A mission to ensure business excellence

Chennai: Many Indian companies, says Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS) chief executive officer, G Jagannathan, will find it difficult to renew their ISO certification under the new ISO 9001:2000 version because the process laid down are really stiffer.

An arm of Tata Sons, TQMS benchmarks the quality standards and systems to be followed by the Tata group of companies. Jagannathan says the new ISO version has incorporated many aspects of the Malcolm Baldrige quality model. "As Tata group companies are already following the Baldrige model, they will not have any difficulty in renewing their quality certification."

A masters degree holder in industrial management from IIT-Madras, Jagannathan is spearheading the quality movement within the Tata group through TQMS. Prior to this assignment, Jagannathan spent a major portion of his career with two Tata companies Tata Steel (13 years) and Telco (12 years).

He was instrumental in Tata Steel getting the CII-Exim Award for quality systems and also the JRD QV award, an award instituted by the group to drive quality excellence among Tata group companies. As head of the Pune-based TQMS, Jagannathan outlines the quality focus and processes that drive business excellence within the Tata group. Excerpts:

How different is the Malcolm Baldrige quality model from other models like Deming, CMM and ISO? Where do Indian companies stand viz a viz the Baldrige model? We already have two TVS group companies winning the prestigious Deming Award.
Broadly speaking, the Baldrige model is comprehensive as it looks at an organisation holistically production process, management, customer-driven excellence, employee focus and others. The model has stiffer norms compared to others and any company that follows the Baldrige model is sure to be one of the worlds top-most companies in its field. The model focuses on results and creates value for various stakeholders. Further, cooking up of records is not possible.
While Deming is a Japanese model, the Baldrige Award is from the US to promote quality among American companies. Now open to companies all over the world, only a handful has qualified for this prestigious award. Regarding the status of Indian companies, hardly 10 to 15 per cent of our listed companies will meet the Baldrige standards.