ISO Management Systems 2004

Risk management
From right decisions to successful outcomes

Corporate governance is the glue that holds an organization together in pursuit of its objectives while risk management provides the resilience. The challenge is for the organization to identify clearly the risks it must manage and to assign ownership and accountability for their effective management.

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Consultants: choosing them and using them
Implementing ISO 14001: do you hire a consultant, or Do-It-Yourself?

Should you hire a consultant to help with EMS implementation, or go it alone? What are the advantages and potential pitfalls? How can you get best value for money if you hire a consultant and what are the criteria you should use for choosing one?

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Taking the first steps...
...in environmental management
This article explains clearly how an SME can implement an environmental management system so that the process is not a series of hurdles, but rather a set of practical steps towards raising environmental and business performance.
...in quality management
Having taken the decision to implement a quality management system, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are often unsure just how to get started. This feature takes SME managers through the first steps.

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6 Sigma and ISO 9001:2000 – rivals or partners?

Quality was once the prerogative of engineers in white coats, employing specialized tools and techniques for measurement and analysis. With the arrival of the ISO 9000, quality was no longer a specialist function, but moved to the boardroom as a central management concern. Does 6 Sigma and its tools and techniques represent the revenge of the quality technicians, or does it add to the “what needs doing” of the ISO 9000 approach the necessary “how to do it”?

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Knowledge Management Managing knowledge for achieving competitive edge

KM – knowledge management – a new fad? Or has it become imperative to recognize knowledge as a strategic resource of the organization that needs to be managed as the driving force of its sustainability and growth? And what are the links with quality management?

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Towards a generic model for integrating management systems

Organizations worldwide are looking to integrate their management systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. This article1) presents a generic model for doing so and applies it to the integration of ISO 14001:1996 (environment), ISO 9001:2000 (quality) and the non-ISO standard OHSAS 18001:1999 (occupational health and safety).

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