Creating Integrated Management Systems
Clarity or Confusion

Over 450,000 companies have implemented quality management systems accredited to ISO 9000. Increasing numbers have also adopted HS&E standards like ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001, not to mention improvement systems such as EFQM, Baldridge or Six Sigma, or the strategic systems of Business Planning and Balanced Scorecard. With so many competing approaches, we ask the question "What is an integrated management system?", and consider whether it is the basis of clarity or confusion for organizations looking to achieve excellence.