Unused Potential of Quality Management Systems of the Russian Companies: an Empirical Study

Abstract

1. Introduction The first-class quality cannot be achieved without excellent management (Dahlgard et al., 2001). For any company, it is vital to maintain and develop effective QMS, which allows developing effective ways to improve customer satisfaction with the product quality, providing increased efficiency and competitiveness of companies in today's dynamic business environment. International standards for QMS first appeared in 1987 in order to create a reliable and transparent mechanism to ensure the quality of all aspects of company life. This is the standards developer's design and currently approach to quality management based on international standards ISO 9000 is internationally recognized. QMS is a model of the organizational behavior aimed at improving the quality in order to meet the demands of concerned parties. The need for the formation of QMS in the organization appears under the influence of a considerable number of factors. On the market with increasing competitiveness a company cannot hope to survive if it: * doesn't know exactly what its clients want; * doesn't have a well-functioning way to convert clients' needs into the working process; * doesn't coordinate all the tasks and processes with strategic and tactical business objectives; * doesn't involve every employee in the process of continuous improvement; * doesn't see and doesn't improve key business processes; * doesn't meet the needs of its clients. * In the current market conditions for the survival an organization should be able to: * retain and satisfy customers' requests; * conquer a larger market share; * develop new marketing strategies; * apply strategies; * adapt to the external environment. Prerequisites stimulating companies for the development and implementation of QMS, can be subdivided into two groups: external and internal. The external prerequisites for the formation of QMS include: 1) the formation of the government system of compulsory licensing of certain activities, facilities, manufacturing and services (e.g. development and production of weapons and military equipment, communication equipment and other strategically important products), depending on the availability of certified QMS; 2) legislation of some countries, and since 2000 the Russian legislation has also required confirmation of compliance for the modern scientific and technical level in all the disputes, related to the quality and safety of products and services. A certified QMS can be considered as such proof; 3) availability at a company-vendor of certified QMS allows it to overcome a number of non-tariff (technical) trade barriers without additional financial, organizational and time costs; 4) in some countries, government contracts are associated primarily with the availability of certified QMS in the company; 5) receiving subcontracts from foreign customers by a company, as well as from Russian companies operating in the export, often depends on the presence of the QMS; 6) tendering and other competitive forms of placing orders for the supply for both the external and the internal markets as a condition often includes requirements for the presence of certified QMS at the supplier. For example, in Russia, this condition applies to the supply of products of the fuel and energy complex, chemical and other industries; 7) QMS certification provides the company with the necessary level of confidence in the market and increases its business reputation as a certificate of conformity is a common quality assurance. So for a little-known manufacturer the certificate issued by a well-known certification body is a kind of letter of recommendation of the expert organization, recognized as the authority in the field; 8) the possibilities of insurance, factoring, loans and some other kinds of support by financial institutions of transactions for the supply of products and services to foreign and domestic markets often require proof of stability of the company, especially in terms of the risks associated with the quality and safety of products. …