Quality Certification: Management Strategies for Success

The issue of certification to quality standards such as the ISO 9000 series and its regional and industry equivalents is of world-wide concem. In many countries and industries, certification has become mandatory for organisations wishing to do business with government agencies and major companies. While certification was designed so that purchasers could have confidence in the quality of the vendor's product, not all organisations have been able to implement certification processes in a way that supports this original purpose. Instead, some have opted to go through the motions without an underlying improvement philosophy simply in order to gain marketing benefits, while others have been overcome by the morass of paperwork required to achieve the quality stamp of approval. This paper examines the experience of one organisation which was threatened by the latter, but through a radical shift in the management of the certification programme, was able to implement a quality system which not only improved their software product, but also brought about significant marketing benefits.