Global Community

I've been reflecting on how organizations align (or fail to align) their management systems with their broader strategy and business plans. In theory, a quality, safety, or compliance management system should be a tool for executing strategy - not a silo. But in practice, it often feels like the two run in parallel rather than together.

I'd love to hear your perspectives:

• Do companies generally get this right, or do most struggle with integration?
• What are the best practices you've seen that connect management system processes with strategic goals and business planning?
• What are the worst pitfalls or failure modes?
• Have you seen cultural, structural, or incentive mechanisms that actually work to get leadership teams, middle management, and frontline staff aligned on both system requirements and business objectives?
• Finally, what role should metrics and reviews (like management review or strategic planning cycles) play in closing the loop?

Looking forward to your insights and real-world experiences!

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All the best,
James

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James R. Thompson
COO/CIO & Technical Leader
Concentric Global | Office: 843.608.0127
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I've been reflecting on how organizations align (or fail to align) their management systems with their broader strategy and business plans. In theory, a quality, safety, or compliance management system should be a tool for executing strategy - not a silo. But in practice, it often feels like the two run in parallel rather than together.

I'd love to hear your perspectives:

• Do companies generally get this right, or do most struggle with integration?
• What are the best practices you've seen that connect management system processes with strategic goals and business planning?
• What are the worst pitfalls or failure modes?
• Have you seen cultural, structural, or incentive mechanisms that actually work to get leadership teams, middle management, and frontline staff aligned on both system requirements and business objectives?
• Finally, what role should metrics and reviews (like management review or strategic planning cycles) play in closing the loop?

Looking forward to your insights and real-world experiences!

James, each one of these questions should have it's own post, as they are all very good questions and each deserve their own time.

But, I will start the answering suggestions the first one here. In the manufacturing (specifically automotive) I've found that many companies feel it is a necessary evil that they have to just get through. But there are many reasons to embrace a quality system, from knowing how much scrap and rework it takes in time and money for financial and selling/delivery points of view, to receiving/purchasing parts for the same reason; from knowing which machines break or are at least a bottle-neck and why, to down time and finding out the "fixology" method to hammer the widget through the line, and what it really costs to have all the first set sent back for quality reasons; for helping engineering find better, stronger, faster solutions by knowing the actual process; for helping justification for people to get raises when they show how well they do their work.

So, I've just touched on each area at a high level: general operation, finance, sales, purchasing, maintenance and human resources. In short, every department wins when they embrace a quality system. When I meet the heads of departments or do training, I offer these ideas, which are very well received.

And, since there are many more reasons to embrace a quality system, I leave it to my colleagues to offer more detailed suggestions.

I've been reflecting on how organizations align (or fail to align) their management systems with their broader strategy and business plans. In theory, a quality, safety, or compliance management system should be a tool for executing strategy - not a silo. But in practice, it often feels like the two run in parallel rather than together.

I'd love to hear your perspectives:

• Do companies generally get this right, or do most struggle with integration?
• What are the best practices you've seen that connect management system processes with strategic goals and business planning?
• What are the worst pitfalls or failure modes?
• Have you seen cultural, structural, or incentive mechanisms that actually work to get leadership teams, middle management, and frontline staff aligned on both system requirements and business objectives?
• Finally, what role should metrics and reviews (like management review or strategic planning cycles) play in closing the loop?

Looking forward to your insights and real-world experiences!

4. I am new to the global community but could not resist providing some input to James Thompson's discussion on "How Well Do Companies Integrate Their Management Systems with Strategy and Business Plans.  

You can look at my background of 55 years in business on the site, so I don't need to spend much time on it now.  I will cover the recent experiences from 2013 until 2022 as they pertain to this subject.  During this period, I was a Lead Auditor for the DQS Certification Body.  I was in a group of 55 auditors who were certified to at least two of the following management systems: ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, RC 14001 and ISO 9001 as long as they were also certified to one of the other standards listed.  Personally, I was certified to all except ISO 50001.  Obviously, our group was created to perform integrated audits.  I should mention that during this period I also finished up a 20-year career as a member of the ANAB Accreditation Council, served as Chair for 4 years, and as an Accreditation Auditor for 3 years.

Now on to the question at hand.  In 2016, I became the Lead Auditor and Client Manager for a Global Freight Forwarding Corporation with 155 facilities in 40 countries.  I took over as Client Manager shortly after they had moved to DQS from another Certification body.  At that time, they had a few facilities mostly in the United States with certifications to both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 but not integrated. Other facilities with one or the other and many with no management system certifications.  Sitting down with the Management System Director and three of his managers, we put together plans to integrate and certify the two management systems at all of their facilities obviously over a number of years.  That process had started as we moved into 2018, and the decision was made by Senior Management to add ISO 45001:2018 to the mix.  The Management System Managers began the process of writing procedures encompassing all three management systems, that could be taken out to all 155 facilities as well as the Headquarters both Corporate and Company.  We got to the point of asking what we were going to call the Quality, Environmental, Occupational Health and Safety Management System, and I suggested Business Management System to which everyone agreed.   In 2018, we conducted the Business Management System Audits of the Global Corporate and U.S. Corporate Audits.  Unfortunately, I had made the decision to retire from DQS at the end of 2018 and so brought my replacement in as Lead Auditor and Client Manager for the Corporate Audits.

The story should have ended there but it did not.  That summer in my position still as Business Line Manager, I was asked to go to a meeting with a new DQS Client whose Corporate Headquarters happened to be 35 minutes from my house in South Florida.  I thought this was going to be an opportunity to welcome them to DQS and see what questions I could answer about DQS.  When I met the Quality and Environmental Director in their office, he said that there would be a few more people at the meeting.  That turned out to be the North American CEO for the Corporation and about five of his VPs.  The meeting started and I quickly realized that they were very unhappy about an audit we had conducted at one of their facilities and wanted to tell me all about it as the Manager of that Audit Group. At the end of the meeting, the CEO said he wanted me to be his Lead Auditor.   I stated that I would be retiring in December, but he was insistent.  I thought about it and decided that I would ask my boss is I could stay a few more years to function as this company's   Lead Auditor and Client Manager and maybe perform some additional audits.  He said yes, and back I went to the North American Corporate Office.  We agreed that I would be auditing their Corporate Office as well as some of the manufacturing sites and select the auditors for the other sites out of my group.  Again, the Corporation had sites with both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 as well as sites with just one of those management systems and some with none.  The QMS and EMS were not integrated but the Management System Director retired that Spring and a new Director was sent from the Global Headquarters in Italy to integrate the two management systems.  Shortly after the start of the integration of the two Standards, a decision was made to integrate ISO 45001 with the other two Standards and again call it a BMS.  Like the other corporation, procedures were established for an integrated BMS Management System.  The CEO was a strong advocate for the integration of the three Standards and to made his Senior Management Team fully accountable for the BMS.  Regardless of their role, they would each have assignments to address the assigned risks and opportunities and the objectives from the BMS, clauses 4 and 6.  These responsibilities were a part of their annual performance appraisal.  I performed four Corporate Audits of the BMS and in every one of them, the CEO would give me at least half a day for his part of the audit and each of the Vice Presidents and Directors would be audited for their department's contribution to the BMS and their assigned risks, opportunities, and objectives.  This makes for a very effective and successful BMS.                                                                                   

James, each one of these questions should have it's own post, as they are all very good questions and each deserve their own time.

But, I will start the answering suggestions the first one here. In the manufacturing (specifically automotive) I've found that many companies feel it is a necessary evil that they have to just get through. But there are many reasons to embrace a quality system, from knowing how much scrap and rework it takes in time and money for financial and selling/delivery points of view, to receiving/purchasing parts for the same reason; from knowing which machines break or are at least a bottle-neck and why, to down time and finding out the "fixology" method to hammer the widget through the line, and what it really costs to have all the first set sent back for quality reasons; for helping engineering find better, stronger, faster solutions by knowing the actual process; for helping justification for people to get raises when they show how well they do their work.

So, I've just touched on each area at a high level: general operation, finance, sales, purchasing, maintenance and human resources. In short, every department wins when they embrace a quality system. When I meet the heads of departments or do training, I offer these ideas, which are very well received.

And, since there are many more reasons to embrace a quality system, I leave it to my colleagues to offer more detailed suggestions.

I've been reflecting on how organizations align (or fail to align) their management systems with their broader strategy and business plans. In theory, a quality, safety, or compliance management system should be a tool for executing strategy - not a silo. But in practice, it often feels like the two run in parallel rather than together.

I'd love to hear your perspectives:

• Do companies generally get this right, or do most struggle with integration?
• What are the best practices you've seen that connect management system processes with strategic goals and business planning?
• What are the worst pitfalls or failure modes?
• Have you seen cultural, structural, or incentive mechanisms that actually work to get leadership teams, middle management, and frontline staff aligned on both system requirements and business objectives?
• Finally, what role should metrics and reviews (like management review or strategic planning cycles) play in closing the loop?

Looking forward to your insights and real-world experiences!