Introduction/Overview

Integrated Management System (IMS) is a management system devised to integrate various management systems and processes such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 etc. as one. This concept of IMS originates from the ever evolving and constantly changing global market scenario where businesses are no more restricted to certain geographical setup hence there is widespread variation in demands related to regulatory bodies, demands from investors to optimize resources and change in societal. ISO has also evolved over the years catering expanding market and thus the concept of IMS also emerged where one unified management system is created that streamlines with all management systems that an organization intends to implement; it helps to establish consistency in the processes and systems ensuring efficiency and reduction in complexities. This article will provide a guide to align IMS with business objectives to maximize efficiency.

Purpose/Importance

Synchronizing IMS and business objectives is a very critical step towards optimizing organizational processes and systems. This alignment ensures that it takes care of business risks, information management and innovation opportunities. It also ensures

• To enable organizations, improve its decision-making process

• Reduce complexities and works towards cost efficiency

• Business Risk management

• Amplify collaboration among various stakeholders 

• Edge over other organizations and keep pace with market change

Components/ Important Aspects to be Covered

Key components of aligning IMS with Business Objectives are:

1. Finalize Scope: Ensure to establish scope of the IMS such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 ISO 45001, etc.
   
   

2. Engaging Interested Parties: Begins with top management, a commitment towards IMS and at the same time aligning with the business objectives. It then flows down the level and work seamlessly.
    

3. Roles and Responsibility: Defining roles and responsibility is key in ensuring smooth process flow.
   
   

4. Resources: Availability of resources e.g. Manpower, machines, technology, etc to be taken into consideration.
   
   

5. Risk-based approach process
   
   

6. Integrating Process and Operations along with Documentation: Ensure to incorporate IMS requirement while establishing business process and operations.
   
   

7. Competence Building: Ensuing that team members undergo relevant trainings is important.
   
   

8. Communication: A system that takes care of information flow helps to break a lot of barriers.
   
   

9. Review: Periodic reviews and timely feedback help reduce any gaps.
    

10. Continual Improvement: Establish processes of audits, inspections, etc to ensure system is reviewed periodically and improvements can be a continual process.

Steps for the Implementation/Guide

For seamless alignment of IMS with business objectives, following are steps: 

• Define and Understand Business Objectives: Clearly defined business goals and objectives, 5-year strategy/other strategy and derived key performance indicators for business helps to understand the structure of IMS that can be laid to enable that these objectives can be achieved.
  
  

• Existing Processes and Management Systems: Review and evaluate the existing management system, identify the gaps, realign to integrate or improve as needed.
  
  

• Focus Area: Identify key focus areas that are crucial for the business so that same can be properly integrated in the IMS as well.
  
  

• Stakeholder Involvement: Engaging with stakeholders is important to have an integrated approach towards organization’s objectives.
  
  

• Planning Process: A detailed plan to be chalked out that outlines the process of integration of different management system including defining responsibilities, timelines, required resources, breakdown of larger tasks into smaller ones, etc.
  
  

• Leverage Technology: Utilize digitalization tools to ease the process of integration, real time tracking, communication, documentations, reporting, etc.
  
  

• Process of Management of Change: Ensure all changes relevant to respective stakeholders are timely intimated and informed for effective communication.
  
  

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Ensure that key performance indicators are monitored periodically and reviewed to understand the progress path, this will help to identify any risks and mitigate as required.
  

Best Practices/Benefits

IMS provides an organization array of benefits from tangible to non-tangible gains.

1. Unified Approach: When the goal and objectives of the organization are clear, it becomes a solid foundation on which IMS builds. This allows for bringing everyone, right from leadership to operations team to the same ground.
    

2. Risk Based Approach: IMS in itself is designed to develop processes using risk-based approach thus business risks are taken care.
   
   

3. Compliance: IMS ensures that integrating processes eventually helps in taking care of compliance either regulatory or industrial needs.
   
   

4. Maximize Productivity: IMS is bound to maximize the productivity of not just the operations but the people, machines, equipment, etc. It has a 360-degree impact on the organization. ISO standard does not ask for separate procedures to be established if an organization has started the path of implementation. Instead, it is up to the organization to establish a process to integrate but ensure the requirements of applicable standards are complied. Processes are eventually optimized.
   
   

5. Eliminating Duplication: Single most important benefit of IMS is eliminating duplication, not just in the documents/records but also multiple reviews that management or the leadership had to conduct to review effectiveness of standards individually. One single management system that includes unified policy, goals and objectives, etc. save a lot of time, effort and money.
   
   

6. Consistency: IMS approach provides an organization to create more consistent singular management system. This results in less complexity of processes, easy to understand and more focused approach towards organizational goals in large. Consistency here means even in the tiniest factors such as a common format for training records, common processes of training needs identification, communications, resource planning etc. When consistent processes are maintained to that level is when gaps between standard requirements and actual on ground implementation shrink.
   
   

7. Cost-Effectiveness: Organization’s productivity also lies on the fact how effectively one manages resources. IMS allows to integrate processes, optimizing manpower utilization, maximize machine utilizations, integrated assessments and audits and at the same time optimize on resources too. IMS helps in eliminating redundant processes, saves time and reduces cost eventually. This also means one can have one single certification audit as per the periodicity rather than engaging resources multiple times during the year. 
   
   

8. Enhance customer satisfaction: An aligned management system ensures that needs of the customers are met through set processes.
   
   

9. Foster a Culture of Continual Improvement and Collaboration:  help to build processes that promote continual improvement and cross functional collaboration.
   
   

Conclusion

Alignment of IMS (Integrating Management System) with the business objectives is a critical strategy to ensure right decision making, maximizing efficiency and be on a continual improvement journey. IMS provides businesses an opportunity to streamline the processes, reduce costs and develop consistency in the approach. When leadership commitment combined with cross functional team support, leveraging technology and engagement from employees ultimately results in a making IMS successful. Overall, IMS has been a great force in inculcating a culture of continual improvement, contribute to add value to interested parties and help manage the overall business risk and opportunities.