Introduction
Management standards have generated substantial interest in recent years. Some literature defines the standards as "costly and cumbersome". Some, describe it as "providing discipline" and giving a roadmap to profit gains.
Some literature found the standards to improve operations as well as financial outcomes. Studies examines sales, cost reduction, supply chain quality and stock market reaction. Ivanova, investigates the implementation process in detail and develops framework of effective implementation.
This article presents the work of Albena Ivanova from Department of Management, USA.
A case study was conducted in a manufacturing organisations who adopted ISO9001 and ISO14001. The work lead to a construction of a process map and considerations for successful implementation of those standards.
From the study findings, the main factors affecting the implementation are:
* focus on internal improvements,
* top management support,
* designing the system across existing processes,
* use of automation and information technology,
* employee attitude and involvement.
The stages
The implementation processes are consistent with literature on innovation adoption. These include:
1. Decision to adopt
Here, the organisation examines the reasons for adoption. Most common reason is the customer pressure. However, increased stricter governmental environmental regulations also act as motivators. There are additional internal motivators. For example, improved processes. The motivators are an important factors for successful implementation.
Early adopters also benefit financially from the implementation - both marketing and operational benefits.
The organisation size influence the decision for adoption. The general perception is that larger companies are more likely to implement the standards.
2. Planning
Top management support has been found as an important factor for successful implementation. The size of the company influence the availability of internal resources and the decision to use the consultant. The most severe issues reported during the adoptions are the documentation and paperwork. Therefore one of the solutions is to seek help from consultants.
Some organisations utilise in-house skills to implement the standards. These are generally larger companies that have prior experience with similar standards, have educated and capable people and follow corporate policies. They may still, however, use consultancy for training. Some small organisations cannot develop small ISO teams thus need external consultants to help. The availability of corporate procedure also eliminate the need for external consultants. Larger companies have already established corporate procedures which are used as a starting point for implementation.
3. System design
Many small organisations employ consultants who can help the internal team to navigate through the documentation requirements. Some of the consultant can provide the documentation that meet the standards requirements. Some studies stress the important for the standards to be implemented around the processes that already exist prior to implementation. Design is based on the analysis of current processes so that the standard is better integrated. Some organisations use the QMS to establish EMS.
4. Deployment
Successful implementation depends on employee empowerment, making suggestions for improvements and involving them in decision making. Attitude of the employees towards the standards may also be important.
One critical factor to the standards are internal audits. It has direct impact on the organisation passing the certification.
After the adoption the standard becomes part of the management system.
Data collection
During the study of Ivanova, data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Companies who adopted the standards provided feedback on the outcomes. The variable is the effectiveness of the implementation which was coded as "high", "medium" or "low". It was coded based on the benefits observed with regards to performance (environmental performance, quality performance).
The seven propositions
17 separate maps were constructed for 17 different cases. The maps were then overlapped and compared for common trends across the cases. In total 46 different variables were identified. Several of them overlapped and become one in the framework.
Positive and negative influence on each stage effectiveness was defined.
Followings findings were presented:
1. Decision to adopt
It was confirmed that Motivation for adoption (internal and external) had a positive influence on the system implementation and its effectiveness. Within this comes the desire for internal improvement. Additionally, the type of the organisational culture was influencing the implementation. If the culture was proactive, it was positively influencing the implementation. Workforce age also had direct impact. The older the generation the more resistance to change.
Presence of unions have demonstrated negative influence. However, the employee morale was marked as important for successful implementation.
When the decision to adopt originates from within the company the management support tends to be high. When the decision is imposed by customers the support tends to be low. For example, if the business owners are very cautious about the environmental impacts and they feel that is is the right thing to do, the motivation is higher and leading to better outcomes. If the standards are considered as an evil requirement the support is lower, thus the outcomes are lower.
Therefore the fist proposition was made that Internally driven adoption ensures the management support and design of the system across already existing processes.
2. Strategic planning
Within the stage of planning, top management support was highly influencing the implementation effectiveness. The more support, the more successful adoption of the system.
Strategic planning is driven by top management. Sometimes, the management structure change after the implementation. New management comes into place. New management that demands compliance and written procedures. With the processes of root cause analysis and corrective actions the culture started to shift for more responsible work ethics. When the management supports the standards the outcomes are better. Emphasis on proactive programs are also positive.
Here the third proposition is derived: Top management support towards the standard fosters positive attitudes among the employees towards the standard.
A very important decision within the planning is also whether the standards should be implemented across already existing processes. Some of the documentation is combined, but the overall decision was to separate the standards when implementing. It was proven to make it simpler and avoid confusions. However, they key is to know that it is not important on whether they are integrated with each other, but whether they are integrated with the existing processes. When the design is not based on the analysis of the existing processes the resulting procedures are hard to follow and the employees perceive the requirements as extra work.
Here, the fourth proposition was mentioned: A system designed among the existing processes enables positive employee attitude towards the standard.
3. System design
The extend to which the design is based on the analysis of internal processes has been considered as a positive influencer on the successful adoption. Additionally, the alignment of the standards within business decisions has been important. The use of Information technology demonstrated positive impact on the adoptions.
Employee involvement was also evaluated. Particularly within the alignment of the requirements around the business decisions and the use of information technology.
Here, the fifth proposition was formed: Building the system around daily practices facilitated the use of existing information technology.
Because the information technology already exists within the organisations and people were already using the systems, it was positively impacting better outcomes of successful implementation. However, many businesses implemented their own management systems, without the use of external software. Some used integrated information technology for the standards.
The use of information technology prove higher employee involvement. Plants did not want only managers to use the systems, but everyone to have access to it. The computer technology used for controlling production can provide "live" information about everything from product quality to the status of pollution control equipment. This provides the record keeping hub for the standards and external audits.
4. Deployment
Within the deployment stage the employee training had positive impact. As well as the employee attitude and involvement. This means that if more competence is assured, employees are aware of the standard benefits, requirements and ongoing participation on the decision making is assured, the more likelihood of the successful adoption of the standards.
It was apparent, that it takes time for people to understand, time is needed for people to used to it and time is needed for development of meaningful measures. Very often departments are caught up in their little part and working in solos. They forget easily that they are part of one bigger system. Employees do not look at work instructions and SOPs ( Standard Operating Procedures). It is easy for them to put them back and come back to old routines.
Therefore, sixth proposition was formed: Employees positive attitude towards the standard enables employees involvement.
The employees involvement was considered important for the implementation. In some cases it was assessed that implementation of standards improved employee morale. By involving them they felt that they have more control over their situation. It makes the implementation a greater success.
Here, the seventh proposition was formed: Employees involvement enables the effectiveness of the standard adoption.
The framework
The propositions were integrated within the conceptual framework. They were linked to the different stages of implementation.
The framework suggests meaningful insights to plan implementing the standards:
Decision to adopt - focus on internal improvements as opposed to focus on the implementation.
Strategic planning - ensure top management support.
System design - Extend to which system is designed around the existing processes and existing information technology.
Deployment - ensure positive employee attitude and involvement.
Additional findings
Interestingly, the organisation size did not seem to have influence on the effectiveness of the implementation. Similar conclusion is derived for plants being part of a bigger cooperation.
The time of adoption did not have the impact on the success either. There were cases of high and low effectiveness in early and late adopters. Generally, early adopters were driven by marketing benefits.
The use of consultants had no direct impact on the success. It is not the use of consultants but their role that have the impact. Excessive dependance on consultants can end in failure to integrate the system with internal processes.
It was also determined that too much documentation was a barrier for the implementation. The internal communications also had an impact. Use of cross-functional teams had positive influence.
Finally, internal audits were considered significant to the overall success of the implementation.
Bibiography
Ivanova, A., Gray,J.; Sinha.K., 2014, “Towards a unifying theory of management standard implementation: The case of ISO9001/ISO14001”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol 34, pp 1269-1306
Rosenberg, E.S. (1976), “Standards and industry self-regulation”, California Management Review, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 79-90.
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