Quality management principles

Over the last 35 years or so, several principles have been developed that appear to represent the factors upon which the achievement of quality depends:

1. Understanding customer needs and expectations (i.e. a customer focus)

2. Creating a unity of purpose and a quality culture (i.e. leadership)

3. Developing and motivating the people (i.e. engagement of people)

4. Managing processes effectively (i.e. the process approach)

5. Understanding the complex relationship between cause and effect (i.e. the systems approach)

6. Continually seeking better ways of doing things (i.e. continual improvement)

7. Basing decisions on facts (i.e. evidence-based decision-making)

8. Realizing that you need others to succeed (i.e. relationship management)

A principle is a fundamental truth or law and therefore quality management principles are the fundamental truth or laws that form the basis of quality management.

These principles have been identified to facilitate the achievement of quality objectives and form the foundation for effective quality management. Seven of these principles are defined in ISO 9000:2015 in terms of a definition, the rationale, key benefits and possible actions.

Any revision of existing quality management systems should be carried out using the 8 QM principles otherwise the resultant system will not satisfy the intent of ISO 9000:2015. A graphical illustration of the principles and their relationship with quality is below.