Fundamentals of Quality Standards

Quality standards are defined as documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose.

Standards provide organizations with the shared vision, understanding, procedures, and vocabulary needed to meet the expectations of their stakeholders. Because standards present precise descriptions and terminology, they offer an objective and authoritative basis for organizations and consumers around the world to communicate and conduct business.

One of the definitions of a “principle” is that it is a basic belief, theory or rule that has a major influence on the way in which something is done. “Quality management principles” are a set of fundamental beliefs, norms, rules and values that are accepted as true and can be used as a basis for quality management.

The QMPs can be used as a foundation to guide an organization’s performance improvement. They were developed and updated by international experts of ISO/TC 176, which is responsible for developing and maintaining ISO’s quality management standards. In a modern global marketplace, quality is a key competency which companies derive competitive advantage.

Achieving quality is fundamental to competition in business in propelling business into new heights. Many quality management philosophies, methodologies, concepts and practices were created by quality gurus to manage quality of product and service in an organization. These practices have evolved over time to create sustainable sources of competitive advantage.

New challenges faced by managers are addressed to improve organization’s performance and future competition. In the total quality management form, it is a structured management system adopted at every management level that focused on ongoing effort to provide product or service.

Its integration with the business plan of the organization can exact positive influence on customer satisfaction and organizational performance. This course dealt with what is fundamentals of quality standards, its impact on organizations and approaches of implementing these standards.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 15 hours.

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Explain Fundamentals of Quality Standards;
2. Identify Quality management functions and current trends;
3. Describe why ISO standards were introduced
4. Describe the main features of ISO 9000
5. Describe the main features of QS 9000
6. Compare and contrast ISO 9000 and QS 9000
7. Describe the main international quality management awards
8. Briefly describe software quality management

Course Curriculum