QUALITY TOOLBOX
Is Your Integrated Management System Really Integrated?
In response to customer requirements and other pressures imposed by both regulators and the marketplace, organizations now find themselves having to conform to a bewildering number of management standards. One of the first major international standards to come on the scene was ISO 9001 (quality management). It was followed by ISO 14001 (environmental management). Now there are standards for occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18001), financial management (Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404), risk management (AS 4360), social responsibility (SA 8000), sustainable development (BS 8900), food safety management (ISO 22000), information security management (ISO 27001), information technology service management (ISO 20000), and business excellence (the Baldrige model). In addition, several industries have created their own individual management standards: • • • • • • Chemicals (RC 14001 and the Responsible Care Management System) Automotive (ISO/TS 16949) Aerospace (AS 9100) Medical devices (ISO 13485) Telecommunications (TL 9000) Testing and calibration laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) three or more. As a result, each department within the organization may have to address multiple requirements deriving from several different management standards. This column discusses some attempts being made to integrate management standards and find the elusive “business management system” that can serve as a common denominator for integrating all management standards within an organization. I also offer some ideas for developing a more focused integration approach that goes beyond most current efforts.

Simplifying the Maze
Given the proliferation of management standards, it is easy to see why organizational managers may begin to question the need for them: “Why are we using these systems?” “What value are they to us?” Despite these doubts, however, organizations often have little choice but to implement multiple