January 2003 / No. 21

Management

Inevitable Encounter with Quality

Farzin Entessarian

Tehran was the host of the third international conference on quality management which was held with the participation of scholars and local and foreign managers from England, Japan, Germany, Australia, Finland, India, Jordon, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates. 

In his speech the conference secretary, Farzin Entessarian, cited quality management – the gate to new global economy – as the conference’s central focus. He said in today’s world, the global trade has become a strategic element for advancement. The liberalization of trade and the elimination or lessening of commercial obstacles such as monopolies, quota allocations and tariffs, alongside the rapid reduction of technical impediments such as standards and technical rules and regulations, have further complicated the presence of developing countries in the global marketplace, to an extent that it has become a source of concern for international organizations and even developed countries. The 2002 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report termed this phenomenon as the “hunger and poverty trap for the less developed countries” and cautioned against its entrapment.

It is certain that with the emergence of the new global economy and borderless trade, alongside the staggering advancement in telecommunications and information technology, the safe haven enjoyed in the past has disappeared. Today, even the wealthiest and most developed economies can not be sure of  their survival unless they are efficient, farsighted and capable of adapting.

Surely, the impact of the new global economy on developing countries such as Iran, due to the lack of stability in macro- and micro-economics, is not only negative, but is considered a serious threat.  Therefore, experts believe that developing countries have no choice other than reforming their managerial structures and reengineering the trends affecting their economies. Notwithstanding all the complications this will generate in the short term, it is the only method of averting disaster.

In the new global economy, producers and exporters who want to hold on to their markets or attain new ones are faced with two fundamental challenges: one, presenting an attractive product to the consumer market. Two, making sure that the product, following the appropriate rules and regulations, meets all standard requirements, Entessarian said. Clearly both of these challenges relate to quality and must be effectively managed. This simple fact has often been overlooked. It is now certain that quality management, with all its systems and tools, must be utilized as the only method of overcoming management difficulties in the twenty-first century.

Another conference speaker was First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref, who said: fortunately, this international conference, with the 11 areas of study on its agenda, has a comprehensive approach towards quality management system. Hopefully, the cooperation of The Institute for Standard and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI) and the Management and Planning Organization (MPO) with the national and international private sectors, in conferences such as this, will inevitably establish a system of total quality management in Iran. The country’s fourth Socioeconomic and Cultural Development Plan (2005 – 2010) can gain great assistance from such conferences as they provide a comprehensive, rather than a segmental, view of quality, which is indispensable to state macro-planning. They further clarify the aims of development and collective planning, and by avoiding inefficiency and resource waste, they facilitate Iran’s entry into the global market.

Vice President and head of MPO, Mohammad Sattarifar, told the conference that in order to comply with its legal obligations the government needs to act with deliberation and insight, followed by effective management which is often accompanied by such factors as order, discipline and modern organization. Fortunately these concerns are shared by the third international quality management conference. Furthermore, this conference is viewed with unprecedented significance as it coincides with the drafting of Iran’s Fourth Socioeconomic and Cultural Development Plan and will be of great assistance to strategists, macro-planners and policymakers in adopting the best course of action in the prevailing conditions. The fourth plan can derive priceless benefits from this conference, as it is built on the successful experience of two preceding conferences, the contribution of eminent scholars in economics and management from Iran and abroad, and the participation of CEO’s and managing directors from the public and private sectors.

In his address to the conference, Deputy Minister of Industries and head of ISIRI, Mohammadali Seyyed-Abrishami identified “quality degradation” as the “biggest glitch in the country’s management systems”. The International Standards Organization (ISO), with its worldwide array of experts, has become a source of quality standards and ideals. After recounting the history of ISO’s development and its impact on international quality management standards, with such series as ISO 9000, he explained that the international statistics relating to ISO 9000 certificates issued in different countries for Iran testify to its inspiring growth and development in quality management. He added surely there must be a motivation behind the widespread adaptation of these quality standards by companies; and cited the following incentives and requirements: exercising foresight and taking preventative measures against defects and targeting its roots rather than the periodic mending of defects, considering all factors effecting quality and systematic evaluation and monitoring of the methods and techniques used, striving for costumer satisfaction and being accountable for costumer complaints, sustainable increase in quality and production, reduction in costs and waste and finally, systemizing all activities in a framework dedicated to quality standards.