In his blog "A View from the Q", Paul Borawski, invites us to think about Global
Quality Programs and its application around the world. He asked the following questions:
Do you live
in a country with a National Quality Program? It is used to create models for
others to emulate? Does the national program to grow in visibility and
perceived value and building national capacity for excellence?
I will
answer those questions, starting with the most important statement: More
important than an Award of Excellence, is to have a Model of Excellence.
The Models
of Excellence are references to position an organization as World Class.
It is
important to distinguish in the field of Quality between an ISO 9001, which contains
the MINIMUM requirements to say that you have a Quality Management System. In
the other hand a Model of Excellence contains best management practices
recognized worldwide.
The ISO
9001 standard is therefore under a certification structure, but the application
of a model of excellence, by concept is not certifiable.
Based on different
Models of Excellence almost every country worldwide have established Awards or Recognitions
to organizations that demonstrate meaningful application of these best management
practices. . As we can see in blogs of Influential Voices of Quality there are
many initiatives in the world.
In Ecuador
it has been adopted Malcolm Baldrige Model (USA), which based on principles of
excellence, then develops into seven criteria, the results representing 450
points, while generating results (drivers) represent 550 points.
The organization in charge of Ecuadorian National Quality Award is the CorporaciónEcuatoriana de la Calidad Total, which currently delivers the National Quality
Award for large and medium enterprises and the prize "FIRST STEPS"
for SMEs that start in the way of quality. This work involves private companies
and public entities from all the sectors including health facilities and
education.
One of the
key elements are the Self-Assessment tools, that enables organizations to
implement plans to improve the management and that result in improvements in
business performance in general and better satisfaction of the stakeholders and
better financial performance. I think this is the strength of these models.
In Ecuador
it is noteworthy that all companies that have applied to compete for Ecuadorian
Quality Award have taken first steps through ISO 9001 certification, and in
order to continue its path of improvement, they select Excellence Models as alternative.
Ecuador are
not going at the speed I would like, but the concepts of Quality Management Systems
and Models of Excellence increasingly become more visible and support the
improvement of the whole society.
