In the modern business world, organizations are required to adapt to organizational challenges, legislative and regulatory requirements, operational excellence and maintaining the high quality of their services and products to customers.
Consulting firms play a key role in guiding companies to overcome these challenges.
Consulting companies, however, are also organizations that are required to adapt to the above challenges. The ability to immediately evaluate and adopt the proposed international best practices is required, so that they can propose to their clients, appropriate, bespoke solutions for their very specific problems and concerns.
At this point, the Quality Management System (QMS) might come in handy. The adoption and implementation of the QMS standard and the certification of the internal and external processes of a consulting company with the ISO9001:2015, is a cornerstone in the efforts of the consultants. The article states the importance and benefits of QMS in the provision of consulting services, increasing their quality, hence the delivery of excellent and quality deliverables, customer satisfaction and in general, the improvement of the overall business world. The philosophy of implementing a QM lies mainly in the consolidation and establishment of a culture of proactivity and emphasis on the needs of the customer. Key pillars are the commitment of leadership and staff to implement the basic principles of quality management.
The standardization of processes and methods ensures efficiency and productivity, strengthens competitive advantage, reduces the impact of risks that have already been identified and managed as risks, increases staff engagement, reduces operational and production costs, improves relations with the stakeholders involved and finally the legitimacy of the organization is ensured by legislative and regulatory requirements. All the above are important aspects for creating and maintaining a good corporate and business reputation. Consulting companies, by implementing quality management practices, increase the value proposition of their services to their clients.
Why is this important for organizations?
Clients who choose consulting companies that have implemented a quality system and have been certified by an external certification body increase the chances of receiving higher quality, as well as updated and more efficient services.
Firstly, reliability in service -delivery time is ensured.
By standardizing the processes, errors are reduced, since a proactive and preventive attitude is applied, which aims to improve the processes and not to correct the errors after the fact.
At the same time, there is consistency and continuity in the provision of quality services, thus increasing trust and reducing the risk that clients assume when choosing a consulting company.
Secondly, a quality assurance system improves efficiency. Clear policies and procedures allow consultants to focus on the proper preparation and substance of the deliverable rather than managing administrative and other simple and often time-consuming processes.
Thirdly, the QMS, promotes a culture of continuous improvement, in small steps; the Kaizen philosophy. Consulting companies can include in their processes, frequent reviews and feedback, aiming to improve their processes and develop methodically. This proactive attitude allows consultants to maintain up-to-date knowledge, consistent with the developments and needs of clients and the business world in general.
Research indicates that businesses with a strong QMS in place have happier and more devoted customers.
Tannock, Krasachol, and Ruangpermpool (2002) conducted a study which demonstrated that organizations who adopted ISO:9001, the globally accepted quality management system standard, had notable improvements in both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Moreover, Kaynak’s 2003 study discovered a favourable association between organizational performance and QMS deployment.
To conclude, a quality management system (QMS) guarantees uniformity, boosts productivity, encourages ongoing enhancement, and eventually provides customers with more value.
Andreas Ketonis
Senior Associate Consultant / Quality Manager