SMU MBA ASSIGNMENTS

Answer  : Quality Management System, in the simplest of terms, is defined as

“The process of Management of the Systems of an organization, with regard to its Quality related activities, for ‘meeting and enhancing customer satisfaction’ and also taking care of all other interested parties such as legislative and regulatory bodies, shareholders, suppliers, employees, etc.”

A Quality Management System (QMS) is required for any organization which desires to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meet both customer needs and the applicable regulatory requirements. Quality Management System is a process that integrates the fundamental management techniques with the principles and methodologies of Total Strategic Quality (TSQ). This helps in developing and implementing successful business strategies throughout the organization.

Quality Management System is a complete and planned approach to organizational management. It seeks to improve the quality of various products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback. The requirements of the Quality Management System are industry-specific and are defined individually by the respective organizations. It strictly adheres to the established standards, based on the ISO 9000 series.

Quality Management System Benefits

Managing for quality is the process of identifying and administering the activities that are essential to achieve the customer driven objectives of an organization. There are various benefits of implementing an ISO 9000 based Quality Management System.

Some of them are listed below:

• It improves the quality of products and services to meet the needs of the customer.
• It increases the productivity of manufacturing processes and commercial business.
• It reduces manufacturing and service costs.
• It determines and improves the marketability of products and services.
• It reduces consumer prices of products and services.
• It facilitates in outlining the current process, the requirements of the standard and then optimizes the process with input from the process users.
• It assists in establishing operational baselines and enterprise configuration.
• It motivates self assessment and maintains internal consistency.
• It controls various processes and systems.
• It establishes operational controls.
• It ensures that all the internal operations are effective and efficient.
• It ensures that product development and design changes are controlled.
• It serves as a blueprint for efforts to improve the quality system of an organization.
• It ensures that quality is constantly checked and measured.
• It facilitates procedures that ensure that corrective actions are taken whenever defects occur.
• It ensures that defects are fixed at an early stage of the project at a lower cost.
• It assists the organization to retain or increase market share, increasing sales or revenues.

Q2. Write a brief note on ISO 9001:2008