What is Integrated Management System? All you need to know about it
Posted by AdrianRocker on July 26th, 2013
For those of you that have recently start running a business, the whole concept behind the Integrated Management System may sound a bit confusing. However, understanding what IMS is should not hold any secrets, especially if you are planning on leading a firm, company or organization with a large number of employees and wide variety of clients. This article will give you the information you need to implement such a framework, but also provide you with the reasons why we consider such management system is highly important.
According to specialists an Integrated Management System includes all of the organization’s processes and procedures which are used to ensure that all of the tasks are fulfilled and all objectives are achieved. This means that one single system can addresses several management issues such as quality, safety, risks, enabling the organization or company to work as a single unit.
When it comes to identifying the benefits of using an IMS, the authors of the thesis “Integrated Management Systems – advantages, problems, and possibilities” state that many of the firms which have implemented such a system have increased their efficiency. In addition to that, the firms have managed to link quality related and environment related aspects with ethics and organization profitability. Further more, authors state that IMS help company owners develop managing systems with better match the interests of the stakeholders. Last but not least, the studies analyzed in the text show that other benefits of using IMS include “the use of process approach, the use of the PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) approach, integrated audits and common documentations system with common structure routines”.
If you are wondering what you, as a company owner, should consider when it comes to deciding about the structure of the IMS, we have some useful tips. One of the first things you can do is think about the stakeholders, meaning all those who will be affecting or will be affected by your activity. Keep in mind that this includes future generations, and, of course, nature. Some of these stakeholders can be dealt with by means of standardized management systems, whereas other may require a different general practice. When it comes to choosing the right provider for the IMS, make sure you rely on the help of a company which will have the power to aid you in achieving the following goals: define areas of responsibility, create a good and safe working environment for your employees, increase customer confidence in your company, prevent problems and accidents from occurring, indentify a problem correctly if one emerges, find the cause of the issue in a short amount of time, remedy the cause and prevent the problem from happening again.
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