Integrated Management Systems: their organizational impacts

Abstract

In the past few decades, many organizations are implementing management systems. The similarities between them allowed the integration of different models. The main purpose of this article was to map and analyse the literature on the impacts of Integrated Management Systems (IMS) on organizational performance. The methodology used followed the guidelines of the Preferred Report Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses – PRISMA, based on a sample of scientific articles extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus data bases. The results revealed important benefits of the IMS (such as improving operational performance, reducing costs, sustainable development, stakeholder satisfaction, reduction of occupational risks, etc.) and a wide willingness to integrate them. The researched systems were the Quality Management System – QMS, the Environmental Management System – EMS, and the Occupational Health and Safety Management System – OHSMS. Many studies have ratified the benefits of the IMS. However, no quantitative research was found in the articles’ sample measuring the proportion of impacts that each of the three management systems offers with the integration amongst them. In this way, future research was evidenced according to the investigation of the gains provided by the systems’ integration and due to the identified gap.