ISO Standards and Excellence-Project Etisalat Co in the UAE - Case Study Example

IOS STANDARDS AND EXCELLENCE-PROJECT (ETISALAT CO) IN UAE Introduction The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) comes up with international standards for organizations (Home). Such standards promote in international trade since incongruent standards may be barriers to trade, advantaging some organizations in certain areas of the world. They also promote fair competition in free-market economies as well as enhancing trade through facilitated product reliability and quality, reduced costs, greater ease of maintenance and greater interoperability and comparability. Such standards include ISO 27001, ISO 31000, ISO9001 and ISO14001 among other. Each and every standard address a different issue, for instance ISO 27001 outlines how a company should manage information security, ISO 31000 is an international standard for risk management, ISO 9001 is a certified quality management system (QMS) (ISO 9001 consultant) and ISO 14001 details the actual requirements for environmental management systems. This project focuses on ISO 9001 with respect to Etisalat, a UAE multinational telecommunications service provider. The project aims at identifying how ISO 9001 has been applied in Etisalat; when ISO 9001 was implemented in the company, the benefits of ISO 9001to the company, ISO 9001 manual standardization of Etisalat, required procedures of implementing ISO 9001, organization’s certification process, audit and evaluation procedure involved in the company, how an organization achieves Business Excellence award after having implemented the ISO standardization and analysis of data management to improve QMS. The history of ISO ISO is the worlds largest developer of international standards in the world. The Organization comprises representatives from different national standards organizations. The organization started in 1926 and was known as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA). Due to World War II, ISA was suspended in 1942, however, after the war it was approached by United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee (UNSCC) with a proposition of forming a new global standards body. UNSCC and ISA delegates from 25 nations met in London in October 1946 and agreed to join forces in forming the new International Organization for Standardization. Officially, ISO commenced operations in February 1947. Since then, ISO has issued more than 19,500 international standards that cover nearly all aspects of business and technology (Home). Today, the organization has approximately 150 individuals working full time for their Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. Also, it has members from 65 countries. ISO was among the first organizations to be accorded general consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ISO’s key products are international standards. In addition, it publishes technical reports, publicly available specifications, technical specifications, guides and technical corrigenda. ISO promotes worldwide industrial, proprietary and international standards. Such standards are very crucial in international trade since incongruent standards may be barriers to trade, advantaging some organizations in certain areas of the world. ISO provides international recognized standards that promote fair competition in free-market economies. The Standards enhance trade through facilitated product reliability and quality, reduced costs, greater ease of maintenance and greater interoperability and comparability. In my opinion, the organization is fair to small open source projects since the ISO standards are often not available free of charge. The purchase fee is normally too expensive for such organizations. This reduces fair competition as such organizations cannot afford the standards. ISO 27001 ISO 27001 is an international standard that is published by the ISO, and it spells out how a company should manage information security. Information security has wide implications for the operations of the company as well as its interactions with customers. The company’s internal data and data that are presented by suppliers, employees and customers must be handled securely. ISO 27001 enables a company to qualify for projects that require them to handle sensitive data. Protecting a company’s information is crucial for smooth operation and successful management of the company. By achieving ISO 27001 certification, a company is able to reap the following benefits: keep confidential information secure; manage and minimize exposures to risk; securely exchange information; provide competitive advantage; consistency in the delivery of products or services; improved customer retention due to enhanced customer satisfaction; protection of the assets, directors, shareholder and the company in general; and provision of a culture of security. It also helps in maintaining access controls to valuable materials such as intellectual property for which the firm controls copyright. ISO 27001 certification also helps a company to lower the possibility of legal sanctions and the likelihood of losing customer confidence due to privacy breaches. In my opinion, ISO 27001 is very vital to any given company due to the delicate nature of information. Companies have large databanks that should be kept secure at all times to enhance their integrity. ISO 27001 certification has helped UK Mail in securely and seriously treated information from their customers thus being the UK’s most trusted delivery network. ISO 31000 ISO 31000 was first issued in November 13, 2009 as an international standard for risk management. ISO also published a revised and harmonized ISO/IEC Guide 73 at the same time. ISO 31000:2009 is adaptable and applicable for any private, public or community enterprise, group, individual or association. The general scope of ISO:31000 is not developed for specific management system, the industry group or subject matter field but to offer best practice guidance and structure to every operation that is concerned with risk management. It assists organizations with risk assessments and risk analysis. It applies to most activities of a business including management operations, planning, and communication processes. Even though organizations manage their risk exposures to some extent, ISO 31000 improve their management techniques and ensure workplace security and safety at all times. ISO 3100 proposes that for an organization to deal with risk, it must be able to remove the source of the risk, use informed decision to retain the risk, change the consequences, change the likelihood, avoid activities that give rise to the risk, and sharing such a risk with other parties. ISO 31000 enables an organization to proactively improve its operational efficiency and governance, build stakeholder confidence in their use of risk techniques, minimize losses by applying management system control to their risk analysis, improve the performance and resilience of their management system and respond to change effectively so as to protect their business. It also ensures that their health and safety performance. In my opinion, the ISO is crucial to any company because it increases their chances of achieving their objectives, increases the identification of threats and opportunities and effectively distributes resources for risk treatment. ISO 9001 ISO 9001 was published by the ISO and is a certified quality management system (QMS). It specifies the requirements that organizations that wish to meet the standard must fulfill. ISO 9001 is the world’s most used management tool today with more than one million certified organizations worldwide. Even though, the standard is widely used, it has been constantly criticized for being wasteful and useful for all organizations. It is an invaluable quality management system that is suitable for organizations of all sizes, in all industry sectors. It helps an organization to improve their management processes to compete both locally and/or internationally. For an organization to achieve ISO 90001 certification, it must be able to prove that it can satisfy the regulatory requirements as well as apply the system effectively to benefit their customers in a great deal. ISO 9001 outlines ways to achieve objectives and benchmark which is consistent performance and service. An ISO 9001 certified organization is required to implement the requirements of quality management system for all business areas including people, facilities, services, training, and equipment. ISO 9001 certification helps an organization to improve operational efficiency; productivity and performance thus reducing costs and increasing profits. It also offers the organization competitive advantage in industries and situations where it is not a contractual expectation or obligation. In addition, it enables an organization to meet customer needs thus winning and retaining high-value customers. Also, it ensures the consistency, efficiency and effectiveness of the organization thus providing confidence to interested parties. In my opinion, each and every organization must try to be ISO 9001 certified in order to enhance their performance and cost management so as to be competitive worldwide. This will reduce their problems with failures in product or service quality. ISO 14001 ISO 14001 was published in 1996. It details the actual requirements for environmental management systems and is applicable to the environmental aspects that the organization has that it is supposed to have an influence. The ISO 14001 describes the measures for an EMS (Environmental Management System). It does not outline requirements for an organization’s environmental performance, but devises a framework that an organization or company can follow to construct an effective EMS. The standard only serves to help organizations meet their goals and objective by monitoring and measuring progress because organizations are the ones who set their targets and performance measures. The standard can be utilized by any organization or company that would wish to reduce waste, improve resource efficiency and drive down costs. It assures external stakeholders, company management and employees that their environmental impact is being assessed and improved. An organization can integrate ISO 14001 with other management functions to assist them in meeting their economic and environmental goals. On top of being seen as the corner stone standard among the ISO 14000 series, ISO 14001 is well-known and the only one in the series that is capable of being certified by an external certification authority other than ISO because it state particular environmental criteria. ISO 14001 benefits the organizations by reducing the cost of managing wastes and distribution costs through the improvement of efficiency. It improves the company’s corporate image among customers, regulators, and the public. It allows an organization to win greater customer and stakeholder trust by meeting legal compliance. In my view, the standard is very critical to any organization because it ensures that their demonstrate compliance to expand their business opportunities. It also prepares them for the ever-changing business landscape. Section 2: The ISO 9001 in UAE Etisalat (Emirates Telecommunication Corporation) Etisalat is a multinational telecommunications service provider founded in 1976 and is based in UAE. It was given the right to offer telecommunications wired and wireless services in 1991 between UAE and other countries. It is the leading telecommunications operator in the Middle East. It has a market share of around AED 90 billion (US$24.5 billion) making it one of the biggest company in the six Arab nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Etisalat is currently operating in 19 countries across Africa, Asia and Middle East (Website). Besides its carrier units and telecommunication services provider, the company has numerous non-telecom business units. In May 2014, the company acquired 53 percent of Maroc Telecom, which expanded its services to almost 800 million people. It has provided reliable and high-quality services for nearly 40 years helping the UAE to be the region’s main hub for trade, business and foreign investment. It is a leading innovator in the industry and has the fastest mobile broadband service in the world (300Mbps). It has partnered with many organizations to increase access to healthcare and education. It is a socially responsible company as it also supports people with special needs. It also provides information and communication solutions that are environmentally friendly. In 2013, it realized a net profit of US$3.9 billion making it one of the world’s most profitable telecoms group (website). How ISO 9001 has been applied in Etisalat The company was awarded the ISO 9001-2008 (QMS) certification in recognition that their Directory Services had put into practice standardized best practice and techniques. The certificate was presented by the British Standards Institute (BSI). The certification validates that the company’s quality systems and processes meet specific criteria. This certification assures customers of the company’s commitment to quality of service (Newswatch Times). The company is very proud of this certification because it recognizes that the company’s employees to be a treasured asset because they are able to do their work in a very effective manner possible. The certification has been used by the company to offer their employees every opportunity to advance and improve themselves in a healthy and progressive environment. It has also helped the company to meet all their customer requirements, make informed decisions and provide the necessary framework to help improve their services. It has applied the certification in increasing their focus on sustained process enhancement and efficiency gains. Etisalat has also recognized the hard work and achievements of their employees particularly Directory Services team. Further, the certification has enabled the company to increase their strategic commitment to quality management in a bid to keep up with or even surpass their internal process discipline, customer service and brand products quality. The company has also applied the certification in improving their staffs’ health, safety and well-being; training and development; and reward recognition. This has helped in motivating the staffs thus ensuring that quality is enhanced to keep up with the set standards. This strategy helps the company to retain their employees and customers by ensuring their maximum comfort on the company’s platform thus being more competitive in the market. When ISO 9001 was implemented in the company Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) was first issued by ISO 9001:2000 certificates in 2002. Eight of its departments and business units that meet all the conditions for certification are covered. The certificate was examined and extended for another three years. According to Khaleej Times, the company is assessing ways of making all business units and departments covered under the certification (Newswatch Times). Benefits of implementing ISO 9001 to Etisalat Etisalat was awarded ISO 9001 for their dedication in implementing international quality standards. The certification indicates their aspirations and objectives to provide best products and practices for their customers, as well as other stakeholders according to international standards. The corporation has benefited greatly from ISO 9001 certification. Firstly, it has enabled them to use the process approach in a bid to enhance and improve customer satisfaction through increased improvement to their effective quality management system. In addition, it has helped the corporation to achieve their overall objectives by ensuring that the management sets measuring objectives and communicating them to all employees for them to understand their role. ISO 9001 certification has helped Etisalat to improve operational efficiency; productivity and performance thus reducing costs and increasing profits. For instance, in 2013, it reported a net profit of US$3.9 billion making it one of the world’s most profitable telecoms group. The certification encourages all employees to be part of the formulation and execution of quality management system. This has also increased its effectiveness towards enhancing competitiveness and achieving the targets. The certification has helped in the corporation’s improvement in standards of quality and performance that has helped Etisalat to be a pioneer in the regional industry. This has reaffirmed its continued growth and success, controlled resources and operations, product and service development and stability and balance in performance. It has also offered the organization competitive advantage in industries thus meeting customer needs thereby winning and retaining high-value customers (ISO 9001 consultant). ISO Manual Standardization of Etisalat Etisalat has a well-written and professional ISO 9001 standardization manual that sets themselves apart from other companies. They are easy to customize since they include a very detailed step-by-step customization instruction. Etisalat has user-friendly quality manuals, forms, procedures, and guides for ISO 9001 thus standardizing it. Such standardization manuals allow Etisalat to u8mplement a complete ISO 9001 quality management system. It follows the structure outlined by ISO regarding ISO 90001 by being clear and to the point. It also strikes the right level of detail that is required for the standardization. It goes beyond ISO 9001’s minimum requirement by including additional procedures. It fully integrates quality procedures and quality manual and presents them in a format that trails the sequence of a conventional business system thereby meeting the spirit of ISO’s process approach. Required documented procedures Implementation of ISO 9001 needs documented procedures for six activities. These activities include: Control of documents This is a written procedure to control the procedures’ approval and re-approval prior to issue. It also ensures that the present revision status is exhibited so as to prove that the documents are legible and ensure the availability of current versions at point of use. It also ensures that documents from customers and that obsolete documents are controlled. Control of records This is a procedure to regulate the identification, protection, storage, retention, retrieval and disposal of records. Internal audits This is a procedure that helps define an organized program of audits to aid the business in meeting requirements of ISO 9001, as well as the requirements of the organization. It also provides reporting, follows up and records of such audits. Control of non-conforming product This procedure helps an organization to ignore non-conformity products by taking\g necessary actions. Corrective action This written procedure helps an organization to identify root causes of difficulties and then take actions intended to correct them. Such actions must be verified for the sake of effectiveness. Preventive action This written procedure helps a company to identify potential problems and then take necessary action to eliminate them before they occur. Certification process for Etisalat There are five steps to ISO 9001 certification Preparation In the preparation step, the organization is required to get an understanding of the specific ISO, which in this case is ISO 9001 that focuses on quality management system. Secondly, it is required to appoint ISO 9001 management representative to help change company’s operational processes and implement the ISO 9001. The appointed management representative then needs to get some training to understand ISO 9001 requirements. The ISO 9001 must be fully supported by all employees and company executives. Documentation The company is then required to write several documents necessary for ISO 9001. Such documents include the quality manual, quality policy, forms, process flowchart, work instructions, quality objective and six quality procedures. All the documents must be specific and suitable for the company. Implementation Here, the company is required to introduce new requirements that were included in customized quality and procedures manual to those affected employees so as to adjust the ways they work accordingly. For a step to be successful, the employees must understand the benefits of ISO 9001 requirements. This is to be explained to them in a memo or a conference step by step. Internal audit A company needs to carry out internal ISO 9001 audits to see it all requirements of ISO 9001 are being followed. Internal audits are carried out when implementing the ISO 9001 and periodically after ISO 9001 is achieved. Auditors are employees who are trained in ISO 9001 audits. Certification After an independent ISO auditor has performed a certification audit, the company is awarded ISO certification. Such audit is conducted immediately after completing an internal audit. The company is then required to select its ISO 9001 registrar to send auditor and issue the ISO 9001 certificate. Audit and evaluation procedure involved in Etisalat Audit involves inspections that help evaluate if the company follows ISO 9001 requirements. Effective audit and evaluation involve the following steps. Learn the process Before the audit, Escalate had to be familiar with how it works. The company began by creating a turtle diagram which looks at inputs, suppliers, controls, outputs, resources, activities and customers. Identification of the interfaces to the standard These are points where process and the standard intersect. This is where the requirements of ISO 9001 standard apply to the process being audited. Etisalat uses matrix with the process name on one axis and the elements of the standard on the other. Document review This section requires the company to read and understand the relevant documentation for the process being audited. The company begins with quality manual (level one document) to identify if the process fits the overall quality system. Six procures involved include control of documents, control of records, control on nonconforming products, internal audits, corrective action, and preventive action. Identification of process interfaces These are hand off points from different processes. Identification of process interfaces helps in providing inputs to the audited process and to another process. It helps in understanding how requirements are delivered to the purchasing process. Identification of potential process failure modes This procedure helps Etisalat to identify the process’ problems before it is employed so9 that preventive actions are taken to resolve them before they occur. Value stream mapping This procedure helps Etisalat to identify those activities in the process adds no value to the company. Review of old audits This helps in identifying weaknesses and where findings were noted to see if the actions that were taken are effective. Development of the audit plan and evaluation This is the playbook for the audit process that helps in avoiding failure. After the audit has been conducted, the company assess whether the previous actions were effective. How to achieve Business Excellence award after implementing the ISO standardization After implementing the IOS standardization, an organization must demonstrate innovation and success within a number of years. They must be able to provide high-quality product or service and carry out their business with a high degree of professionalism and integrity. The company needs to show a reputation for providing a superior level of customer offering and service. This will make it stand out from the crowd. Innovation and ingenuity enables a company to overcome likely challenges thus being able to compete favorably in the marketplace. The business must have a strategic plan that specifies its mission statements, objectives and goals and its commitment to work towards them. This will help in achieving significant business growth thus being able to stand out among other companies in the same industry and the entire economy. The organization should encourage giving back to the community within which it operates by helping other businesses and entrepreneurs on their journey in business. It should also be able to support the community by focusing on purchasing services and supplies locally and/or other community activities, the organization must be socially responsible in their daily operations. Further, it needs to be financially sustainable so as to encourage training development and mentorship for its employees. This is to ensure that the company has a better employee/employer relationship. Analysis of Data management for continuous improvement in QMS A company should continuously monitor and analyze the effectiveness of implemented processes towards achieving product conformity, client satisfaction and compliance with the Quality Management System. The process requires the company to analyze the gathered data so as to identify opportunities for continual improvement to the products and processes. Management should be able to make informed decisions about key measures in a bid to analyze data. The following are the sources of data that need to be analyzed as outlined by ISO 9001 users feedback, corrective action record, quality policy statement, audit results, non-conformities reports, preventive action record, market trends, management review and management feedback. Internally generated data is the primary source and must be used for the analysis. The analysis of data enables the company to identify areas of weaknesses and opportunities for further improvement in their Quality Management System, processes, organization and products. The analysis of the data demonstrates the effectiveness and appropriateness of the QMS for continual improvement. The company’s improvement program can be divided into three categories namely: Strategic improvement - improvement based on specific case study; analytic improvement- improved made from the result of analysis; and immediate improvement- improvement from required urgent change in process or product due to product or process non-conformity. Improvement program is a basic quality management policy that is satisfactory to the client, quality management system, and statutory requirement. Conclusion: ISO develops international standards for organizations that aids in promoting international trade since incongruent standards may be barriers to trade, advantaging some organizations in certain areas of the world. ISO 9001 has enabled Etisalat to increase their focus on sustained process enhancement and efficiency gains. Etisalat has also recognized the hard work and achievements of their employees. Etisalat was first issued by ISO 9001:2000 certificates in 2002.Since then ISO 9001 certification has helped Etisalat to improve operational efficiency, productivity and performance thus reducing costs and increasing profits. In addition, it has helped the corporation to achieve their overall objectives by ensuring that the management sets measuring objectives and communicating them all employees for them to understand their role. Etisalat has a well-written ISO 9001 standardization manual that sets themselves apart from other companies. Implementation of ISO 9001 needs documented procedures for six activities namely control of records, control of documents, internal audits, and control of non-conforming product, corrective action, and preventive action. A company needs to monitor continuously and analyze data relating to the processes that it has implemented towards achieving product conformity, client satisfaction and compliance with the Quality Management System. Accompany should be able to demonstrate innovation and success, provide high-quality product or service and carry out their business with a high degree of professionalism and integrity to achieve Business Excellence award. References Etisalat website. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.etisalat.com/en/about/profile/company-profile.jsp Home. (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/the_iso_story.htm ISO 9001 consultant. . Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.iso9001consultant.com.au/FAQ-benefits-9001.html Newswatch Times. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.mynewswatchtimesng.com/etisalat-achieves-iso-9001-2008-certification-quality-management-system/ Quality systems toolbox. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.qualitysystems.com/support/pages/the-six-required-procedures-of-iso-9001 Read More