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THE ESSENCE OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARDS

The purpose of existence of any organization is to satisfy the requirements of its customersand stakeholders. The organization can continue its existence if and only if it operates

effectively and efficiently. Effectiveness can be defined as ‘Extent to which planned activitiesare realized and planned results achieved’. Efficiency can be defined as ‘Relationship

between the results achieved and the resources used’. Organization that cares foreffectiveness and efficiency reaps the benefit of excellent Quality and high Productivity.

However, in the name of quality and productivity, our Mother Earth suffered tremendously

especially during the 20th

Century. Various industrial and non-industrial activities caused

irreversible damages to her elements and harmed even the extreme fringe of our atmosphere

that threatens the existence of life of all forms in the long run.

Bitter experience has made us wiser! Today,

across the globe we realize that combined

application of appropriate productivity and

environmental management tools,techniques and technologies that reduce the

environmental impact of an organization's

activities, products and services while

enhancing profitability and competitive

advantage is the only way for sustainable development.

Wise organizations are ‘Humanity focused’. Such organizations ensure that products theymake a ‘safe’ for use and the ‘risk’ due to work related occupational health and other hazards

are of acceptable level.

Quality, Green Productivity and workplace safety result from good management of numerous

interlinked processes within the organization. Any activity or operation that receives inputsand converts them to outputs can be considered as a process. Essentially all production and/or

service activities and operations are processes. Often the output from one process directly

forms the input into the next process. The systematic identification and management of the

various processes employed within an organization, and ensuring that the interactions

between such processes are effective is the key to good management practices.

Wise organizations are ‘Prevention

oriented’. These organizations are

proactive. Efforts within such

organizations are always towards

prevention of occurrence of errors so

that defectives are not produced,environment is not adversely affected

and human health is not affected due tothe activities carried out within their

control. Prevention oriented organizations manage their activities through appropriatemanagement system model(s).

The strategy for simultaneously enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic 

development that leads to sustained improvement in the quality of human life is termed as Green Productivity.

Management system means the set of interrelated or interacting elements to establish policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives. A management system of an organization can include quality management 

system, a financial management system,environmental management system, safety and occupational health management system etc.

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An organization can develop its own

model for management system(s).

Fortunately, there is no need to re-invent

the wheel. ISO and collaborative effort

of accredited management systemcertification bodies have already

developed a number of models to assistorganizations, of all types and sizes, to

implement and operate effectivemanagement systems. Commonly, we

refer to these models as Standards. Inorder to build a management system,

organizations apply the methodology

called ‘Plan – Do – Check – Act’

(PDCA) to all its processes. PDCA means:

Establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with

customer and stakeholder requirements and the organization’s policies (Plan)

Implement the processes (Do)

Monitor and measure processes and product against policies, objectives and

requirements for the product and report the results (Check)

Take actions to continually improve process performance (Act)

An illustrative list of popular Standards are stated below:

Standard Focus Author

ISO 9000 series Quality management

ISO 14000 series Environmentalmanagement

International Organization for Standardization

OHSAS 18000

series

Occupational health and

safety management

British Standards Institution, Bureau Veritas

Quality International, Det Norske Veritas,International Safety Management Organisation

Ltd, Lloyds Register Quality Assurance, SGS

Yarsley International Certification Services,South African Bureau of Standards, StandardsAustralia etc.

ISO 22000 series Food safety management International Organization for Standardization

IS 15700 Service quality of publicservice organizations

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

ISO 27001 Information security

management

International Organization for Standardization

ISO 20000 Information servicesquality management

International Organization for Standardization

In order to facilitate communication among the members of the organization, standardize the

method of work and provide a basis for audit (check), organizations prepare a set of documents as per the requirements stated in the relevant Standards. The documents are

variously termed as policy statements, objective statements, system manual, procedures, work 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 150 countries,one from each country. Its Central Secretariat is located in Geneva. ISO is a non- governmental organization, established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the 

development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.

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instructions etc. To provide evidence of conformity to requirements organizations also

maintain records.

However, organizations should give ample thought in preparation of its management system

documents and design of its records. Each document and record must add value to theorganization’s processes. Inconsiderate documentation may prove to be burden to an

organization rather than a facilitator in achieving its intended purpose. Very often, inorganizations the people ‘ frantically fills up records’, ‘un-bundles and dusts the documents’

  just a day or two before a forthcoming audit! This is not desirable at all. Managementsystems require a ‘documented system’ but not a ‘system of documents’.

The effectiveness of management system in any organization, to a great extent, is dependent

on the attitude of the individuals. Attitude towards work are reflected through an individual’s

concern for effectiveness, efficiency, reliability, discipline, cost control, waste reduction,

innovativeness, teamwork etc. These attributes develop from positive thinking – a belief that

“There is always a better way”. Thinking is done in people’s mind. So in an excellent

organization everyone must mind the mind . Ignited minds lead to –

Working together with focused objectives

Self-motivation for organizational and global goodness Complementing each other to do a good job

Continual improvement for sustainable development.

This is the essence of management system standards.

Author: Sanjeeb Kakati. He is an active member of Assam Productivity Council. He is aDirector of Third Eye Infosys (P) Ltd. and leads the management training and consultancy

division of the company. He can be contacted at skakati@sify.com.