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The purpose of this paper is to find answers to the current issue of the audit. What has to offer classical approach of audit practice to help organizations improve their performance? What should be done for the results of an audit of the audited organization to be useful in terms of its managers more interested in improving organizational performance, effective leadership, risk management and assessing the maturity of the organization in order to take decisions and improve business than the information to confirm compliance?

Analysis and evaluation of the management systems’ audits findings, conducted in the last ten years by two major Romanian accredited certification bodies.

A complete rethinking of audits is required. The audit methods will increase, allowing auditors to use various combined methods, based on audit purposes and on the needs of the audited organization.

The present paper is describing the current situation, found in management systems auditing and also trying to assess and predict future development possibilities.

This paper discusses how a systems approach to management can be used to facilitate the development and implementation of an integrated management system (IMS) in an organization. It is argued that any solution to address the rapidly growing need for the integration of function‐specific management systems requires two elements: a conceptual model and a supporting methodology. While the research on IMS modelling is fairly advanced, evidenced by a number of existing models that would probably qualify to provide the basis for integration, development of methodologies to achieve fully‐integrated systems is still lacking. This paper therefore provides a set of criteria for selection of the most appropriate IMS model, followed by a discussion of one such model based on the systems approach. The presented model can be used to integrate the requirements of existing and upcoming function‐specific management system standards, and provide a foundation for the top‐down integration of internal systems that these standards describe. Subsequently, a short discussion on the issue of the IMS methodology is given, and the paper concludes with a list of questions that will help researchers design a comprehensive IMS methodology.

In the context of the globalization of markets and free trade, the importance of the Internet in the systems of negotiation, communication, and data exchange grows, which puts the problem of information security at the forefront. Actions and improvement activities on the management of confidential information are becoming increasingly important in organizations.

However, information is not just stored in computers; information can be on paper, on a disc, and in the minds of those who work for the organization. Information becomes part of the heritage, and it must be preserved throughout its entire life cycle.

Nowadays, the mere use of some information defence technology is no longer enough; therefore, it becomes essential to implement an efficient Information Security Management System (ISMS) to guarantee a competitive advantage compared to competitors. ISO/IEC 27001 standard outlines the structure for implementing an ISMS and helps organizations manage and protect information assets.

This paper aims to theoretically and empirically demonstrate the role played by business continuity management (BCM) to address risks such as trade conflicts and natural disasters. This paper also answers whether compliance with international standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 22301 is adequate.

A case study of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is conducted to examine how a robust end-to-end BCM system has been established in two decades and in what way it has helped Huawei to efficiently maintain growth under pressure, such as being added to the “Entity List” and the pandemic.

Huawei case contributes to BCM theory in its approach to establishing the BCM system and its well-established BCM model. Huawei establishes and continually improves its BCM system by applying the Plan (establish), Do (implement and operate), Check (monitor and review) and Act (maintain and improve) cycle. Characterized as 4Ps: BCM policy, BCM process, incident management plan and business continuity plan, Huawei BCM system is shaped into a loop with end-to-end BCM process, covering all steps along its value chain – from suppliers and partners to Huawei itself and then on to its customers – with key initiatives for all domains such as R&D, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and global technical services. In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

Apart from the case study, other methods such as counter-factual analysis can be used to further test whether Huawei’s BCM system is cost-effective. Another direction for future study is whether suggested BCM maturity levels should be supplemented into ISO 22301. In the digital age, how to use digitalization to ensure business continuity is a current issue not just for practitioners such as Huawei but also for researchers worldwide.

In practice, implementing international standards such as ISO 22301 enables Huawei to develop business continuity but not enough. Optimizing the BCM system is an ongoing effort, and BCM maturity is ever present: continually improving Huawei’s own BCM system and benchmarking against best practices available worldwide.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to focus on how an organization continually improves the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of its BCM system, with special attention to standards compliance.

This paper presents a theoretical research framework that was used to analyse operational risk management (ORM) system practices in Australia. It provides a new perspective on how to use national and international operational management system standards as a basis for systematic management of operational risks. Based on the extensive literature review and the analysis of operational risk management system practices that are common in Australian organisations, this paper identifies the critical factors for effective use of an ORM system. The proposed framework could also be used as a model to research ORM system applications in other countries.

Owing to global competitiveness, businesses are now trading internationally and are expected to have management systems certified to international standards, enhancing customer‐supplier relationships and stakeholder perceptions. This paper discusses several international standards, such as the ISO 9000 series of quality management systems standards, the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standard and the internationally developed British Standards Institute OHSAS 18001 Health and Safety Management specification, and how they might affect maintenance organisations in the future.

Comprehensive management systems such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 are designed to help organizations improve processes, ensure customer satisfaction, efficient information flow, efficient use of resources and many other prosperous management areas. These systems can also bring unintended direct and indirect effects on organizations. In this study, the authors examine the environmental effects that the implementation of these management systems cause.

A survey-based methodology was used for this study, with textile organizations in three countries – Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The research focused on four areas related to environmental effects. The first area was the level of improvement of the organizations' environmental performance, which was examined by the methods of descriptive statistics. The second area was analyzing differences in environmental effects concerning the implementation of the systems using inferential statistics. The third area was the analysis of latent links between individual effects using factor analysis.

This study's insights shed some light on the benefits of implementing more, not fewer systems with benefits to organizations and entire industries with new possibilities for economic growth that do not have to come at the expense of the environment.

Organizations implementing management systems can realize dynamic benefits across a supply chain and within a manufacturing organization. Here the authors see an opportunity for ISO systems as a stepping stone to a more sustainable textile manufacturing economy.

The need to create integrated management systems (IMS) in order to handle the proliferation of management system standards is undeniable. There is also evidence in literature and practice that organizations are slowly starting to tackle the IMS issue, mainly by putting an integrated quality and environmental management system in place. Due to the existence of internationally accepted standards covering these two fields, namely ISO 9000 and 14000 series, such a scope of integration comes as no surprise. However, can and should other systems, for example, the ones for occupational health and safety, dependability, social accountability or complaints handling, be included? What would such an integration mean for the existing organizational structures and how could be it be accomplished? When we attempt to address IMS issues, do we really talk about the integration of standards, systems, both or neither? These and other important questions regarding IMS are addressed here. By means of an example from the nuclear industry, this paper focuses in particular on the integration of a safety management system within an IMS framework. Since safety is of such a paramount importance in nuclear plants, it makes sense to integrate safety requirements within a quality management system, as a possible first step in the integration efforts. Subsequently, other function‐specific requirements may be included to form a “real” IMS.

This paper discusses the significant role of the maintenance function in an integrated management system and discusses how the efforts of maintenance management can contribute a value added perspective to the third party assessment process. Due to global competitiveness, businesses are now trading internationally and are expected to have management systems certified through a third party to international standards enhancing customer‐supplier relationships and stakeholder perceptions. This paper discusses several international standards such as ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Systems standard, ISO 14001:1996 Environmental Management Systems standard and the internationally developed British Standards Institute OHSAS 18001 Health and Safety Management specification and how they might affect maintenance organisations in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of implementing management system standards among ISO (and other) certified companies in the Pearl River Delta and its effect on the perceived benefits.

A cross‐sectional survey of certified companies was carried out using a self‐administrated questionnaire. A total of 157 companies participated in the study.

It was found that the majority of the responding companies implement more than one standardized management system, mostly adopting the quality management, environmental management, and occupational health and safety management systems (i.e. ISO9001, ISO14001, and OHSAS18001). Results show that companies certified to ISO9001 and ISO14001 gain more benefits than the others.

The study shows that companies implementing multiple management systems can have better corporate performance, product quality, and marketing edges than the others. The results indicate that different combinations of management systems give rise to different level of performance.

There is a lack of empirical proof that more benefits will be gained when multiple management system standards are adopted. The paper addresses this short‐coming and provides evidence that acquiring more system certifications will result in greater perceived benefits.