Theory and practice of knowledge managed ISO 9001:2000 supported quality system

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to initiate researches in the direction of integrating knowledge management (KM) principles with ISO 9001:2008 Supported Quality System and motivate the practitioners to implement such integrated system in real-time practice. Design/methodology/approach – The principles of KM were integrated with the five major clauses of ISO 9001:2000 standard. After designing this integrated system, it was subjected to peripheral implementation study in a government-managed company situated in India. The knowledge portal required for maintaining this integrated system was also developed. Findings – ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9001:2000 standards rest on the same process-based quality system model which is comprised of five major clauses. Hence, the integrated system proposed in this paper can be utilized by the contemporary organizations to infuse KM principles in ISO 9001:2008 based quality system. Research limitations/implications – Though the integrated system designed in this research could not be implemented in a full-fledged manner, the experiences gained have been useful to indicate the future direction of research and practice for integrating KM principles with ISO 9001:2008 Supported Quality System. Practical implications – A roadmap has been evolved to guide the practitioners to implement Knowledge Managed ISO 9001:2008 Supported Quality System. Originality value – No researcher or practitioner has so far contributed a model integrating the process-based quality system incorporated in ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 9001:2008 standards with KM principles. As this gap is filled in this paper, the contributions of this paper are valuable to both researchers and practitioners.