Quality approaches in small or medium-sized enterprises: Methodology and survey results

This study examines how SMEs approach quality. It is based on a survey of 42 companies. Almost all companies embark on a quality programme based on an ISO 9000 certification process, most often under constraint. Such a quality approach is of a reactive type and brings about organisational changes, the use of new techniques and an improved management of human resources. However results in terms of sales, profits or market shares are very limited. This drive towards quality is often short-lived and very few firms use certification as a springboard towards total quality.