Research reveals that quality management delivers £90 billion to the UK economy

New research, commissioned by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) from the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr), shows that in 2011, quality management practices contributed £90 billion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for 6.0% of UK GDP.^I

According to Cebr, if quality management programmes had been rolled out as fully as possible throughout the UK economy, then GDP could have been £52 billion higher in 2011. This is a 3.4% increase.^II

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This means that in 2011 alone, quality management practices contributed approximately £9.1 billion to the Exchequer.^III  According to the report, if quality management programmes had been rolled out as fully as possible in 2011, they would have contributed an additional £8.6 billion to the Exchequer.^IV

Cebr also estimates that quality management programmes, as they were actually instituted in 2011, caused UK economy-wide employment to be 1.4 million higher than it would otherwise have been. It found that, if quality management programmes had been adopted as fully as possible across all sectors of the UK economy in 2011, it could have created an additional 455,000 jobs, a potential increase in UK employment of 1.57%.

The research also concludes that organisations implementing quality management could expect an average Revenue RoI of 6:1, i.e. for every £1 spent on a quality management programme, revenues can be increased by £6. The research also indicates an average cost saving from quality management of 16:1, that is for every £1 spent on a quality management programme, costs were reduced by £16.^IV

Simon Feary, CQI CEO, says:

“This research quantifies the extent of quality management’s contribution to organisations and the wider UK economy for the first time. As well as demonstrating the enormous contribution quality management already delivers, this research reveals its even greater potential for the UK economy.

“These findings should send powerful messages to organisational leaders, that quality management needs to be fully implemented in, and across, all organisations, and to policy makers, that they need to create an environment in which quality management is encouraged and can thrive. This report shows that we cannot afford to forgo the huge economic, business and employment potential that quality management provides.”

Ann Francke, CMI CEO, says:

“The report clearly shows the value to UK employers of raising the standard and adoption of quality management. At a time when controlling costs and maximising return on investment is at a premium, quality management programmes have a critical role to play.

“However, you cannot achieve quality management systems unless you have quality people.  And to get these high quality managers employers need to invest in leadership development.  Then quality systems and quality people work hand in hand to deliver the business results.”

The research also comprised in-depth interviews with UK business leaders, of which 93% agreed that quality management is a key driver of business success and on average identified 4.8% cost savings due to quality management.