What is a management system?

Description of how the organization is managed and operated

Management uses the management system to ensure that the business is conducted in the manner statedand employees use it as an support for doing the right job

Depending on the purpose, a management system handles one or more different topics.

It may include sections dealing with quality, environment, information security, etc.

It all depends on what the organization decided to control via its management system.

Ensure that the company is successful

Common to all organizations is that they are made up of a set of processes that work together to ensure that the company achieves set goals and becomes successful.

They cover everything from project management to employee management and customer relations and more. How standardized these processes are differs from company to company -- but processes are always there.

A management system also includes the organization's policies, objectives and measurement criteria — which all companies have in one form or another.

What is an ISO certified management system?

When the management system is created and you carry out the actual ISO audit so you prove to an external auditor, in a certification audit, that your management system meets the requirements in the current standard. If all goes well, you will then receive your certificate.

To enable an auditor to assess different companies in different industries, the knowledge of a standard has been transformed into a number of requirements that the external auditor can see if you meet or not - no matter what type of organization you are.

Knowledge in a specific area

A standard is a collection of knowledge in a specific field that is locally or internationally recognized. To certify yourself against a standard is to prove to an external auditor that you actually Uses the knowledge and practices of the standard in your company.

Often we think of ISO directly when we hear the word standard. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization that brings together experts to develop global standards.

For example, ISO 9001 a standard for quality management which emphasizes customer focus and provides a common language for working together as a team while ISO 14001 is a standard for environmental management through which actions are taken to minimise the environmental and climate impact of the organisation.

Many different standards

In addition to quality and environmental management, management systems for example work environment and information security are also common.

The list of standards you can certify a management system within can be made long and ISO are not the only ones issuing standards, there are many more and choosing the right standard from the right body can be tricky.

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Thus, a certifiable management system is a description of how an organization is governed and operates - meeting the requirements of one standard (or several).

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To meet the requirements of, for example, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, your management system needs to cover a number of different things. Would you like to see a complete matrix showing what the various standards require? Click here!

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