ISO 9001:2015 QMS Awareness – Role of the Top management

ISO 9001:2015 QMS Awareness – Role of the Top management

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What is the role of the top management in a quality management system?

In organizations, leadership role is on the top management.

 

Top management = Leaders of the organization = Individual or group of people, at the highest level in the organization, who directs and control the organization.

 

According to ISO 9000:2015 QMS standard on terms and definition, top management is defined as a person or group of people who directs and controls an organization at the highest level. Top management has the power to delegate authority and provide resources within the organization. In view of this fact, it is noticed that role of top management is important and relevant in implementing ISO 9001:2015 QMS standard. For developing and implementing an effective quality management system, following three things facilitate proper implementation:

 

(1) Leadership,

(2) Top management commitment, and

(3) Active involvement of the top management. 

 

Through leadership and actions, the top management is able to create an environment in the organization where people are fully involved in their activities as per their defined responsibilities and authorities in the organization. The top management should also be able to create a proactive internal environment in the organization in which a quality management system can operate effectively and people are fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.

 

ISO 9001:2015 QMS standard is based on seven quality management principles, namely (i) Customer focus, (ii) Leadership, (iii) Engagement of people, (iv) Process approach, (v) Improvement, (vi) Evidence-based decision making, and (vii) Relationship management. The top management of the organizationshould use these seven quality management principles in developing and implementing ISO 9001:2015 quality management system in the organization. 

There are a few common challenges and obstacles to effective leadership in the context of a quality management system. These are:

 

(1) Lack of top management commitment and involvement,

 

(2) Lack of leadership motivation or guidance to the resistance to change among employees,

 

(3) Limited resources provided,

 

(4) Lack of people engagement in quality management system activities,

 

(5) Inadequate communication and feedback mechanism,

 

 

To overcome above challenges and obstacles and to have an effective quality management system in an organization, effective leadership practices on the part of the top management within a quality management system context may be:

 

(1) Commitment and involvement to the quality management system,

 

(2) Ensuring that the quality management system is aligned with the organization’s overall strategy and objectives,

 

(3) Ensuring establishing and maintaining quality policy in the organization,

 

(4) Setting clear expectations and goals for the quality management system (quality objectives),

 

(5) Promoting the quality policy and quality objectives throughout the organization to increase awareness, motivation and involvement of people,

 

(6) Encouraging engagement of people and empowerment of activities related to the quality management system,

 

(7) Encouraging a culture of continual improvement and innovation,

 

(8) Ensuring focus on customer requirements throughout the organization and regularly communicating with employees about the importance of the quality management system and its impact on the organization,

 

(9) Ensuring implementation of appropriate processes, so that customer and other requirements are fulfilled and quality objectives are achieved,

 

(10) Ensuring to establish, implement and maintain an effective quality management system so that quality objectives are achieved,

 

(11) Ensuring availability of necessary resources including personnel, time, budget,

 

(12) Ensuring review of quality management system periodically at defined intervals and regularly monitoring and evaluating performance of the quality management system,

 

(13) Providing adequate communication and feedback mechanism,

 

(14) Deciding actions regarding the quality policy and quality objectives,

 

(15) Deciding on actions of improvement of the quality management system.

 

 

Requirements related to leadership are mentioned in clause 5 of ISO 9001:2015 QMS standard, but the top management should not limit its role to only such requirements, but it should more actively participate in the development and maintenance of the quality management system of the organization.

 

Think of the following Questions

 

(1) What are the challenges and obstacles you find in your organization for development, implementation and maintenance of the quality management system?

 

(2) What is the role of the top management in your organization for quality management system implementation and maintenance?

 

Best wishes,

Keshav Ram Singhal

 

Please have your comments / reaction.

 

To train your employees with ISO 9001:2015 QMS Awareness, please supply them “TRAINING HANDBOOK ON ISO 9001:2015QMS AWARENESS” (ASIN: B093YFFY7Z), which is available worldwide at Amazon. Please search this Training Handbook in Amazon Website of your country. 

 

 You may also supply your employees following eBooks - (i) A Concise Guide on Creating and Updating Documented Information (eBook) https://store.pothi.com/book/ebook-keshav-ram-singhal-concise-guide-creating-and-updating-documented-information/ (ii) Applying Risk-based Thinking in an Organization Implementing ISO 9001:2015 QMS (eBook) https://store.pothi.com/book/ebook-keshav-ram-singhal-applying-risk-based-thinking-organization-implementing-iso-9001-2015-q/

 

Thanks.