Sustaining Total Quality Management in an ISO 9001:2008 – Certified Philippine Local Government Unit: The Case of Calapan City

Abstract

Administrative Order (AO) No. 161, Executive Order (EO) No. 605, and the current government policy on the grant of performance-based bonus (PBB) have made the ISO 9001 Total Quality Management (TQM) model a part of the productivity and performance measurement and/or quality improvement programs of the Philippine government. This study looked for the factors that affect the sustainability of TQM/ISO 9001 adoption in Calapan City - an ISO 9001:2008 – certified local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines. The study found the sustainability factors to be: (1) the six key elements for TQM implementation by Besterfield et al. (2003), namely, senior management commitment and/or the presence of a TQM/ISO 9001 driver, quality council, role of middle managers or supervisors, communication, training, and customer, employee, and supplier surveys; (2) consideration of Filipino cultural values by Andres (1996); and (3) the frequency and nature of leadership change. When implementing TQM/ISO 9001 in LGUs, the study recommended to: (1) recognize that its adoption is a political process; (2) seek a broad-based support and ensure that no one person owns the program; (3) eliminate the need to train a new set of implementors by having a succession plan that gives implementors a term that is longer than the three-year term of LGU officials; and (4) ensure the smooth implementation of the program by leveraging Filipino cultural values. The study’s implications on policies related to service quality improvement are: (1) the need for an agency or an arrangement with existing agencies that will provide certification with international accreditation pursuant to Section 2 of EO No. 605; and (2) giving awards similar to those of the Philippine Quality Award (PQA) to encourage the adoption of TQM/ISO 9001 among LGUs and other public sector organizations. Finally, future research on TQM/ISO 9001 implementation should: (1) factor leadership change that allows TQM/ISO 9001 to be implemented continuously; (2) include strategies on internalizing TQM/ISO 9001 and minimizing resistance; and (3) explore the economic benefits of TQM/ISO 9001 adoption in LGUs and other public sector organizations.