Summary
The article The Effects of ISO Certification on Organization Workmanship Performance by Joseph Iwaro and Abrahams Mwasha is devoted to the problem of quality management in the organization. The authors of the article use the construction industry as the object of their research. The introductory part presents the previous research on the topic emphasizing the importance of the issue and the findings of other scholars. The main body of the article deals with the statement of the hypothesis tested, the methodology used, data analysis, discussion of the results, and the implications of the findings to organizations. The final part of the article presents the conclusions made by the authors.
Although the effects of ISO certification have been broadly studied, the article represents a scientific value as the authors concentrated their attention on the determination of the factors of poor performance and the correlation of these factors with the ISO certification.
Key Learning Points
Quality management and control are the vital aspects of the organization high performance
Nowadays, the success of the organization is determined by the variety of factors among which the factor of the goods and services quality plays an important role. Although during the long period, the price has been remaining the predominant factor, the factor of quality also matters today. As the quality becomes more and more important for customers and, by implication, the organization itself, the quality management and control should be in place to ensure the quality of the products and their correspondence to the quality standards.
The ISO certification, its role, and relevance to quality control
The ISO certification was established by the ISO organization to provide an effective framework of quality control and increase the quality of goods and services in the world market.
The QMS (Quality Management Systems) as the tools of quality management
To establish effective management and control over the quality of the products, the system should be developed. QMS is an example of such a system. Its primary aim is to organize the process of quality management, make it a coherent whole, and provide the links between the various elements of the organization work which affect the products quality.
The factors contributing to poor performance in the construction industry
The authors of the article determined the following factors contributing to the poor performance: poor communication, the lack of supervision, poor documentation, system/methodology problems, poor performance of workers, poor management, and poor performance planning.
These factors were determined based on the responses to the questionnaires sent to the representatives of the various professions in the construction industry.
The statistical and mathematical approaches used
The authors analyzed the collected data using hypothesis testing. They stated a two-sided hypothesis: the null hypothesis on the irrelevance of the ISO certification to the improvement of the poor performance factors, and the alternative hypotheses on the positive contribution of the ISO certification to the improvement of the poor performance factors. The hypothesis was tested by application of F-test, which is appropriate for testing the differences in variances of the two randomly selected samples. In the context of the object of the research, the samples were the groups identified for the research, the responses on the factors of poor performance made by both the organizations applying the ISO certification and of those which do not apply them.
Also, the independent sample test was used to determine whether the means of the identified groups are different from each other.
The ISO certification contributes to the improvement of poor performance factors
The analysis undertaken by the authors allowed concluding that the ISO certification contributed to the improvement of the poor performance factors. The results of the analysis showed the strong correlation between the workmanship performance factors improvement and the whole performance, which were under the influence of the ISO certification standards (Iwaro & Mwasha 63). In this respect, it was recommended to the managers to implement the ISO certification as the tool of quality improvement.
Relevant Statements to the Session
- Quality Management Systems are an essential part of the regulation of products quality.
- The workmanship is the crucial aspect of the quality.
- The significance of quality as a factor of the organization success increases from year to year.
- The ISO certification standards are aimed at ensuring the quality of the goods and services in the world market (Iwaro & Mwasha 54).
- The ISO certification standards contribute to the improvement of the workmanship performance factors, thus leading to the overall workmanship performance enhancement.
Critical Analysis
The research initiated by the authors of the article touches upon the actual problem in modern organization’s management. Taking into account the factors influencing the organization success nowadays, the authors emphasize the importance of the quality factor. That is why the determination of the ways and tools of quality improvement becomes the primary goal of any business. Furthermore, the importance of quality is emphasized by the fierce competition in the global markets and the necessity of finding competitive advantages.
The ISO certification standards have been specifically developed to ensure the quality of products available in the market. For this reason, the analysis of their effectiveness is relevant for the determination of the tools of quality improvement. Using the statistical methods, the authors of the article proved the importance of the ISO certification standards in the workmanship performance. To be precise, they calculated F-statistic to test the stated hypothesis. Because the calculated values were less than the critical value of 4.0, they rejected the null hypothesis stating that the means between the identified groups were equal, thus proving the alternative hypothesis stating that they are not equal. The high determined correlation between the ISO certification standards and the performance factors allowed the authors concluding that the standards had a strong influence on the factors (Iwaro & Mwasha 59).
After all, the research presented in the article reflects the actual needs of the organizations in the modern environment.
Practical Implications
To my mind, it would be appropriate to use the results of the research presented in the article for overcoming the crisis in the organization, which is caused by the lack of quality management. In particular, the ISO certification can be recommended as a way of improvement of the products quality.
Learning Reflections
In my opinion, the methodology used by the authors deserves special attention. The analysis presented in the article shows how the statistical methods can be used for economic and management research.
Besides, the article is useful for a better understanding of the factors influencing organizations performance.
Finally, it has been really useful for me to get a broader vision of the systems of the quality management existing at the international level.
Works Cited
Iwaro, Joseph and Abrahams Mwasha. “The Effects of ISO Certification on Organization Wrokmanship Performance”. Quality Management Journal 19.1 (2012): 53-67. Print