PRE-REQUISITS FOR EFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF ISO 9001 AND OTHER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS1. ISO 9001 and other management system standards require a high degree of commitment from top management of the company. This commitment should be visible in the organization. For this purpose: a) Top management should not consider its duty fulfilled by appointing a Consultant and a Management Representative (MR). It should take very active interest in the development and implementation of the system. b) Top management should regularly review the progress and should take necessary corrective actions wherever required. For this regular meetings with consultant are needed. 2. MR should be very knowledgeable about standard requirements. He should have necessary coordination skills to act as an effective conduit between top management and other employees on matters related to the system. He should keep in regular touch with departmental heads and other employees and collect data relating to system implementation. It is said that a companys system is as effective as MR. 3. The top management should not compromise the position and authority of MR, or else departmental heads and other employees will not extend required cooperation to him. This will affect the health of the system. 4. Similarly the consultant should be given due respect, and under no circumstances his position should be compromised, directly or indirectly. Consultant is an outside expert, providing guidance to MR and other employees. Company has engaged him as it does not posses required knowledge and experience of standards and systems. Consultant acts only as a facilitator in system implementation, and in no case, should be considered or treated as a part of the team. 5. Consultant has in-depth knowledge of standards and systems. It is up to the company and its employees to take benefit of his knowledge and experience. His presence in the company premises should be fully utilized in understanding and effectively implementing the system. 6. Recently a trend has set in various Indian companies to undermine consultants role. This has only harmed the companies. Top management should ensure that consultant is given due respect or else company will not be able to take full advantage of consultants presence in the company. 7. Another undesirable trend presently seen in various Indian companies is to go for such consultants who quote lower fee in comparison to experienced and settled consultants. In doing so, the company itself becomes the looser as the system and its implementation will not be up to the mark, and certification will not result in larger benefits to the company. It is rightly said that one should go to the best doctor and lawyer. So the consultant.