ISO 9001 quality management systems in local government institutions in Poland: past, present and future

Abstract

The aim of this article is to identify and assess the development of ISO 9001 Quality Management System applications in Polish local government institutions in the years 1999–2015. We conduct our analysis on the basis of a questionnaire survey carried out among local government institutions in 2015 (with 77% rate of response). We prove that the ISO 9001 Quality Management System is dominant in Polish local government institutions and we show that its implementations were geographically concentrated and dependent on the size of the local government institution. Points for practitioners Smaller local government institutions (especially from rural municipalities) require financial support and the proper preparation of employees and training in order to implement the ISO 9001 Quality Management System. The ISO 9001 Quality Management System is the first step in moving towards an integrated management system. The implementation of alternative management improvement solutions decreases interest in implementing the ISO 9001 Quality Management System and obtaining certification.