounting methods are almost obsolete with respect to Lean Manufacturing system. It fails to properly assess the operational improvements and therefore new cost management methods are needed to support the newly implemented lean manufacturing system. This paper discusses the drawbacks of traditional accounting methods used in companies that adopt Lean Manufacturing and presents two costing methods compatible with lean manufacturing organizations, Value Stream Costing (VSC) and features & characteristics costing which intended to cast light on the operational improvements achieved in organizations adopting lean manufacturing. Value Stream Costing appears to provide a bridge between operational views and financial views of lean, which enhances the transfer of information from shop level to management level. Keywords: lean manufacturing, lean accounting, Activity-Based Costing, Value Stream Costin

Emerging Issues Of Enterprise Architecture In UK Universities

“New paradigms have emerged in Information Systems discipline that leverages the value of Information Technology planning and management. Corporate governments adopt Enterprise Architecture (EA), as a strategy for aligning business goals and information systems strategy so IT resources may become effective. IT management and future investments are challenging for many institutions due to the devolved nature of the institution. IT resources need to be effectively coordinated. The UK HE sector is currently faced with such challenge. Higher educational institutions are adopting modern approaches in addressing fundamental changes that include constrained funds, and improving students and stakeholder demand. EA helps an organisation manage its IT resources by aligning the IT strategy with the business strategy, so that IT becomes a worthy investment. This study will determine the current approach towards EA and its interpretation as an IS planning practice in UK higher institutions. This paper reviews current literature and uses qualitative methods to analyse the data collected. Data used for this study include transcripts from interviews, data from workshops cum focus groups, and reports from five institutions in the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), funded pilot study. The results from this qualitative analysis show that EA represents a new IT management innovation in the HE sector that would help senior management decision making, help departments share reusable resources and ensure IS departments become more successful by looking at how IS impacts on an organisation\u27s strategy. The paper concludes with identification of key issues emerging in the adoption of this approach in the context.

The application of quality models and techniques in selected SMMEs in the Eastern Cape

With the increase of imports from China and more pressure being put on the Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMME’s) from their larger customers, survival has become more and more difficult, quality is no longer being a choise but a prerequisite if the companies want to survive. This research evaluates the use of quality and productivity or the lack thereof in selected SMMEs in the Eastern Cape environment from both the SMME and Larger companies’ point of view. The research has focused on the effectiveness and understanding of what has been put in place by the SMMEs, what is available for the SMMEs to use, governmental support, and the requirements of the customers. Certain shortcomings have been highlighted as to the use and benefits of the processes that have been implemented. The researcher made use of both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the outcome of the research. The thesis concludes that the SMME sector knows the importance of the use of quality; it is the effectiveness and management thereof that is the concern