Introduction
Many companies around the world are becoming part of the quality control movement. Consumers have become highly aware of their rights and therefore have ended up demanding better, convenient and delivery of high quality services. High demands and expectations have forced top leadership and management of various institutions to forge strategies that will ensure quality control management will take center stage (Hutchins1- 12).
Many companies including those of both the corporate world and public companies especially those delivering services that are considered utility services have installed management principles that aim to ensure that the need of consumers and all other stakeholders are achieved through the use of quality management systems.
Every organization therefore strives to achieve quality and many companies try tom achieve ISO 9000 certification which is intended to ensure high levels of quality management systems within the organization therefore increasing productivity and reducing inefficiencies. Therefore ISO 9000 certification lays guidelines of operation that will ensure that every single process within every department of the organization will be geared towards delivering services and products of high quality (Hoyle 1-15).
Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC)
Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) was founded 10 years ago and its core function was dispensing water and electricity. Therefore it is the main responsibility of ADDC to carefully plan design and build networks that will ensure highly efficient and affordable distribution of water and electricity within the emirate of Abu Dhabi region.
ADDC is a Public Joint Stock Company delivers regulated water and electricity services to its consumer base, its income levels are regulated by the Regulation & Supervision Bureau (RSB), the body accountable for licensing and making sure the performance such companies.
The RSB’s is therefore supervises the activities of ADDC with the interest of customers in mind, and therefore restrictions are placed on the total sum revenue ADDC make in a given business cycle. This is achieved through the use of price controls and other mechanisms that give incentives to ADDC with the aim of improving the quality of service that is given by ADDC to its customers.
ADDC’s Vision is to help achieve the government vision of masking water and electricity abundantly and affordable by becoming a top water and electricity distribution and supply company, comparable with the best water and electricity supply companies in the world.
ADDC’s purpose and Mission is to contract, preserve and operate a safe, efficient, and cheap water and electricity delivery arrangement in Abu Dhabi. ADDC therefore intends to achieve this by Recruiting and developing a skillful human resource base and assimilating highly developed international standards codes of practice management techniques and technology.
ADDC values aim to deliver sustainable business by simply ensuring that ADDC is committed to its customers by ensuring high levels of quality, safety and professionalism in the process of service delivery. Another core value is that ADDC intends to strictly adhere to all existing codes of ethics and ensure that business ids carried out with maximum integrity.
Furthermore ADDC strongly believes in being committed to its employees because a happy employee will simply go to the bitter end to make a consumer happy by carrying out his/her duties well. Lastly ADDC believes in excellence and therefore among its core values it has set up statements that will enable it also take into consideration all other stakeholder interests.
Why the Process Was Chosen
Recently many companies are adopting iso standards, this is simply because companies wish to become better in the process of service delivery. Businesses with good foundations are most likely to build more stable and suitable models therefore enabling businesses accurately satisfy the needs of their consumers by maintaining a high level of professionalism (Hutchins 211). The absence of quality management systems are most likely to result to in-efficiencies and un-necessary business costs.
Therefore managers and organizational leaders may decide to go through the process of ISO certification because they believe such accreditation may add to the credibility of the organization to all the relevant publics, thereby the process of ISO certification may give rise to a lot of business opportunities that were previously out of reach to the business simply because the company becomes more business oriented and objective by using the help of quality management systems (Hoyle 73-80).
The attainment of fully fledged quality management systems mean that consistent service and product delivery will be obtained by altering the overall organizational culture by setting higher standards for employees therefore motivating them to become better (Birnbaum).
Quality management systems therefore mean products and services go through rigorous testing and verification starting from the process of manufacturing and production unto when they are consumed by consumers. Furthermore this process does not end there it goes a step further to collect actual consumer feedback and use it in the process of furthering quality.
Therefore it is true to conclude that when ADDC obtained its ISO 9000 certification the process it was simply because the company had one objective in mind and that was to improve the process of service delivery and to ensure that the services which were delivered were of high quality and consistent leading to high levels of customer satisfaction.
Therefore ISO certification crated a clear path for ADDC that included encompassment documentation that all departments within the company were to follow in order to achieve an impeccable quality delivery status.
Expected benefits
Internal
When a company like ADDC receives ISO certification a wide variety of internal benefits are usually expected to arise, firstly quality management systems such as ISO means that companies will most likely come up with better mechanisms of documenting company processes. And therefore when a problem or crises arises then it becomes therefore easy to trace where the problem originated from.
Secondly once the top leadership and the entire employees are made aware of the importance of delivering high quality service within an organization they in turn open their eyes and view the process of quality management with more seriousness therefore leading to a more healthy organization (Hakes 12-32).
In contrast when employees and management who are left in the loop and not empowered to know the importance of quality in the organization as is the case when a company is ISO not certified are most likely not to take quality management processes seriously. Therefore employee moral improves when employees know what is expected of them and when good mechanisms are put in place giving proper guidelines which are to be used to achieve quality in the service delivery process (Hakes 62-81).
Furthermore because ISO certification requires that all relevant processes within the organization are properly documented that means that organization can therefore improve the process of documentation and coordination becomes better within the organization.
Most organizations embrace technology and computerization during and after the process of ISO certification, it is therefore by using special networking techniques departments within an organization becomes able to communicate and ensure continuous feedback loops for both the internal and external publics of the Organizations.
Organizations which therefore have well documented systems, motivated employees, and good communication systems are most likely to result in a more efficient organization. Therefore business processes within the organization are more likely to take place faster and efficiently and therefore result to saving cost (Hutchins 44-90).
Organizations without quality management systems are most likely are most likely ignore the importance of having well planned service delivery that lead to superior operations management and efficiency. Lastly an organization with ISO certification is more likely to lead fewer defective products and consequently lower production costs and fewer accidents therefore leading to a more healthy and profitable corporation.
External benefits
In the same way that the process of ISO certification leads to internal benefits it also leads to external benefits which include an increase in the degree of prestige that the company enjoys. This is simply because not just every company operating in the business environment is ISO certified and therefore those companies with ISO certification enjoy as special status and have more credibility when looked upon by stakeholders. (Hakes 44).
Another big external benefit is that the level of customer satisfaction is more likely to increase. This is because ISO certification is customer oriented, and enables consumers create mechanisms and procedures which are geared towards creating maximum satisfaction for consumers who consume the services and products of a given corporation. In this case the ADDC is able to deliver water and electricity services in time and at the most affordable costs with minimal interruptions to maximize consumer satisfactions.
When organization goes through the ISO certification process it is likely to create a high level of trust between itself and all its stakeholders. Furthermore the availability of well set systems are more likely to reduce the amount of work done during the time of carrying out Audits, this is because ISO certified systems are more likely to document the most important processes and therefore make easy the work of auditors. (Hakes 47).
Procedures/ Policies Adopted
The process of ISO 9000 certification is usually accomplished by carrying out three audits within the organization. The first audit may be an internal audit which is followed by subsequent external audits then if all corrective measures are successfully applied then the organization may be awarded ISO certification.
When an organization decides to become ISO certified then all relevant personnel must in turn undergo training to make them conversant with any changes in overall organization procedures that may take place. At the same time before new procedures and processes are adopted the overall industry standards and specifications must be documented so that they can form the final basis that will be use by audit systems to measure and initiate all corrective actions (Hutchins 22-78).
In this case ISO certification procedures and policies intent to formulate guidelines that focus on ensuring ADDC focus on the consumer by putting their needs at the center stage all business planning furthermore the policies also aim to enforce strong leadership within all departments of the organization. The presence of good leadership is good for coordination and communication within the organization and furthermore good leadership is responsible for overall motivation of employees.
All iso policies aim to improve supplier relationships, factual decision making, Continual Improvement, management systems approach, involvement of people and implementation approach to quality management. Therefore the top leadership and management adopt the above policies and assist the organization to embrace a new organizational culture (Hoyle 54).
The process of decision making in an organization like ADDC is highly critical and important and affects many people living within the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Therefore the presence of quality management systems ensure that every process that is carried out by ADDC has only one aim in mind and that is delivering water and electricity services with a high degree of efficiency and satisfaction. Therefore employees will aim to come up with quick solutions to all the problems that consumers may have.
Implementation
Well before you implementing ISO certification standards, an organization must have lay the appropriate the groundwork for implementation for resultant strategies that are involved with quality management. Perhaps the most imperative step is to display managerial commitment. Dedication of top management and leadership in the planning process influences the overall organizational culture and therefore changes the overall orientation of the whole organization.
Implementing the ISO certification requirements for ADDC or any other organization is not simple and many organizations start 0only to fail in this stage. Organizations should therefore have a futuristic orientation and patience because it may prove to be highly costly and highly demanding affair.
The top leadership of ADDC understood this and therefore prepared all personnel within the organization to embrace change the existing in quality management systems and embrace new and much better opportunities that were to arise by implementing ISO 9000 standards.
Quality management programmes and programmes are similar to organizational strategies and therefore they consist of both short-mid-long term programmes that are formulated and implemented. The truth is that the process of implementing the whole ISO 9000 system is not a simple one and calls for a lot of resources.
Therefore the whole program might require the organization to formulate special programmes, budgets and procedures that will enable implementation take place smoothly. Programmes are specific activities that are adopted in order to achieve a plan, while budgets are costs that are associated with programmes and finally procedures are time specific sequential steps needed to do achieve programmes.
Implementation of ISO programmes also encompasses selecting team members who will be in charge of overall implementation within various departments. They may be from the ranks of top management most likely your key functional managers. This will ensure that implementation sessions have all the necessary expertise necessary to oversee successful implementation. Furthermore by doing so it makes it possible to immediate strategic decisions.
But at the same time top management is involved it is important to keep in mind that implementation is a process which also demands that all individuals within the organization play their part, it is therefore necessary to also involve those individuals who exist low in the leadership hierarchy of the organization. This participation natures essential commitment (Hutchins 33-70).
Employees who have the chance to participate in developing and implementing strategies are therefore more likely to be committed by dedicating their efforts towards seeing the to the success of the plan and to the successful implementation of the strategies that fall within the plan.
Furthermore making the right information easily available and highly accessible for individuals during this process is highly paramount, infact all organizational employees should know at heart all the programmes such as budgets, processes and procedures that are to be used to make implementation of the ISO certification process successful.
The availability of relevant information of both internal processes and customers is therefore necessary for making the implementation process a success. Since implementation of new programmes come with new challenges it is therefore necessary that the organization designs appropriate mentoring and training programmes. Employees usually feel empowered during this program when they simply have the full set of skills which are required in order to successfully carry out their tasks.
Therefore ADDC has successfully implemented its ISO 9000 programmes simply because embraced the concept of good leadership and need for change in organizational culture that encouraged involvement of all concerned parties and called for healthy communication and coordination within various departments of the organization.
Today ADDC can boast to be among the leading organizations ion the emirate of Abu Dhabi as far as the implementation of quality management systems are concerned and furthermore their consumers enjoy high levels of satisfaction that have arisen from superior service delivery techniques ( Hakes 62)
Monitoring and Control
Sometimes plans, strategies or even programs do not go as planned, deviations may arise due to factors which are within or not within the control of the organization. It is therefore highly important for an organization to monitor measure and control the outcomes of formulation and implementation (Birnbaum).
Therefore the process of evaluation and control will often demand the collection of appropriate performance data which will then be analyzed using special techniques and compared to expected results to bring out the real picture of the actual deviation (Hoyle 160).
Developing and implementing a good ISO certification quality management system is only half the work done. Having it implemented is the other half, and is generally not easy but rather the tougher that the two first preceding processes. Monitoring is a key part of implementing the ISO certified quality management system that may from time to time demand for periodic review/audits or even continuous review that will immediately correct any deviations as they occur (Hakes 201).
ADDC put in place systems that would immediately curb any incidences of water and electricity shortages by employing enough personnel who would be readily available upon call to immediately repair any causes that may result to shortages and blackouts, furthermore standby generators were installed to automatically supply the power grids with electricity once the main supply sources failed.
Monitoring and control of the implementation of quality control systems is imperative because it assures that organizational efforts conform to the plan, that the organization in reality is performing the action steps you intended, therefore assuring you that you are actually on track and may therefore achieve whatever you intended to achieve in the first place. Therefore in case any actual and substantial deviations exist then monitoring helps the organization to carry out any corrective actions (Hoyle 160-190).
Therefore buy using relevant appropriate measures that can be used in the process of monitoring and control such as output and input controls considerable advantage of the monitoring serves as a system where early warnings can be triggered and therefore organizational members can know that the implementation of their ISO 9000 system is being faced by hurdles and therefore initiate responses.
For example ADDC therefore used its consumer satisfaction system to gather satisfaction data and when the number of complaints increased to a certain level employees who work within various departments were forced to follow laid down functional tactics and act within required guidelines to respond to all complaints and that is why ADDC is known for leadership in quality and customer service.
Every organization is expected to run into implementation problems. Some of your tactics that are to be used by ADDC in implementing its ISO 9001 plans and programmes may prove unproductive and therefore this means that organizational strategies may not be met if this happens it therefore becomes the duty of the team who were picked to lead in the implementation process to apply any contingency plans that may initiate a change n overall tactics.
ADDC clearly understood this and therefore in anticipation of any problems fully empowered these individuals with necessary technical knowhow and enough resources to do so when need arise. Therefore in necessary tactics, strategies or even objectives which are related to attaining quality management goals may be adjusted depending on the outcome of the monitoring and control process (Hoyle 77).
Conclusion
It is not a simple task for an organization to become ISO 9000 certified, it is a complex process that may require a complete overhaul of existing systems. Therefore when organizations embrace quality management systems and strategies that are related to ISO they undergo a lot of changes just as ADDC underwent through to provide high quality water and electricity services.
Works Cited
Birnbaum, Bill. Monitoring Implementation of Your Strategic Plan. Web.
Hakes, Chris. Total quality management The Key to Business Improvement. Suffolk: St Edmundsbury Press Ltd. 2005. Print
Hoyle, David. ISO 9000 Quality Systems Handbook.2 ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.2006. Print.
Hutchins, Greg.ISO 9000 A comprehensive Guide To Registration, Audit Guidelines, and Successful Certification. 2 edn. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Inc.1997. Pint