ISO QUALITY STANDARDS & OUTSOURCING

• ISO


  International Organization for Standardization, established in 1947 to publish international standards relating to businesses worldwide
• CARICOM member states are members of the ISO
• ISO 9000


  Group of standards that address different aspects of quality management
• ISO 9001:2008


  Focuses on requirements of a quality management system
• ISO 9004:2009


  Focuses on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of quality management systems
• ISO 9000


  • Outlines guidelines for firms to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction
  • Main goals are to increase productivity, minimize costs and improve quality of processes and products
• Principles of ISO 9000

  • Focus on customers
  • Good leadership
  • Involvement of people
  • Process approach to quality management
  • Continual improvement
  • Factual approach to decision making
  • Supplier relationships
• Benefits of firms employing ISO quality standards

  • High level of consistency in performance
  • Reduction in costs
  • Improvement in customer satisfaction
  • Higher productivity levels and improvement in efficiency
  • Improvement in the morale of employees
• Outsourcing


  Process whereby firms subcontract some of their operations to independent suppliers of services
• Firms outsource to concentrate resources on their core product
• Firms may outsource stages of production or manufacture of products to countries with lower labour costs
• Outsourcing can lead to low motivation and job insecurity in the firm's own workforce
• Firms should consider the cost of outsourcing compared to the present situation before embarking on this approach
• Caribbean countries have been positioning themselves to be beneficiaries of global outsourcing, made possible by the development of ICT
• Outsourcing can be done within the country, where a firm subcontracts to another firm that is more efficient
• Benefits of outsourcing


  • Firm's focus can be on its core products
  • Usually results in cost savings, including labour costs
  • Improvement in efficiency and quality
  • Can boost productivity and competitiveness
  • Usually leads to greater customer satisfaction
• Drawbacks of outsourcing


  • Firm's financial success may be tied to that of another company
  • Might be more difficult to maintain quality
  • Can be a potential source of conflict with own workers
  • Loss of managerial control