PMI's Standards Committee has launched a major effort to review and upgrade the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). In doing, so, the efforts have included structured questionnaires to the membership to determine the adequacy of the existing PMBOK and to obtain recommendations for improvements. Alan Stretton and John Thatcher reported this initiative in the April 1990 issue of the PM NETwork, pages 45-47.
In research associated with the Standards Committee's initiative, copies of the ISO 8402, ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9003 and ISO 9004 were obtained for reference in the quality arena. The ISO standards are products of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. ISO has been in existence since 1947 with a mission of developing and publishing standards in the technical and economic fields to promote better understanding and communication between organizations. Standards are tri-lingual publications in English, French, and Russian.
The International Standards for quality are:
- ISO 8402, Quality Definitions
- ISO 9000, Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards - Guidelines for selection and use
- ISO 9001, Quality Systems - Model for quality assurance in design/development, production, installation and servicing
- ISO 9002, Quality Systems - Model for quality assurance in production and installation
- ISO 9003, Quality Systems - Model for quality assurance in final inspection and test
- ISO 9004, Quality Management and Quality Systems Elements - Guidelines
ISO 8402 defines quality as “The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.” The standard amplifies the definition with notes to fully explain what quality is and what quality is not. For example, “quality is not used to express a degree of excellence‥” ISO 9402 elaborates further that “In some reference sources, quality is referred to as ‘fitness for use’ or ‘fitness for purpose’ or ‘customer satisfaction’ or ‘conformance to the requirements.’”
PMI has stated that quality is “conformance to the (customers') requiremerits. ” This has been extended to “conformance to the specifications” because the requirements have been translated into specifications, such as a building specification that the owner has provided to a contractor (project). In this example, the drawings and narrative specification define the requirement.
Although the ISO 8402 definition is more encompassing, PMI's definition of quality is not in conflict with this international standard. The footnotes within ISO 8402 provide a greater understanding of terms than does the PMBOK and addresses a wider range of meanings or interpretations of terms. PMI's definition, however, may require expansion to accommodate the individuals and industries served.
ISO 9000 addresses the distinctions and interrelationships among principle quality concepts while providing guidelines for the selection and use of the ISO 9000-series of International Standards on quality systems. Coupled with ISO 9004, this standard provides guidance on quality management for organizations to include a model for the quality function within a company. Of particular note is the discussion on quality in contractual matters, where the quality aspect is described to guide any user through the selection of the appropriate conditions for invoking the quality language.
Lewis R. Ireland has been actively involved in the development and administration of the PMP Certification Program in PMI. He is currently preparing a PMBOK Handbook on Quality Management in Projects. He is involved in developing and implementing project management practices and productivity tools using microcomputers.
