Importance of integrated management systems for organizations

A management system is made up of a set of analysis elements, arranged in stages and a continuous flow process. A management system is conducive to achieving improvements in organizational structure and strategy.


The elements to which reference is made are the information systems, the qualitative and quantitative analysis systems, the financial and non-financial ones, and all those that make up the organizational structure of a company.

Management systems consist of different stages. The first stage consists of the formulation of the central idea, What do we want to achieve?. Once the objective is defined, the activity planning stage is passed, then comes, How am I going to achieve it? This is where the strategy is established.

The third stage is the implementation or management, that is, the decisions and actions that are taken to achieve the purposes, which are instrumental and ends with that of control. The purpose of this is to detect errors.

An efficient management control system feeds on information and constitutes a powerful feedback factor to achieve improvements in decision-making processes, making it a truly virtuous circle for any organization.

Strategic organization management

In an increasingly competitive world, the development of both personal and organizational skills becomes an indispensable tool to face a difficult and continuously changing world. The problems and circumstances that arise are increasingly complex and in this context, managers have to face daily decisions regarding activity planning, coordination, and organization. Also the allocation of resources, direction, and control.

In the process of modern management education, the role of e-learning software, such as edtech software is crucial.

An entrepreneurial management system is a tool that cannot be absent in the life of an organization, as it aims at the best and most efficient allocation of the resources available to it, to obtain the best possible results.

In an administrative management system, the management control stage is undoubtedly the most relevant. Through the different established standards, the comparison of performance with those standards, and the detection of the causes that originated them, there will be available information to carry out corrective and preventive actions so that the final results are close to the expected objectives.

The management control system is intended to assist the different decision levels of a company, to coordinate the necessary actions to achieve the proposed objectives, within the different established deadlines.

Therefore, strategic management is an instrument that allows organizational managers to maintain a situation of equilibrium with the context, adopting a posture of adaptation to the changes suffered by the environment, using the best available resources.

Quality management systems

In commerce, the need for strong quality management systems is evident. A quality system must be based on a product that arises from an organizational culture obtained from the development of skills and work habits.

Quality management is the last link in a continuous improvement process that leads to total quality, in which the needs and expectations of people are the main aspects on which organizational efforts must be focused.

These efforts should be aimed at detecting and understanding the changes that currently occur without pause and often quickly, changes that require constant attention and administration, and careful planning.

Integrated management systems

The activities carried out by companies not only have effects on the quality of the final product, but also on the safety and health of the people involved in the operations and on the environment.

For these purposes, they are called externalities, which can be positive or negative, and to avoid or prevent the latter from occurring, there are integrated management systems, which become a powerful tool available to companies to improve their competitiveness.

Most common integrated management systems

  • ISO 9001: 2015 standard. It is a Quality Management System that contains international standards focused on processes and customer satisfaction.
  • ISO 14001: 2015 standard. International standard to establish an efficient Environmental Management System, in balance with socio-economic needs.
  • OHSAS 18001 Standard. It contains the minimum requirements for best practices to successfully achieve a Management System for Safety and Health at Work.
  • ISO 27001 standard. An international standard that describes how to carry out an Information Security Management System.

Advantages of integrated management systems

  • A company can be integrated with all or only with some management systems, it depends a lot on its public (stakeholders).
  • The management standards have common foundations: orientation to the satisfaction of the parties involved, innovation and continuous improvement, and a process-based approach.
  • Integrated Management Systems helps organizations to permanently improve the quality of the products and services they offered.
  • An organization that has adopted a quality or environmental management system is more likely to incorporate other systems.
  • The evaluation and audit processes are facilitated.
  • There is unification in the communication, training, and control methodologies of companies.
  • It favors a reduction in the time of carrying out audits, in the costs of certification, and maintenance of systems.
  • Synergies are established between the different management systems.
  • General acceptance by the target audience for improvements in management and time reductions.
  • Alignment of systems with business strategy (objectives, decision-making, compliance with legal requirements, greater involvement of personnel, optimization of resources and processes, best practices, orientation to total quality, increased productivity, and modernization of the structure of the company).
  • It improves the organization’s competitiveness in the current globalized context, allowing them greater visibility.
  • Sustainability of organizations
  • Organizations will assess business risk management as a key requirement to consider.
  • Substantially reduces poor quality costs

The future and change management

So, competitiveness is today what distinguishes the business environment, so having a vision that allows perceiving possible future scenarios, adopting management methods appropriate to new circumstances, will mean companies and organizations subsisting or disappearing from the system.

Resistance to change is a great negative force that works contrary to progress and jeopardizes the future of a company. In short, competitiveness, continuous change, and resistance to change are the three elements that all management must know, master, and work with, paying the necessary attention to manage them in a timely and adequate manner.


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