Application of Rasch Measurement Model in Examining the Implementation of ISO 9000 Organizational Performance in Malaysia

Quality Management System (QMS), especially the ISO 9000 QMS, is not a concept new to the world. Since its establishment, the ISO 9000 QMS has undergone several revisions in coping with the changes in an increasingly competitive market environment. Consequently, many studies have been conducted in view of the above. However, the consensus among the scholars regarding the effect of ISO 9000 implementation and organisational performance is still inconclusive. Issues like the level of comprehensiveness in ISO 9000 implementation, inconsistent variables, and differing methodologies might be of some major variances. In general, this study attempts to revisit these issues and analyse them using the Rasch Measurement Model. The data were collected through series of survey on randomly selected automotive-based companies determined beforehand. The survey questions were developed based on previous literature in which the Likert scale (1 – low to 5 – high) was used to measure the perception of the respondents. Working on the 28% response rate, the data was processed and analysed using Winstep 3.6 software. The results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between ISO 9000 implementation and organisational performance. They also revealed that the higher the capability of the organisation in implementing ISO 9000 standard requirements and guidelines, the higher the probability of success in optimising organisational performance. Fundamentally, this study seeks to contribute in view of applying a new paradigm of measurement theory in the area of quality management. Consequently, the output is expected to be of a valuable assistance for organisations in determining their capability and planning for continuous improvement in the area of quality management

The Effect of Quality System of ISO 9000, The Strategic Role of Human Resources Management, Total Quality Management and Organization Culture to Organization Performance (Survey at ISO Standardized Puskesmas in Central Sulawesi)

The purpose of this research is to know, to test and to analyze the direct effect of ISO 9000 quality system program, the strategic role of human resource management, total quality management to organizational culture and performance and indirect influence to organizational performance through organizational culture. The analytical method used is path analysis with AMOS IBM SPSS software, 22 version.Results and Discussion; the ISO 9000 quality system program has a significant effect on organizational culture of 44.5% with p-value 0,000 <α = 0.05. The strategic role of human resources management directly has an insignificant effect on organizational culture of 7.5% with p-value 0.186> α = 0.05. Total quality management directly affects organizational culture by 25.9% with p-value 0,000 <α = 0.05. Implementation of the ISO 9000 quality system program has a significant effect on organizational performance of 39.6% with p-value 0,000 <α = 0.05. The strategic role of human resources management directly has significant effect on organizational performance of 9.6% with p-value of 0.047 <α = 0.05. Total quality management directly affects the organizational performance of 11.7% with p-value 0,025 <α = 0.05. The organizational culture directly affects the organization's performance by 38.8% with p-value 0,000 <α = 0.05.The implementation of ISO 9000 quality system program indirectly effect the organizational performance significantly  through organizational culture of 17.3% with p-value 0.000 <α = 0.05. The strategic role of human resource management indirectly has no significant effect on organizational performance through organizational culture of 2.91% with p-value 0.191> α = 0.05. Total quality management indirectly affects organizational performance significantly through organizational culture of 10.0% with p-value 0,000 <α = 0.05. Keywords: ISO, the strategic role of human resource management, TQM, organizational culture, and organizational performance

Validating the ISO 9000 Construct of Measurement Instrument Through Application of RASCH Model

There are numerous researches conducted on the issues related to ISO 9001 quality management system. Among the issue is the impact of the ISO 9001 quality management system implementation on the performance of the organization. However the findings from the research appeared as inconclusive. Few literature suggest that the inconclusive result may due to the level of ISO 9000 implementation therefore further research is required. Generally the data collected for these types of researches are through mailed questionnaires and analyzed it using SPSS and SEM. In line with that this study also developed questionnaires correspond to a 5 point Likert to assess the implementation of ISO 9000 in the organization. As a result 231 items are identified within five dimensions. The five dimensions are derived from ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 quality management standards requirement and guidelines. Among the dimensions are management responsibility, resource management, product realization, measurement improvement and innovation and organizational performance. The questionnaires are sent to 78 automotive based companies located in the Northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. 19 questionnaires were returned and used as pilot test to validate and calibrate the instrument. The responds from the organization are tabulated and run in WinSteps software for the purpose of validating and calibrating the instrument by implementing the Rasch ‘quality control' and reduction of items. Not all the outfit items are removed from the instruments, Rasch Model did provide room for the researcher to make decision either to remove or not those outfit items. In this study those outfit items need to be corrected in order to ensure that the instrument is reliable and fit to measure the performance of the organization. As a result 68 items are removed from the questionnaires

Articulation between information systems and quality management systems: literature review

Technological advancement has influenced all aspects of daily life. Since the adoption of Information Technology (IT) / Information Systems (IS), that represents the key issue for the success of most organizations, management of the quality of its products, services and business processes with established quality certification under ISO 9000, also represents a critical aspect in organizations. Organizations are forced to use advanced technologies and become more efficient in internal organization in order to be more competitive and closer to their customers and partners. In the face of increasingly demanding markets, interventions for organizational improvement through the adoption of quality management are becoming very common. The organizations are concerned with the development and implementation of information systems tailored to their specific needs, rather than buying in the market software applications. By the other hand, organizations acquire software certificates on the market to meet some specific requirements of the Quality Management Systems (QMS), such as auditing and document management. Synergies between the IS and QMS according to ISO 9001 standard, allows the association between these two systems, so that the IS can support and influence the processes related to the QMS, not only limited to the collection and documentation management. The joint development of these systems allows organizations to use only a methodology and a team intervention. The potential benefits of active participation of the organizational processes associated with the IS / QMS raises the need to develop a method that articulate/integrate interventions for improvement motivated by IT / IS with the improvement interventions motivated by the QMS.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Development of software to facilitate the implementation of total productive maintenance in an ISO 9000, total quality management frame work

The objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology to implement the total quality management (TQM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) under an ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 fram work. To facilitate such implementation, an integrated computer software is developed to manage the different activities in the electromechanical maintenance facilities in any type of industry. In the first part of this thesis we start by introducing and clarifying every element that form the base to the understanding of the total Quality Management and total Productive Maintenance philosophies with the customer satisfaction as a major target. A systematic approach will be followed so that each element of the TQM and TPM can be brought under attention and bonded smoothly with the other elements of these two philosophies. This is done to ensure the success of the implantation of TQM and TPM in the difficult and sometimes demanding environment of the maintenance facilities. To help clarify, understand and support the customer needs, globally applicable standards will play a key role. Such standards, whether developed by the International Standardization Organisation (ISO 9000 for Quality Management and ISO 14000 for Environment Management) or other organisations will become the primary instrument to guide us in the process. These standards strive to perfect, at all times, the application of teamwork consensus, direct communication, and transparency principles in management. In this way ISO and other standards promote the values of rationality, utility, safety, waste reduction, environmental protection and ultimately, the customer satisfaction. In the second part of the thesis, a computer software is developed to manage the activities of the maintenance facility within ISO 9000 and 14000 framework. The software will give the organisation the capability to adapt and to respond rapidly to the ever-changing needs of the customers it serves. Such fast and cost efficient service requires a planned completion date and a supporting timetable for actions that must be established for each job. To achieve these objectives, each team member should follow written procedures and must be informed when deviations from the planned schedule occur or is expected so that possible assistance or remedial actions may be considered. The software is developed such that real-time evaluation and current needs for standing activities are available to all levels of management. Many Technical Management Reports are also introduced to rapidly assign or re-assign jobs to the working teams. The tool will also be useful in providing on line and real time information on the equipment and components' status. Such instantaneous, precise, properly classified and readily available data are expected to help the implantation of the TQM and TPM in order to manage and optimize the maintenance facilities

A quality management based on the Quality Model life cycle

Managing quality is a hard and expensive task that involves the execution and control of processes and techniques. For a good quality management, it is important to know the current state and the objective to be achieved. It is essential to take into account with a Quality Model that specifies the purposes of managing quality. QuEF (Quality Evaluation Framework) is a framework to manage quality in MDWE (Model-driven Web Engineering). This paper suggests managing quality but pointing out the Quality Model life cycle. The purpose is to converge toward a quality continuous improvement by means of reducing effort and time.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2010-20057-C03-02Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN 2010-12312-EJunta de Andalucía TIC-578

Australian software developers embrace quality Assurance Certification

[Abstract]: This paper details a research project undertaken to assess the extent of adoption of quality assurance (QA) certification by Australian software developers. A brief history of government QA policy, the catalyst in the sudden interest in certification, is included. Primary data for the study were gathered from a survey of 1,000 Australian software developers, and were used to determine the extent of adoption of QA certification by Australian developers, their organisational characteristics, capability maturity and perceptions regarding the value of QA certification. Secondary data from the JAS-ANZ register of certified organisations enabled validation of survey responses and extrapolation of QA certification adoption. Major findings of the study revealed that 11 percent of respondents are certified to ISO 9001 or AS 3563, seven percent are in progress and 21 percent plan to adopt QA certification. It also revealed that specialist developers are adopting QA certification at twice the rate of in-house developers. Other factors found to be associated with adoption of QA certification are large development groups, developers with government or overseas clients, organisations with whole- or part-foreign ownership, and organisations undertaking corporate TQM initiatives. From the findings, detailed implications are drawn for managers and policy analysts

Standardization and certification of information systems development

Information Systems;Development;Standardization;management information systems

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