Research on the cost of quality management systems in Lithuanian organizations

Straipsnyje analizuojamos ISO 9000 standartu paremtos kokybės vadybos sistemos. ISO 9001 kokybės vadybos sistema pasaulyje diegiama dėl daugelio priežasčių: siekio pagerinti organizacijos įvaizdį, padidinti užimamą rinkos dalį, pagerinti prekių, pasaugų kokybe ar dėl klientų, partnerių spaudimo. Tačiau kai kurios organizacijos teigia, jog ISO 9001 kokybės vadybos sistema joms neatsipirko, kadangi padidėjo laiko, logistikos, personalo ir kitos sąnaudos. Nepaisant to, ISO 9001 kokybės vadybos sistema visame pasaulyje yra bene plačiausiai naudojama kokybės gerinimo priemonė. Siekiant įvertinti analizuojamos kokybės vadybos sistemos sąnaudas Lietuvos įmonėms, autorės buvo atliktas statistiškai pagrįstas tyrimas. Tyrimas parodė, kad ketvirtadalis Lietuvos įmonių, turinčių ISO 9001 sertifikatą, yra mažos, tačiau sistemai diegti ir palaikyti reikalingos sąnaudos suponuoja, kad ši sistema ekonomiškai naudinga turėtų būti vidutinėms ir didesnėms įmonėms. Be to, tyrimas parodė, kad net 62 proc. įmonių neskaičiavo turimos kokybės vadybos sistemos atsipirkimo, t. y., jos neveda kokybės kaštų apskaitos, dar 15 proc. įmonių, teigė, kad ISO 9001 kokybės vadybos sistema joms neatsipirko. Tyrimas atskleidė, kad "mokymosi efektas" palaikant kokybės vadybos sistemą neveikia, kadangi kuo ilgiau įmonė Lietuvoje turi šią sistemą, tuo daugiau jai kainuoja jos palaikymas. Nepaisant to, tik 4 proc. įmonių Lietuvoje gailisi įsidiegusios ISO 9001 kokybės vadybos sistemą.Each organization, despite the purposes of its activities is seeking for possibilities to improve its operations. One of the most widely used improvement measures around the world in quality - ISO 9001 quality management system. Organizations before implementing any improvement usually measure its cost, benefits and financial efficiency. But it is different with quality management tools as their benefits are intangible and their costs are not so easily measured and evaluated. These may be the reasons between many others, why the majority of organizations in Lithuania and around the world do not keep quality cost accounting. Because of this it is very difficult for organizations themselves and for researches to calculate and to evaluate the financial efficiency of quality management systems as well as the financial efficiency of other quality improvement instruments. The purpose of this article is to explore the costs of ISO 9001 quality management systems for Lithuanian organizations and to evaluate weather analysed quality management systems are useful for Lithuanian organizations in terms of financial benefits. Researches in many countries show that ISO 9001 quality management systems are implemented around the world while seeking different use: to enlarge market share, improve image of the organization, improve quality, because of the pressure from clients or partners. Notwithstanding, there are organizations around the world stating that ISO 9001 quality management system for them was of less use than of financial cost because of increased time, logistics, personnel and other costs. Despite that, this quality improvement tool is most widely used around the world in about 900.000 organizations in more that 150 countries. In order to evaluate the financial efficiency of ISO 9001 quality management system for Lithuanian organizations, there was a survey carried out based on questionnaire. The survey focused on Lithuanian organizations that own ISO 9001 quality management system. Statistical reliability level of this research is — 92.4 percent. Research has shown that a quarter of Lithuanian organizations, owning ISO 9001 quality management systems are of the small size. According to the cost of implementation, certification and maintenance of analyzed instrument, ISO 9001 quality management system should be beneficial only for larger organizations. Research also has shown that about 62 percent of organizations in Lithuania did not keep quality cost accounting as they were not able to state the buy off period of ISO 9001 systems that they owned. Even more, 15 percent of respondents stated that ISO 9001 system was of more cost than benefit. The highest ISO 9001 quality management system's maintenance cost was stated by the companies owning this system for longest period of time. This fact shows that the learning effect in Lithuanian organizations of maintenance of ISO 9001 system is negative. Indirectly one can state that companies in Lithuania are expecting more from ISO 9001 quality management system in terms of cost compared to benefit they obtain. Regardless above-mentioned findings of the survey only four percent of Lithuanian organizations are regretting about implementing ISO 9001 quality management system