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The concept of organization management has significantly evolved throughout history. It has adopted contributions from warfare, politics, economics -and other social sciences-, and philosophy. One of the important contributions from the XXth century is the idea of organizations as systems and the search for continuous improvement as the way to enhance quality, productivity and competitiveness.
Seeing organizations as systems leads to a holistic approach: the organization is a whole, bigger than its parts, in which a series of internal and external relations take place. Within this systemic view, the search for continuous improvement becomes an organizational goal which helps to achieve the aims of the organization.
In spite of their significance, the influence of both concepts would have been limited without the appearance, at the beginning of the 90s, of standardized systems for managing quality (ISO 9000). The implementation of these standards makes possible -and simplifies- the daily actions needed for continuously improving organizational systems in an economy which is increasingly globalized. These standards’ success becomes evident when considering the figures: more than 775,000 certifications done in 161 countries at the end of 2005, and an annual increase of 18%.
The own logic of quality management systems leads to think, at the end of the 90s, that improvements in organizations should not only be continuous but also sustainable. And almost naturally, standardized systems for environmental management (ISO 14000) appear. Once again, the success of such systems becomes evident in front of the figures: more than 110,000 certifications made in 138 countries at the end of 2005, with a yearly increase of 24%.
Again, the logic of these systems leads to acknowledge that it is not only necessary to improve in a continuous and sustainable way, but to do so while raising the wellbeing of the members of organizations. Thus, at the end of the XXth century we can see the appearance of standards for managing occupational health and safety (OHSAS 18000). Even if they have not yet adopted as an ISO standard -and thus there are no official figures on their implementation-, legal regulations in a variety of countries and ILO guidelines predict their future success.
On the other hand, globalization trends and the raise in competitiveness are closely related with transporting more goods and people. Such transport must not only comply with quality requirements -it has also to be sustainable and safe.
Adopting the above mentioned systems is not an easy job and their implementation is only a tool -a tool which needs the support and drive of all the levels of an organization. A determined drive that implies the commitment and responsibility of the organization towards society -that is, a corporate social responsibility.
At the INMAS Forum we will think on how to simplify the adoption of these systems and optimize their results. Our proposal is simple: to integrate them -not only between themselves but, fundamentally, with the culture of the organization. In this way, the whole process gets very simple, no matter the company size, sector or activity. And the end result is a significant and continuous increase in productivity.
For all these reasons we invite you to participate in the INMAS Forum, which will be hold in Barcelona on October 23rd to 25th. It will provide debate, discussion and exchange on management systems and their integration, with some of the best internationally recognized experts of the field.
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