Management_System

These are documents that outline the specifications for organizations to apply best management practices. Within the context of "international management systems", some of the best known standards are ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and ISO 14001. Other documents, often refer to standards, are guidelines to these specification including ISO 22004, ISO 9004 and ISO 14004.

Standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 22000 provide the basis for organizations to legitimize their management practices demonstrating competence and impartiality through certification - registration. To achieve certification - registration means that an impartial and competent certification body validated a given organization's management system, whether quality, food safety, environmental, occupational health, security of information or otherwise. A management system serves as fundamentals for organizations to improve performance and to update against best practices.

Note 1: Management systems are applicable to security, safety (product , occupational, et al), quality, environmental, social responsibility - accountability.

A management system allows for decisions regarding:

Action on what is to be done;
How to best go about it;
Establish controls;
Monitor Progression; and
Improve and update

It is possible to view this progression within a scheme comprising:

Plan - Do - Check - Act

Plan

Herein we establish the scope, goals and objectives. These will assist to identify what has to be don and how to best go about it, whilst contemplating improvement.

Implementation of the Plan.

Check

It means to evaluate. And answers questions such as:

Is the implementation effective (according to plan and changes needed as the implementation has been taking effect). Are the planned results coming o pass? Are the improvement opportunities rising thus implementation of these viable?

Auditing is key component of "check". Auditing provides information relevant to the implementation and progression effectiveness, and as needs opportunities to improve or correct may rise.

Act

This is truly the identifier and enables to improvement. By finding more efficient and effective ways to go about. Many tools may come to play and auditing is a key component. Auditing as a positive scheme, not with the classical negative enigma.

Management systems need not to be complex or bureaucratic. In true sense, "simplicity" is key to a management system successfully assisting an organization to reduce risk and face global competitiveness. It is human nature to circumvent complex bureaucratic system. Why? Because of our level of intelligence. Thus a robust yet agile management system are key words to research, in the process of implementing a management system to your regional and organization's culture.

Then Why a Management System?

It provides the fundamentals for a "structure" to identify, evaluate, control... focusing on improvement. The ever growing needs and pressures to implement requirements coming from all regulations, market, customers and even the community physically next ...

Without the means to identify - plan - implement - act - verify - improve most likely we must waste valuable resources re doing, when we must be "inventing" newer ways toward the ever changing world of competitiveness and reduction of risks.

General Precautions, Notes:

The most important aspect is the organization's objectives, nature of activities, and processes. Thus no managerial system will take over and blindfold the organization toward just simply fulfilling requirements (elements and clauses).

Note 2: At times implementation of all the requirements set forth by a management system standard may not necessarily improve the performance of an organization, and even at times may bog-down the organization.

Auditing IT IS NOT the goal of management systems, it's only a tool that assists an organization to progress through updates and improvements; "effective" auditing is to foster continuing improvements and update.