Implementation of TQM in Local Government Using Quality Management System in Accordance with ISO 9001 and CAF Self-Assessment Model (doi: 10.14706/icesos1717)

Abstract: Quality of township management is highly related to society, and it reflects the local government situation. The paper presents the idea of improving the quality of service in local government through the application of TQM. This paper presents two approaches that are commonly used in recent years and moved closer to these organizations that the concept of TQM which uses a quality management system based on ISO standards 9000 and model self-assessment CAF. This paper describes the interactions between these approaches and their possible joint application with a view to the implementation of TQM system in local government. Within this approach public sector organizations should be interested in improving the quality of their services through the implementation of TQM. The process is a long-term and complex one, where the client is its key element. Thus, it should be understood by the whole staff (both the management and the inferiors) that a well served citizen is the core of the procedure and he/she should always be assisted and have even his most complicated problems solved in the institution he/she turns to. When implementing the principles of TQM, significant changes regarding the management and administration should occur in organizations. The methods that are helpful in the course of the implementation of TQM rules are the management quality systems based on the ISO 9001 quality standards and the CAF self-assessment model, which aim at perfecting the organization operations in order to meet the clients’ needs and introduce the necessary improvements. The public sector organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g. state or self-government offices) have started applying a certified Quality Management System(QMS) in compliance with the ISO 9001 standards already since 2001 (following the reform of the self-government administration). Recently – due to the implementation of the CAF model in the state administration offices (in BiH since October 2006) – a significant increase of interest on the part of the public sector units in the improvement of service quality by means of this model of selfassessment can be noticed. The completion of several programs that implemented this method enabled the application of the model in several hundred offices. Quality management systems and the EFQM model (CAF is the EFQM model adjusted to public sector) are necessary not only to companies but also to public sector organizations. They are based on similar principles and they aim at the improvement of services offered. Despite certain differences, it seems that they can complement one another and be used simultaneously in an organization. Key words: Public administration, quality management system, model self-assessment, ISO standard, TQ