ISO 9000 application in Sri Lankan public sector: a success story of a district secretariat

Interest in adopting ISO 9000 quality management system by Sri Lanka’s public sector organisations is a recent phenomenon. Is ISO 9000 a really useful venture for the public sector organisations? This paper presents the findings of the study on the experience of ISO 9000 implementation of a District Secretariat. In this study it was revealed that motivation for implementing ISO 9000 had been internally generated backed by the dynamism and positive influence of the 5S and quality circle implementation and winning several productivity competitions. Team spirit has been instrumental in successful ISO 9000 implementation. The powerful leadership has been found as the key to success. Survey data revealed that respondents confirmed that the most prominent outcome was ‘reduction of errors’. Respondents also confirmed that internal performance and employee satisfaction have improved but customer satisfaction which is a key goal in TQM has not been adequately achieved. The findings of this research indicate the need for implementation of ISO 9000 in public organisations as a mandatory requirement.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljda.v4i0.7119

Sri Lanka Journal of Development Administration, Vol. 4, pp. 129-146, 2014