Quality management frameworks implementation in Polish local governments

Abstract

Quality management frameworks (QMFs) are becoming increasingly crucial in the public administration sector due to the demands and expectations of the stakeholders. Used properly, they provide a structured approach to assessing the current service quality level and the organisational performance and help to identify where improvements can be made. The article analyses and discusses the Polish local government offices experience and involvement in the QMFs implementation, like the ISO 9001 standard, Common Assessment Framework and European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) models. The aim of the article, on the basis of the case-study method, is to present the efforts of QMFs implementation in two selected local governments in Poland – The City Office in Dzierżoniów, and The City Office in Trzebnica, and to confirm that QMFs implementation positively affects overall service quality and the key performance indicators, as well as to confirm that the EFQM model with its general and universal structure can be successfully used by public institutions, such as local government offices.

Keywords:

• quality management frameworks
• stakeholder's satisfaction
• public administration
• local governments
• Poland

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the COD and to the COT for willingness to help, for providing data and for their cooperation during the study.