Also, they seek certification because their customers require them to do so, for instance, the EC in 1992 and the Singapore government now require all companies conducting business with them to be ISO 9000 certified (Ghosh & Wee, 1996: 3). Therefore, companies have to comply if they wish to pursue business with them. Companies are also seeking certification because it helps to enhance the company's reputation. Customers will feel safer to conduct business with companies that have ISO 9000 certification. .
However, companies do seek certification for internal reasons too. They could want to use ISO as a stepping stone towards TQM. Also, they might also want to document their process to ensure more efficient running of the company (Quazi & Padijibo, 1997: 19).
Total Quality Management.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy, which puts customer satisfaction as the top priority in the business. To be successful, it must be senior-management driven and focused on maximising effectiveness and efficiency, and promoting market leadership through the continuous improvement of processes and systems; error prevention; and aligning business objectives and customers needs (Evans & Lindsay, 1993:33). TQM needs overall management commitment; clear-cut policies and targets; qualified, well-trained, informed and involved staff as well as controlled processes in all departments of the company. However, in practice, too much emphasis has been placed on the quality aspects of the definition or even on the management component of the definition, and thus neglecting the employee component. All three components are of equal significance.
Relationship Between ISO 9000 and TQM.
ISO 9000 and TQM supplement each other. ISO 9000 helps TQM in that it already involves employees of the company. A successful TQM program will have a similar quality system as ISO 9000. An organization that has implemented TQM will only need to make minor changes to achieve ISO 9000 certification.