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The benefits of Quality Management are widely recognized following reports of its successful implementation in many large companies. It has led to these companies becoming highly competitive both locally and internationally through the production of quality products that meet customer requirements at the lowest cost, significantly increasing their market share and profitability. Quality standards make life safer, they create a level playing field on which to compete, they allow access to state-of-the-art technology, strengthen innovation capacity, and help achieve the most effective allocation of resources. For SMEs, they are particularly vital as they remove many of the obstacles that would otherwise hinder their entry into and expansion within a market. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very important part of the European economy, accounting for 99.8 % of all businesses, 675 % of all jobs and 58.4 % of value added. Their central role has been recognized by the European Commission and the Member States through various policy pronouncements. Quality management at small business companies is one of major factors affecting entrepreneurship success. The product quality is one of the indispensable preconditions of a company's success on the market. SMEs have a central role to play in growth and job creation, but their use of standards and their involvement with standardization is typically low. Both SMEs and the economy more widely could benefit from SMEs being more involved in the standardization process. The aim of this research is to investigate problems antecedents for Implementation of Quality Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, thereby contributing to the knowledge on how to adopt Quality Management in SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that quality is a multidimensional concept - defined by different approaches to management (e.g. TQM, Kaizen, ISO), strategies and operational activities - ISO standards are dominant in Europe. Quality managment has been adopted in Poland, which translates directly into a number of certificates issued by accredited certification units. The aim of the paper is to analyze the dynamics of issuing QSM certificates in Poland, that are consistent with ISO 9001standard, in comparison to chosen European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the system of higher education in Latvia, like Europe and all over the world, the necessity for continual improvement of learning process becomes the question of the day. Especially actual it is for such departments as Faculty of Information Technology (FIT), because information technologies belong to the scope that progresses very fast and on an ongoing basis. Regarding to the quality of the education process it is necessary to ensure the quality and the competitiveness of the training process not only in Latvia, but also in Europe and all over the world. This question has not lost its importance during the last decades, including the necessity for European Universities to improve their image and competitiveness all over the world that has been recent(y mentioned in different publications. Development of the quality system and certification of an educational institution in accordance to ISO 9000 standard is becoming a popular choice for quality improvement in education worldwide. At the same time this application is debatable. Successful quality assurance in any institution must begin 'from the top'. On the government level these questions are being solved by gradual renewal of legislation and other normative documents, but they do not include the level of detalization, connected with everyday tasks of educational departments and updating the particular study programs. At the same time the development of the quality system and certification of the institution is responsibility of the top management. Nevertheless great experience in the development and introduction of quality system in the information systems' development company gives a confidence that the lessons learned can also be successfully applied for operation improvement in the Faculty of Information Technology of the University. The existing experience of the development of quality systems for educational institutions in the world has been shortly reviewed. The specie characteristics of an IT company quality system are described, and their analogy with the education process has been evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]