Integrated Management Systems and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Management system standards, optional for organizations, have started to be considered as a strategic tool for organizations seeking institutional success and adopting innovative approaches. Establishing and managing these standards independently for the same organization yield some difficulties for organizations. It would rather be a more rational solution to provide a holistic view to all standards, which is to integrate them all. As integrated management systems can be shaped according to the needs of the organization, they involve different management system standards. Therefore, there is no common model defined for said integrated standards. These systems offer organizations a management philosophy for the processes to be successfully managed and to achieve desired results. When the emerging management philosophy is internalized by management and employees, a corporate culture is formed. The effects of integrated management systems on the sustainable development of the organization can be categorized as management, people, market, production, environmental and occupational health and safety totaling in six categories. Integrated management systems provide organizations with a management philosophy that enables processes to be successfully managed and to achieve desired results. Despite the advantages of integrated management systems for organizations, they may also have some drawbacks.