Abstract
This research investigates the impact of internal quality auditing practices on the ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) performance of Company XYZ in South Africa. The study argues that for internal quality auditing practices to have an enabling impact on ISO 9001 QMS performance, the practices need to be applied effectively in a company. In turn, for the internal quality auditing practices to be applied effectively, there are barriers and enablers that are both within and beyond the control of internal quality auditors and the quality department which need to be either eliminated or strengthened. Therefore, a theoretical framework that relates the enablers and barriers of effective internal quality auditing practices to ISO 9001 QMS performance was developed and empirically tested. A qualitative single case study design was followed to address the research questions that guided the study. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with n=16 participants. The participants in the research were purposively selected and the sample was comprised of integrated management system (IMS) specialists, production engineers, quality engineers, internal quality auditors, production managers and quality managers. They all had experience in internal quality audits. Secondary data was collected from Company XYZ’s annual internal quality audit programmes and internal quality audit reports from 2017 to 2020. Using a deductive thematic analysis approach, n=4 audit programme documents and n=24 internal quality audit reports were analysed for each year from 2017 to 2020. The collected data was coded and analysed using the Atlas.ti version 9 software. Overall, the study’s findings demonstrated that internal quality auditing practices primarily had an enabling impact on the conformity objective rather than the customer focus and continuous improvement ISO 9001 QMS performance objectives of Company XYZ. The findings from interview analysis showed that the effectiveness of internal quality auditing practices was enabled and hindered by organisational context issues which obligated internal quality auditors to fulfil the company’s unique production and quality objectives of conformity. The organisational context issues also explained how internal quality auditors relate to their key stakeholders and how the internal quality audit programme and process was managed at Company XYZ. The enablers were as follows: 1) the integration of management systems (IMS); 2) the self-assessment audits performed by IMS specialists; 3) the involvement of technical experts during internal quality audits; and 4) the perceived effectiveness of internal quality auditing practices due to manager and auditee expectations being fulfilled. The barriers stemmed from the following: 1) the company’s external motivation towards ISO 9001 QMS maintenance due to the need to enforce process adherence and to realise the quality system’s conformity goals; 2) the internal quality audit stakeholders’ diverse notions vi of the functioning of internal quality auditing practices; and 3) the “lack of ownership mindset” regarding internal quality audits and audit corrective actions. Analysis of company documentation showed that Company XYZ’s main approach to planning the audit programme was centralised, procedural and process-based. This helped internal quality auditors to decide on the audit topics and audit frequencies. Considering that auditees were performing self-assessments and pre-audit checks to prepare evidence prior to planned internal quality audits, the audit evidence collection approaches hampered the efforts of internal quality auditors because the sampled audit evidence could not be considered truly representative of the conditions of the audited processes and areas. Thus, the audit planning and implementation approaches aided internal quality auditors to evaluate the quality system’s conformity to the ISO 9001 requirements. Furthermore, the key determinants associated with audit programme planning and implementation decisions primarily supported the conformity of Company XYZ’s ISO 9001 QMS. These determinants were as follows: 1) a strong audit programme focus on supporting efforts to stabilise the company’s production and ensure external quality audit preparedness; 2) frequent and periodic audits due to audit corrective actions not being sustained; and 3) recurring nonconformity audit findings due to inadequate root cause analysis. These determinants posed difficulties in guaranteeing that the internal quality auditing programme supported continual improvement of Company XYZ’s ISO 9001 QMS. The study provided awareness of the key factors that enable and hinder effective internal quality auditing practices at Company XYZ. These factors are the basis upon which the ISO 9001 QMS performance of the company can be improved through internal quality audits. Furthermore, the study provides case study knowledge to confirm current literature in the research area of quality management, that companies who have actively sought to effectively maintain their ISO 9001 certifications are still confronted with more internal quality auditing challenges than benefits.
M.Eng. (Industrial Engineering)