QUALITY: BUSINESS PARADIGMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Nowadays, organizations try to put an end to certain paradigms with which they have been working
for a long time.
A new paradigm is the beginning of a new path, a new way of doing things.
Generally, a new paradigm will not immediately make all processes 100% more efficient, but the
model that is replacing it will be better.
We need to have new ways of facing situations looking to improve the company with new
organizational structures and managerial mentalities that break with the old ways of doing things to
respond to new challenges that require more creative and innovative solutions.
The transition to the new is a new way of seeing something, which becomes necessary due to new
developments in science, technology, art and other areas of work.
The concern of entrepreneurs to be more competitive has been continuous since the dawn of the
industrial revolution, but has been changing in their strategies to the extent that they have also
changed the basic assumptions of good administration, as a result of increased knowledge and
technologies and the requirement of needs, stimulated by the gradually increasing business
competition.
On the world stage, the processes of change are increasingly dynamic, where structures, forms,
instruments, means and knowledge are being renewed.
We are in a new century, with different needs, demands and behaviors.
The modern economy is characterized by being globalized and interdependent in its processes of
production, marketing, investment, financial flows and technological development, where
companies have growing demands for productivity, where the laws of the market force them to
deepen and change strategies and policies , to plan, create and innovate, to have the capacity to
adapt, speed of response and sensitivity to anticipate future needs and be able to survive and
develop in this new and increasingly complex environment.
The current situation of companies around the world requires them to survive in a successful
manner, they must conduct profitable business in the short and long terms, with vision, mission and
objectives clearly defined and adopted and understood by all the personnel involved that augue and
ensure a promising future and quality of life for all participants, in accordance with all the changing
and dynamic factors of the internal and external environment that influence them.

Today it is necessary to continually redesign the organizational culture of a company, with the
purpose of generating commitments with other companies, and society, to develop new projects
that seek to improve the quality of life of the community
It requires a new way of directing and guiding companies, offering a humanistic and integrative
method, where administrative thinking and ethical values are increasingly important in all
companies.
Today, a company oriented towards the creation of value is required for all the actors:
businessmen, executives, collaborators, advisers, trustworthy and grassroots workers.
Creating value means giving a new approach to the management of companies that requires a
great ethical, moral, social and legal sense.
Creating economic value through creating social value is one of the most innovative trends to
generate economic growth.
The survival and success of companies depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of their
personnel, their systems and processes, of having access to state-of-the-art technologies and the
ability to respond quickly and with quality to satisfy their clients, who have more and more offers
every day. They are more demanding.
Companies must evolve and continuously improve and have a good vision to adapt to the
circumstances of each moment and constantly changing scenarios.
The processes of continuous improvement, the implementation of quality models, the reengineering
of processes and comprehensive evaluation systems, are not in themselves an end, but a means
that will allow companies to have a more successful position every day.
These systems and techniques allow entrepreneurs to know what they want to do with their
business, how they are going to do it, to put it into practice with a previously defined methodology
and planning and to evaluate if the proposed objectives were actually achieved, in order to decide if
It is advisable to continue along the same path or if there is a need to correct the course and the
strategy.
This renewal effort has to be carried out at all hierarchical levels, from the owners or their owners to
the last operational level of the company, thus avoiding a gap between ideas and decisions, actions
and results.
We must start from the basis that competitiveness can not be imposed, but requires the committed
participation of all, where employers have the social responsibility of equitably organizing the
factors of production, based on man; origin, reason and purpose of social processes.

Being competitive and having productivity implies the development and implementation of modern
technologies, which requires the modernization of administrative systems at all levels, deepen
training programs and create new organizational models.
Changes are needed that improve the performance of organizations and, at the same time, make
the work of the staff more interesting and satisfactory, reflecting on a better quality of life for all
participants.
Today, business is conceived in another way in this new digital world, cutting-edge technology,
economic globalization, electronic money and the impressive advance of telecommunications
among others.
The current commercial world is the one that dominates in the great internet network, with millions
of connected companies and millions of customers and with the possibility of sharing the
information without restrictions and that has changed the way of doing business and will continue
transforming to the extent that Social networks grow and are used more and more.
Faced with an environment that has become very dynamic, it is essential that companies are
constantly updating the knowledge, systems and processes that allow them to succeed in an
increasingly competitive job market.
In general, it can be said that modern societies go through processes of change that are very deep
in the economic, political and social spheres, which implies modifications in the behavioral models
that have traditionally been followed.
These models or paradigms, just as societies evolve, because they continually have to face
changes and social crises and when these reach a critical level, the model begins to wear out and a
change begins that ends up replacing the previous model, with models according to the new
conditions and needs of contemporary societies.
The foregoing means to change and for that you have to be willing to change.
It is necessary to consider that while the transition from one model to another lasts, the new model
is difficult to implement and therefore generates a state of uncertainty that causes confusion
between the new and innovative that baffles on the one hand and the old known, what accustomed
and sometimes idolized, on the other.

It is demonstrated at a national and international level, that those companies or institutions that
have adopted the new models, are an example of how they can increase their productivity and
competitiveness.
It is a radical transformation in the way of seeing, doing and thinking about the administration and
operation of a company.
The business culture has undergone very deep paradigmatic transformations that substantially
modified the administration and operation of companies.
Fundamental changes are generated in the application of computers in business.
Information technology makes it possible for companies to have a structure of high performance
teams.
Software development, acquisition, creation and maintenance costs are greater than hardware
The host-type computing environments are being replaced very quickly by networks of intelligent
computer systems in all types of companies.
Companies can function as integrated businesses regardless of the autonomy of each business, as
well as reach and develop new relationships with external organizations, with the aim of becoming a
socially responsible and expanded company where all the actors intervene in the change and in the
benefits of success
The greatest impact achieved by companies is on the environment and society, since they try to
ensure that the products they sell are of quality, supporting their suppliers to manufacture
sustainable products, improving the distribution and logistics channels to reduce the pollution
caused by the emanation of gases and carbons, the use of solar panels and renewable energy, the
creation of more green areas and free wireless internet networks.

Paradigms of the business culture

Antique model New model

Personal responsibility. Collective responsibility

Little Technology A lot of Technology

Work - obligation Personal development work

Short-term unstable employment. Long-term stable employment

A director - dictator A leader – director

Centralized administration Administration – decentralized

Decisions top down. Decisions in both directions

Quality is the responsibility of the area. Quality is everyone´s responsibility

Specialty for life. Domain of several áreas

Administration by independent functional areas. Interdepartmental or process management

Authoritarian system Consensus system

Rigid organization. Flexible organization

Nationalist economies. Globalized economies

Irrational exploitation of natural resources. Respect for the ecosystem

Vendors market. Buyers market

Limited competence - passive. Broad competition – aggresive

Limited information - slow. Broad information – fast

The company offers Client decides that and how he wants it

The client in the second term The client is first

Moderate changes Continuous improvement processes

Product quality Integral quality

Individualist companies Strategic alliances

Ask credit to suppliers Finance providers

Restricted freedom Creative freedom

Low organizational culture High organizational culture