Quality System LLB (Article Critique Sample)

Quality System LLB
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Quality System LLB
Summary
The study intends to address issues concerning workmanship performance. This study investigated the ISO certification effects on performance of workmanship used in the construction of industry in the case study. The 15-page paper The Effects of ISO Certification on Organization Workmanship by Joseph Iwaro and Abrahams Mwasha (2012) tries to answer four research questions based on past researches. ISO 9001 certified firms have better workmanship as opposed to the non-certified ones. On the other hand, some researchers argue to the contrary. Expert opinion is divided on whether or not ISO 9001 certification improves the quality of workmanship in the construction industry. The authors categorized the respondents in their study, according different professions in the building and construction industry and then reviewed their data using questionnaires. The research questions were also divided into seven categories based on findings from other similar researches. Some researchers have established a strong positive correlation between the two variables. The authors seek to answer the following questions; Does ISO 9001 certification actually help organizations improve, performance and if so, how? What is the actual extent of ISO certification in helping to improve workmanship performance? Is ISO 9001 certification important to an organization and if so, why? Finally, which organizations perform better with reference to workmanship, performance, those with ISO 9001 certification, or those without ISO 9001 certification?
Key Learning Points
The key learning points exhibited in the paper expound that customers have traditionally based their discrimination for different firms on their prices. However, presently quality is even more of a concern to customers than price even though poor quality services still characterize the construction industry. Therefore, it is essential to divide those studies that attribute better quality of workmanship to ISO 9001 certification and those that disagree.
The first key learning points is ISO 9001 Certification Improves Quality of Workmanship The workmanship is a pre-requisite for quality. It is also worthy to note that poor quality workmanship is detrimental in the sense that it can even destroy the existing projects. As a result, most businesses have begun the process of putting in place Quality Management System (QMS) as a way of effectively understanding their performance and consequently improving their workmanship. Some of the main factors that cause inferior workmanship are a wasteful use of raw materials, incorrect use of materials and unwarranted mixing of materials and knowledgeable designers and technicians. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief that poor quality of construction projects is due to improper monitoring of the projects, substandard quality of raw materials or absentia of good site supervisors, research attributes it rather to laggard in the monitoring of performance quality and standards.
In the article, one of the learning points is that workmanship is a key determinant of the quality of a project. The ISO adopts and practices QMS hence promoting technology, interaction of intellect, and activities geared to improve the economy. This also includes simplification of international trade between countries and states. Currently, the ISO 9001 international standard is applied to vital guidance tool, which addresses the problem of international poor and low quality workmanship in the construction industry. It is the responsibility of ISO standards to assess whether initiated project conforms to the international standards. It also facilitates conformity and enactment of QMS at all stages in construction projects and sites. Due to this change in the management styles and quality profession, firms regard highly their mission of obtaining QMS ISO 9001 Certification. Consequently, they are determined to put in place the proper infrastructure that can improve their operations.
According to other findings, skills are not sufficient to yield the desired workmanship if care is not taken in exercising those skills. Therefore, the necessary and sufficient conditions for better workmanship are skills and care; with care being the sufficient condition. Research also shows that most contractors attribute the application of the ISO 9000 standards in most of the institution, including the construction industry as being valuable and hence improves the operations of their companies. An organization can improve its processes, quality of performance, and its workmanship if it successfully implements the standards as according to ISO 9001 and QMS. Furthermore, such implementation can easily address issues, which affect the quality of workmanship in respect to all its external and internal factors. Hence, in 1947, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was established to address the issue of standardization, which was meant to improve the workmanship, works in process, concerns, and how industries deliver quality goods and services all over the world.
The following hypotheses attempt to answer the second research question on the relationship between ISO certification and workmanship, performance: ISO certification improves significantly the performance of construction workmanship while improving organizational performance. The certification has also influenced the correlation between the improvement of poor workmanship and workmanship. Studies have found out that the performance of laborers is linked to quality management practices, but only when several contextual variables are in place. These variables include the firm’s support for quality, managerial knowledge, external quality necessities, and the complexity of the product as well as the existence of uncertainties and the firm’s strategies.
On the contrary, another key learning point is that ISO 9001 Certification Does Not Improve Performance. In order for a company to attain ISO 9001 quality certification and thus ensure that, its construction projects are effectively monitored resulting in quality workmanship, unlike technical attributes of poor construction projects that occur due to defects in materials. Poor designing or natural calamities, human attributes on the other hand occur from defects in construction and management hence firm should develop proper procedures and good QMS. Thus, the poor construction, workmanship is more of human errors than technical ones. Hence, it is possible to experience poor workmanship, even with ISO certification.
Critical Analysis
The authors used questionnaire survey in their research and their questions were derived from the existing literature. The use of questionnaires is also a limiting research methodology. For instance, the existence of anonymity can make respondents to give malicious and false information. Furthermore, questionnaires are inferior data collection tools if there is the use of professional language that is incomprehensible to the respondents. In such a case, they might not be in a position to understand the questions being asked. Similar to past literature, their findings found out those constraints such as ineffective communication, lack of documentation, poor supervision, and poor performance of workers, ineffective management, and improper planning are possible causes of poor workmanship in a business. Thus, the paper fails to table any new and credible findings.
The other weakness of the use of questionnaires is the high probability of lack of response. At times, the questionnaires might not reach the intended person thus resulting in no response. The use of questionnaires unlike direct interviews does not allow for probing. In cases where the researcher fails to understand, the information provided by the respondent, there is no opportunity for the researcher to dig deeper and inquire for more information. Still, the use of questionnaires is an expensive method of collecting data as compared to direct interviews and direct observations. For example, only 55% of the questionnaires were returned. Sometimes, the intended person might receive the questionnaire, but he/she might fail to respond as expected. Moreover, the wrong person thus leading to incorrect information might respond to the questionnaires.
The researchers have failed to indicate the geographical regions/areas that they based their research. Therefore, they leave the reader with imaginations of where their data were based. For example, assuming that these findings were for a specific city, the results might not be entirely applicable to another city, town, or country. The writers also failed to elaborate the dates when their research was carried out. Thus, given social, cultural, political, economic, and technological changes and their influence on business performance, the results obtained might not suit usage in the present day. However, the classification of respondents into heterogeneous groups i.e. depending on classes of professionals, helped in ensuring that the information provided is more credible. The data eliminate any bias that might exist among members of a specific profession with regard to quality of workmanship.
The researchers also categorized the response questions into seven groups of responses. They then analyzed each category of responses independently. This helped in establishing whether the research questions were fully answered and at what level of significance or precision. The ANOVA test was also necessary that the means were from different groups of individuals and are independent of each other. The author’s conclusion that there is a direct correlation among workmanship, performance, quality, ISO certification, and improved workmanship factors is therefore non-substantial since they focused more on th...