Barriers to ISO 9001 Implementation in Moroccan Organizations: Empirical Study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore obstacles to ISO 9001 quality management system implementation in Moroccan firms. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire survey has been conducted among a heterogeneous sample of 200 organizations, operating in different sectors in Morocco, yielding a response rate of 57.5%. The authors have studied barriers to quality initiatives in general and obstacles to QMS implementation in particular through an extensive literature review. Questions related to profiles of respondents, reasons of seeking certification, external consultancy and barriers to ISO 9001 implementation experienced by surveyed organizations. For the purpose of this study, authors considered three categories of quality inhibiting factors: organizational, technical and costs related barriers. Findings: Results indicate that surveyed companies sought ISO 9001 certification mainly for marketing reasons and experienced many difficulties during the implementation process. Barriers reported by respondents were mostly organizational. Resistance to change headed the list according to participants’ opinion. Also, findings highlighted the prominence of bureaucracy and poor interdependence between departments in organizations. Lack of communication, poor top management commitment and insufficient trainings were also ascertained to be obstacles to QMS implementation in Morocco. Originality/value: Earlier studies were led by different researchers in different countries about barriers to quality initiatives in general and to ISO 9001 implementation in particular. Few of those studies were conducted in Arab speaking countries but no research has been carried in Morocco. This study on obstacles to QMS implementation in Morocco will help in completing the jigsaw of difficulties faced by organizations worldwide when preparing to ISO 9001 certification. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited by the geographic context of the study Morocco, although results can be extrapolated to Arab speaking countries in general. Practical implications: The findings of this paper provide Moroccan managers with a practical understanding of the factors that are likely to obstruct ISO 9001 QMS implementation. Managers should overcome these barriers to achieve a successful implementation and higher QMS performance.Peer Reviewe

A Model-Driven Approach for Business Process Management

The Business Process Management is a common mechanism recommended by a high number of standards for the management of companies and organizations. In software companies this practice is every day more accepted and companies have to assume it, if they want to be competitive. However, the effective definition of these processes and mainly their maintenance and execution are not always easy tasks. This paper presents an approach based on the Model-Driven paradigm for Business Process Management in software companies. This solution offers a suitable mechanism that was implemented successfully in different companies with a tool case named NDTQ-Framework.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia TIN2010-20057-C03-02Junta de Andalucía TIC-578

The library’s quality management system and quality assurance in higher education: A lesson from Southeast emerging educational hub

As one of the national vision 2020’s implementation programs, the establishment of a national Quality Assurance system focusing on the quality of the programs offered in terms of the general criteria of the structure and process of higher education is timely.In relating to the program, this paper aims to explore the efforts and other issues associated with the development and implementation of quality assurance in higher education due to its role as a service organization, which is required to enhance their quality of services.One of the important pillars determining the quality of higher-education service delivery is the library’s quality management system. By using 46 public universities’ libraries as the main sample, this study tested three hypotheses that are related to the nature of quality management practices by individual construct, as well as by aggregation value, and to what extent the difference to the numbers of staff and the type of organization will influence the quality management practices.We employed mean value and one way analysis ANOVA as the research method to solve the questions.The validity of the constructs is measured using factor analysis, and its reliability is measured by Cronbach’s alpha.Our study results revealed that the study sample perceived those constructs were important to maintain service quality to its customer.The study also informs that the number of staff and the type of organization do not influence at all on the library’s quality management system. In other words, the awareness and spirit to play an important role in achieving excellent service to its customer is the main platform over the number of staff and the type of organization

What are the impacts of implementing ISOs on the competitiveness of manufacturing industry in China?

Based on the proposed ‘PIE’ analytical framework, this paper argues that the preparation, implementation and evaluation of international standards (ISOs) affect the competitiveness of (foreign-financed) export-oriented manufacturing industry in southern and southeastern China, both in the short- and long-term. During the period of preparation, the decision to adopt ISOs is mainly driven by market demand and/or by the decisions of established competitors. Negative effects due to the diversion of scarce resources and institutional resistance to change during the period of transitional implementation are offset by the overall enhancement of the firm's productivity in the long run. ‘Tailoring for the external audit’ and ‘second-best’ practices are two strategies commonly employed by Chinese firms to lower the transaction costs involved in ISO audits

Quality and Environmental Management Linkage: A Review of the Literature

This article presents a conceptual and empirical review of the literature related to the link between the different perspectives, models, and tools associated with Quality Management and Environmental Management. Several academic works identified in the literature that aimed to establish conceptual similarities between QM and EM are reviewed and discussed. In general, terms, the scholarly literature suggests that the main quality practices and programs associated with the Quality Management paradigmsuch as ISO 9001 and Total Quality Managementfacilitate the adoption of environmental practices associated with corporate Environmental Management. However, there is evidence of certain limitations driven by different biases, whether or not they are recognized in the reviewed publications. The concentration on some avenues of research focused on very detailed aspects of the linkage between QM and EM is discussed. Conversely, lines that have been overlooked and are in need for more research were also identified. The implications for scholars, such as suggestions for further research, are included as a contribution of the article.This research was funded by the Basque Autonomous Government (Grupos de Investigacion del Sistema Universitario Vasco; GIC 15/176) and the Chaire de recherche du Canada sur l'internalisation du developpement durable et la responsabilisation des organisations

Higher CMM levels attained by QA certified software developers

[Abstract]: This paper addresses the question: is higher capability maturity associated with adoption of Quality Assurance (QA) certification? To assess the extent of adoption of third-party QA certification by Australian software developers, a survey of 1,000 software developers was recently conducted. The questionnaire also included an assessment of their capability maturity based on the capability maturity model (CMM). Cynics who criticise the value of QA certification may be surprised by the strong association found between adoption of QA certification and capability maturity

Multiple case-study analysis of quality management practices within UK Six Sigma and non-Six Sigma manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises

This paper examines multiple case-study analysis of quality management practices within UK Six Sigma and non-Six Sigma manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises

Biobank quality management in the BBMRI.be network

From as early as 2005, different guidelines and quality standards covering biobank activities and sample handling methods have been developed to improve and guarantee the reproducibility of biomarker research. Ten years on, the BBMRI.be Quality working group wanted to gauge the current situation of these aspects in the biobanks of the BBMRI.be network. To this end, two online surveys were launched (fall 2017 and fall 2018) to the biobank quality managers in the BBMRI.be network to determine the status and setup of their current quality management system (QMS) and how their QMS and related practices have evolved over a 14 month time period. All biobanks addressed by the two surveys provided a complete response (12 and 13, respectively). A QMS was implemented in 85% of biobanks, with 4 standards emerging as primary basis. Supplementary guidelines were used, with a strong preference for the ISBER best practices for biobanks. The Standard Preanalytical Code-an indicator of the preanalytical lifecycle of a biospecimen impacting the downstream analysis results-was already implemented in 50% of the biobanks while the other half intends future implementation. To assess and maintain the quality of their QMS, 62% of biobanks used self-assessment tools and 71% participated in proficiency testing schemes. The majority of biobanks had implemented procedures for general and biobank specific activities. However, policies regarding the business and sustainability aspect of biobank were only implemented in a limited number of biobanks. A clear desire for a peer-review audit was expressed by 69% of biobanks, with over half of them intending to implement the recently published biobank standard ISO20387. Overall, the biobanks of the BBMRI.be network have actively implemented a solid quality approach in their practices. The implementation of ISO 20387 may bring further professionalization of activities. Based on the needs expressed in this survey, the Quality working group will be setting up an audit program for the BBMRI.be biobanks, to enhance, harmonize and streamline their activities. On the whole, the biobanks in the BBMRI.be network are able to substantially contribute to translational research, as a primary facilitator guaranteeing high quality standards and reproducibility

Understanding ISO’s 9001 Benefits and Research through an Operations Strategy Framework

Despite the success that the ISO 9001 standard has achieved it has been extensively criticized and empirical studies have shown controversial results about its impact on performance. Our conceptual study was motivated by the mentioned dilemma about ISO 9001 effectiveness, and the controversy that this dilemma raises in literature on the one hand and on the other by almost exponential growth of certifications among companies world-wide. It is our opinion that in order to understand results related to ISO 9001 implementation we need to take a step back from empirical research and instead try to analyze iso conceptually by taking into account also the results of empirical studies implemented in the past. The purpose of the paper is to clarify the purpose of implementation of ISO 9001 and, in relation to this purpose, to analyze different possible benefits resulting from its implementation. In order to achieve this purpose our goal is to analyze the criticism of the old ISO 9001:1994 by using a specific framework of the operations strategy theory. The paper emphasises that in accordance with its conformance purpose, ISO 9001 is successful in building conformance capability and that by using ISO 9001 practices companies can also benefit in relation to production economics through improved process efficiency and to other competitive capabilities. It also emphasises that empirical results expected from ISO 9001 implementation are strategy contingent and therefore this should be taken into account in designing empirical studies about iso’s benefits.ISO 9001, quality assurance, conformity, standards

Heterogeneity in the Evaluation of Quality Assurance Systems: The International Food Standard (IFS) in European Agribusiness

Due to the growing demands of customers and several food crises, quality assurance schemes have become increasingly popular in agribusiness. With this trend in mind, it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at the satisfaction of participating European companies. The study focuses on the IFS, which has gained much relevance in the food industry. A questionnaire concerned with perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the IFS was answered by 389 companies. The results indicate that the overall evaluation of the IFS is primarily affected by the perceived usefulness of the catalogue of requirements and its evaluation. Furthermore, a cluster analysis was conducted and three clusters were identified, representing heterogeneous evaluations of the IFS.evaluation, quality assurance systems, International Food Standard, agribusiness, Agribusiness, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q10, Q13, Q18,