ISO 9004-2 1991 Guidelines in Plain English

Guidelines for Managing the Quality of Service Activities

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Definitions

• Remember the following definitions as you study ISO 9004-2:

  • A quality is a special characteristic.

  • Service is a result. This result is produced when people carry out activities that are oriented towards meeting customer needs. 

  • Service delivery is an activity or process. Service delivery 
    activities are carried out by people who are oriented 
    towards meeting customer needs.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Introduction to quality service 

• A quality service system is one that:

  • Ensures that customer needs are met. 

  • Receives regular feedback from customers.

  • Respects customer perceptions and opinions.

  • Manages social interactions and relationships.

  • Considers the human aspects of service delivery. 

  • Pays attention to cultural values and perceptions.

  • Improves service performance and productivity.

  • Supports personnel training and development.

  • Encourages personnel to improve quality.

  • Controls costs and improves efficiency.

• A quality service system should be set up if you provide 
  intangible services or sell products to customers. Either 
  way the quality principles are the same.

• A quality service system should serve the needs of both 
  internal and external customers (internal customers are 
  inside your own organization).

• A quality service system can improve the quality 
  of almost any function including the following:

  • Health and hospitality

  • Financial and insurance

  • Technical and scientific

  • Sales and merchandising

  • Professional and educational

  • Utilities and communications

  • Administrative and governmental

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Define service and service delivery characteristics 

• Identify and define your service and service delivery characteristics (qualities). When you do so, consider
  the following general types:

  • Service accessibility and availability. 

  • Service safety and security.

  • Service reliability and dependability.

  • Attractiveness and appeal of facilities. 

  • Service delay, duration, and delivery times. 

  • Service capacity and size of service facilities.

  • Number of service providers and service tools. 

  • Service hygiene and service provider cleanliness. 

  • Competence and knowledge of service providers. 

  • Courtesy, attentiveness, and communication skills. 

  • Quantity and types of service supplies and materials.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control service and service delivery characteristics

• Control service and service delivery characteristics (qualities).

  • Manage the characteristics that define 
    your service and service delivery process. 

  • Measure the characteristics that define
    your service and service delivery process.

    • Develop methods that you and your customers can use to evaluate your service and service delivery characteristics. 

    • Use either quantitative or qualitative measures to evaluate your service and service delivery characteristics.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Define your quality policy 

• Define a quality service policy. This policy should:

  • Discuss your image and reputation. 

  • Describe your attitude towards service quality. 

  • Define the level of service you want to achieve. 

  • Make the customer the focal point of your policy. 

  • Emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction. 

  • Explain that all personnel must apply this policy.

  • Indicate that senior managers support this policy.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Define your quality goals and objectives 

• Define your quality goals and objectives and translate these 
  into actual service and service delivery activities. Consider 
  the following types of goals and objectives:

  • To satisfy customers.

  • To encourage continuous improvement.

  • To respect social and environmental needs. 

  • To foster a collective commitment to quality.

  • To improve the efficiency of service delivery.

  • To clearly define customer needs and expectations. 

  • To look for opportunities to improve service quality.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Define quality responsibilities and authorities 

• Define responsibility and authority. Define service quality
  responsibilities and give your personnel the authority 
  to carry out these responsibilities.

  • Clarify customer service responsibilities, determine how these responsibilities are distributed, and make sure people have the authority to carry them out. 

  • Make sure that senior management retains the responsibility for developing, measuring, auditing,
    and improving your service quality system. 

  • Make sure that all personnel understand that they are individually and collectively responsible for the quality
    of your services and your service delivery.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Perform management reviews of your quality service system 

• Review your quality service system on a regular basis. 
  Your managers, or their representatives, must perform 
  independent reviews of your quality service system. 
  These reviews should evaluate its effectiveness and 
  should look for ways of improving it. Reviews should:

  • Evaluate the results of any quality performance 
    studies carried out by your staff members. 

  • Review the results of any internal or external 
    audits of your quality service system. 

  • Study changes in technological, economic, social, 
    or environmental conditions that could affect the 
    performance of your quality service system. 

  • Examine any changes in quality concepts or 
    practices or any new service delivery ideas. 

• Make sure that a written management review report 
  is prepared and submitted to senior management. 
  This report should list observations, conclusions, 
  and recommendations for improving quality.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Motivate your people to deliver quality service 

• Create a corporate environment that motivates 
  people to provide quality service.

  • Select only people who are capable of doing the job. 

  • Create an environment that encourages excellence. 

  • Help people to fulfill their professional potential. 

  • Make sure that people know how to do their jobs. 

  • Explain how people influence customer service.

  • Ensure that people know how they affect quality.

  • Recognize and reward people who improve quality. 

  • Provide career planning and development services. 

  • Deliver training programs to improve service skills.

  • Study the factors that motivate your personnel.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Train people to deliver quality service

• Teach executives how to:

  • Encourage quality service.

  • Measure quality-related costs.

  • Review their quality service system.

  • Manage their quality service system.

• Teach personnel how to:

  • Aspire towards excellence.

  • Apply your quality policy.

  • Achieve quality objectives.

  • Monitor and control processes.

  • Collect and analyze quality data.

  • Solve quality problems and identify causes.

  • Take corrective actions and improve quality.

  • Communicate, interact, and work as a team.

• Develop procedures to verify that all your personnel 
  have received all the training they need.

• Evaluate personnel performance in order to identify 
  training and development needs.

• Ensure that personnel are qualified to do their jobs.

  • When they're not qualified, make sure they get
    the training and experience they need.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Develop a system of communication 

• Develop a system of communication in order
  to allow both management and staff:

  • To work together as a team.

  • To deliver quality services to customers.

• Make sure that your service personnel know how to:

  • Communicate with customers.

  • Communicate with one another.

• Your communication system may include regular briefings, meetings, memos, email, reports, forums, and telephone conversations.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Provide material resources 

• Provide the material resources that people will 
  need to implement and manage your quality 
  service system. Provide:

  • Service delivery facilities and equipment.

  • Information and record keeping systems.

  • Transport and travel allowances and capabilities. 

  • Quality evaluation tools, instruments, and facilities.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Define the structure of your quality service system

• Define the structure of your quality service system. Your system
  should consist of the following four interconnected processes:

  1. Service marketing process

  • The purpose of this marketing and market research process 
    is to identify new needs and to estimate market demand for new services.

  • When your market research people identify the need 
    for a new service, they must prepare a service brief. This 
    document describes the service that should be designed 
    and the customer needs that it should meet.

  2. Service design process

  • The purpose of the service design process is to use the 
    service brief to develop specifications, and to use these
    specifications to design a new service.

  • Your service design people will develop the following 
    kinds of documents:

    • Service specification

    • Service delivery specification

    • Quality control specification

  3. Service delivery process

  • The purpose of your service delivery process is to 
    deliver your new service to customers and to monitor 
    and control the service and its delivery.

  • Your service delivery people will generate the 
    following kinds of documents:

    • Assessments done by customers.

    • Evaluations performed by your organization.

  4. Service improvement process

  • The purpose of your service improvement process is to 
    evaluate and analyze your service and service delivery 
    process, and to recommend ways of improving it.

  • This process will generate the following 
    kinds of documents:

    • Analyses.

    • Recommendations.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Document your quality service system 

• Document your quality service system. 
  Your documents should include:

  • Quality manuals that describe your service system.

  • Quality plans which specify how the requirements
    for quality will be met for each particular service. 

  • Quality procedures which define how service activities are 
    to be performed, monitored, controlled, and documented. 

  • Quality records which document the operation and functioning of your quality service system. Your quality records should:

    • Show how satisfied your customers are.

    • Allow you to make service comparisons.

    • Allow you to identify and analyze service trends.

    • Provide you with a basis for corrective action.

    • Allow you to monitor and evaluate the 
      effectiveness of your corrective actions.

    • Show how well your service quality goals
      and objectives are being achieved. 

    • Permit you to monitor and measure 
      subcontractor performance. 

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your quality service documents 

• Control all quality service documents. 
  Make sure that your documents are:

  • Dated

  • Named

  • Authorized

  • Recognizable

  • Readable

• Develop methods to control how your documents 
  are issued, distributed, and revised. Your methods 
  should ensure that documents are:

  • Acceptable and intelligible to users.

  • Authorized before they are distributed.

  • Available whenever and wherever they are needed.

  • Revised when changes become necessary.

  • Removed when they become obsolete.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Perform internal quality audits 

• Perform periodic internal quality audits in order to:

  • Verify the implementation of your quality system.

  • Evaluate the effectiveness of your quality system.

  • Prove that your quality system conforms to your:

    • Service specification

    • Service delivery specification

    • Quality control specification

• Develop internal quality audit procedures to control 
  how audits are planned, performed, and recorded.

• Make sure that your auditors are:

  • Competent

  • Independent

• Make sure that audit findings are:

  • Documented by the auditors.

  • Reported to senior managers.

• Make sure that corrective actions are:

  • Designed to address audit findings.

  • Implemented by the appropriate managers.

  • Monitored in order to evaluate their effectiveness.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Interact with your customers 

• Develop a quality service image and encourage service 
  delivery personnel to convey this image to both their 
  external and internal customers. 

• Develop effective patterns of communication with both 
  external and internal customers. Encourage all service 
  delivery personnel to:

  • Listen carefully to what customers say.

  • Handle communication problems without delay.

  • Keep customers informed about your services. 
    Keep them informed by explaining:

    • Your services and your service delivery process.

    • How your services will meet customer needs.

    • How potential problems will be handled.

    • How customers can help improve your services.

• Develop appropriate facilities and provide adequate 
  resources to support communications and interactions 
  with both external and internal customers.

• Develop methods to ensure that customer interaction 
  and communication problems are transformed into 
  opportunities to improve your quality service system.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Introduction to structure of your quality service system

We conclude this section with a detailed discussion of the structure
of your quality service system. As previously indicated, your system
should consist of the following four interconnected processes:

1. Service marketing process
2. Service design process
3. Service delivery process
4. Service improvement process

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Develop your service marketing process 

• Develop and control your service marketing process.

  • Control your market research process.

  • Control your obligations to customers.

  • Control the development of service briefs.

  • Control the launch of new services.

  • Control the advertising of services.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your market research process 

• Develop and document procedures to plan and control 
  your market research process. Your market research 
  procedures should ensure that marketing people:

  • Determine if there is a need and demand for 
    the service that you plan to offer to customers. 

  • Clarify what customers want and expect 
    to get from the service you intend to offer.

  • Evaluate the service and performance of other 
    companies who provide a similar service. 

  • Review all governmental and industrial rules, 
    regulations, standards, and codes that govern 
    and control the service that you intend to develop.

  • Confirm that your organization can, in fact, deliver 
    and support the services that you intend to develop.

  • Monitor market trends and technological changes.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your obligations to customers 

• Control the obligations and promises you 
  make to customers. Your procedures 
  should ensure that you:

  • Control implicit obligations.

  • Control explicit obligations.

    • Document explicit obligations (e.g., warranties).

      • Make sure that your organization is capable 
        of meeting all documented obligations.

      • Make sure that your documented obligations 
        meet all legal and regulatory requirements.

      • Make sure that your documented obligations 
        are consistent with your other documents.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control the development of service briefs 

• Control the development of your service brief. Make sure that:

  • Market research results are used to develop a service brief.

    • Ensure that customer needs are reflected in your service brief.

  • Obligations to customers are absorbed into service brief.

• Make sure that your organization will, in fact, be able 
  to provide the service that your service brief describes.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control the launch of new services 

• Develop procedures to control the launch 
  of new services. Develop procedures to:

  • Plan the launch.

  • Organize the launch.

  • Implement the launch.

• Your launch procedures should ensure that you:

  • Provide the resources and support that will 
    be needed to ensure a successful launch.

  • Evaluate and minimize risk.

    • Minimize health and safety risks.

    • Minimize environmental risks.

    • Minimize legal risks.

• Develop procedures to eventually withdraw 
  your service (if this is necessary).

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control the advertising of services 

• Control the quality of your service advertisements. 
  Make sure that your advertisements respect your:

  • Service limitations.

  • Service specifications.

  • Customers' perceptions.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Develop your service design process 

• Develop and control your service design process.

  • Control your design responsibilities.

  • Control your service specification.

  • Control your service delivery specification.

  • Control your quality control specification.

  • Control your design review process.

  • Control your validation process.

  • Control your design changes.

• Your service design process should convert your service 
  brief into specifications and then use these specifications 
  to design your new service. Your design process will 
  generate three kinds of documents:

  • A service specification. This document defines 
    the service you intend to provide.

  • A service delivery specification. This document 
    defines how you intend to deliver your service.

  • A quality control specification. This document 
    defines how you're going to monitor and control 
    the service and the service delivery process.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your design responsibilities 

• Allocate the responsibility for designing your service 
  and control how these responsibilities are carried out.
  Allocate and control the following responsibilities:

  • Managing your service, service delivery, 
    and quality control specifications.

    • Planning your specifications

    • Preparing your specifications

    • Validating your specifications

    • Maintaining your specifications

    • Controlling your specifications

    • Revising your specifications

  • Identifying which products and services will 
    need to be purchased from subcontractors.

  • Reviewing service designs throughout the 
    service design and development process.

  • Validating the assumption that your new service 
    follows all of the instructions and meets all of the 
    requirements described in your service brief.

  • Anticipating and analyzing potential service failures.

  • Planning for service demand variations.

  • Developing service contingency plans.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your service specification 

• Control the development of your service specification. 
  Control how your service brief is transformed into a 
  service specification.

• Your service specification should completely and 
  precisely describe your new service. It should:

  • Describe the service characteristics (qualities) 
    that customers will value and evaluate.

  • Define a concrete standard of acceptability 
    for each service characteristic (quality).

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your service delivery specification

• Control the development of your service delivery 
  specification. Control how your service brief is 
  transformed into a service delivery specification. 
  Your service delivery specification should:

  • Document procedures to control every 
    phase of your service delivery process.

  • Specify the service delivery characteristics 
    (qualities) that will affect service performance.

  • Define a concrete standard of acceptability 
    for each service delivery characteristic (quality).

  • Identify the equipment and facilities that you 
    will need in order to deliver your service.

  • Specify the number and types of people that 
    you will need in order to deliver your service, 
    including the required skills and qualifications.

  • Identify the products and services that you 
    will need to purchase from subcontractors.

  • Verify that your organization will be able to 
    deliver the service that your specification defines.

  • Confirm that your service delivery specification 
    will meet all health, safety, environmental, 
    and legal requirements and standards.

Designing

• Design your service delivery process by:

  • Dividing it into separate and distinct 
    sets of work activities or phases.

  • Defining how these separate activities
    or phases are interconnected.

  • Using flow charts to map the flow 
    of these work activities or phases.

  • Developing procedures to control
    each work activity or phase.

Purchasing

• Control your purchasing process by:

  • Controlling the subcontractors that will 
    support your service delivery process.

    • Maintain a close working relationship 
      with your subcontractors.

    • Create subcontractor feedback systems.

    • Develop ways of settling disputes between
      you and your subcontractors.

    • Select competent subcontractors.

      • Inspect subcontractors' facilities.

      • Assess subcontractors' quality systems.

      • Evaluate subcontractors' product samples.

      • Observe subcontractors' service delivery.

      • Discuss subcontractors with their customers.

    • Make quality agreements with subcontractors.

      • Clarify quality requirements and 
        quality assurance requirements.

      • Clarify verification methods and 
        quality assurance methods.

  • Controlling the purchase of the products and 
    services that you will use to deliver your services.

    • Use purchase orders or similar documents.

    • Regulate incoming products and services.

    • Maintain a record keeping system to monitor 
      incoming products and services.

Equipment

• Control equipment that customers are 
  expected to use during service delivery.

  • Make sure that the equipment you provide 
    to your customers is suitable for the task.

  • Make sure that you provide written instructions 
    that explain how the equipment is used.

Traceability

• Record and track the identify of products and 
  services used during the service delivery process.

  • Record the source of products and services.

  • Record the verification of products and services.

  • Record the delivery of products and services.

Customer
property 

• Control your customers' property. Make sure that your staff 
  members protect and respect your customers' possessions 
  during all phases of the service delivery process.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your quality control specification 

• Control the development of your quality control specification. 
  Control how your service brief is transformed into a quality 
  control specification.

• Your quality control specification should explain 
  how you're going to control your:

  • Service marketing process

  • Service design process

  • Service delivery process

• Develop your quality control specification by:

  • Identifying the activities (within each process) 
    that will influence the quality of your service.

  • Selecting the characteristics (within each activity) 
    that will influence the quality of your service.

  • Developing methods to monitor and measure 
    each of these characteristics.

  • Designing methods to influence and control 
    each of these characteristics.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your design review process 

• Develop a design review process and control how it functions. This process should be carried out after each design phase, and should:

  • Involve the people who will influence quality.

  • Document design problems and solutions.

• Your design reviews should make sure that the requirements and
  instructions defined in your service brief have been successfully
  turned into a complete set of design specifications. Make sure 
  that you compare your design brief with your:

  • Service specification

  • Service delivery specification

  • Quality control specification

• Make sure that your service and service delivery specifications
  describe a service that will meet customer needs, expectations, 
  and requirements.

• Make sure that your quality control specification describes a set
  of methods and procedures that you will be able to use to monitor, measure, and control the quality of your service and service delivery.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your validation process 

• Develop and control your validation process.

  • Validate:

    • Service

    • Service delivery

    • Quality control methods

  • Your validations should prove that:

    • Your service will meet customer needs under 
      both normal and abnormal conditions.

    • Your design satisfies all specifications and 
      complies with all official codes and standards.

    • Your service delivery process has been 
      completely developed and documented.

    • You have allocated enough human and material 
      resources to meet your service obligations.

    • You have developed information that will help 
      customers to understand and use your service.

  • Your validation process should be:

    • Planned and documented.

    • Performed before you deliver service.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your revalidation process 

• Develop and control your revalidation process. 

  • Perform:

    • Periodic revalidations

    • Special revalidations

  • Perform periodic revalidations in order to:

    • Prove that your service continues to meet 
      customer needs and conform to specifications.

    • Improve your service, service delivery, 
      and your quality control methods.

  • Perform special revalidations in order to prove that your service continues to meet customer needs even though changes have been made. Perform special revalidations whenever you make significant changes in:

    • Quality control.

    • Service or service delivery.

    • Human or material resources.

    • Programs, policies, or procedures.

  • Revalidations should be planned and documented.

  • Make sure that you get feedback from both service 
    delivery personnel and customers.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your design changes 

• Develop a design change process and control how it functions. 
  You must control changes to the following design documents:

  • Service specifications

  • Service delivery specifications

  • Quality control specifications

• Before you make design changes, you must:

  • Demonstrate that there is a real need for change.

  • Prove that changes will not reduce service quality.

  • Show that participants have approved changes.

  • Tell customers when changes will affect quality.

  • Plan how you're going to make the changes.

  • Document and record your design changes.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Develop your service delivery process 

• Develop and control your service delivery process.

  • Control your service delivery responsibilities.

  • Control how you assess the quality of your service.

  • Control how customers assess your service quality.

  • Control how service delivery records are kept.

  • Control how you handle nonconformities.

  • Control your service measurement system.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your service delivery responsibilities 

• Distribute the responsibility for service delivery and 
  control how these responsibilities are carried out.

  • Control how you assess your service.

  • Control how customers assess your service.

  • Control how services will be monitored to see if they 
    meet service and service delivery specifications.

  • Control how changes will be made when service and 
    service delivery nonconformities are discovered.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control how you assess the quality of your service 

• Develop methods that your organization can use to assess 
  and control the quality of your service. Your quality assessment
  methods should ensure that you:

  • Measure key process activities to identify negative 
    trends and prevent customer dissatisfaction.

  • Encourage service delivery personnel to monitor 
    and inspect their own service delivery activities.

  • Evaluate the quality of the interaction between 
    your personnel and your customers.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control how customers assess the quality of your service  

• Develop methods that your customers can use to assess the 
  quality of your service. These quality assessment methods 
  should allow customers to provide instant feedback and 
  to evaluate previous service performance. Make sure 
  that you:

  • Actively solicit your customers' opinions.

  • Respect customers' subjective evaluations.

  • Measure customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

    • Evaluate whether your service brief expresses 
      the needs and expectations of your customers.

    • Evaluate whether your specifications embody 
      the needs and expectations of your customers.

    • Evaluate whether your service and service 
      delivery process meets the needs and 
      expectations of your customers.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control how service delivery records are kept 

• Develop a service delivery record keeping system and control how it is used. Make sure that you keep a record of the work that has been performed during each phase of service delivery 
  (monitor service status). Keep records in order to:

  • Prove that you've performed the work.

  • Prove that the work meets your specifications.

  • Prove that your customers are satisfied.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control how you handle nonconformities 

• Control how you handle service nonconformities.

  • Distribute the responsibility and authority for:

    • Identifying service nonconformities.

    • Reporting service nonconformities.

    • Recording service nonconformities.

    • Analyzing service nonconformities.

    • Correcting service nonconformities.

    • Preventing service nonconformities.

  • Ensure that everyone in your organization accepts the
    responsibility for detecting and reporting both actual 
    and potential service nonconformities.

  • Address the customers' needs and expectations 
    immediately before you develop and implement 
    a more complete long-term solution.

  • Identify root causes and make sure that your 
    corrective actions deal with these causes.

  • Monitor the effectiveness of your corrective 
    actions in order to ensure that the service 
    nonconformity doesn't happen again.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Control your service measurement system 

• Develop a service measurement system and 
  control how it is maintained and monitored.

  • Control measurement and testing skills.

  • Control measurement and testing procedures.

  • Control measurement and testing software.

  • Control measurement and testing questionnaires.

    • Verify the validity and reliability of questionnaires and surveys.

  • Control measurement and testing equipment.

    • Control the use of this equipment.

    • Control the calibration of this equipment.

    • Control the maintenance of this equipment.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Develop your service improvement process 

• Develop and control a service improvement process.

  • Create a service improvement information system.

  • Allocate the responsibility for service improvement.

  • Control how you collect and analyze quality data.

  • Develop a program to improve service quality.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Create a service improvement information system 

• Develop an information system to support your service 
  improvement process. This information system should 
  allow you to:

  • Collect data that measures service quality.

  • Evaluate the service and service delivery process.

  • Disseminate information about service quality.

  • Generate improvements in service quality.

ISO 9004-2: 1991

Allocate the responsibility for service improvement 

• Distribute the responsibility for service improvement 
  and control how these responsibilities are performed.

  • Control how your service improvement information
    system will be used and maintained.

  • Control how the quality of your services and your 
    service delivery process will be improved.

ISO 9004-2: 1991