The media and ISO management systems

Transcription

Vol. 9, No. 3
IMS
May-June 2009
ISO Management Systems
When Results Count. ISO Standards.
Journalist’s
viewpoint on MSS
in Japan
ISSN 1680-8096
• ISO/TC 176 in
Tokyo
• Environmental
vocabulary
• Business
aviation and
ISO 9001
IWA 4 workshop
in Mexico
Trinidadand-Tobago
and
tourism
standards
The Media
© ISO Management Systems, www.iso.org/ims
EDITORIAL
by Roger Frost
Integrated confidence
R
efined to its essence, the objective of ISO standards is to
provide confidence. Meeting the specifications or requirements of an ISO standard integrates confidence as a characteristic of a product, device, service, process, system, material
or a professional. Conformity to the ISO standard ensures that
essential vital features are ensured such as quality, ecology,
safety, reliability, compatibility, interoperability, efficiency and
effectiveness – and at an economical cost.
This ability of ISO standards to ensure and instil confidence has
become even more important as the repercussions of the global
financial crisis that began in 2008
have themselves felt across business
sectors and economies worldwide.
As the crisis bit in 2008, falling consumption and slim order books made
reduced activity the norm – except for
ISO, underlining the confidence of
public and private sector stakeholders in the organization and the global
relevance of its standards.
At the end of the year, the ISO system comprised 157 national
members, representing 98 % of the world economy and 97 % of
its population. In 2008, organization published 1 230 standards,
bringing its portfolio to 17 765.
ISO experienced a surge in activity, launching two new technical
committees – to develop standards respectively for solid biofuels
and industrial furnaces and associated thermal processing – as
well as an increasing scope, launching seven project committees
(PCs) to develop standards for the following areas :
• Network services billing
• Product recall
• Road-traffic safety management
• Energy management
Beyond their specific missions as frameworks, respectively,
for quality management and environmental management,
they provide confidence for business-to-business transactions,
for consumers when choosing products, for government
departments when awarding procurement contracts, and for
enterprises when qualifying suppliers in global supply
chains.
The management system approach pioneered by ISO 9001
and then cross-fertilized between ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
continues to inspire new applications, among them for food
safety (ISO 22000), information security (ISO/IEC 27001) and
supply chain security (ISO 28000). The year 2008 brought
new additions, described below, in critical areas.
Confidence is difficult to sustain in
a world in which the environment is
degrading, often as a consequence of
the current use of energy resources.
Therefore, a major ISO event of
2008 was the launching of the
project committee, ISO/PC 242, to
develop the future ISO 50001 energy
management system standard. Based
on broad applicability across
economic sectors, it is estimated the standard could influence
up to 60 % of the world’s energy demand.
Ship recycling contributes to the global conservation of energy
and resources. However, the presence of asbestos, hydrocarbons
and other environmentally hazardous substances in ships can,
if the scrapping process is not carefully controlled, have negative
repercussions for the environment and human health. In 2008,
ISO launched the first of the ISO 30000 series of management
system standards for the recycling of ships. It will support
environmental protection and increase the
safety of workers.
ISO standards help
to integrate confidence into
all aspects of business
• Consumer product safety
• Cross-border trade of second-hand goods
• Anti-counterfeiting tools.
Confidence is the bedrock of business and ISO standards help
to integrate confidence into all aspects of business. Two of
ISO’s most well known management system standards, ISO
9001 and ISO 14001, are among the best examples since they
are now thoroughly integrated with the global economy, as
indicated by The ISO Survey, which revealed that they were
implemented in 175 countries at the beginning of 2008.
Most of the systems that developed economies
now depend upon are either software-intensive
or software-critical, i.e. they cannot work without
one or many functional software components.
Confidence in software is therefore crucial.
Organizations wishing to benefit from the confidence of applying
the quality management requirements of ISO 9001 to the acquisition, supply, development, operation and maintenance of IT systems and related support services have a valuable tool since 2008
in ISO/IEC TR 90005:2008, Systems engineering – Guidelines
for the application of ISO 9001 to system life cycle processes.
Both in times of stability and in times of crisis, ISO standards
provide practical tools for providing confidence, reducing
uncertainty and managing risk in a globalized world.
ISO Management Systems – May-June 2009 1
CONTENTS
VIEWPOINT
5
Journalist’s eye view of certification in Japan
Yusaku Nakao heads ISOS, Japan’s principal magazine concentrating on
ISO management system standards. With more than a dozen years’ experience in
the field, he is well placed to provide a perspective from one of
the top user countries of the standards.
IMS 3-2009 E.indd 1
ISO MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS is published
six times a year
by the Central
Secretariat of ISO (International
Organization for Standardization)
and is available in English,
French and Spanish editions.
Publisher : ISO Central Secretariat,
1, ch. de la Voie-Creuse,
Case postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20,
Switzerland.
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11.
Fax + 41 22 733 34 30.
E-mail [email protected]
Web www.iso.org
Editor in Chief : Roger Frost.
Contributing Editor : Garry Lambert.
Artwork : Pascal Krieger and
Pierre Granier.
A one-year subscription
(six issues) to ISO MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS costs 128 Swiss francs.
Subscription enquiries : Sonia
Rosas-Friot, ISO Central Secretariat.
Tel. + 41 22 749 03 36.
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47.
Advertising enquiries :
ISO Central Secretariat,
Case postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20,
Switzerland.
Contact : Régis Brinster.
Tel. + 41 22 749 02 44.
© ISO, May-June 2009
ISSN 1680-8096
The views expressed in
ISO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS are
those of the authors. The advertising
of products, services, events or
training courses in this publication
does not imply their approval by ISO.
Cover photo : Montage ISO
SPECIAL REPORT
04.05.2009 12:21:29
9
The media and ISO management systems
This article gives a multi-faceted perspective of the relationship between the
media and ISO management system standards :
–An overview of how ISO management system standards (MSS) are portrayed
in the media
– The media as an important channel both for ISO to make
får
ISO 9001 ft
known its MSS and for certified organizations to promote
ansiktsly
the latter as an added value
– Media companies as users themselves of ISO MSS.
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• ISO 9001-based standards for media industry gain first users
• Spanish newspaper makes headlines with ISO 9001
ISO INSIDER
25
ISO/TC 176 Tokyo plenary reviews a year of achievement ISO’s largest technical
committee ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, responsible for the
ISO 9000 family, held its 26th plenary meeting in Tokyo, Japan, from 23-28 February 2009.
Upcoming developments from the committee include a new edition of its successful handbook
on ISO 9001 for small business, plus a standard on customer satisfaction in business-toconsumer e-business.
New ISO standard will facilitate implementation of ISO 14000 series in 12 languages • New
IWA 4 to enhance trust and increase reliability of local government • New CD collection of
ISO/IEC standards and guides for testing laboratories and inspection bodies • ISO standard for access panels aims to increase effectiveness of market, opinion and social research
INTERNATIONAL
23
33
Business aviation standard incorporates ISO 9001 concepts
Business aviation is growing fast. In response, the International Business
Aviation Council developed the “International Standard for Business
Aircraft Operations” to raise operating safety and efficiency. Incorporating
ISO 9001:2000-related concepts has strengthened the standard and made it
a “minimum must” for today’s business aviation operators.industry.
STANDARDS FOR SERVICES
23
38
Trinidad and Tobago boosts tourism quality through standards
Overdependence on oil and gas revenues is driving Trinidad and Tobago to
diversify its economy by targeting the tourism industry for development. Standards
are playing a key role in raising its quality as a tourist destination, as part of a
major government initiative.
NEXT ISSUE
41
VIEWPOINT
Journalist’s
eye view of
certification
in Japan
by Yusaku Nakao
Japan ranks 2nd and 3rd respectively among the world’s top
10 countries for ISO 14000
and ISO 9000 certifications,
according to The ISO Survey
– 2007 (see Figures 1 and 2,
page 6).
With a total of 73 176 ISO
9001 certificates and 27 955
ISO 14001 certificates, it is
clear that ISO quality (QMS)
and environmental (EMS)
management system implementation is widespread in
Japan. This has significantly
empowered Japanese organizations when communicating
with other domestic or foreign entities, and has served
as the basis for creating competitive and environmentally-friendly products of high
quality.
However, the growth in certification will not continue for
ever. Figure 3 (see page 7)
shows the annual number of
ISO 9000*/ISO 14001 certifications in Japan, and indicates
a decrease in ISO 9000 certificates following the transition
from the 1994 to the 2000 edi-
tions of the standard. Similarly, the number of ISO 14001
certificates began to decrease
after the transition from the
1996 to the 2004 edition.
Yusaku Nakao is Corporate Officer
of Management System News,
Inc., a publishing company he
established in Tokyo, Japan, in
1996. The company publishes
ISOS, Japan’s principal monthly
magazine reporting on developments in ISO management system
standards, certified organizations
and certification bodies in Japan.
With more than 12 years’ experience in the field, he is well
placed to provide a perspective
from one of the top user
countries on the standards.
Web www.isos.co.jp
The growth in
certification
will not continue
for ever
In the case of ISO 14001, annual certifications have not
significantly increased or
decreased over the past few
years, and may rise again after 2009. At the same time,
ISO 9000 certifications have
decreased considerably, and
the possibility of recovery after 2009 seems low.
If the annual growth in certification falls below the
number of certificates with-
drawn each year, it is highly
likely that the vitality of
QMS/EMS certification will
fall too. Such a leveling-off
in the number of certificates
has already taken place in
France, Germany, the United
Kingdom and the USA, and
the same phenomenon is now
taking place in Japan.
So how can we revitalize the
implementation and certification of ISO management
system standards (MSS) ?
To help in this endeavour, I
would like to make some observations and suggestions
concerning the activities of
ISO 9001/ISO 14001-certified
* ISO 9001:2000 became the sole
certification standard in the ISO 9000
series. Previously, certification was
carried out against three standards,
ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003.
“ ISO 9000 certification ” is used in this
article as a catch-all phrase to cover
certification irrespective of the edition.
ISOS staff
members
hold copies
of recent
ISOS magazine issues,
and (right)
Yubiki,
a handbook
on ISO
management
system
standards.
VIEWPOINT
organizations and certification bodies in Japan.
highly valued by Japanese
organizations as systems
beneficial to management.
In 2000, the revised ISO 9001
proved crucial to Japanese
management systems.
The changing nature
of audits
When ISO 14001 was introduced in 1996, major Japanese
organizations were quick to
adopt the new standard. The
reason was that when the ISO
9000 series was published in
Figure 1 – Top 10 countries for
ISO 9001 certificates, December
1998 to December 2007 (adapted
from The ISO Survey – 2007).
Figure 2 – Top 10 countries for
ISO 14001 certificates, December
1998 to December 2007 (adapted
from The ISO Survey – 2007).
The 2000 edition
dramatically
changed the Japanese
p e r c e p t i o n of ISO 9001
1987, Japan responded slowly
and only established its own
national equivalent standards in 1991.
The situation caused considerable confusion among
organizations
manufacturing products for export to
Europe. Therefore, when
ISO 14001 was issued, Japan
responded very quickly to
prevent the same situation
occurring.
There was another factor. The
ISO MS standards requiring
continual improvement were
6 ISO Management Systems May-June 2009
The 2000 edition dramatically changed the Japanese
perception of ISO 9001 and
was welcomed by many organizations as an MSS which
was at last helpful to management. This was especially
so in terms of audit. Now
organizations had to voluntarily improve their internal
audits, and thus the roles of
internal and external audits
were separated. The more
proactive organizations have
adapted their policies based
on the following understandings :
• Certification
bodies audit
conformity to the fundamentals of the ISO QMS standard, while the organization
itself audits the fundamentals
plus other aspects, such as
root cause analysis
• Certification
bodies audit
an organization’s MSS in
general terms. The organization mainly audits priority
issues, such as downsides in
the system
• Audits by certification bodies
are conducted by auditors
contracted to those bodies
– there is no such restriction
on internal audits in organizations. They may employ
external personnel such as
those experienced in third
party audit with auditing
VIEWPOINT
qualifications, internal auditors from other organizations,
or experts familiar with the
business or technology.
Organizations with several
years of certification experience and familiarity with
management systems should
also be more proactive in
their requests to certification
bodies. For example :
managers have traditionally been at the apex of the
management system, but by
unifying the certification,
senior corporate management can assume the lead
• If a certification body provides fewer and fewer observations and the audits become
ineffective, the organization
should contract with other
certification bodies so that
the audit is conducted from
a fresh viewpoint
• Organizations may wish to
Figure 3 – Annual growth of ISO 9000*/ISO 14001 certificates in Japan,
December 1998 to December 2007 (adapted from The ISO Survey – 2007,
and the Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (JAB) report).
unify certifications achieved
by each factory or division
into a company-wide certification. For example, factory
•
For more effective use of
management resources,
The latest cover of ISOS magazine, featuring ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 achievements among Japanese companies.
VIEWPOINT
organizations can integrate
their QMS and EMS, and
have both systems assessed
together.
Auditing approaches
Of course, certified organizations and certification bodies
should both work to ensure
that the audit is helpful to
management. Certification
bodies currently advocate
“ v alue-added audits ” and
“ e ffective audits ” , and emphasize audit verification to
make sure an organization’s
management system is working effectively.
nonconformities
or areas where the
implementation
process is incomplete. Such audits
are highly valued
among
certified
organizations.
Misconceptions
While some organizations
are
actively
implementing and operating an ISO QMS
or EMS, there are
still many that operate them
inflexibly in the mistaken belief that :
• The internal audit or manOrganizations
that receive
little guidance
are unlikely to
invest further in
certification
Sequential auditing, where
questions are asked concerning each requirement of the
standard in order to check
conformity to each, is now
regarded as an immature audit method.
Nevertheless, since the beginning of ISO MSS certification
in Japan, there have been a
few auditors who approach
on-site audits by first asking organizations about their
work flow and problems, carefully examine conformity to
requirements, and point out
Hoshô :
“Certification”
in the Japanese
language,
calligraphied here
in the Tensho seal style
by IMS’s artist Pascal
Krieger.
agement review must be
conducted once a year on a
predetermined day
• The environmental objective
should be determined in a
medium- to long-term plan,
and the environmental target
in an annual plan
• Documented
procedures
must be hard copy paper
documents.
Many organizations are taught
by consultants to think that
way, and as a consequence
often do not achieve any effective results for themselves.
And if such organizations are
not required to be ISO 9001
or ISO 14001-certified by
their business partners, it is
likely that they will withdraw
from certification later on.
Another key reason why some
organizations allow their cer-
tifications to lapse is because
they do not find any advantage in the process. Organizations that are assessed and receive little effective guidance
are unlikely to invest further
management resources in
prolonging ISO MSS implementation and certification.
Listening to certified
organizations
As yet, there is no association
of certified organizations in
Japan, and therefore nowhere
that the needs of such organizations can be heard, or the realities of implementation can
be discussed and understood.
We have few committees involved with QMS and EMS
implementation in leading
organizations from the main
business sectors. In practice,
even those organizations
have difficulty freely expressing their needs to their
certification bodies.
To help certification bodies
and certified organizations
discuss matters on an equal
footing, it is necessary to establish a council in Japan to
represent their interests. This
should cover every business
sector, and allow small businesses to participate.
By doing so, the real discussion about the results and effects of certification can begin
at last. Yet it appears that only
a few countries have such a
council for gathering opinions
from certified organizations.
From our media perspective
as ISOS – a monthly magazine devoted to ISO MSS
developments, certified organizations and certification
bodies in Japan – we would
certainly like to support any
moves to establish a council
of certified organizations. •
SPECIAL REPORT
The media and
ISO management systems
by Alexander Moutchnik
This article provides a perspective on the relationship between
the media and ISO management system standards (MSS) ;
an overview of how the media portrays ISO MSS ; the media
as an important channel for ISO to promote its standards
and for certified organizations to promote the benefits, and
lists some ISO 9001/ISO 14001-certified media companies.
SPECIAL REPORT
net
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by Alexander Moutchnik
Prof. Dr. Alexander Moutchnik is
Head of the Department of Media
Management at Mediadesign
University of Applied Sciences,
Munich, Germany.
Web www.mediadesign.de
Continual improvement of
organizational and managerial performance is the prerequisite for achieving sustainability – and only a
stable and long-term financially successful business has the potential for
doing so.
The complex environmental
dynamics of modern business
forces corporations to change
their strategies, portfolios and
market positions continually.
Just as a cyclist stays upright
through continual motion, so
the responsiveness of management to continual change
makes the organization more
stable and secure.
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In today’s environmentally
conscious world, the communications media play
an increasingly decisive
role in economic, social and
environmental sustainability. And sustainability is the
goal of organizations striving
to balance the economic, social and environmental needs
of present and future generations.
In times of financial and
economic recession, the
management of corporate
sustainability becomes a
question of managing local, global, operational and
strategic risks. However, effective risk assessment and
continual improvement of
business performance can
only be undertaken through
a policy of consistent information and communication
between the organization and
its stakeholders. In effect, this
is the media policy of an organization.
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www.kvalitetsmagasinet.com
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inefficient
processes
and enable automation of managerial
decision-making. ISO
9001 and ISO 14001
standards are not
barriers to managerial creativity, but
the very basis of it.
MSS certification
is the additional
step which many
companies follow in order to
improve their public image,
meet the requirements of
business partners, suppliers and customers – and
fulfil stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders
must therefore be aware
of the true meaning of
management
system
standardization
and
ISO 9001 / I SO 14001
certification, otherwise
there can be misunderstanding, and ultimately disappointment.
However, organizations and the public
can become better
informed
about
ISO MSS through the media.
Hence the media also play an
increasingly decisive role in
the standardization and certification of quality and environmental management systems.
Ref: 359
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Mining Chronicle, Australia,
www.thewest.com.au/multimedia/
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Copyrigh
ISO MSS through the media
ISO management system
standards (MSS) – especially
those for quality and environmental management systems – improve the ability of
management to make an organization more flexible, and
therefore more stable and
successful. ISO MSS replace
37698
This article will discuss the
interrelationship between the
media and ISO MSS from
three perspectives :
1. Media coverage of ISO MSS
2.Media channels used by
ISO to promote standards
3.ISO MSS implementation
among media companies.
SPECIAL REPORT
1. Media coverage
of ISO MSS
• Mass media
There are many general references to ISO standards in
the mass media since they relate to virtually every field of
business and industrial activity. The result is a high level
of public awareness, making
ISO one of the best known
and trusted global brands
(see “ The Power of ISO ” by
Edwin Colyer, BusinessWeek
Online, 17 March, 2006, at
www.businessweek.com).
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
are not barriers to
managerial creativity,
but the very basis of it
However, mass media references to ISO MSS are numerous, they rarely explain the
standards and consequently
there is little real understanding of such standards among
the general public, i.e. the
stakeholders. The reports are
usually about organizations
achieving certification and
mostly feature certification
ceremonies, with the usual
photos of cheerful managers
and auditors holding certificates.
Beside certification events
there are few other aspects
of the implementation process considered newsworthy
or “ sexy ” enough to attract
the attention of the general
public. MSS certification is
frequently seen simply as a
milestone in corporate history
that eclipses the true meaning
of implementation itself – i.e.
confirmation that the requirements of the standard have
been fulfilled by the organization.
Hence coverage of ISO MSS
in the mass media tends to be
extremely event-oriented –
both positively and negatively. For example, a company
deciding to cease third-party
auditing and validation of its
system might prompt negative publicity in the media.
Fake ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
certificates can also be “ hot
topics ”.
The threat of negative publicity can motivate some organizations to adopt a more
responsible attitude and follow the so-called “ path of dependency ” – i.e. the cost and
impact of allowing ISO MSS
implementation/certification
to lapse is higher than that of
maintaining the certification
tradition.
Many
scientific
research
projects examine the reasons
why organizations standardize and certify their management systems. Others investigate MSS communication
channels and the reactions of
organizations, suppliers, and
stakeholders to certification.
They use questionnaires, interviews, case studies, analysis,
evaluations and data simulation to produce findings.
To explain organizational
behaviour, researchers use
theoretical frameworks derived from sociology, political
studies, psychology and biology. As a result, many learned
papers and countless scientific conferences have been
devoted to the topic of ISO
MSS.
er Management International,
Long Range Planning, Policy
Sciences, Production and
Operation Management and
UmweltWirtschaftsForum.
The public can become
better informed about
ISO MSS through the media
Scientific media coverage of
ISO standards depends less
on events like certification
and more on the accomplishment of research projects
concerned with the development, distribution and impact
SIX SIGM
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SHOWCASE
� ISO
SOFTWAR
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SIX SIGM
A’S FUTURE
Study results are published
regularly in scientific journals such as The Academy
of Management Journal,
Academy of Management
Review, California Management Review, Green-
• Professional media
ISO MSS coverage in the
professional media – whether
scientific, sector- or standardization-specific, can be quite
different.
Publication of ISO 9001 and
ISO 14001 MSS has stimulated
intensive standardization and
certification activity among
organizations, and intensive
academic research. It provides researchers with unique
opportunities to examine organizational decision-making
processes, procedures and operations, and analyse forms of
organizational behaviour.
July 2004
www.qualityd
iges
t.com
Quality Digest,
USA, www.
qualitydigest.com
Quality Progress, USA,
www.asq.org/
qualityprogress
SPECIAL REPORT
of ISO MSS. However, such
studies frequently misinterpret the research subject, and
can present somewhat controversial results. There are several reasons.
Firstly, many practitioners
and academics assume that
ISO 9001 certification automatically increases the quality of products and services,
and that ISO 14001 makes
companies “green”, or that
only “green” companies obtain ISO 14001 certification.
Adoption of ISO 14001 does
not in itself guarantee optimal environmental outcomes.
As the standard document
states, two organizations carrying out similar operations
with different environmental
performances may both comply with its requirements.
Secondly, most scientific studies focus mainly on aspects
connected directly with ISO
9001 and/or ISO 14001 certification, without considering
other significant factors that
also influence corporate behaviour and decision making.
A drawback of such studies is
the desire to establish simplified monocausal relationships
between decisions, strategies
and impacts. In most, the essential role played by top
management in the standardization and certification process is not covered at all.
Thirdly, scientific research
often perceives ISO 9001
and ISO 14001 standards and
certifications as having quite
different features from other
commonly applied standards
and certifications.
Newspaper publishing industry
early supporter of ISO MSS
In an interview given to the April 2009 issue of ISO Focus
magazine, Reiner Mittelbach, Chief Executive Officer of IFRA,
the world’s leading association for the newspaper publishing
industry, explained why IFRA became such an early and strong
supporter of the implementation of ISO management systems
standards but its members.
ISO Focus : IFRA has been encouraging its members to implement
ISO 9001 (quality management systems) since the early 1990s,
and many printers also implement ISO 14001 (environmental
management systems). What made IFRA such an early supporter
of ISO management systems and what benefits have they
brought to the sector ?
Reiner Mittelbach : “ IFRA has been an early adapter in many
cases. Quite early on, we had already observed that quality
management, safety and environmental protection – or green
publishing, as they say today – should be combined in an
integrated approach.
“ Some of the large and mostly the international publishing
houses are already going this way. We think it will be even
more important in the future to pursue an integrated approach
in order to ensure international competitiveness and acceptance.
“ Future customers will not only ask for consistently high
quality but also for sustainable products made from sustainable
resources and produced in a healthy environment. You can
already see today that book publishers are competing in
the use of paper from certified forests. Newspapers have an
advantage here because newsprint can be made from 100 %
recycled paper without quality limitations.”
• The April 2009 issue of ISO Focus www.iso.org/isofocus
carries a feature on “ ISO and the media ”, including articles
on ISO standards for media-related technologies.
Fourthly, many studies focus
exclusively on the perspectives of the organizations
themselves, without taking
account of the regulatory aspects, and the perspectives of
certification bodies.
Fifthly, ISO 9001 and ISO
14001 are often perceived as
merely instruments of operations management which are
expected to have an immediate impact on the environmental and financial perform-
ance of the organization. In
consequence, the time frames
of most research studies are
too short to observe significant changes in both operative and strategic outcomes.
In sixth place, there is often
inadequate differentiation given by academic researchers
to impacts from (a) the management system, (b) standardization of the management
system according to the ISO
guidelines and (c) certification
of the standardized management system.
The media plays
an increasing role
in the standardization and
certification of management
systems
Finally, many studies concentrate only on ISO 14001 and
ISO 9001, and neglect all other standards in the ISO MS
family.
• Sector-specific media
Coverage of ISO MSS in sector-specific print and online
media is not so much focused
on certification events and
scientific research as on corporate experience with the
implementation of standards.
It examines the peculiarities
of ISO MSS introduction in
different industry sectors nationally and internationally.
Examples of typical publications include :
Australia : Australian Mining
Review, Australian National
Construction Project Review,
SPECIAL REPORT
Australian and New Zealand
Wine Industry Journal,
Construction Contractor,
Engineers Australia, Facility
Management Magazine, Food
and Drink, Mining Chronicle,
Roads, Transport and
Machinery
Italy : Il Mondo business
magazine
Latvia : Dienas Bizness (Daily Business)
Russia : Management v Rossii
i za rubezhom (Management
in Russia and abroad)
Sweden : Computer Sweden,
Miljöledaren (Environmental
Leader), Miljö & Utveckling
(Environment and Development).
08.qxd
24/09/200
8
16:56
Page 1
France : Qualité références
Germany : Qualität und Zuoctober
2008
verlässigkeit
£4.10
Italy : Associazione Italiano
Cultura Qualità, Nuovo Studio Techna (quality association Web sites)
Latvia : Latvijas Kvalitates
Asociacija www.lka.lv
(quality association Web site)
Russia : Metody managementa kachestva (Methods of
Quality Management),
Standarty i kachestvo
(Standards and quality)
Spain : Forum Calidad, Infocalidad, Gestión y Calidad
Sweden: Kvalitetsmagasinet
Party time?
lebrates 21
the UK’s lea
ding quality
years with
a new 2008
edition
magazine
000_Titel
USA : ASTM Standardization News, Conformity
Magazine, Environmental
Quality Management,
Quality Digest, Quality
Magazine, Quality Management Journal, Quality
Manager’s Alert, Quality
Progress, Quality Systems Update, The Auditor, The Standard Answer
QZ 3
19.11.200
8
ISO not only
develops
standards (in
2008
alone
ISO published
1 230 International Standards and standa r d - t y p e
documents), but
also
promotes
the
worldwide
application
of
standards, in cooperation with its
members in 160
countries, through
magazines, media
releases, books, bro-
17:04 Uhr
Seite 1
12/2008
ww w. qm
-in fo ce
Qualität
und Zuv
erlässigk
eit
GE SP IE
GE LT
Berufsbild
Qualitätsm
an
Seite 24
ÜB ER PR
ager
ÜF T
Kaum Alt
ern
zur klassi ativen
schen
Zertifizie
rung
Seite 21
UN TE RS
UC HT
Guter Se
rvi
auf Haltu ce gründet
ng
Seite 36
AUFGES
PÜRT
Umwelts
imu
Produktsc lation zeigt
hwächen
Seite
These examples are
among many that provide the most detailed
coverage of ISO MSS,
and often provide
special reports on
new and updated standards.
However, circulation of these
journals is often extremely
limited, and such specialized
information on standardization is rarely seen outside the
small group of “ insiders ” who
work in standardization committees and related institutions.
40
Ukraine : Management and
Manager, Standartizacija,
sertifikacija, kachestvo
(Standardization, Certification,
Quality)
United Kingdom : Business
Green, Ends Report, Environmental Management Briefing,
Management of Environmental Quality, Managing Service
Quality, Quality World,
The TQM MagazinE.
nt er.d e
Qu ali tä ts
ma na
in Ind us tri
e un d Di en ge me nt
st lei st un
g
12/2008
Many media
organizations have
standardized according
to ISO 9001 and/or
ISO 14001
ISO 9001 ce
53. Jahrgang
The third professional media grouping includes those
titles that cover the specialized world of standardization, and cover quality and
environmental management
issues. Many of ISO’s members in 160 countries publish
print and/or online magazines
and newsletters, see www.
iso.org/isomembers. In addition magazines or newsletters
dealing with quality and/or
are published both by nation-
QW COVER
OCTOBER
und Zuv
erlässig
keit
• Standardization-specific
media
2. Media channels used by
ISO to promote standards
Quality World, United Kingdom,
www.thecqi.org
Qualität
Corporate reporting on sustainability and social responsibility issues is another
branch of the professional
media. These organs often
feature the MSS implementation experiences of individual
organizations for interested
stakeholders.
al professional associations
and by commercial publishers. Examples are :
Organ der
Qualität und Zuverlässigkeit,
Germany, www.qm-infocenter.de
chures, videos, workshops, visits and presentations, and its
Web site, ISO Online www.
iso.org. The Web site receives
well over one million visits
per year, and is one of the
SPECIAL REPORT
most popular sites in this
knowledge and business sector (see Figure 1).
ISO Online provides the international community information on practical tools
for tackling global challenges
such as energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, climate change, health, safety,
security and the dissemination of innovative technologies. Pages such as ISO Café
and Latest News introduce
the world of ISO standards
and the essence of ISO to the
general public in user-friendly
language.
1 800
1 600
Number of visits in thousands
Through the World Standards
Services Network (www.wssn.
net), users can also access information on standards developments from a number
of international, national
and regional standardization
bodies, and bibliographical
data about standards, technical regulations and other related documents from around
the world. Another source of
standards-related information
is the ISO/IEC Information
Centre (www.standardsinfo.
net), jointly operated by ISO
and IEC (the International
Electrotechnical Commission).
2 000
1 400
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
20
02
-0
1
20
02
-0
7
20
03
-0
1
20
03
-0
7
20
04
-0
1
20
04
-0
7
20
05
-0
1
20
05
-0
7
20
06
-0
1
20
06
-0
7
20
07
-0
1
20
Figure 1 – Power of the ISO brand name – Evolution of visits to ISO Online.
Beyond its own Web site, the
power of the ISO brand name
can be seen in the impressive
number of articles that mention ISO every month on the
Internet. More than 30 000 references were recorded in October 2008 alone (see Figure 2).
ISO publishes two bimonthly
magazines in English, French
and Spanish devoted to standard-oriented issues – ISO Focus, published 11 times a year
Figure 2 – Power of the ISO brand name – Internet references to ISO per month in 2008.
07
-0
7
20
08
-0
1
20
08
-0
7
SPECIAL REPORT
3. ISO MSS implementation
among media companies.
Media companies not only
report on the ISO MSS certification experiences of other
companies but many have
also standardized their management systems according to
ISO 9001 and/or ISO 14001.
Some have implemented the
media sector-specific ISAS BC
9001 quality management system standard for broadcasters
Following are examples of
media companies that have
implemented, or are in process of implementing, an ISO
quality or environmental MSS :
Taiwan – Videoland Television Network, ISO 9001
Why implement
an ISO MSS ?
Northern Ireland – Ulster
Television PCL, ISO 14001
Why do such media companies
pursue ISO MSS implementation and certification ? IFRA,
the world’s leading association
of newspaper publishers, provided an answer in an interview given to the April 2009
issue of ISO Focus magazine
www.iso.org/isofocus – see box,
“ Newspaper publishing industry early supporter of ISO
MSS ” (page 12).
Slovenia – Radio-TV,
ISO 9001
Sri Lanka – Maharaja TV
and Radio, ISO 9001
Switzerland – RadioFribourg, ISO 9001
UAE/Dubai – Marine BizTV,
ISO 9001.
Projet1
China – Publishing House of
the Electronics Industry, ISO
9001
Sweden – MTG Radio,
ISO 14001.
• Television
France – Paris-Cap TV, ISO
9001 ; LCP-Assemblée Nazionale – French parliamentary
television channel, ISO 9001
Hungary – MTV, ISO 9001
India – TV Sundram Iyengar
and Sons Ltd, ISO 14001 ;
Trans TV, Djakarta, ISO 9001 ;
Prasar Bharati Radio and TV
Indonesia – Trans-TV,
ISO 9001
Japan – TV Asahi ; ABC,
Osaka and NBN, Nagoya,
ISO 14001; Chugoku Broadcasting Corporation Osaka,
ISO 14001; RCC Broadcasting Company, Hiroshima,
ISO 14001
Page 1
ENCES
• Printing and publishing :
Latvia – Radio Riga,
ISO 9001
N° 39 – JANVI
ER 2008 –
TRIMESTRIEL
– 12�
DANS CE NUM
ÉRO
Notre dossie
r
les référentie sur
ls
sectoriels
PAGE
www.quality
andco.com
53
ACTUALITÉS
Publication
de
l’ISO Survey
200
India – DC Books, ISO 9001;
Delhi Press, ISO 9001
MANAGEM
ENT DE L’OR
GANISATION
Romania – Monitorul Oficial, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001,
Spain – Heraldo de Aragón,
ISO 9001 ; La Voz de Galicia,
ISO 9001 ; Valenciana, ISO
14001 ; Nueva Gestión, ISO
9001 ; Recoletos Grupo de
Comunicación, ISO 9001 ;
Sweden – Norrtelje Tidning,
ISO 9001
USA – Robinson Printing,
ISO 9001.
oriels
au Maroc
QUALITÉ
ET AÉRONA
UTIQUE
tiels sect
Lithuania – S.Jokužys
Publishing-Printing House,
ISO 9001
Poland – Hector, ISO 9001 ;
A.B.E. Marketing, ISO 9001
La qualité
PAGE 36
Les référen
Latvia – Latvijas Vestnesis,
ISO 9001
Peru – El Comercio, daily
newspaper
6
PAGE 2
L’A380 :
DOS SIER
Spain – Radio Vigo,
ISO 9001 ; EITB
(Basque region), ISO 9001
12:42
QUALITÉ RÉFÉR
• Radio
Romania – Radio Romania,
ISO 9001
21/01/08
39
DE LA CER LE GÉANT
TIFICATION
MANAGEM
ENT DES COM
Qualiticien
s:
la vie devant
PAGE 41
DÉVELOPP
PÉTENCES
?
soi ?
EMENT DURA
L – 12�
Other ISO communication
channels include major events
such as the World Standards
Day and ISO’s participation
in international events and
fora such as the World Economic Forum and conferences on climate change, energy,
water and other global issues.
Mexico – Canal 11, ISO 9001
– TRIMESTRIE
ISO Management Systems,
the publication you are currently reading, features case
studies and updates of ISO
9000 and ISO 14000 developments worldwide, presents
new standards initiatives aimed
at important business and societal issues such as social responsibility, sustainability, occupational health, safety and
conformity assessment, and
analyses sector developments
and national initiatives. The
magazine has become the
main source for the study of
ISO MSS development, and
acts as a general encyclopaedia of approaches to management standards.
and Internet content producers, and ISAS P-9001 for the
print press (see “ ISO 9001based standards for media industry gain first users ” by Guillaume Chenevière in this issue
of ISO Management Systems,
and also “ Breaking news – ISO
9001-based quality management for the media ” in the
January-February 2006 issue).
JANVIER 2008
in English since January 2004,
and ISO Management Systems,
published six times a year in
English, French and Spanish
since September 2001.
BLE
L’écoconce
ptio
les apports n :
de la recher
che
méthodologi
que
PAGE 45
OUTILS
Logiciels :
sécurité
informatiqu
e
PAGE 58
Qualité références, France,
www.qualityandco.com
Here are some comments
from other media companies
explaining their decisions to
implement ISO MSS :
Monitorul Oficial, Romania :
“ The company’s quality of
services is certified to ISO
9001 and ISO 14001, which
acts as a recommendation
from a market leader.”
The Chinese Publishing House
of the Electronics Industry :
SPECIAL REPORT
“ We are the first publishing
house [in China] that has certified to ISO 9001, giving readers a promise of high quality
publications.”
Marine BizTV, Dubai, UAE :
“ With ISO 9001 certification,
Marine BizTV has proved
that it has met the needs and
satisfaction of customers in a
systematic manner. The certification ensures the quality
and credibility of our delivery to customers, and we are
proud that the channel has attained a unique status ”.
These statements tend to express a desired goal of corporate management rather than
the real meaning of standardization and certification.
Media companies readily use
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification for marketing purposes, and often promote the
fact on their Internet home
pages and in their logos.
But the key issue concerning ISO MSS implementation
among media organizations
begs the question, “ What kind
of quality and environmental
management systems are necessary for media companies at
all?”
“The media’s biggest
emission is programmes”
The somewhat modest involvement of the media industry in ISO management
standardization debate is well
reasoned in a World Wildlife
Fund UK (WWF-UK) discussion paper Through the
Looking Glass. Corporate Responsibility in the Media and
Entertainment Sector, which
quotes a media executive as
saying “ the media’s biggest
emission is its programmes.”
Indeed, the “ emissions ” of
TV and radio broadcasters
are programmes, while those
of newspapers are articles,
interviews and other reports.
These outputs are units of
information and entertainment and would seem to create very low environmental
impacts compared with those
of cement, steel or chemical
manufacturers, for example.
However, the indirect environmental impact of the
media industry is enormous.
These impacts are generated
where media content is created (e.g. editorial offices),
produced and reproduced
(e.g. paper production, printing, manufacturing of CD and
DVDs, etc), distributed (e.g.
daily newspaper delivery), reception and consumption (e.g.
TV sets, mobile phones, etc.
and recycling). Also, the shift
from paper to electronic media is linked to rising energy
consumption involved in the
production and assimilation
of digitalized information.
It is mainly the larger printing
and publishing houses, such
as Axel Springer and Bertelsmann that have progressed
to environmental and quality
management. But ISO MSS
can help media companies of
any size realize savings, set
environmental goals and control their outputs.
A note of thanks
The author wishes to thank the following persons who provided
valuable help and information for this Special Report :
Luisa Bustos, Writer and Public Affairs Officer, Media & Communications, Standards Australia ; Margaret Cooper, Communications Assistant, American National Standards Institute, New
York ; Roger Frost, Manager, Communication Services, Marketing and Communication Department, ISO Central Secretariat ;
Lucy Fulton, BSI Management Systems, UK ; Allen Kaombe,
Information Service Officer, Malawi Bureau of Standards ; Erika
Messing, Swedish Standards Institute ; Chris Meyer, Standards
Communicator, South African Bureau of Standards ; Alberto
Monteverdi, Communications Officer, Ente Nazionale Italiano
di Unificazione, Milan ; Reinhard Peglau, Senior Scientific
Officer on Environmental Management, Federal Environmental
Agency, Germany ; Inara Petersone, Manager of International
Cooperation and PR, Latvian Standard; Laura Smith, Paton
Professional, Editor in Chief of The Auditor ; Jesus GomezSalome Villalon, Director de Comunicación, AENOR, Spain.
The quality of media content
can be difficult to manage as
it depends largely on the experience, inspiration and creativity of journalists, authors,
film-makers, actors and others. The aim of quality management system implementation in a media organization
is to create the right climate
in which creative people can
work in the most effective
and efficient way, i.e. with
minimum risks and maximum
outcome.
The aim of QMS
implementation in a media
organization is to create
the right climate in which
creative people can work
The effect of implementing
quality and environmental
management systems also
extends beyond the media
company to its suppliers and
customers. Sustainable media
management should be based
on an holistic approach by
which the organization takes
responsibility for the entire
lifecycle of its product and/or
services.
Fulfilling this core management function within the
scope of an ISO MSS can
enhance the value of any
media company, and establish the foundation not only
for its own sustainability, but
also for the sustainability of
its network of interrelated
companies and society as a
whole. •
SPECIAL REPORT
Spanish newspaper makes
headlines with ISO 9001
by Jesús F. Frago
Spanish daily newspaper Heraldo de Aragón has applied ISO 9001 disciplines to the apparent chaos of its rapid response editorial office. In less
than a year since certification, management is seeing improved efficiency,
simplified day-to-day tasks, better organization and a new system that is
“facilitating our goal of offering a quality newspaper”.
Any media
editorial office
operates in apparent
chaos
SPECIAL REPORT
Jesús F. Frago is Deputy Director
for Organization and Quality at
Heraldo de Aragón.
Web www.heraldo.es
From the apparent chaos of
Heraldo de Aragón’s editorial office
in Zaragoza, Spain, comes better
organization, simplified work
routines and a quality daily
newspaper, thanks to ISO 9001
implementation.
Early in 2007, when Mikel
Iturbe, currently Director of
Spanish daily newspaper Heraldo de Aragón, invited me to
undertake a process aimed at
implementing a quality management system (QMS) at
the newspaper’s editorial office in Zaragoza, I had many
questions. First, we were unfamiliar with a process of this
kind, and the rather special
characteristics of journalism
prompted many others.
Any media editorial office
operates in apparent chaos.
Journalists, who have a reputation for being undisciplined,
work with sensitive and rapidly changing subject matter.
Yet they must be the first to
break the news in an accurate,
original and creative way.
The unexpected resignation
of a political leader, a serious
accident, a terrorist attack, or
late news of local or national importance can ruin the
best laid plans and force last
minute changes on a newspaper about to go to press.
Is it possible to impose standardization mechanisms, such
as ISO 9001, on such an unpredictable environment ?
So why certify ?
Contrary to appearances,
most media editing offices
are used to dealing with the
unexpected because they
are geared appropriately. At
least, this is the case at Heraldo de Aragón. Founded in
1895, the newspaper has survived successfully for nearly
114 years with an organization capable of accomplishing its daily tasks in a reliable way, supported by its
readers.
So what was the reason for
embarking on a new adventure that meant introducing
our team of journalists to unfamiliar concepts and a different management language?
And why prepare a process
map, or implement a management model, within the
framework of ISO 9001 requirements for quality management ?
Ambitious undertaking
The project we undertook
was certainly ambitious, particularly as there was little
previous QMS implementation experience in the communication media sector.
On the one hand, we wanted
to improve the routines and
pace of work accomplished by
the editors and other editorial
office staff, in order to produce
SPECIAL REPORT
a better quality newspaper.
On the other hand, our goal
was to provide editors and
staff with a tool which would
successfully meet the newspaper’s future challenges.
Reinventing journalism
Modernization of traditional
journalism structures requires
adaptation to new trends in
the sector, driven by the unceasing technological changes
of recent years. In other words,
information no longer reaches
citizens only through conventional channels – the printed
press, radio and television
– but also through powerful
new information platforms
such as digital newspapers
and mobile telephones.
The Internet, in particular,
forces us to review journalism
models, or the way in which
newspapers offer information
to readers.
Some newspapers are already
following these new directions, although with some misgivings, while others are only
just starting to implement the
new technologies.
While we may view such complex technological, economic
and professional variables
with concern, all of us, to a
greater or lesser extent, are
compelled to implement these
new disciplines if we wish to
avoid being swept away on
the tide of change.
In this regard, Ramón Salaverría, Director of the Multimedia
Communication Laboratory
(MMLab) at the University
of Navarra, suggests that the
challenge should be seen as
The busy editorial office of Spanish
daily newspaper Heraldo de
Aragón now operates more
efficiently since implementing
ISO 9001.
“ fully professional ”, despite
the implications at technological and management levels.
“ Only journalists can reinvent journalism. Therefore it
is essential to strengthen the
editorial teams and give them
the authority to lead the convergence processes,” he says,
highlighting the importance
to any media organization of
“ human capital ” in the milieu
of QMS implementation.
Just as the quality of the intellectual assets in advanced
business management systems
determines effectiveness and
efficiency, so the intellectual
capacity of professionals in the
communications media is crucial to achieving a minimum
level of information standards,
and any degree of improvement.
The commitment to
improvement
Based on these premises,
Heraldo de Aragón decided
to implement a QMS to help
the organization face the future, by improving editing office organization, simplifying
the routine tasks of a daily
newspaper, and reinforcing
the editorial principles underpinning more than a century
of history.
Since the beginning, Heraldo
has been true to its founding
guidelines of providing “ a
daily newspaper offering general information, and leading a communication group
whose fundamental principles
are based on independence,
truthful and rigorous information, free and plural opinion, and on serving the general interests of Aragón as an
integral part of Spain and Europe. Indeed, Heraldo’s goal
is to play its part in the peaceful development of society.
The design and implementation of our new QMS relied
on the support of the newspaper’s directors and general
management, but would not
have been possible without
the specialized management
systems help of Aragón-based
consulting company Tea-Cegos Deployment.
Contributions from Francisco
José Gutiérrez, General Manager, Cristina Ortega, Assistant General Manager, and
Juan Martino, Consultant,
were particularly helpful.
Thanks to their collaboration,
we established a work plan
which depended on communicating the project scope to
all staff in an appropriate way,
and on the involvement of as
many editors as possible in
project development.
The goals seemed easy : to
define the office process map
in the simplest possible manner; to chart the processes
involved in developing a
SPECIAL REPORT
measuring system to help
control our work, monitor
performance, and facilitate
improvements – and to have
an accurate description of
our organizational structure,
including functions and missions, in line with these goals.
• Achieve an optimal standardization of the office’s
repetitive activities
• Promote a more horizontal
and participative management culture by developing
a work methodology based
on processes and teams.
Our key objectives were to :
• Identify and implement the
best internal editorial office
practices
• Encourage
assessment of
processes and daily tasks to
highlight opportunities for
improvement
To achieve these goals, we
created
several
working
groups that benefited from a
high level of editor participation. In group meetings we
defined the different daily
work processes covering the
design, pagination and com-
ISO 9001:2000-certified Heraldo de Aragón is the leading daily newspaper
in the region, commanding a circulation of 53 500 for the daily editions,
and 81 000 copies on Sundays, plus some 1 325 000 visits to the online
version per month.
• Analyse
our needs from a
better perspective, and make
decisions based on facts and
data rather than on perceptions
• Promote discussions on quality and continued improvement among the different sections of the editorial office
• Motivate managers to lead,
and professionals to commit
to, the analysis and improvement of their respective processes
• Structure
editing office
knowledge, highlighting its
intellectual capital
position of the newspaper, the
creation of all pages in PDF
format, and their delivery to
the printing office.
We then evaluated these tasks
in relation to Heraldo’s ultimate goal of offering readers a quality newspaper. That
helped us develop the core
of the management model,
to which we added the remaining elements, including
design manuals, graphic and
typographic standards, tools
to help with the correct use of
Spanish, quality and function
manuals, an updated organization chart, and our edito-
rial principles. It also took
account of reader’s opinions
about the newspaper.
Successful certification
After a long implementation
process, Heraldo de Aragón’s
editing office was successful in
achieving ISO 9001:2000 certification, awarded by the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification
(AENOR)1) in April 2008. The
scope covers planning, control
and preparation of content of
the daily and weekly editions,
plus the related supplements,
and the digital newspaper at
www.heraldo.es.
This was the first ISO 9001
certification to be granted to
a communication media organization in Aragón, and a
tribute to the good practices
of the newspaper’s daily editing work. We believe there
are only two or three editing
offices in Spain, and few more
in the whole of Europe, with
such a certification.
An effort rewarded
Was all the effort worth it ?
Although Heraldo de Aragón’s
ISO 9001-based QMS was only
implemented a short time ago,
it has already yielded results.
The dynamic daily activity in
any editorial office does not
generally allow much time for
reflection. Every working day
1) This report is based on an article
first published in the May 2008 issue of
AENOR’s journal, UNE
Spanish Association for Standardization
and Certification (AENOR)
Web www.aenor.es
passes so quickly that the latest issue of the newspaper is
obsolete almost before the ink
dries. And the digital news is
only fresh for a few hours.
Under these circumstances,
we barely have time to analyse what we must do and
how we should do it. While
preparing the process map,
however, we had to look back
at ourselves, to reflect on our
work patterns and systems, to
analyse changes, to eliminate
unnecessary routines, and introduce improvements. We
now have the tools to assess
our daily work, and identify
opportunities for improvement and gains in efficiency.
The fundamental goal is, in
fact, to offer press and Web
readers a newspaper that is
well done, stable, more sensitive to the demands and needs
of readers, precise, impartial
and varied.
We could still undertake this
task as always without any
quality system, because we
are not under the same market pressures as some other
sectors. We believe, however,
that by implementing the new
system, we are improving our
organization and facilitating
our goal of offering a quality
newspaper.
As stated in our Editorial
Principles, we must abide by
“ the best and most impeccable journalism practices,
which must be followed by our
editors, from whom the ethics
of excellence, honesty, accuracy, rigour, impartiality and
shrewdness must be demanded
in the service of readers.” This
is our way of working.
•
SPECIAL REPORT
ISO 9001-based standards
for media industry gain first
users
by Guillaume Chenevière
Two ISO 9001-based quality management standards are making progress
in the crisis-hit media industry to enhance transparency, accountability
and credibility, optimize resource management and improve press and
broadcast quality.
Paco Gonzales, Quality Director of
Canal Once, Mexico, in the make-up
room before going on air to
announce the channel’s ISAS BC
9001 certification.
SPECIAL REPORT
The media industry is currently suffering from dwindling credibility and an acute
economic crisis in many parts
of the world. Staff reductions
are reaching dramatic levels
in the print press, notably in
the US.
Guillaume Chenevière is Executive
Director of the Media and Society
Foundation. He also chairs the World
Radio and Television Council, a
worldwide civil society initiative for
public service broadcasting.
Born in Geneva in 1937, he was
successively a sociologist (European
Centre for Culture), a journalist
(Tribune de Genève), an executive in
the automobile industry (Chrysler)
and a theatre director (Théâtre de
Carouge).
In 1975 he joined Télévision Suisse
Romande (TSR), the French-speaking
national television channel of
Switzerland. He became controller
of programmes of TSR in 1986, and
director general from 1992 to 2001.
He was executive director of the
World Electronic Media Forum organized by UNDPI and EBU during the
World Summit on the Information
Society in 2003.
The Changing Newsroom, an
extensive 2008 survey by the
Pew Research Center, concluded that the key to newspaper survival is a combination of a good business model
and strong journalism, based
on a relationship of trust with
the public.
This seems the right time for
media organizations to implement quality management
standards (QMS), optimizing
both the management of their
resources and the quality of
their contents.
As a result, media professionals from every facet of the industry and every region of the
world are promoting QMS
standards specifically designed for the media, with the
assistance of the Swiss-based
Media and Society Foundation.
Web www.media-society.org
Media-specific standards
Two media QMS standards
based on ISO 9001:2000
have been developed by the
Foundation in collaboration
with International Standard
and Accreditation Services
(ISAS):
• ISAS
BC 9001: for broadcasters and Internet content
producers
• ISAS P 9001: for the print
press.
These standards cover all ISO
9001 requirements and all aspects of media management –
quality of information and other contents, ethics, transparency
and independence, relationships
with the public, advertisers,
suppliers and public authorities,
audience research, human resources, work organization and
infrastructure. Universally ac-
cepted good practices in media
management are listed in
guidelines to both standards.
To date, Canal Once of Mexico,
Latvijas Radio of Latvia and
Trans TV of Indonesia have
been certified, and Radio-Fribourg/Freiburg of Switzerland
and LCP of France are close to
doing so.
The Media and Society Foundation
The Media and Society Foundation is a Switzerland-based,
non-profit group of independent media professionals and
experts. It was founded in 2002 with the help of the Swiss
Development and Cooperation Agency, and with the sole
purpose of promoting and implementing worldwide quality
management standards for the media industry.
The Foundation is chaired by Claude Torracinta, former Head of
Information at Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR). Its Board
members include: Thérèse Gastaut, former Chief of Information
of the United Nations ; Joelle Kuntz, lead writer of the Swiss
daily newspaper Le Temps ; Alain Modoux, former Assistant
Director General of UNESCO Information and Communication ;
Henry J. Muller, former Chief Editor of Time magazine ; Antonio Riva, former Director General of the Swiss Broadcasting
Corporation ; Gerald Sapey, International Chairman of Reporters
without Borders ; Peter Studer, former Chairman of the Swiss
Press Council ; Henrikas Yushkiavitshus, adviser to the UNESCO
Director-General, and many other prominent media personalities.
Its collaborators include Louis Balme, Vice-President of International Standardization and Accreditation Services (ISAS).
ISAS
International Standardization and Accreditation Services (ISAS
– www.isas.org) is a private independent company with
offices in Geneva, New York and Tokyo, which is under
contract to the Media and Society Foundation to ensure that
certification bodies and their auditors, as well as the ISAS
BC 9001 and ISAS P 9001 standards themselves, fully comply
with ISO standards for conformity assessment activities.
SPECIAL REPORT
to refine this mechanism, a
straightforward and efficient
way to address the corporate
strategic goals in compliance
with our mission and, above
all, to identify the expectations of the audiences and the
society.
Other media companies in
Chile, Fiji, France, Hungary,
India, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico,
Peru, Rumania, Slovenia, Sri
Lanka, and Switzerland are at
various stages of media QMS
development. Several of these
national broadcast organizations have commented on
their ISAS BC 9001 implementation experiences
Canal Once, Mexico
Paco Gonzales, Quality Director of Canal Once, the
education channel of Mexico,
remarked that ISAS BC 9001
certification was a way for his
company to make sure it was
living up to its good public
image.
Dr. S.K. Ishadi, President-Director General of Trans TV, Indonesia, with a
plaque celebrating its achievement as the world’s first ISAS BC 9001-certified
media company.
Radio Fribourg/Freiburg SA,
Switzerland
We became stronger,
more efficient, more able to
manage quality
“Certification brought us
structure – we had to systematize our processes and to
focus on operations, rationalism and quality. It brought us
clarity and certainty in our
daily activities by teaching
us the interrelations between
all our processes; thus each of
us could precisely know his
roles and responsibilities and
the way he impacts, positively
or negatively, on the value
chain.
“We became stronger, more
efficient, more able to manage quality. We learnt to live
for our clients, internal as well
as external, and particularly
for our audience. We learnt to
“Implementation of ISAS BC
9001:2003 at Latvijas Radio
was, and will continue to be,
a great chance of in-depth
evaluation of the management system in its integrity,
identification of its weaknesses, development of evaluation
criteria and principles likely
to be welcomed by the creative staff, and collection of
data that will be instrumental
in continuous improvement
of content quality.”
Thierry Savary, Co-Director
and Head of Programmes at
Radio Fribourg/Freiburg SA
in Switzerland, comments on
the benefits of ISAS BC 9001
implementation:
The editing box at ISAS BC 9001-certified Trans TV.
consider persons, processes,
products and environment
with systematization.”
ion remarked that “such an
exercise, sooner or later, will
be requested of all public
service broadcasters”.
Latvijas Radio, Latvia
In a December 2007 statement, the management team
of Latvijas Radio said: “There
is a growing demand for a
systematic approach to the
governance of broadcasting
organizations. We feel that
the introduction of ISAS BC
9001:2003 at Latvijas Radio is
one of the most effective ways
The ISAS BC 9001 certification of Latvijas Radio, the
national radio of Latvia, was
saluted by the International
Federation of Journalists as
“a breakthrough in the campaign for media quality.” The
European Broadcasting Un-
“Radio
Fribourg/Freiburg
decided to implement a quality management system in
2007. Rather sceptical at the
beginning, as we were quite
satisfied with the functioning
of our institution and feared
a work overload linked to
the implementation of such
a system, we quickly realized on the contrary that the
implementation of a quality
management system opened
new perspectives in terms of
rationalization and effectiveness. From sceptical we became enthusiastic, and all the
staff involved in the process is
SPECIAL REPORT
really glad to start the levelling phase of the project.
“The first step consisting in a
gap analysis allowed us to discover some lacks in the global
management of our company
and to learn about the way
to react efficiently to certain
situations. We are proud to
be pioneers in the Swiss audiovisual landscape in implementing a quality management system.
There is
a growing demand for a
systematic approach
“We therefore recommend to
any media company willing
to improve its performance
and efficiency to go for the
implementation of an ISAS
BC 9001 quality management
system.”
Radio Romania
re-design products, services
and distribution channels.”
Trans TV, Indonesia
During the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur, May
2008, Dr. S.K. Ishadi, President-Director General of
Trans TV, the leading television broadcaster in Indonesia,
was presented with a plaque
celebrating the organization’s
achievement as the world’s
first media company to be
ISAS BC 9001 certified. The
broadcaster is renowned for
its investigative and informative programmes, which have
received many international
and national awards.
During a workshop involving
top managers of 20 broadcasters from the Asia Pacific
region, Dr. Ishadi explained
how he uses media quality management to support
employees in their quest for
quality. Trans TV’s certification was the result of a project
involving the whole staff.
A must for the media
The experience the Media and
Society Foundation, accumulated from grass-root evaluations of media organizations
around the world, shows that
procedures for risk activities are often insufficiently
defined and loosely applied
in the industry. Top media
managers sometimes ignore
the gap between their vision
and the day-to-day realities of
their organization.
From sceptical,
we became
enthusiastic
Alan Rusbridger, Editorin-Chief of national United
Kingdom newspaper The
Guardian, gives his views on
media responsibility:
“There should be a premium
on transparency, collaboration and discussion. One of
To prove such a commitment,
the media industry has a most
efficient instrument in the
ISAS BC and P 9001 universal QMS standards making
its values, methods and ethics transparent to the general
public.
All media, be they print,
broadcasters or new media
content providers, need a media QMS to enhance transparency, accountability and
credibility. Leading examples, such as The Guardian,
are a proof that transparency
is the surest guarantee of
media independence, based
upon a relationship of trust
with the general public and
other stakeholders.
Once adopted by a sufficient
number of media companies
worldwide, the ISAS BC and
P 9001 standards will become
a must for all the quality
players in the industry as an
instrument to promote their
service to society, and help
transform the present crisis into a new economic and
moral revival. •
Radio Romania was evaluated
for its conformity with ISAS
BC 9001 in 2007. Its quality
check-up, organized by the
Media and Society Foundation, pointed to several risk
areas. The company’s Director-General, Maria Toghina,
comments on the result of the
evaluation, and Radio Romania’s response:
“The company made new
steps forward in the process
of its organizational development. After research meant
to give precise information
about listeners’ expectations,
Radio Romania will organise
a managerial conference to
the roles of the media is to
boil down intensively complex subjects and make them
comprehensible. If these issues are not aired and placed
on the public agenda and debated with facts that are reliable, then it lets everyone off
the hook.”
Reflecting the news: a view of Trans TV’s newsroom.
ISO INSIDER
ISO/TC 176 Tokyo plenary reviews
a year of achievement
by David Zimmerman
• Sector issues
The new edition of the successful ISO/TS 16949, Quality
management systems — Particular requirements for the
application of ISO 9001:2000
for automotive production and
relevant service part organizations, is now completing the
ballot phase, and will be published by ISO shortly.
(The TC Secretariat currently
maintains a list of sector applications (reference N881) that
can be found in the “ Document development ” folder on
the ISO/TC 176 website www.
tc176.org. Contributions to
this list can be sent to the TC
Secretariat.)
• The Auditing Practices
Group (APG)
The APG has updated its guidance documents on management system auditing to reflect
changes brought about by the
publication of ISO 9001:2008.
A recent addition is guidance
on writing audit reports. All
The opening session of the ISO/TC 176 26th plenary meeting in Tokyo,
Japan, attended by 218 delegates from 39 ISO member countries, two observer countries, and 13 liaison members.
ISO’s largest technical committee ISO/TC 176, Quality
management and quality assurance, responsible for the
ISO 9000 family, held its 26th
plenary meeting in Tokyo, Japan, from 23-28 February 2009.
Upcoming developments from
the committee include a new
edition of its successful handbook on ISO 9001 for small
business, plus a standard on
customer satisfaction in business-to-consumer e-business.
Some 218 delegates representing 39 member countries,
two observer countries and
13 liaison member organizations were welcomed by Mr.
Kyoichi Hirota, Director General of the Japan Industrial
Standards Committee (JISC),
ISO’s Japanese member body
and host of the meeting ; Dr.
Yoshinori Iizuka, Chair of the
Japanese mirror committee to
ISO/TC 176, and Mr. Sadao
Takeda, Director General of
the Japanese Standards Association (JSA).
Following is a summary of
achievements of TC subcommittees (SC), working groups
(WG) and task groups (TG),
meeting during a busy week.
From left : Mr. Kyoichi Hirota, Director General of JISC ; Ms. Sophie Clivio,
ISO Technical Programme Manager ; Mr. David Zimmerman, ISO/TC 176
Secretary ; Dr. Gary Cort, Chair of ISO/TC 176 ; Mr. Sadao Takeda, Director
General of JSA ; and Dr. Yoshinori Iizuka, Chair of Japanese National Mirror
Committee to ISO/TC 176.
APG papers are available at :
www.iso.org/tc176/ISO9001
AuditingPracticesGroup
• ISO/TC 176 Conformity
Assessment Liaison Group
(CALG)
Mr. Shinichi Iguchi, Executive Director of JAB, sponsor of the opening
reception, welcomes delegates with a toast to the success of the meeting.
The CALG discussed the differences between product
and management system certification, third party certification auditing, and the need
to support the credibility of
ISO INSIDER
ISO 9001 certifications to
enhance ISO’s reputation in
this area.
• Arabic Translation Task
Force (ATTF)
The ATTF continues to provide translations of the ISO
9000 series of standards into
Arabic, and supports quality management in Arabicspeaking economies. It plans
to translate the entire TC 176
portfolio by 2010 to support
ISO 9001 implementation in
Arabic countries. ATTF membership includes nine Arabicspeaking countries and three
liaison members.
• Spanish Translation Task
Group (STTG)
The STTG did not meet in
Tokyo, but plans translation
of ISO 9004 (now moving
to Final Draft International
Standard), the new edition of
ISO/TS 16949, and the ISO
9001 handbook for small businesses.
Revision of ISO 9004
• ISO/TC 176 Interpretations
Working Group (WGI)
Revision of ISO 9004, now titled Managing for the sustained
success of an organization – A
quality management approach,
is nearing completion following review of over 1 000 comments received with voting
responses. Publication is expected by the end of 2009.
The WGI reviewed a process
to withdraw certain interpretations as a result of the publication of ISO 9001:2008, and
will work directly under SC 2
involved in the development
of ISO 9001. All approved
interpretations are posted on
the ISO/TC 176 Web site.
• SC 1, Concepts and
terminology
SC 1 continues work on revision of ISO 9000:2000, Quality
management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary, and
held a workshop to discuss
quality management principles
and the future of ISO 9000.
• SC 2, Quality systems
Notable SC 2 accomplishments included :
Publication of ISO 9001:2008
The latest version of ISO 9001
was published in November
A delighted Dr. John Davies,
retiring SC 2 Chairman, following
presentation of a certificate of
appreciation commemorating more
than 20 years’ service to the
quality management community.
2008. In support, the ISO 9000
Introduction and Support
Package documents on the
“ Management standards ” section of the ISO Web site www.
iso.org have been updated to
assist users.
A task group has been created
to conduct detailed research
on the future of ISO 9001, and
study future directions SC 2
could take in further development of the standard. A target
of 2015 was suggested for the
next edition of ISO 9001. It
also established a task force
to survey user needs based on
concepts being developed in
the TG.
ISO 9001:2008 for Small Businesses
At the ISO/TC 176 26th plenary banquet (from left) Mr. Francois Boucher,
SC 1 Secretary ; Ms. Juçara Lopes, SC 1 Chair ; Mr. David Zimmerman, ISO/
TC 176 Secretary ; Mr. Masami Tanaka, Vice President of JISC ; Mr. Gary Cort,
ISO/TC 176 Chair ; Mr. Hiroshi Shima, President of JSA ; Ms. Ritsu Hamaoka,
JSA Staff, and Mr. Marc Mitchell, Project Manager, ISO/TC 176 Secretariat.
Work focused on drafting supporting documents for ISO
9004, including a brochure on
quality for senior managers, a
guide on the use of the ISO
9004 self-assessment tool, and
guidelines for national standards bodies on how to sell and
promote ISO 9004.
Work is underway on updating this popular ISO handbook to align it to the new
ISO 9001:2008 standard. Publication is expected later this
year.
David Zimmerman is Secretary of
ISO/TC 176, Quality management
and quality assurance, which is
responsible for the ISO 9000 family
of quality standards. He is Project
Manager, Business Management and
Sustainability Programme, at the
Canadian Standards Association,
which administers the ISO/TC 176
Secretariat.
Canadian Standards Association, 5060
Spectrum Way, Suite 100, Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada L4W 5N6.
Tel. + 1 416 747 4139
Fax + 1 416 401 6621
Web www.csa.ca
Web www.tc176.org
ISO INSIDER
Customer satisfaction standards activities
Dr. Yoshinori Iizuka, Chair of the
Japanese mirror committee to
ISO/TC 176, welcomes delegates to
the 26th plenary meeting.
Retirement of SC 2 Chairman
The forthcoming retirement
of SC 2 Chairman Dr. John
Davies was announced. Since
adopting the post in 1986 he
has overseen the publication
of every edition of the ISO
9001 standard. Dr. Davies was
congratulated on his long service to the quality management
community.
• SC 3, Supporting
technologies
Highlights of the three SC 3
working groups included :
ISO 19011 on auditing
WG 16 progressed work on
Working Draft 2 of a new edition of ISO 19011, Guidelines
for quality and/or environmental management systems
auditing, to further enhance
its application to management
systems audits covering environment, food safety, supply
chains, IT security and other
topics. Development of the
first Committee Draft is expected during 2009.
WG 14 met to continue its
work on ISO/TS 10004, Quality management – Customer
satisfaction – Guidelines for
monitoring and measuring.
SC 3 agreed to send the document for approval ballot later
this year, and is expected to
start work on an International
Standard version of this document once it has been published as a Technical Specification.
Following a request from the
ISO Technical Management
Board, SC 3 is starting work
on a new customer satisfaction
standard covering guidelines
for business-to-consumer ecommerce. The SC has created
a Customer Satisfaction Liaison Team to coordinate development of such standards
and ensure consistency with
related customer satisfaction
standards.
ISO 10018 on people aspects
WG 15 progressed the third
working draft of ISO 10018,
Quality management – Guidelines on people involvement
and competences, and expects
to issue a Committee Draft for
Comment later in 2009.
Next meeting
The next meeting of ISO/TC
176 is planned for Bogotá, Colombia, 7-12 June 2010, hosted
by the Instituto Colombiano
de Normas Técnicas y Certificación, the Colombian member body to ISO. •
New ISO standard will facilitate
implementation of ISO 14000 series
in 12 languages
by Maria Lazarte,
Communication Officer, ISO Central Secretariat
A newly revised ISO standard will facilitate even further
the application of the ISO
14000 series on environmental management. By establishing a common vocabulary,
the standard will ensure the
effectiveness of communication, key for the implementation and operation of environmental management systems
(EMS).
ISO 14050 will clarify
any doubts concerning
terminology and concepts
14001:2004 (requirements for
systems) had been issued in
148 countries.
Commenting on these results,
Håvard Hjulstad, Convenor of
the ISO/TC 207 Terminology
Coordination Group which
developed the standard, said
“ Given the global context,
and the extent of the application of the ISO 14000 standards, it is clear now more than
ever that ISO 14050 is crucial
for ensuring that all the users
of these standards are on the
same page, no matter where in
the world they are.”
This third edition of ISO
14050:2009,
Environmental
management – Vocabulary, has
been fully updated to include
the latest developments in the
field. The standard now provides clear and concise definitions of all concepts and terms
used throughout the ISO
14000 series in the three official ISO languages, English,
French and Russian, as well
as in Arabic and Spanish. The
standard also provides equivalent terms in Dutch, Finnish,
German, Italian, Norwegian,
Portuguese and Swedish.
An ISO survey published last
year showed that up to the end
of 2007 at least 154 572 certificates of compliance with ISO
ISO INSIDER
Key role
Mr. Hjulstad added, “ ISO
14050 will clarify any doubts
that users of the ISO 14000 series may have concerning terminology and concepts, which
is particularly important given
the key role communication
plays in the standards. By
helping to maintain consistency, the ISO 14050 will also be
very helpful to developers of
standards, in particular those
working on translations.”
Currently there are 21 published standards in the ISO
14000 series. ISO 14001 and
ISO 14004 provide requirements and guidelines for establishing an EMS. The rest
address specific environmental aspects including labeling,
product design, performance
evaluation, greenhouse gases, life cycle assessment, communication, and auditing. ISO
14050 compiles the terms in all
these standards in one practi-
New edition of IWA 4 to enhance
trust and increase reliability of local
government
by Carlos Gadsden
The open session of the international workshop to update IWA 4 in León,
Guanajuato, Mexico, on 29 October 2008 with Carlos Gadsden, IWA 4 International Secretary (left) ; Carlos Medina P. , President of the International Foundation for Reliable Governments, IWA 4 headquarters (centre) ; and Armando
Espinosa, IWA 4 Chairman and INLAC President (right).
cal document.
ISO 14050:2008, Environmental management – Vocabulary,
was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 207,
Environmental management.
It is is available from ISO national member institutes (listed with contact details on the
ISO Web site www.iso.org). It
may also be obtained directly
from the ISO Central Secretariat, price 238 Swiss francs,
from ISO Central Secretariat
([email protected]). •
In the midst of the most severe economic crisis in decades, trust becomes one of
the most important keys to
progress – especially when
related to governments and
public institutions. The global
cost of a loss of trust is enormous, but society cannot be
built without it.
zation comprises a network
of the national standards institutes of a record 160 countries – itself an indication of
the high level of trust in ISO.
It has developed more than
18 000 voluntary standards
on the basis of international
consensus, which requires a
climate of trust to develop.
In his inaugural address on 20
January, 2009, US President
Barack Obama stated that
one of his main commitments
would be “ to restore the vital
trust between a people and
their government.”
Although voluntary, ISO
standards, or their national
adoptions, are referenced by
regulatory authorities in fields
such as the environment, food
products, machine safety, road
vehicles, shipping, and the
transport of dangerous goods.
Many local government au-
In this scenario, ISO can act as
a builder of trust. The organi-
thorities and national government departments implement
ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 management systems.
However, the International
Workshop Agreement 4 –
IWA 4, Quality management
systems – Guidelines for the
in local government, is ISO’s
first normative document specifically developed for this
sector. ISO has just published
an updated and improved second edition.
IWA 4: 2009 is designed to
help integrate and communicate trust among citizens in
their relationship with local
government. It has far-reaching implications, since local
government is the first and
most fundamental provider
of services to its citizens and
furthermore, to stakeholders
as varied as enterprises located in its territory, investors
and tourists.. In that context,
it is extremely important that
local governments are seen
by all of they serve as efficient, reliable and trustworthy.
What is IWA 4 ?
IWA 4 is a significant milestone for local governments
around the world looking for
guidance on quality and reliability, and provides guidelines
for the implementation and
continual improvement of ISO
9001:2008-based quality management systems (QMS) in the
local government sector.
ISO describes IWA 4 as
follows :
ISO INSIDER
The objective of International Workshop Agreement
IWA 4:2009 is to provide
local governments with
guidelines for the voluntary
on an integral basis. These
guidelines do not, however,
add, change or modify
the requirements of ISO
9001:2008.
For a local government to
be considered reliable, it
should guarantee minimum
conditions of reliability for
the processes that are
necessary to provide all the
services needed by its citizens
in a consistent and reliable
manner.
All the local government’s
processes, including management, core, operational and support processes,
should constitute a single,
integral, quality management system. The integral
character of this system is
important because, otherwise, although a local government could be reliable
in some areas of activity, it
may be unreliable in others.
IWA 4 objectives
Features and benefits
• Implementation
The intention of IWA 4 is to
help local government :
The new edition of IWA 4 offers a process of learning. For
example :
• The standard requires QMS
• Create reliable services that
earn the trust of its citizens
• It offers a guide to the inter-
• Implement a comprehensive
pretation and application
of ISO 9001:2008 for local
governments, and for use
in intergovernmental policy
making
QMS that encompasses all its
products and services
• Ensure compatibility between
its objectives and strategies,
and its QMS policy
• Optimize human, material
and financial resources
through improvement of
internal processes
• Develop
synergy between
local development planning
and the QMS
• Provide citizens with quality
products and services, effectively and efficiently.
• The
guidelines contain a
well structured framework
against which efforts can be
measured
• It establishes minimum quality indicators based on local
needs, that all local municipalities can meet
• It offers a simple and easy
to understand method of
self-diagnosis for the nonspecialist
can help
strategic planning procedures
assessment by third party
audit specialists
• It allows in situ assessment of
the development and effectiveness of public policies.
Internationalizing IWA 4
Following publication of the
first edition in 2005, IWA 4
became a national standard in
Bolivia, Italy, Mexico, Slovenia and Spain. It has also been
implemented in Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Peru, Russia and
Scotland, with translations
into Arabic, Chinese, English,
For a government to be
considered reliable, it should
guarantee minimum conditions of reliability for all
key processes and services.
To achieve this, it is advisable that the local government clearly identify the
management, core and support processes that, together, make it reliable (see Annex A). Annex B provides
a diagnostic tool for local
governments to evaluate the
scope and maturity of their
processes and services.
The town centre of Guanajuato, Mexico, venue for the IWA 4 workshop.
ISO INSIDER
French, Italian, Russian, Slovenian and Spanish.
In October 2008, a group of
87 delegates from 17 countries participated in an international workshop in Mexico
to update IWA 4 to incorporate the new amendments to
ISO 9001:2008, review the
government self-diagnosis in
Annex A and B, draw on lessons learned from the practical use of the standard in
eight countries, and agree future strategy.
The result – IWA 4 : 2009
– was published by ISO in
March 2009 will remain current for a further three years.
It is expected to help local
governments implement ISO
9001:2008 effectively, with the
ultimate goal of serving the
local community better.
IWA 4 promotion activities
The International Foundation for the Development
of Reliable Governments, a
body of the World Council for
Quality, is a sustainable nonprofit organization developed
during 2007-2008 to promote
IWA 4 worldwide by connecting people, interested parties,
and supporting governments.
The Council Board comprises
prominent ISO members and
associates from around the
world who have expressed interest in the initiative. It leads
the development of the World
Network of Reliable Governments, due to be launched in
the second half of 2009.
One of its goals is the creation of at least eight national
chapters, to work closely with
local, intermediate and national governments. These
chapters will be based in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Italy, Mexico and
Spain. However, the initiative
is open to any country wishing
to support the development
of reliable local governments
through implementation of
IWA 4.
UNI/TR 11217, with the support of the Italian working
group.
The Argentinean working
group held a conference on
IWA 4 in San Clemente, La
Costa Department, in March
2009, organized jointly with
the Buenos Aires Provincial
Government, and is propos-
The Colombian government
hosted the 4th International
Meeting on IWA 4 in Bogotá
in April 2009, to discuss essential activities in the promotion of the document, with
the support of the High Commissioner of the Presidency
for the Social Action, Dr. Luis
Alfonso Hoyos, and President
Dr. Alvaro Uribe.
Carlos Gadsden, of Mexico, is Secretary of the team that developed IWA
4. He is currently Executive Secretary of the International Foundation
for the Development of Reliable
Governments (FIDEGOC).
The global cost of a loss
of trust is enormous,
but society cannot be built
without it
He has over 20 years of experience
in local government and intergovernmental relations issues. As a quality management and organizational
development consultant since 1981,
he has worked with more than 100
enterprises and institutions. CTN 66, the 9th Spanish working group of AENOR, is
developing a new national
standard derived from Annex
B of IWA 4, and 12 local governments are working on the
Spanish version UNE-IWA
4:2006 IN.
Several local governments in
Italy are working on the Italian version Rapporto Tecnico
At the 26th plenary meeting
of ISO/TC 176, the technical
committee responsible for the
ISO 9000 family, in Tokyo, February, 2009, the Chinese delegation announced the existence of a Chinese translation
of IWA 4, while the Slovenian
delegate confirmed its availability as a national standard
in the local language.
Lessons learned
A “ Declaration of Bogotá ”
was signed by participants
and presented to President
Uribe as a call for the support
of the Chiefs of States of the
Ibero American Summit.
Other activities to promote
IWA 4 include the following.
ing that IWA 4 becomes a
key issue for discussion at the
World Encounter of Municipalities in September 2009.
He is a former General Director of
the National Institute for Federalism
and Municipal Development, a Mexican Government institution which is
in charge of the intergovernmental
relations with the 2 439 municipal
governments in the country. He is a
former President of the High Level Inter-American Network on Decentralisation, Local Government and Citizen
Participation (RIAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS).
E-mail [email protected],
Web www.gobiernosconfiables.org
Several lessons have been
learned in the three years
since IWA 4 was first published, indicating that any
strategy to promote local government development should
consider the following principles, which apply to people
and institutions :
• Development
should consider the whole organization
with all its elements, otherwise it cannot be regarded
as development
• Integral development is not
only based on best practices,
but on a set of minimum
necessary practices that no
local government should be
without
• Development
cannot be
imposed from outside
• Development
is built and
achieved through the relationship with others, and with
leadership
• Conditions for development
cannot be dictated from
above, but should be driven
from the ground up
ISO INSIDER
• Development
is measur-
able.
Opportunities
IWA 4 has been one of ISO’s
most successful International
Workshop Agreements, as a
tool for collective knowledge
and for fast dissemination
around the globe. It presents
an opportunity for ISO to focus more closely on the governance issue, and involve
all local governments, their
suppliers and value chains –
other levels of government
including the judiciary and
state parliaments.
This would also open up opportunities in the scope of
trust in government. It could
lead to the construction of
a coherent architecture of
transparent and accountable
governments in their dealings
with citizens everywhere. In
concept, this would be called
“ democratic governance ”.
In the hope of inspiring such
developments, we welcome
any suggestions and contributions at iwalg @ osimx.com or
www.gobiernosconfiables.org
IWA 4, Quality management
systems – Guidelines for the
in local government, is available from ISO national member institutes (listed with contact details on the ISO Web
site www.iso.org). It may also
be obtained directly from the
ISO Central Secretariat, price
158 Swiss francs (sales@iso.
org). •
New CD collection of ISO/IEC standards
and guides for testing laboratories and
inspection bodies
by Roger Frost
A new CD is available containing all ISO/IEC International Standards and Guides
for testing laboratories and
inspection bodies.
Testing is a major conformity assessment activity and
also provides the basis for
other conformity assessment
processes such as product
certification and inspection.
Conformity assessment is the
process used to demonstrate
that products, services, materials, management systems,
personnel and organizations
meet specified requirements.
Testing
is a major conformity
assessment activity
ISO Secretary-General Rob
Steele comments : “ It has
been estimated that standards
and related conformity assessment activities have an impact
on about 80 % of world commodity trade, which gives an
idea of the importance of the
conformity assessment standards and guides developed by
ISO and its partner, the International Electrotechnical
Commission.”
The ISO/IEC Pack – Conformity assessment : Laboratories and inspection bodies,
contains 10 standards and
guides (plus a corrigendum).
They include the general requirements for laboratories in
order for them to be considered competent to carry out
testing, calibration and sampling. These criteria are contained in ISO/IEC 17025:2005,
General requirements for the
competence of testing and
calibration laboratories. An
estimated 40 000 laboratories
worldwide are accredited to
ISO/IEC 17025.
Reduce risk
Inspection bodies examine a
huge range of products and
processes, installations and
plants. The overall aim is to
reduce risk to the buyer and
consumer of the item being
inspected. As many laboratories also operate inspection
activities, the CD also includes
ISO/IEC 17020:1998, General
requirements for the operation of various types
of bodies performing
inspection
activities.
The use of ISO/
IEC standards
and guides on
conformity assessment procedures
allows for harmonization of good practice-based
processes throughout the
world. This not only facilitates international trade between countries, but also facilitates
trade
within
countries giving the purchaser of the product or service
confidence that it meets the
requirements. The standards
and guides in the new ISO/
IEC Pack have been developed by ISO/CASCO, the
ISO policy development committee on conformity assessment.
The CD, ISO/IEC Pack – Conformity assessment: Laboratories and inspection bodies (bilingual – English and French ;
ISBN 978-92-67-01169-1) is
available from ISO national
member institutes (listed
with contact details on the
ISO INSIDER
ISO standard for access panels
aims to increase effectiveness of market,
opinion and social research
by Maria Lazarte, Communication Officer, ISO Central Secretariat
Access panels are becoming
a key tool of market, opinion
and social research. A new
ISO standard will support this
evolution by providing definitions and requirements to
increase the quality and efficiency of access panels as well
as providing internationally
harmonized criteria to facilitate comparison of the results
of access panels worldwide.
Whereas people are often reluctant to respond to research
questionnaires or calls due to
lack of time or concerns about
security and privacy, access
panels provide an innovative
solution for driving market,
opinion and social research
forward.
Composed of a representative
set of individuals who accept
to complete questionnaires on
various subjects, access panels
often involve incentives and
take advantage of the latest
technology to extend their
outreach. As such they can
efficiently attract thousands,
even millions of respondents
from around the world at a
cost lower than other conventional strategies.
ISO 26362:2009, Access panels in market, opinion and social research – Vocabulary and
service requirements, provides
definitions and guidelines for
good practice, tackling issues
such as recruitment, validation of identity, size and profile of panels. Its application
will help address any limitations and exploit their potential to the fullest. The standard
can also be used to evaluate
access panels and assess their
quality.
“ ISO 26362 will encourage
potential clients to take advantage of this innovative way
of carrying out research, which
is best suited to modern needs.
It will also help researchers
make the most of their resources to achieve consistent
results ” says Erich Wiegand,
Convenor of the ISO working group on access panels and
leader of the project.
The standard provides a lot
more than just the bare minimum requirements for good
research practice and adopts
a flexible approach to ensure
its applicability in all countries.
Customer satisfaction
ISO 26362 will be used by organizations and professionals
who own and/or use any type
of access panels for market,
opinion and social research,
whether online (Internet) or
offline (telephone, face-toface, etc.).
Mr. Wiegand adds “ By helping
to eliminate misunderstandings between organizations
that order research and those
that carry it out for them, as
well as providing information
that will help to improve customer satisfaction for goods
and services, International
Standards for market, opinion
and social research are among
the most productive ways for
the industry to improve its
effectiveness and market relevance.”
Access panels provide
an innovative solution for
driving research forward
The standard is based on and
should be used in conjunction
with the more generic ISO
20252:2006, Market, opinion
and social research – Vocabulary and service requirements.
ISO 26362:2009, Access panels in market, opinion and
social research – Vocabulary
and service requirements, was
developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 225,
Market, opinion and social
research.
The standard is
available from ISO national
member institutes (listed
with contact details on the
INTERNATIONAL
Business aviation standard
incorporates ISO 9001 concepts
by Sushant Deb
Business aviation is growing fast. In response, the International Business
Aviation Council developed the “International Standard for Business
Aircraft Operations” to raise operating safety and efficiency. Incorporating ISO 9001:2000-related concepts has strengthened the standard and
made it a “minimum must” for today’s business aviation operators.
Dr. Sushant Deb provides auditing
and training services for ISO 9001
and the aerospace-specific
AS 9100, 9110 and 9120 standards
certifications. He consults on IOSA
Gap Analysis, Airport SMS and
IS-BAO business aviation audit,
and is a member of the Flight
Safety Foundation and the
American Society for Quality.
Web www.aviationsafensecure.com
Web www.ibac.org
With business aviation growing fast, especially in Central
and South America, China,
India, and Russia, the International Business Aviation
Council (IBAC) recognized
the need for a new standard
to harmonize quality prac-
tices among business aircraft
operators internationally.
The result is the International
Standard for Business Aircraft
Operations (IS-BAO), developed by IBAC, which stipulates baseline requirements
for operators in structuring
and staffing their flight departments, and planning and conducting their operations.
It is a voluntary process designed to integrate the best safety and operating procedures by
INTERNATIONAL
challenging business aviation
operators to review their current
systems, programmes and procedures, identifying strengths
and weaknesses, and upgrade
to a higher standard.
IS-BAO has been accepted by
aviation flight departments
worldwide as the benchmark
for safety and efficiency in
business aircraft operations,
and over 400 companies have
implemented the standard
since it was launched in 2002.
This article discusses how
the incorporation of ISO
9001:2000-related
quality
management system (QMS)
concepts has strengthened
the IS-BAO standard and
made it a “ minimum-must ”
for today’s business aviation
operators.
IS-BAO at macro level
At the heart of IS-BAO is
mandatory safety management system (SMS) implementation containing many
key clauses of ISO 9001:2000.
Within the SMS, it is the requirement for risk analysis
(RA) that makes IS-BAO a
robust standard.
The reason is clear. Since the
goal of an SMS is to manage
safety risks, it must be proactive, involving application of
the famous Plan-Do-CheckAct (P-D-C-A) approach –
also the basis of the ISO
9000:2000 family of standards.
Safety is determined by identifying and assessing the hazards and associated safety risks that are ever-present
in aviation operations. The
IBAC publication Guidelines
for the Conduct of Risk Analyses by Business Aircraft Operators provides additional
guidance on conducting RA,
such as :
• Identifying accident scenarios and associated hazards
• determining the severity and
likelihood of safety-risks
• hazard and risks management decisions
• documenting the information to ensure traceability
and assessment of results.
These are in line with three of
the eight quality management
principles which form the basis for ISO 9000:
• Factual approach to decision making : Effective decisions are based on the
analysis of data and infor-
Standard /E
ISO 9001:2000
IS-BAO
3
4
---Quality management system
5
6
7
8
Management responsibility
Resource management
Product (or service) realization
Measurement, analysis and
improvement
-----------------
Safety management system
Organization and personnel
requirements
Training and proficiency
Flight operations
Operations in international airspace
Aircraft equipment requirement
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Aircraft maintenance requirement
Company operations manual
Emergency response plan
Environment management
Occupational health and safety
Transportation of dangerous goods
Security
In-flight inspection
(C = ISO 9001:2000 clause, and E = IS-BAO element)
Table 1 – Correspondence between ISO 9001:2000 clauses and IS-BAO elements.
mation – business aviation
operators need a system of
collecting and documenting such data to help manage planning, operations
and control of safety and
quality service processes
• System approach to management : Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes
as a system contributes to
the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in
achieving its objectives –
the IS-BAO system approach mandates some
form of review conducted
at regular intervals by top
management, and is aimed
at improving the business
aviation operator’s safety
effectiveness
IS-BAO aims to harmonize
quality practices among
flight operators
• Continual
improvement :
Continual
improvement
of the organization’s overall performance should be
a permanent objective of
the organization – the primary purpose is to establish an internal evaluation
programme to serve as a
“ f eedback” system. Thus,
by knowing what and how
well the business aviation
operator performs, it is
possible to identify ways
to continually improve its
safety and quality initiatives.
INTERNATIONAL
Many similarities
While the Table 1 may make
IS-BAO look more comprehensive, a further in-depth
review of the remaining
clauses/elements of the aviation standard shows many
similarities with those of
ISO 9001:2000, for example :
• Documentation of manuals
Valuable instructions
Two appendices in the IBAC
guidelines mentioned above
provide valuable instructions
for business aviation operators :
• Appendix A : Forms and
checklists in three parts :
– RA checklist used when
planning and conducting
an RA
– Accident scenario form
by events and hazard
within each event
– Hazard sheet stating the
hazard with event scenario, mitigation, severity category and likelihood
• Appendix B : Conducting
a hazard analysis follows a
standardized sequence of
steps.
Another IBAC publication,
Tools for Efficient SMS Design, further strengthens ISBAO robustness. The standard also includes AMCs
(acceptable means of compliance) that help operators seeking certification.
AMCs are not procedures or
work instructions in the ISO
9001:2000 sense, however,
they can be very helpful for
operators developing their
own procedures or work instructions.
IS-BAO at micro level
Both IS-BAO and ISO
9001:2000 promote the process approach requiring identification and management
of linked activities, using resources to enable the transformation of inputs to outputs.
IS-BAO is based on 14 protocols, or elements, while ISO
9001:2000 is based on five principal clauses (see Table 1). ISBAO uses terms “ shall ” and
“ must ” while the ISO QMS
standard uses “ shall ” only. The
terms “ shall ” and “ must ” are
used to indicate that a standard’s requirements must be
met, and the term “ should ” is
used to indicate a recommended practice.
ISO 9001 was developed as a
generic standard to “ fit ” all
types of organization such as
manufacturing, service, nonprofit, governmental, international agency, etc., while
IS-BAO has been developed
specifically for business aircraft operators. Thus ISBAO’s E3, E6, E8, E14, E15
and E16 elements relate to
the business aircraft operations industry only.
IS-BAO E3 and E10 are
based on principles similar to
ISO 9001:2000 clause 4 Quality management system. The
AMCs for SMS and Company operations manual are
much the same as identified
in QMS documentation. Similar emphasis is also mandated in E9 Aircraft maintenance
requirements, E11 Emergency response plan, E13 Occupation health and safety, and
E15 Security.
• Competence, awareness
and training
IS-BAO promotes improvement in the efficiency of
business aircraft operations
through the vital involvement of people. Like ISO
9001:2000 clause 6 Resource
management, IS-BAO E5 is
devoted entirely to employee
training and proficiency (the
ISO QMS standard uses the
term “ competence ” ).
Five sub-elements (E5.1,
E5.2, E5.3, E5.4 and E5.5)
address training programmes
for crew resource/human factors management, emergency procedures, high altitude,
and proficiency certification as part of IS-BAO requirements. The importance
INTERNATIONAL
of training and competency is present throughout the
standard, e.g. :
– E15.2 (d) Appropriate
training of security personnel.
– E3.2.1 (a) Training programme for company personnel
Both standards emphasize
the requirement that personnel performing work affecting
quality/safety/security/operations shall be competent on
the basis of appropriate education, training, skills and experience.
– E4.3 Crew member qualifications
– E4.4 Maintenance personnel qualifications,
– E7.3.2 Crew training regarding ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) rules and procedures
– E7.5 Crew training regarding company international
operations,
– E9.1.3 (g) A description of
maintenance training
– E9.5 Maintenance personnel training,
IS-BAO is accepted by
aviation flight departments
worldwide
– E10.1 (m) Personnel qualifications and training
– E11.5 Training and periodic testing of emergency response plan
– E13.1 (d) Provision of
safety information and
training
– E14.2.3 Training of personnel involved in transportation of dangerous goods
– E14.2.4 (2nd part) Aircraft
crew member receiving
training on carrying-dangerous-goods procedures
• Policy
Policy is a means of leading
an organization towards improved performance. Together
with strategic planning it provides a framework for setting
goals. However, policy statements should be clear enough
to ensure the goals are understood organization-wide.
Clause 5.3 Quality policy of
ISO 9001:2000 requires top
management to develop a
quality policy appropriate to
the purpose of the organization, and that it be reviewed
for continuing suitability.
IS-BAO contains
many key clauses
of ISO 9001:2000
Element 3.2.1(a) of IS-BAO
requires an approved safety policy to be in place, plus a
training plan (E5.1.1), a maintenance control programme
(E9.1.1), an operational control programme (E10.1(e)),
and an emergency response
plan (E11.1).
ISO 9001:2000 clause 5.4.1
Quality objectives requires an
organization to develop quality objectives consistent with
the quality policy, and that
these must be expressed in
measurable terms. The same
theme concerning safety objectives is reflected in IS-BAO
E3.2.1 (j) and in E15.1 regarding security objectives. In
addition, IS-BAO goes a step
further by relating these goals
to appropriate risks.
• Data analysis
Both ISO 9001:2000 and ISBAO standards recognize
that decisions must be based
on data obtained from measurements and related information. An organization must
analyse data from its various
sources to assess performance
against plans and objectives,
and identify opportunities for
improvement.
Analysis of data using valid
and appropriate techniques
helps determine the root
cause of problems or nonconformities, and even identify potential problems. Clause
8.4 Analysis of data of ISO
9001:2000 explicitly mandates
the organization to determine, collect and analyse appropriate data.
– E9.1.5(a) Defect analysis
and reporting
– E9.4.2 Distribution and
control
of
evaluation
records
– E10.1(n) Record keeping.
The implication of data analysis for IS-BAO is effectiveness of safety, security and
quality.
• Continual mprovement
This is achieved in two phases
in IS-BAO by implementing
an internal assessment process (IAP) and related corrective action resolution process
(CARP).
The purpose of an IAP is
to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of the system in
place (such as a QMS, SMS,
etc.). The IAP is an independent tool for use by an organization in obtaining objective
evidence that the existing requirements have been met.
• Internal audit
Clause 8.2.2 Internal audit of
ISO 9001:2000 mandates organizations to conduct internal audits at planned intervals.
This internal self-assurance
audit is also emphasized several times in IS-BAO, i.e:
IS-BAO includes this requirement in:
– E3.2.1(k) Periodic internal
safety audits
– E3.2.1 (g) Safety performance assessment through
collection and data analysis
– E6.12.1 Using a checklist
– E5.6 Training and qualification record
– E9.1.3 (b) (iii) Methods
used to record maintenance/
preventive actions/servicing
– E6.13.2 A risk assessment
for fatigue countermeasure
– E8.3.1 (d) Aircraft checklists
– E9.4.1 Maintenance evaluation programme
INTERNATIONAL
– E15.2 Threat
process
assessment
– E16 In-flight inspection.
The CARP generally includes
evaluation of the significance
of problems and should be reported in terms of potential
impact on issues such as operating costs, costs of nonconformity, service performance,
dependability, safety, security
and customer satisfaction.
Corrective action should be
focused on eliminating causes
of nonconformities in order
to prevent recurrence. The organization, using RA, should
balance the investment in
corrective action against the
impact of the problem being
considered.
Similar to ISO 9001:2000
clause 8.5.2 Corrective action – requiring an organization to eliminate the cause of
nonconformities in order to
prevent recurrence IS-BAO
includes E3.2.1 (i) Development of corrective action for
accident/incident and E3.2.1
(l) Monitoring management
approved corrective actions.
Indeed, CARP is used as a
tool for improvement in both
standards.
People and process
Like ISO 9001:2000, IS-BAO
has been developed using
the two indispensable pillars
of any regulatory standard –
people and process:
• People
The role of people within the
processes should be evaluated in order to:
– ensure their health and
safety
– ensure that the necessary
skills exist
– support coordination
processes
of
– provide for input from people in process analysis
– promote adherence to the
process approach.
erational Safety Audit standard (IOSA) and ICAO’s National Civil Aviation Security
standard (AVSEC), and was
intended to build upon the
excellent safety record established by business aviation.
Today, it is implemented not
only by business aircraft operators, but also by many civil
aviation authorities. •
IS-BAO is a “minimummust” for business aviation
operators
• Process
Processes are to be documented to the extent necessary to support effective and
efficient operation. The documentation should support:
– identifying and communicating the significant features of the processes involved
– training in the operation of
processes
– sharing knowledge and experience in teams and work
groups
– measurement and audit of
processes
– analysis, review and improvement of processes.
Business aircraft operations
are no different from any other business and the developers of the IS-BAO standard
recognized that. They should
be congratulated for adapting SMS concepts and ISO
9001:2000 requirements and
linking them to RA –that is
indeed the feature that makes
IS-BAO robust.
IS-BAO was created before
the introduction of the International Air Transport
Association’s (IATA) Op-
Trinidad and Tobago boosts
tourism quality through standards
by Kenrick Romain
Overdependence on oil and gas revenues is driving Trinidad and Tobago
to diversify its economy by targeting the tourism industry for development. Standards are playing a key role in raising its quality as a tourist
destination, as part of a major government initiative.
The Government of Trinidad
and Tobago is targeting the
tourism industry as a priority
area for development because
of its potential for diversifying the economy and boosting
economic growth.
Kenrick Romain is Marketing
Officer for the Trinidad and Tobago
Bureau of Standards.
Web www.ttbs.org.tt
This is particularly relevant at
a time when the twin-island
state’s heavy dependence on
revenues from oil and gas
exports is vulnerable to current volatility in world energy
prices.
Dancers on stilts, called “Mokojumbies”, are a spectacular feature of Trinidad
and Tobago’s celebrated carnival.
The government recognizes
the risk of heavy reliance on
its energy industry, and has
been vigorously pursuing efforts to diversify away from
the sector. The aim is to make
the economy robust enough
to withstand the impact of
global economic downturns
by promoting sustainable
economic growth and development.
Trinidad and Tobago was the birthplace of the steel pan drum — giving rise to
its famous steel bands.
A key plan is to turn Trinidad and Tobago into one of
the world’s leading tourist
destinations. However, to
achieve this, the government
recognizes that the tourism
industry needs to enhance its
reputation by improving the
quality of its products and
services.
In her budget statement for
the fiscal year 2008/2009, Minister of Finance Karen Nunez-Tesheira said : “ In keeping
with the Government’s Vision
2020 target, tourism represents significant opportunities
for Trinidad and Tobago for
• TTS 580:2001 – Code of
Practice for Tour Operators
“Trinidad and Tobago seeks to position itself as the country that provides the warmest welcome and the
highest level of international quality
service in the Caribbean,” says
Tourism Minister Joseph Ross.
This standard provides guidelines for establishing and
maintaining minimum acceptable levels of service for tour
operators. Key areas include
tour bookings, advertising, facilities and hiring practice.
revenue, employment, entrepreneurship, investment, foreign exchange earnings, linkages with other sectors, and
new export markets.”
Using standards
To realize its potential, the
local tourism industry needs
to improve the quality of
its products and services. In
this endeavour, the government agencies responsible for
standards development and
tourism have introduced the
“ Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Industry Certification ”
(TTTIC) programme.
ity assessment tool for tour
guides, members of tour parties, and authorities and agencies responsible for tourism in
Trinidad and Tobago.
The standard stipulates requirements for general activities and responsibilities with
• TTS 540:1998 – Requirements
for Motor Vehicle Short Term
Rental Operations
This standard is intended to
assist in guiding the operations and development of the
motor vehicle rental industry
by establishing criteria for
the preparation and delivery
of short-term rental services.
The aim is to ensure that cus-
ment Programme with the
aim of bringing tourism service quality up to international
level.
Tourism Minister Joseph Ross
comments on the initiative :
“ Trinidad and Tobago seeks
to position itself as the country that provides the warmest welcome and the highest
level of international quality
service in the Caribbean. The
purpose of this programme
therefore is to provide the
hospitality sector with the
requisite behavioural and attitudinal skills training that
are necessary to deliver high
quality service consistently.”
As a consequence, key quality
service initiatives were iden-
The Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS)
has seized the opportunity to
support the government’s efforts by encouraging the tourism industry to use standards
to improve the quality of its
products and services.
TTTIC is based on three national standards developed
by TTBS, which outline minimum requirements for acceptable quality in products
and services offered by major
industry players :
• TTS 579:2001 – Code
of Practice for Tour Guides
This standard specifies acceptable practices to help
tour guides deliver consistent
service quality and enhance
customer satisfaction. It is intended to be used as a qual-
Beautiful beaches and exacting tourism
standards are helping make Trinidad
and Tobago one of the world’s most
desirable tourist destinations.
respect to training, conduct,
appearance, equipment, pretour preparation, reception,
departure and conduct of the
tour, handling of difficult or
emergency situations, posttour activities and complaints
handling.
tomers can reasonably expect,
and receive, consistently good
quality services.
The TTTIC programme
The government will be implementing a National Tourism Quality Service Improve-
tified under the umbrella TTTIC programme by which an
independent body gives written assurance that a tourism
operator conforms to specified requirements contained
in the relevant national standard.
The certification programme
was introduced in 2001 and is
a collaborative effort involving three government agencies – TTBS, the Tourism Development Company Limited
(TDC) and the Tobago House
of Assembly (THA).
Attracting tourists
The government is taking
steps to develop and diversify
the tourism industry to make
it more attractive and sustainable. Areas of intensified
focus include business conventions, conference hosting,
eco-adventure, sport and recreation, history and cultural
tourism.
Among government investments is the Hyatt Regency
Trinidad, a new 500-room,
five-star hotel and conference
centre which opened for business during the last quarter
of 2008. Other developments
include the Holiday Inn Express, the Carlton Savannah,
the Star Hotel, and a five-star
hotel at the Academy for the
Performing Arts.
In addition, the Trinidad Hilton
is undergoing a major upgrade
to increase its capacity to 420
rooms, and the TDC is also
re-designing and upgrading
some beach facilities to international standards to enhance
customer satisfaction.
Two major international meetings will be hosted in 2009 to
support the government’s intensified drive for diversification of tourism – the Summit
of the Americas in April, and
the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in No-
vember. Trinidad and Tobago
will also host the First Caribbean Games in July 2009.
Role of government
agencies
The roles of TTBS, TDC and
THA in delivering the TTTIC
programme are as follows:
• TTBS
TTBS conducts independent
third party audits and grants
certification to those appli-
cants whose operations satisfy
the requirements of the relevant national standard. The
certificate is valid for three
years during which time TTBS
conducts annual surveillance
audits to ensure continued
conformity to the standard.
• Tourism authorities
TDC and THA provide tourism operators interested in becoming TTTIC certified with
information packages and
About Trinidad and Tobago
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island state situated in the Caribbean with a
population of about 1.3 million
people. Trinidad, the larger of
the two islands, accounts for
about 96 % of the population
and is located about 11 kms
from Venezuela, South America.
Trinidad and Tobago is famous
for its carnival, and is the birthplace of calypso and the steel
pan drum English is the official
language of this most cosmopolitan state in the Caribbean.
Economy
Oil and gas currently account for
about 40 % of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), 80 % of exports
and over 60 % of government
revenues. Trinidad and Tobago is
also the world’s fifth largest exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas
(LNG), supplying 70 % percent
of US domestic
needs, and is the
world’s largest
exporter of methanol and ammonia.
Tourism in Tobago
Tobago is more dependent on tourism than Trinidad, which relies
more heavily on oil and gas. Its
tourism industry employs about
60 % of the workforce. The island’s
natural beauty attracts both leisure
and business tourists, mainly from
Europe. Some 560 000 tourists
visited the islands in 2007.
White sandy beaches with calm
waters, exotic coral reefs, large hotels and beautiful resorts are concentrated in the southwestern part
of the island. Eco-tourism is also a
major attraction in the protected
rainforest in the main ridge, and
the central and north-eastern areas
of Tobago.
Tobago has won several international tourism awards, including Best
Eco-Tourist Destination 2003-2006
and Best Caribbean Tourism Destination 2004. In the same year its
Blue Haven Hotel
was awarded the
Best Eco Resort
title, and the Coco
Reef Resort and
Spa was judged
the Best Luxury
Resort.
Sobo Water Falls, Trinidad.
consultancy services to guide
them through the implementation and audit processes.
Benefits of TTTIC
The TTTIC offers significant
benefits to certified tourism
operators who choose to be
part of this voluntary programme, including:
• Promotion on the TDC
Web site
• Promotion in a TTTIC certified operator brochure
listing, distributed at tourist information offices
• Operator credibility enhanced by a recognized
logo
• The certificate indicates a
quality service provider
• Badges and decals are provided to identify the certified operator
• Event planners are encouraged to employ certified operators
• Successful tourism operators gain recognition as
industry professionals
• The TTTIC framework
helps operators improve
their business and customer service offering.
Results of the TTTIC programme since introduction
show that it provides a sustainable development framework by establishing a minimum threshold for improved
service quality, in accordance
with customer expectations in
the global marketplace.
•
NEXT ISSUE
SPECIAL REPORT
VIEWPOINT
ISO’s new SecretaryGeneral’s perspective
on MSS
ISO’s new Secretary-General since 1 January 2009,
Rob Steele is well placed to
give a perspective on ISO’s
management system standards (MSS). Among his
experiences, he has served
on ISO’s Technical Management Board where he was
involved in developing
policies on the global relevance of International Standards and led an ad hoc
group to develop recommendations on ISO’s strategy on management system
standards.
ISO INSIDER
Brain storming on
the next ISO 9001
A task group set up by ISO
technical committee ISO/TC
176 has been brain-storming
on new high-level concepts
and ideas that may be considered as input to the next
edition of ISO 9001.
The essence of ISO
management system
standards
Just what is it about ISO management systems standards that
makes them such
an efficient and
effective management tool and that
explains why the
model first provided by ISO 9001
and then complemented by ISO
14001 has generated so many imitators ?
They are are clearly the benchmark by which all other management system standards are
judged today. Not only are there
now management systems for
most every part of modern busi-
Environmental management
The ISO 14000 family of International Standards
02.02.2009
Selection
and use 2009
- EN.indd
ness and organization – from
information security (ISO/
IEC 27001) to customer complaint handling (ISO 10002)
– but many industries and
sectors have framed their
standards around
the principles of
ISO 9001 and ISO
14001.
What are the critical design features
that are consistently imitated ?
And why do they
constitute such an
effective and efficient tool ?
16:40:32
C1
INTERNATIONAL
French Gendarmerie’s
forensic science
institute achieves ISO/
IEC 17025 accreditation
Although the French Gendarmerie’s forensic science institute
(IRCGN) already benefitted
from official recognition as a
competent body in its field, it
took up the challenge of seeking
ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as
further evidence of its high
level of service.
Financial services
company looks to
quality and risk
management standards
in current crisis
In the midst of the worst
financial crisis since The
Great Depression, US
financial services company Broadridge is focusing on risk management.
Quality and information security management systems are
helping them improve their
“risk profile” and bottom line
results.
• Argentina develops
guidelines for
implementing
ISO 9001 in reseach,
development and
innovation
L
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The media and ISO management systems

Transcription

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