Context Of the Organisation

Hi everyone,

I'm currently implementing ISO 9001:2015 for a Dealership and Distribution Company. Currently i'm Preparing our list of Processes. I was wondering do we consider "context of the organisation" as a process? (an auditor once told me yes, but i'm not sure).

Below is the list i currently have.

List of Processes

Management Processes:

· Strategic Planning

· Corporate Policies

· Management Reviews

· Context of the Organisation

Core Processes:

· Purchasing

· Logistics

· Receiving

· Inventory Management

· Marketing and Principal Management

· Sales and Distribution

Supporting Processes:

· Workshop

· Preventative Maintenance

· Fleet Management

· Health Safety Security and the Environment

· HR

· Quality

· Customer Service Management

· Order Processing

· Credit/Receivables

· Information Technology

 

Good day @Suraiya Ramkissoon ;
Let me first council you to ensure your management system is structured to serve your organization, (while conforming to the standard) and NOT to take any action because an "auditor...told me."

In response to your question, "do we consider "context of the organisation" as a process?"

Consider this....
1- Can/will your organization assign responsibility to the context of the organization process?
2- Can/will your organization use a metric to measure the performance of the context of the organization process?

If the answer is "no", then that may be an indication that you would not include this as a defined process. However, be aware that the standard states in 4.4.1...

"The organization shall determine the processes needed for the quality management system..."

So as you can see, it is left to your organization to "...determine the processes needed..."


Hope this helps.
Be well.

 

Hi, thank you for the feedback. The thing is I believe it can go either way.
- responsibility can be assigned to the Management Team
- a KPI can be developed and monitored such as 'review context of the organisation at least once per quarter'

this was done at the company where the "auditor told us to" during the transition audit (ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015)

Now that I'm starting from scratch i'm really don't see "value" in defining it as a process.

I suppose i know the answer to my question. Just wanted to bounce it off someone in the field. Thanks for your response, much appriciated.

Suraiya

 

Good day @Suraiya Ramkissoon ;
You picked up on my hint. While I/we can't tell you what's best for your organization, I agree that I also see no "value" and I would not identify this as a process.

Be well.

 

Yep...my understanding as well Andy. Helps the organization prevent what the military refers to as "mission creep".

I tell people to think of it in the terms of identifying...WHO are we, WHAT do we do, WHO cares, and WHAT do they care about.

Not sure it was a necessary add to the standard, but it seems to be a helpful exercise for some.

Do you know more of the "story" that you can share with us?

 

By the way @Suraiya Ramkissoon . You win the prize for the most interesting bio avatar !

 

I don't see any value also. The context should be understood not treated as a process. If you treat it as a process then you have to satisfy clauses 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 5.3b, 6.2.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4, 8.1, etc. Too much ado for non-value adding effort.

 

Most of my experience in ISO was in transitioning 2 companies from 9001:2008 to 9001:2015.... so it was more compliance driven.... now that i'm starting from scratch i don't want to start with that culture, i want and hope to build a value added quality culture

my understanding of the context of the organisation story is similar, i do like the way John put it over "WHO are we, WHAT do we do, WHO cares, and WHAT do they care about" I think i'll keep this in mind when reviewing. thanks.

 

Well said. Adding value is what QMS should do.

 

No need to consider COTO as a process. You have already Strategic Planning and if your organization is regularly conducting SWOT Analysis, you will have no problem with Clause 4.1.

Hope this could help you.