The progress of quality management in Thailand

Abstract

Describes the progress of quality management in Thailand. Quality management is new to Thai industry, but it has been adopted with great speed in recent years. Reports on a major survey, carried out to identify the current position, trends and attitudes within Thai industry. Notes a great increase in certification to the ISO 9000 series standards. Identifies reasons for seeking certification, the key difficulties and benefits experienced in introducing ISO 9000. The implementation of total quality management (TQM) in Thailand was also surveyed. Results indicated that TQM had made relatively little progress and, with the exception of a few large Thai‐owned groups, was largely concentrated in foreign‐owned companies within the electronics sector. However, increasingly, Thai‐owned companies are accepting the challenge of ISO 9000 and looking towards TQM in the future.

The estimation of the return on firms’ investments – as to ISO 9001

“…Moreover, 18.8% took less than a year. Krasachol et al (1998) in the study of Thai companies, concludes that the average time that companies spend to achieve certification is a year and a half, which is in line with Martinez et al (2000), who indicates the same period. The study by Casadesús and Heras (2001) suggests 22 months as the average time of implantation and Escanciano (2000) indicates two years for 57% of companies.…”

The importance of internal aspects in quality improvement

“…Therefore, for future research it might be interesting to analyze which internal aspects are more important in order to obtain a higher level of TQM and higher profits by studying firms of different sizes and from various sectors, and also to carry out such study at a national and an international level, in order to overcome the main limitation of this analysis. Bryde and Slocock (1998) Explicit demands from customers General pressures from customers regarding quality assurance The belief that certification would give an advantage over competitors A desire to impress quality concerns on suppliers A desire to generate a concern for quality within the organization As part of a wider quality improvement process To improve internal efficiency and productivity 67 organisations in the North West of England (31 had an accredited quality management system, 19 were seeking accreditation and 17 were not seeking accreditation for a quality system) Krasachol, Willey and Tannock (1998) Customer preference Essential for customer Global competitiveness Internal improvement Good start for total quality management Others 217 companies in Thailand (43 per cent of them were ISO 9000 registered firms) Lee (1998) To satisfy customer demands To stay in business To improve management Others Table II. Reasons for seeking certification according to Spanish studies Casadesús, Giménez and Martí (1998) Ferguson, Sánchez and Sierra (1999 Improving the quality image offered to the market Customer requirements Improving the quality of the products and services offered Consolidating and increasing market share Improving the firm's efficiency and control Because it is a decision taken at a corporate level Because it is a good start towards total quality management Reducing the number of faulty products …”

Reasons which lead the rural accommodation sector to become certified with “Q For Tourist Quality”

“…Customer request is the least valued followed by the fact that other competitors certificated as a requirement. To respond to the second objective proposed in this paper, we conducted a ''Principal Components Factor Analysis'' with varimax rotation, with the aim of grouping the motivations to become certified in others, that replace the 15 we have Carlsson and Carlsson (1996), Withers and Ebrahimpour (1996), Van Der Wiele et al (1996), Abraham et al (1997), Jones et al (1997), Brown et al (1998), Bryde and Slocock (1998), Casadesús et al (1998Casadesús et al ( , 1999, Guilhon et al (1998), Krasachol et al (1998), Lee (1998), Quazi andPadibjo (1998), Ferguson et al (1999), Martínez et al (1999), Mcadam and Mckeown (1999), Escanciano (2001), Singels et al (2001), Yahya and Goh (2001) expressed in the questionnaire with as little loss of information as possible, allowing us to analyze the structure of the motivations that drive rural accommodation to implement and certify a system of quality management. As a preliminary step to the performance of factorial analysis, it must be specified that the data from the questionnaire are adequate for factorial analysis.…”