INTERVIEW ON ISO 9001 WITH ISO DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL KEVIN MCKINLEY

C. DAVID UNOG

What does the ISO process consist of ? What are the principles to be applied ?
First of all, thank you for giving me an opportunity to clarify a point raised by the use of the phrase “ISO process”. In fact, since this interview is about ISO 9001, it would be better to specify “ISO 9001 process”. Many people assume that ISO 9001 is ISO’s only standard, but in fact, there are more than 17,000 ISO International Standards for just about every sector of economic activity and technology – so “ISO process” could be misleading.
ISO 9001 gives the requirements for a quality management system (QMS). That’s a structured approach for organizations to ensure that they manage their activities, or processes, in a systematic way in order to meet the objectives they have set themselves. An ISO 9001 QMS is a framework for achieving customer satisfaction, continual improvement and other objectives that may be important, such as regulatory compliance. The standard’s requirements address organizational aspects such as management responsibilities, resources, the realization of products and services, training, monitoring and measuring and so on.

The ISO 9001 requirements are based on eight quality management principles :

• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Involvement of people
• Process approach
• System approach to management
• Continual improvement
• Factual approach to decision making, and
• Mutually beneficial supplier relationships.

Your readers can find on the ISO Web site www.iso.org an explanation of what these principles mean and examples of typical actions to put them into practice.

Is certification a compulsory requirement ?
An organization can implement ISO 9001 without seeking certification. The best reason for wanting to implement the standard is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Certification of the management system is not an ISO 9001 requirement.

Deciding to have an independent audit of the system to confirm that it conforms to ISO 9001 is a decision to be taken by management, for example :

• if it is a contractual or regulatory requirement
• if it is a market requirement or to meet customer preferences
• if it falls within the context of a risk management programme
• or if the organization thinks it will motivate staff by setting a clear goal for the development of its management system.

This approach is valid for companies, but is it applicable in our international organizations, and particularly when there are reforms already under way ?
ISO 9001 is a generic management system standard. That means that the same requirements can be applied to any organization, large or small, in manufacturing or services, in private or public sectors. Naturally, how the requirements are applied will differ according to the activities and characteristics of the organization concerned.

In recent years, ISO 9001 has been increasingly implemented in service organizations, which now account for more than 30 % of certifications, and in public sector organizations, including national and local government administrations, of all types.

There is nothing in ISO 9001 that would make it inherently non-applicable to an international organization. That said, the fact of
launching an ISO 9001 implementation programme does not of itself guarantee success. Over the years, our magazine ISO Management Systems www.iso.org/ims has published many implementation case studies from a wide variety of organizations in different countries. Many of these organizations have emphasized that for an implementation programme to succeed, there has to be a visible and ongoing commitment by top management, and management has to succeed in obtaining staff “buy in” to the programme.

As the question of whether ISO 9001 can be implemented within the framework of organizational reform, the answer is really for
top management to judge. On the one hand, if reforms are already ongoing, it might not be the moment to add ISO 9001 implementation to what staff may perceive as a burden. On the other hand, ISO 9001 could be used as structure to identify key processes, standardize and disseminate best practice and monitor the effectiveness of actions taken with a view to modifying them if they don’t meet the objectives identified.

You have been referring to the benefits for the Organization. What are the benefits for the staff ?
Staff may benefit from clearly defined and communicated objectives, clarification of responsibilities, identification of training needs, spending less time on “fire fighting” caused by inefficient processes and interfaces between departments or with customers, and more time on value-adding activities.

When something goes wrong, the immediate reaction is often to find someone to blame. The “culture” of ISO 9001 is instead to identify not who is wrong but what is wrong and to put it right. Quality management specialists say that 90 % of dysfunctions are not the fault of individuals, but can be traced to the system.

Of the eight quality management principles referred to earlier, two are especially relevant here :

Involvement of people states : People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.

This links into the Leadership principle which states : Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.

Is ISO compatible with our core values, and with the Millennium Development Goals ?
Before answering the question specifically in relation to ISO 9001, it’s worth pointing out that many ISO standards are relevant to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for which they serve as practical tools to achieve those objectives. Examples relate to the quality of water and water services, to food safety, health and security.

Turning to ISO 9001 – it is not to be confused with a code of ethics. However, as a tool, it certainly supports participatory and ethical approaches to human and material resources. This in turn supports the goal of sustainable development, a fundamental value and objective for us all.

Could ISO be a universal panacea, to stop things going wrong ?
Unfortunately, the answer is “no”, ISO 9001 can’t solve all of the world’s problems but, effectively implemented, it can bring greater rigour and success to organizations.