Published: 2008-02-15
ISBN:
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
Statistic data show that participation of small and medium enterprises in Polish economy is constantly growing. The reason is easiness with which they adapt to customers’ varied and changeable demands (e.g. costs; production time; product quality; etc.) Their effectiveness and competitiveness on the global labor market depends on the level of using resources they possess; human; informational; and technological. In order to make the usage of them optimal; the enterprises are introducing new management ideas; e.g. lean production and far-reaching organizational and technical changes; for example through carrying out reengineering.
For several years one of the most effective ways to streamline functioning of enterprises has been sensible quality management realized most of all through introducing standards of quality management. Yet; in many cases quality management system does not provide expected results. The majority of companies is convinced that they are doing it professionally; and teams responsible for and involved in quality management processes with difficulty accept any criticism of their approach. Reality is different though. Most importantly; one can get an impression that a lot of quality management executives do not understand fully what quality management involves; and surely what its critical points are. They lack skills and strength to focus on the most essential things. Even if they notice that quality management is not only a documented quality system; they have not enough determination; sometimes knowledge and preparation to concentrate on awareness of leadership and employees as well as evaluating targets which have been set.
Why is this so? This article is an attempt to answer this question on the basis of observations made on the group of 20 Polish medium and small companies.
