Implementation of quality management in small and medium enterprises: problems and solutions

Abstract

Abstract. The benefits of Quality Management are widely recognized following reports of its successful implementation in many large companies. It has led to these companies becoming highly competitive both locally and internationally through the production of quality products that meet customer requirements at the lowest cost, significantly increasing their market share and profitability. Quality standards make life safer, they create a level playing field on which to compete, they allow access to state-of-the-art technology, strengthen innovation capacity, and help achieve the most effective allocation of resources. For SMEs, they are particularly vital as they remove many of the obstacles that would otherwise hinder their entry into and expansion within a market. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very important part of the European economy, accounting for 99.8 % of all businesses, 675 % of all jobs and 58.4 % of value added. Their central role has been recognized by the European Commission and the Member States through various policy pronouncements. Quality management at small business companies is one of major factors affecting entrepreneurship success. The product quality is one of the indispensable preconditions of a company´s success on the market. SMEs have a central role to play in growth and job creation, but their use of standards and their involvement with standardization is typically low. Both SMEs and the economy more widely could benefit from SMEs being more involved in the standardization process. The aim of this research is to investigate problems antecedents for Implementation of Quality Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, thereby contributing to the knowledge on how to adopt Quality Management in SMEs.Keywords: SMEs, Quality Management, ISO 9001, quality standards, small enterprises. IntroductionSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a focal point in shaping enterprise policy in the European Union (EU). The European Commission considers SMEs and entrepreneurship as a key to ensuring economic growth, innovation, job creation, and social integration in the EU. The usual definition of small and medium sized enterprises is any business with fewer than 250 employees [1].SMEs are a very important part of the economy, as they represent around 99 % of all enterprises and employ an increasing number of persons. Most enterprises are independent and do not belong to an enterprise group, but within the SMEs medium-sized enterprises are very often part of a group. This is most common in manufacturing and to a less degree in knowledge-intensive business services [1].Dependent SMEs are important in terms of employment and gross value added (GVA), especially in smaller countries such as Denmark, Norway and Finland. However, they are also significant in Germany, where they account for 43 % of GVA created by SMEs in total and employ 34 % of the total number of persons employed by SMEs. Therefore, a large proportion of total growth created by SMEs can be attributed to dependent SMEs. ...

Qualitative-environmental aspects of products improvement in SMEs from V4 countries

“…As reported by the authors of the articles (Palacios Guillem, 2019;Santos et al, 2011), the mentioned ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and EMAS systems are the most frequently implemented in SMEs. According to the literature review, it was shown that research in the area of ISO 9001 in SMEs mainly concerned: motivation and benefits from implementation (Khan and Farooquie, 2016;Magodi et al, 2022;Vasilevska and Rivza, 2018;Zimon et al, 2018), main problems occurring during implementation and certification (Unterreiner and Gisbert Soler, 2019), as well as the impact of increasing customer satisfaction with product quality (Usman et al, 2019). In the case of the ISO 14001 system and the EMAS system in SMEs, the research concerned, for example: the impact of the system on the substantive results of the company (Johnstone, 2022), type and application of sustainability controls (Johnstone, 2021), factors, barriers and benefits of implementation (Salim et al, 2018).…”

A Health Care Value Framework for Physical Therapy Primary Health Care Organizations

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