ABOUT
Quality Management strategies rest largely on the ISO 9000 family of standards, which states in its introduction:
This standard promotes the adoption of a process approach to developing, implementing and improving the effectiveness of a quality management system, in order to increase customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements.
And in clause 4.1 and its subclauses:
The organisation shall identify the processes needed for the quality management system, monitor, measure and analyse these processes, and implement the actions necessary to achieve planned results and the continual improvement of these processes.
The standard is clear about the need for a process management strategy. From that point on, how the approach is implemented varies from one organisation to another. Some lean towards automated methods, others adopt a more organic process involving more people, depending on each organisation's business focus. Although there is no single definitive method, every process management system follows the same steps:
• Mapping its processes;
• Defining responsibilities;
• Developing its indicators;
• Setting and adjusting the targets to be met;
• Measuring and continuously monitoring the results.
Other common ground, though less often implemented, is adopting measures for the systematic improvement of performance and the systematic implementation of innovations and improvements.