120. Redefining Management Responsibility

Since the beginning, the ISO 9000 standards series (ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003) has contained very basic requirements for management. First, management was required to establish a quality policy and quality objectives and communicate these to the rest of the organization. This typically meant that slogans smacking of motherhood and apple pie were written in an attractively styled format and communicated by means of signs posted on the walls throughout organizations.

Responsibility was addressed through an organizational chart, the torch was passed to a management representative to set up the documentation, and key members of management sat through long meetings two to four times a year to review the system.
Management responsibility takes on a new dimension with the proposed revisions in the draft international standard.


One key criticism of ISO 9001's previous versions has been that management had a minimal role that didn't require them to move beyond maintenance into the improvement arena. In fact, the 1994 version of ISO 9001 is often viewed as a foundation only and isn't considered a vehicle for moving a company to world-class status. Designed to transfer the responsibility for the quality management system from quality assurance to top management.


This ensures that customer satisfaction is achieved, customer requirements are fully understood and met, planning activities include objectives at each relevant function and level within the organization, internal communications are established, and information within the system (e.g., data, internal audit results, customer measures) is used to facilitate improvement.