Auditing in Japan
The far east has seen the largest growth in the certification market since the ISO 9000 boom in the west in the 1980s and 1990s. China is currently holding the lead for quality management system certification, but it is Japan that leads the way with a significant number of ISO 14001 certifications. Lead auditor Nobuyuki Itaga explains what the situation is like at the moment in Japan
By the middle of 2003 the number of Japanese organisations certified to ISO 9001 had reached 40,000. The number certified to ISO 14001 was 15,000, which is the largest number of ISO 14001 certificates in the world and numbers are still increasing. This shows that Japanese corporate management has a real interest in social responsibility across many industries.
High interest in ISO 14001 may be a unique trend in Japan. Many organisations are trying to design an integrated management system which has become increasingly necessary to meet customer demand.
The interest in higher quality management systems is expanding, especially for companies that are looking for performance excellence in their business model. The trend is that those companies are spending resources for management quality improvement on education programmes for personnel.
In Japan, a scheme of National Quality Awards are available, which are similar to those available in the west. They emphasise innovation and good relationships with all interested parties. This value does not exist in ISO 9001.
Types of ISO certified organisations
By looking at the organisations already certified or those in the process of certification it can be seen that there is a division in the purpose and motives of why certification is required (this may be a common situation worldwide).
There are basically two groups of organisations with different reasons for wanting to achieve ISO certification:
- those wanting to ensure competitive advantage
- those aiming at indirect benefits, such as internal innovation through employee empowerment or development of effective business plans
Examples of those who want to gain an advantage and guarantee more customer orders, can be seen in construction and in some manufacturing industries. This may be because the local government request ISO registration, without understanding the benefits of certification.
The second group is more commonly found in the service industries, because their service quality directly influences customer satisfaction. A lot of service organisations think their weakness is that they have no management system, even if they actually have something in place.
It could be that the first group (involving construction and manufacturing)
would experience problems and disagreements during their audit, however
more serious issues arise when organisations aiming for indirect benefits
want certification advice.
What is the main expectation for this type of company? They expect that an effective ‘business strategy’ which analyses specific factors will be established. This will then effect the future status of external environment and internal resource. But, how many ISO experts see the effectiveness of the organisation’s activities from the view point of business strategy?
Management style is unique and relates to a business model, aim, quantity and quality of resources. Unfortunately, some auditors are not familiar with the management style or strategy of smaller organisations because they have only worked with larger ones.
Initial auditor training only gives students an understanding of the standard and auditing skills. In fact, most of the auditors check that the client’s management system ‘conforms’ to the standard, because this is their duty. It is important to be able to analyse a business model and strategy. This skill is not easily gained through repetition of actual audit experience.
A self-assessment system
In Japan, this mismatching often results in the client organisations becoming dissatisfied with a particular scheme, although they do recognise the benefit in having their management system based on a recognised ISO standard. What is the best solution for them?
One answer is to create a self-assessment system within the organisation. This self-assessment system is different from an internal audit. The management team and all self-assessors should be involved in clarifying the future profile of the organisation and the key factors for success. Assessing and improving all necessary management functions do not need to be limited to a certificated scheme's requirements.
If the organisation needs to demonstrate that the system conforms to a certificated management system, they can do it by self-declaration. Although this self-assessment system requires plenty of training for the staff, voluntarily improvement assures sustainable growth.
Support from the experts
A capable consultant or auditor will be able to support an organisation through the process of improving and upgrading a management system. Management consultants can participate in the assessment. They can objectively evaluate and advise the company on their conformity to the standard and the validity of their performance level.
This supporting arrangement is not adequately applicable to every company but it has the potential to become mainstream in Japan, especially considering the combination of capable auditors and high performance companies.
In every sector, the customer redesigns the suppliers business model and product. The ISO certificated management system, including the certification scheme is, no exception. The future growth of the ISO market in Japan, depends on how auditors and consultants evolve themselves, and how flexible they can be in focusing on customers’ (organisations’) needs and desires.
About the author
Nobuyuki Itaga is a qualified nationally registered small and medium
sized enterprise (SME) management consultant, a Japanese quality award
self assessor and an IRCA registered QMS lead auditor. He has 13 years
of experience in product development and in providing quality engineering
assistance to the car industry overseas. He has worked throughout 15
countries as a member of the Toyota Motor Corporation project team.
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