Influence of Iso 9001:2008 Quality Management Principles on Efficiency in Service Delivery at Nation Media Group, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Within the Quality Management paradigm, ISO is arguably the most influential contribution there has been. It is one of the approaches of quality management made up of a set of mutually reinforcing principles, each of which is supported by a set of practices and techniques. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected ISO 9001:2008 management principles on efficiency in service delivery at Nation Media Group Limited. The principles under study were: customer focus, leadership, employee involvement and continuous improvement. The research employed a case study design, targeting 52 respondents who comprised one chief executive, 14 senior managers, 12 heads of departments and 25 heads of sections at Nation Media Group Limited head office. A census survey was conducted due to the size of the population. Data were collected through interview guides and questionnaires. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis Significance of independent variables against the dependent variable was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The specific effect of independent variables against dependent variable was tested through multiple linear regression analysis while significance of independent variables against dependent variable was analyzed through correlation. The results showed that there was a strong positive correlation between efficiency and customer focus (r=.741, p=.000), and a moderate positive correlation between efficiency and employee involvement (r=.532, p=.001). They also showed there was a strong positive correlation between continuous improvement and efficiency (r=.907, p=.000). Leadership was also positively correlated to efficiency (r=.785, p=.000). The findings show that the predictors explained 80.5% of change in the dependent variable (Y) efficiency, against the predictors: leadership, employee involvement, customer focus and continuous improvement. The study concluded that Nation Media Group priorities are on customer needs and expectations, customer requirements and normal operations of the organization. The same study concluded that working environment and delegation of authority to the employees are critical elements of employee involvement; that top management support, resources and infrastructure as well as explicit work place policies are critical for long-term quality improvement programs; and finally, it concluded that leadership at Nation Media Group focused on ensuring quality performance from its staff and adopted successful practices to deliver services. Customer feedback and resources played a critical role in efficiency at Nation Media Group, and these two were the focal point of efficiency in service delivery. In a nutshell, continuous improvement has the most significant influence on efficiency in service delivery at Nation Media Group. The research recommends more emphasis in incorporating all the four ISO Principles which are customer focus, employee involvement, leadership and continuous improvement in order to achieve maximum efficiency in service delivery. Secondly, future scholars should develop a framework for implementation of ISO Principles to factor in all the four critical elements for full efficiency to be achieved.