Quality Systems

ISO 9001: 2008 and ISO 14001:2004 are vital international standards issued to organizations who meet certain minimum requirements. These awards are issued to promote the enhancement of quality within the organizations that guide in the delivery of high quality services and products. In the event a company attains the standards of ISO 9001:2008, it implies that its level of services are of international standards and can be approved for consumption or use by all people. ISO 14001: 2004 is used to organizations that conform to protection and preservation of the environment. In this regard, there exist multiple similarities between the two awards in terms of certification, registration and accreditation. The awards are issued through the process of certification that involves an external independent body. In this case, an organization is assessed in terms of quality of management system that it adopts based on the international standards (Blokdijk, 2008).

Similarly, the two standards of follow the same registration process with the process of certification and then registration. Having complied with the international standards, an organization would be registered in list that includes other organizations that meet the standards. Therefore, organizations fight for the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 since they adopt the same certification requirements, which must be registered. For the ISO 9001: 2008, compliance to the standards of the management systems, while ISO 14001:2004 compliance to the environmental protection, enables one organization to be registered under the list of the qualifying organizations (Edwards, 2001).

Another crucial element, which could be adopted for either certification or registration, is the accreditation. In this case, accreditation entails the recognition of an organization as a specialized body due to its compliance to the international standards. Often, accreditation entails the certification of the bodies that issue certification to other bodies, which indicate the compliance to international standards. Some of the vital need for this practice involves regulation of the credibility of the international standards (Sheldon, 1997).

The process of integrating ISO 9001: 2008 and ISO 14001: 2004 could be complex but its outcome would be vital for the organizations that would get the accreditation. In this case, organizations would be necessitated to minimize the time and cost of implementing any new specifications of ISO 14001:2004 through mastery of the key terms. This implies that the initial step would involve the identification of adjustments and additions to ISO 14001:2004 for the organization to comply with ISO 9001:2008. In this regard, the organization should develop appropriate policies that conform to environmental standards. Additionally, the organization should analyze the impacts and aspects of the environmental policies. Through this initiative, the process of environmental consideration, varied forms of awareness and understanding of responsibility should be integrated into the management system. Considering that the two international standards awards are complementary, an organization that achieves the target would be able to streamline all its operation in terms of quality enhancement and environment protection. This is because ISO 9001:2008 is an accreditation for effective management system while ISO 14001: 2004 consists of vital environmental policies that must be complied by the organization (Phillips, 2009). As a result, by the international organizations with credibility to certify organizations complying adopting these changes, organizations would be able to streamline the international conformity to all essential standards. Similarly, all organization will work to improve every aspect of the organization in any dimension with regard to the certification. In this case, there will be simultaneous changes in all organizations. Therefore, the certifying bodies would improve the rating standards (Tricker, 2005). 

Meanwhile, the process of complying to the two standards at ago could be complex but with the struggle, most organizations would attain it. Thus, the process of preservation and conservation of environment would be achieved. For the consumers of various services and products of multiple organizations, they would achieve the best quality of services with less risk of exploitation and extortion. This implies that the urge to consolidate the two international standards is essential to limit the adversity of specialization for one standard. This whole process will result in the conformity of the two international standards.

The fact that company visited had no certification of international standards indicated that multiple measures had to be adopted within the organization to streamline it to attain the ISO 9001:2008. In this case, the quality of the management systems had to be aligned to the international standards to improve the level of its rating. Therefore, the organization has to work on improving its services and products by enhancing its operations. As a result, by the year 2013, they would have attain the ISO 9001:2008 that would have great impact in terms of their market rating and access to multiple resources. Under their agenda, the nature of management from the human resource to the finance and operation management has to be appropriately addressed. This implies that organizations would have to adopt the best technology with essential expertise for the quality of their operation and productivity to be enhanced. In this case, the organization would realize the best that would guarantee the achievement of the accreditation.   

For the organization, the realization of ISO 9001: 2008 would have great impact on the productivity. In this case, employees would be motivated due to enhancement of their security of tenure while the performance of the company would have improved drastically. This implies that its market would have grown and would be able to face competition of any form. Through this struggle, the company would be able to attract lenders who could offer the company with finance for further expansion. This is mainly due to the collateralized nature of the company’s standards. Based on these facts, the company’s rating would be high in the market and would sustain any economic challenges. For the competitors, they will experienced great market disadvantage, which could leading to closure or quitting of the market. Generally, the standards boost the overall consideration of the company.

In the event that I was the quality manager of the company responsible for conducting internal audit, I would ensure that international standards are followed accordingly. In this case, the international standards should be complied with in every aspect of the organization to enhance the productivity the departments. This implies that the management systems should be consistent and flexible, since all stakeholders of the company from the globe could analyze the firm based on its output and performance. Another crucial element is to address the ethical responsibilities of the employees. In this regard, it essential to formulate codes of conduct in the organization, that prevents instances of fraudulent activities or misappropriation of funds. Through this act, the organization would be free from any form of corrupt dealings that could taint the reputation of the company (Fight, 2002). This implies that the internal audit section would be able to access the management conduct of the company in an expected manner.

Since employees is another crucial element of the qualitative aspect of the company, that work in different departments of the organization, it essential to win their hearts and mindsets. This implies that it is mandatory to promote the productivity and morale of employees. In this case, the internal audit should countercheck the various vices that could prompt employees to engage in unethical practices. Some of this could include the level of remuneration or the working conditions. Through this act, all operations within the organization would be effectively determined, leading to appropriate expenditure and generation of desired revenues. As a result, the profitability of the company would be enhanced and its overall market share in the industry would improve. Through effectiveness in the internal audit, it indicates that the organization would boost its level of quality of management depicting that quality management is vital for an organization. Finally, the observation of quality will enhance the performance and company’s position in the industry.