Articles

The First Issue to Address when Implementing ISO9001:2000

ISO9000:2000 is based on creating a Process Based Management System (PBMS). This is a 'whole-organisation' management system, designed with the express intention of delivering the organisation's strategic objectives. It needs to be created and used in a way that allows it to be adjusted (improved) over time, in order to reflect the changing objectives of the organisation. It does not run alongside any other methods by which the organisation is managed - it is the way the organisation is managed.

Understanding this is a fundamental part of creating the system correctly from the outset. If it is thought of as anything else, perhaps in the way that many Quality Management Systems have historically been developed within the vast majority of organisations, then it will fail to deliver the maximum benefit. This is because it will not be a 'whole-organisation' system. There has to be real recognition that it is core to the organisation, not a system that is 'bolted' together with other management systems covering the other issues the organisation needs to manage. In reality, such things as H&S, EMS, specific industry standards, etc., will be embedded within the PBMS, and will not be separate from it. To this extent, it is the basis of the Integrated Management System. It is the prime building block for managers to direct and manage their organisation.

So ISO9000:2000 and the PBMS are all about how an organisation will deliver its objectives. In reality it is the mechanism through which the Senior Managers or Directors responsible for the delivery of the performance of the 'unit' will manage their responsibilities. It cannot be effectively delegated to anyone else to either design it, at the highest level, or to run it - if this happens then what are these senior managers and directors doing with their time? Strategic management is surely what their role is all about? And deciding on the way their organisation operates is surely strategic management?

There is an absolute need for this senior team, and especially the 'managing director', or whoever is ultimately responsible for the performance of the overall organisation covered by the system, to fully 'own' it. It is their system, and they need to display the leadership necessary to make it work. Should they not do this, then it will become just the same as one of the failed initiatives of the past, and not worth even starting to implement. By all means, they can use the services of a facilitator to help them develop the system in an effective and coherent way, but they cannot delegate this vital starting point.

This facilitation role is possibly a new, more important one for the current Quality Manager? Perhaps re-named as Business Improvement Manager or something similar, providing of course that they have the necessary skills and competencies for this very different role? One thing is however certain, and this is that senior managers cannot absolve themselves of the full 'ownership' of the system. This would not be delegation - it is abrogation of their responsibilities.

The leadership and involvement shown by the senior team in the development and use of a PBMS has a number of critical effects:

• It allows them to design their own system in a way that gives them confidence - it creates the management system they feel is the most appropriate one to help them to deliver their strategic objectives
  
• It starts them all thinking in terms of processes rather than departments - a fundamental change of focus and thought pattern for many organisations and managers
  
• It creates the opportunity for true process ownership to be taken by appropriate members of the senior team - displaying the leadership necessary to make it work
  
• It displays the importance of the system to everyone within the organisation, through the senior team's involvement - it will not be seen as important if they are delegating it to someone else
  
• It allows them to relate process performance very closely to business performance - fundamental to the management of performance through the processes themselves
  
• It allows them to start to effectively delegate the management of 'lower-level' activities to managers and supervisors, giving them more time to focus on their key role of strategic management

Without Senior Management involvement and commitment at this stage, success will not come.