Issues such as “the triple bottom line”, which focuses on company profit performance being balanced by demonstrated performance on delivering value to society while improving the ecological environment, have recently emerged as a pressing, indeed crucial management issue. The 1998 Shell...

Quality assurance has generally been accepted by the construction industry since the introduction of ISO 9000 quality standards in 1987. About 40 consulting engineering firms have successfully achieved ISO 9001 certification in Hong Kong from 1994 but the quality assurance processes described in...

With the proliferation of several quality awards and standards, many organisations have taken their initiatives to employ different awards and standards in one form or another to sustain competitive edge. The ultimate objective of a self‐assessed quality management system (SQMS) is to assist...

Since they were introduced internationally in 1987, ISO 9000 standards have been criticized for their lack of flexibility, emphasis on bureaucracy and paperwork, deficiency in quality improvement, usefulness of application in small businesses and service organizations, confusing terminology and...

This paper relates the main findings of a literature review of integrated management systems (IMS). In general, integration has been discussed in the literature dealing with quality, environmental, and health and safety management. The need for an IMS has arisen as a result of the decisions of...

Quality has a long tradition in industry. In and after the Second World War we all focused on quality control. In the 1980s, quality management systems, as given in the ISO standards 9000 series, paved the way for a quality‐related business management. Advanced companies today are in a...

There have been National and International (ISO) attempts to “standardise” TQM and quality improvement activities. Meanwhile, the success of many international businesses has demonstrated a range of “quality related” initiatives that are individually successful, which strongly suggests...

Examines the involvement of all levels of employees in Hong Kong and China companies for ISO 9000 registration and maintenance. For convenience, the employee levels are divided into management, supervision, staff and operator level categories. The extent and the nature of involvement among these...