A PARADIGM SHIFT IN MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THINKING
Since
the beginning, the ISO 9000 standards series (ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003)
has contained very basic requirements for management. First, management was
required to establish quality policy and quality objectives and communicate
these to the rest of the organisation. This typically meant that slogans smacking
of motherhood and apple pie were written in an attractively styled format and
communicated by means of signs posted on the walls throughout organisations.
Responsibility was addressed through an organisational chart, the torch was passed to a management representative to set up the documentation, and key members of management sat through long meetings once or twice a year to review the system.
Management responsibility takes on a new dimension within the proposed ISO 9001:2000 standard. One key criticism of ISO 9001's previous versions has been that management had a minimal role that didn't require them to move beyond maintenance into the improvement arena. In fact, the 1994 version of ISO 9001 is often viewed as a foundation only and isn't considered a vehicle for moving a company to world-class status. ISO 9001:2000 is designed to transfer the responsibility for the quality management system from quality assurance to top management. This ensures that customer satisfaction is achieved, customer requirements are fully understood and met, planning activities include objectives at each relevant function and level within the organisation, internal communications are established, and information within the system (e.g., data, internal audit results, customer measures) is used to facilitate improvement.
The new ISO 9001:2000, a significantly changed standard for business will supersede the existing 1994 version. The revised standard will require and recommend substantial modifications and enhancements to your organisations document and data control structure.
The structure of the ISO 9001:2000 version will conform to that of a typical process model and bring together the original 20-element requirement structure [and more] under 4 major focus areas:
Management responsibility
This gives new opportunities for business to use the quality management system process model as a strategic too and the best practice model , which can help them to exceed the compliance requirements and move towards business excellence.
Significant improvement to the previous ISO framework is the focus on Voice of the Customer and the Continuous Improvement requirement. The ultimate goal of sustained customer confidence and satisfaction will be embedded throughout the entire ISO 9001:2000 framework. The planned target date for issue of the revised standard is currently December 2000. This will allow time for certified and non-certified businesses to develop plans to meet the quality management principles identified in the new ISO 9001:2000 standard. These eight principles clearly target real business needs.
During transition to the new standard, it makes sense to take the opportunity to look at business improvement whilst meeting the requirements of the new standard.
The new ISO PROCESS if designed, developed, documented and implemented effectively in compliance to the requirements of the standard, should make your organisation more customer focused, process oriented, strategically aligned, integrated with business systems and procedures, dynamic, proactive and bottom line focused.
What challenges will organisations face?
Many organisations will need to analyse how actively management is involved in promoting the quality system as an integral part of operations. Planning activities will now need to be more focused and will have to be documented. Changes occurring within the organisation must be planned in order to protect the integrity of the quality management system. Many organisations haven't yet grasped the idea that ISO 9001 isn't about writing procedures but about defining an operational structure.
Management representatives are often excluded from planning activities and aren't consulted when impending management decisions result in changes that jeopardize the system. Consequently, they're often left to pick up the pieces.
Management will also face the challenge of pulling together the information from their quality management system and using that information effectively for management review and planning activities as well as for the purposes of continual improvement.
Small businesses face special challenges in the transition to ISO 9001:2000. Small companies are often strong in day-to-day management and provide an excellent-quality product but are weak in documentation of quality planning, quality objectives and formal reviews with trend data. Although continuous improvement has been an implied requirement, it must now be a documented objective with measurable items of quality planning that are reported as part of the management review output. This requirement is open to considerable variation in interpretation and may cause trouble for many small companies.
Quality systems certification bodies will look for evidence of the shift in responsibility to top management when assessing organisations. The increased focus upon top management's strategic role within the quality management system will result in many organisations and registrars re-examining their approach. Top management will be challenged to demonstrate commitment to a wider circle of quality management system activities and may need to evaluate how this commitment will be demonstrated to registrars. Many organisations may also need to examine the role that the policies and objectives play in the quality management system, as well as the methods used to improve the quality management system.
In general, certified organisations communicate about their processes and the effectiveness of their quality management system at a management level but don't carry this activity to other levels and functions throughout the organisation. Communication has always been an issue for organisations, and the requirements in the revised standard may lead organisations to develop a more methodical approach in conveying information.
In brief
ISO 9001:2000 requires that all organisations in all industries meet all of the requirements under the management responsibility section.
Some of the requirements everyone will be obligated to meet include demonstrating management commitment; ensuring internal communications; conducting management reviews; ensuring planning activities; maintaining the integrity of the quality management system during organisational change; understanding customer requirements and aiming to achieve customer satisfaction; and focusing on the continual improvement of the organisation.
Overall, the strengthened ISO 9001 requirements will result in improved performance for small companies by requiring that more thought be put into planning efforts that are now required to be documented. This will help small companies establish a solid base for growth. The management responsibility requirements of ISO 9001:2000 do not appear to add a significant burden and will not require the addition of permanent new resources, but they will require an initial effort to understand the management techniques of effective planning, trend analysis, customer knowledge and continuous improvement.
Management will also need to become more succinct in their planning activities to ensure that the quality management system is maintained through change. Furthermore, becoming compliant with the revision will require the management team to place more emphasis on moving toward improvement and taking their quality [management] system to the next level.
If your organisation has not embarked on a continuous improvement drive, it is suggested you transform your existing system for compliance to the new standard, by using a phased approach to ensure that business commitment, responsibility, teamwork, process ownership, efficiency and profitability can all be improved to ensure business growth.
