What
is a Management System
Why do organisations need management systems?
Almost all organisations
strive to:
 |
provide a service to their clients which meets their requirements
and expectations |
 |
achieve high levels of client satisfaction |
 |
achieve profitability and/or financial stability |
Organisations have
strategies and policies aimed at achieving this purpose. These
are supported by lower level processes which
people apply to undertake their daily work, aimed at for example:
making sure the client's requirements are understood, and delivering
a service which fully meets the client's expectations. These
processes help to define the culture or ethos of the organisation
- 'the way we do things around here' or 'the xyz company way'
In small organisations (1-10 employees, say) communicating
and sharing the vision, strategy and processes is relatively
straightforward. As the organisation grows and the structure
becomes more complex, the 'company way' needs to be documented
so that everyone shares a common view of how the organisation
delivers quality to its clients.
The documentation is known as a 'management system'.
Content of
a management system
A management system comprises:
 |
procedures, which define processes: who does what, when,
how? what is the output? what happens to it? |
 |
standards, which define the 'shape' of outputs: e.g.
what does a quotation to a client contain? what does a
purchase order look like? |
Many of the standards will be forms or templates.
IIt is often
helpful to structure the system into:
 |
delivery procedures: defining the processes which determine
the client's requirement and deliver the product or service |
 |
support procedures: defining the processes outside
the main delivery line, but which are important to the
general running of the organisation e.g. purchasing,
information security, invoicing |
 |
feedback procedures: however well designed, the management
system will never be perfect; there need to be mechanisms
for capturing and applying improvements; these include: |
|
suggestions from staff
feedback
from clients
quality
audits |
Form of a management system
Traditionally management systems have consisted of
paper documents in manuals. Nowadays technology enables systems
to be accessed from PCs, via the Windows desktop or corporate
intranet. This makes the system far easier to access and use
and reduces maintenance costs.
Benefits
of using a management system
Organisations who use a management
system typically find:
 |
costs are reduced: doing things right first time eliminates
the need for rework |
 |
senior management reduce the time they need to allocate
to day-to-day running of the organisation, freeing up
time for business development and other strategic work |
 |
clients are satisfied and loyal |
 |
winning new clients is easier |
To build an effective management system we recommend
you follow five
key principles
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