Abstract
Traditionally the global management system of an organization is frequently split into a number of individual management systems that are defined and implemented according to specific management systems standards (MSSs) as well as managed independently. The individual implementation of MSSs is an option that leads to several inefficiencies and sub-optimization of the global management system of an organization. As referred by ISO [1] the interested parties’ requirements increase. A more effective and efficient option for an organization is to integrate, into an integrated management system (IMS), the implementation and management of requirements of multiple MSSs. Certain difficulties are associated to the structuring process, implementation, verification, evaluation, improvement and progressive development of an IMS in the organizations. Several scholars have proposed various theoretical approaches regarding the integration of individual management systems (MSs) leading to the conclusion that there is not a common practice for all organizations as they encompass different characteristics. This paper aims to present and justify a designed methodology to be used by organizations to support the integration of various MSs. Among them are highlighted: the Environmental Management System (EMS) according ISO 14001 [2], the Quality Management System (QMS) according ISO 9001 [3], and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH & SMS) according OHSAS 18001 [4]. The methodology was designed in the context of a Portuguese company, on sequence of an organizational diagnosis and a research that was performed through a questionnaire. The strategy and the research methods took into consideration the case study.
Highlights
Due to the demand of the market itself or by other internal reasons, there are many organizations that implement different standardized management systems (MSs) [5]
According to ISO [7], the domain of standardized management systems (MSs) has expanded greatly over the last years and nowadays there exist a relevant number of management systems standards (MSSs) for individual MSs, which apply to any type of organization independently of its external and internal context
According to Santos [23], the compatibility among different MSSs for an effective integration of the individual standardized MSs should be done in moderation and Almeida [38] [39] states that the success of the integration of the MSs is significantly related to the true motivations that leads organizations to integration
Summary
Due to the demand of the market itself or by other internal reasons, there are many organizations that implement different standardized MSs [5]. According to ISO [7], the domain of standardized management systems (MSs) has expanded greatly over the last years and nowadays there exist a relevant number of MSSs for individual MSs, which apply to any type of organization independently of its external and internal context. According to ISO publication [1] a common objective of MSSs is to assist organizations to manage the risks associated with providing products and services to customers and other interested parties. According to Suditu [20] for organizations that want to survive and compete in the actual market, it is necessary to continually improve performance of their business and MSs in a sustainable way, taking in consideration the necessities of the interested parties. Study conducted by Simon [22] concluded that Organizations prefer integration of MSs to managing them separately and the integration of systems is one of the major strategies for ensuring survival and savings for the organizations of the sample
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