[Certification Class] The Core Concept of Management Systems

01 Using process methods

We can collectively refer to an organization's management as a management system. A "system" means "a set of interrelated or interacting elements." Under the organization's overall management system, there can be multiple sub-management systems: from the management domain perspective, these may include quality, environment, energy, assets, information, health and safety sub-management systems; from the management process perspective, these may include supplier (stakeholder), operation and support, customer (stakeholder) sub-management systems. Under each sub-management system, there are related processes and activities supporting them. Therefore, from the perspective of the organization's overall management system, regardless of the management angle, these systems and their processes and activities are interrelated and interact with each other. They are often composed of elements such as leadership roles, responsibilities and authorities, management planning, resource allocation, operation implementation, monitoring and measurement, and continuous improvement. Managing these elements and their interrelations and interactions forms the management of the organizational system.

02 Adopting the PDCA cycle

"PDCA" refers to the PDCA cycle, also called the "Deming Cycle," which is a universal model in management science.

The PDCA cycle divides the management process into four stages: plan-do-check-act.

P (Plan): Planning includes determining policies and objectives, as well as formulating activity plans.

D (Do): Implementation involves designing specific methods, schemes, and plan layouts based on known information; then, according to the design and layout, carrying out specific operations to realize the planned content.

C (Check): Checking involves summarizing the results of executing the plan, distinguishing what was right and wrong, clarifying effects, and identifying problems.

A (Act): Acting means handling the results of the summary and check, affirming and standardizing successful experiences; also summarizing lessons from failures and paying attention to them. Unresolved issues should be submitted to the next PDCA cycle for resolution.

The PDCA cycle can make management methods and work steps more organized, systematic, visualized, and scientific.

Establishing risk management thinking

"Risk" is defined as "the effect of uncertainty," where effect refers to deviation from expected results or objectives and can be positive or negative.

Organizations of all types and sizes face internal and external uncertain factors. This uncertainty's impact on organizational objectives is "risk."

All organizational activities involve risk. Organizations identify, analyze, and evaluate whether to apply risk treatment to modify risks to meet risk criteria and manage risks. Through this process, organizations communicate and consult with interested parties, monitor and review risks, and adjust risk controls to ensure no further risk treatment is needed.

03 Pursuing sustained success

Sustained success refers to the result of an organization's long-term ability to continuously achieve and maintain its objectives. It is a management approach. The internal and external factors of the organization and its environment are constantly changing. Sustained success requires not only considering the organization's internal factors but also being sensitive to the environment to identify, assess, and manage risks and changing requirements and expectations related to interested parties, balancing the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders.

04 Focusing on performance

Performance management refers to a continuous cycle process in which managers and employees at all levels jointly participate in performance setting, communication, assessment and evaluation, application of results, and performance goal improvement. The purpose of performance management is to continuously improve the performance of individuals, departments, and the organization.

The main issue to be addressed in performance planning is goal management. The core of goal management is to ensure consistency among organizational goals, departmental goals, and individual goals. Through performance assessment and evaluation, individual and organizational performance are synchronously improved. The central idea of goal management is to cascade organizational goals down to every member, level, and department.

05 Customer-centric focus

The most important management area for an organization is product and service quality. Quality management is the cornerstone of all management areas; without quality management, other management areas are meaningless. The main focus of quality management is to meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations. Customer-centric focus is the first principle and core idea of quality management. Any organization depends on customers; customers are the foundation for an organization's survival and development. An organization without customers has no meaning for existence. Therefore, to survive, an organization should prioritize customer requirements, clearly identify who its customers are, proactively understand customer needs, study how to meet customer needs and expectations, and translate them into quality requirements, taking effective measures to continuously satisfy customer needs and expectations. At the same time, potential customers should be noted, and future resource preparation should be planned accordingly to maintain market competitiveness.

06 Emphasizing leadership roles

Top management should paint a clear blueprint for the organization's future, unify the organization's purpose and direction, align strategy, policies, processes, and resources, set goals consistent with the organizational environment, and achieve and improve management objectives through management measures such as clarifying process responsibilities, determining process methods, allocating process resources, monitoring process operations, evaluating process performance, preventing process risks, creating process opportunities, and improving process results.

07 Promoting full participation

The competence, authorization, and participation of personnel at all levels within the organization are necessary conditions for enhancing the organization's ability to create and deliver value. The operation of organizational management is realized through the participation of personnel at all levels in all related processes. The effectiveness of processes depends on the awareness, work ability, cooperation spirit, and work enthusiasm of personnel at all levels. To manage processes effectively and efficiently, it is extremely important that personnel at all levels are respected and involved. Organizations should create an environment for employee participation and encourage and stimulate active involvement. Only when everyone's abilities and efforts are fully utilized can they contribute to the organization's interests, and the organization will gain maximum benefits.

Full participation is an important and effective foundation for an organization's management system and one of the guarantees for continuous improvement. Developing management plans that mobilize the enthusiasm and potential of all employees is the realization of a people-oriented management philosophy.

08 Evidence-based decision-making

Decision-making is a complex process that always involves some uncertain subjective and objective factors. Decisions cannot be made without evidence. The raw components of evidence are data and information and their uncertainties. Data and information and their uncertainties must be scientifically processed to become evidence. Scientific processing methods include experience, knowledge, methodology, rational thinking, perception, judgment, values, etc. Evidence-based decision-making is the theory of making decisions based on evidence formed by scientifically processing data, information, and their uncertainties. Evidence-based decision-making can support both operational and strategic levels.

09 Relationship Management

Customers, suppliers, employees, investors, government, associations, banks, and other stakeholders have a close relationship with the operation and development of the organization. The organization's performance is influenced by stakeholders and also affects them. By managing relationships with stakeholders and establishing principles of mutual benefit, on one hand, the role of stakeholders in organizational performance is maximized; on the other hand, the requirements and expectations of stakeholders are met in a balanced manner.