Quality management system - What is it for?

The concept quality management system (QMS) - that is absolutely central concept in quality management realizations in all organizations - has largely been misused. Still many organizations are using the obsolete concept “quality system” although it does not exist any more in the ISO 9000 standards.

ISO 9000 quality management system is not defined by ISO 9001 only. One must necessarily take into account also ISO 9004 topics. In fact, ISO 9001 is a part of ISO 9004.

According to ISO 9000, a quality management system refers specifically to the management system, i.e. the system used for business management and leadership, comprised of organizational structures, approaches, processes, and resources, and which meets primarily business needs of the organization. “Quality” is an attribute of the management system implying, that appropriate professional management and leadership principles and means are applied within the organization’s management and leadership system in order to ensure and increase its effectiveness and efficiency. Thus, quality management system equals to quality of management system.

Applying the ISO 9000 definition of concept quality to management system we may get the formal definition for the quality of management system. That is: "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of a management system fulfils the needs and expectations of organization’s stakeholders". The management system includes both strategic and operational management activities.

The standards present a standardized approach for these principles and means. In real business environments the genuine quality management system can never be a distinct system and only for a quality expertise. A real quality management system is always seamlessly integrated or embedded into the leadership system of a business. The quality management system is realized especially through combining business processes with professional quality methodology. Distinct management systems, including quality systems, upheld by different organizational (support) functions and different specialized experts, will sooner or later generally entail negative effects to the business.

Factually each organization can have only one holistic business management system, and when that system creates sustainable business success it can be called “quality management system”.