UNITY UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
POST GRADUATE PROGRAM

COURSE TITLE: OPRATIONS MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT: About International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

SUBMITTED TO: - Bekele Reta (Asst.P.)

SUBMITION DATE: March, 2023

PREPARED BY: -
BETEL MEKONNIN ID NO: MBA\R\0434

JANUARY, 2023
ADAMA, ETHIOPIA
 Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................3
2. HISTORY.................................................................................................................................4
3. STRUCTURE...........................................................................................................................5
4. ISO STANDARDS:.................................................................................................................6
4.1. What Are The Existing Standards?...................................................................................6
4.2. Standards Development Process and Products.................................................................7
5. ISO CERTIFICATIONS..........................................................................................................8
5.1. Stages of ISO Certification...............................................................................................8
5.2. Validity of ISO Certificates..............................................................................................9
REFERENCE..................................................................................................................................9
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International Organization for

Standardization
1. INTRODUCTION
The International Organization for Standardization ( English : International Organization
for Standardization ; Russian : Международная организация по стандартизации ), usually
referred to as ISO , chosen to be the same acronym in all languages (this choice is an example of
standardization) , is an international standards body composed of representatives of national
standards organizations from 167 countries , on the principle of one member per country. ISO is
the largest standards organization in the world and remains a non-governmental organization.

Note: Currently (April 2022), ISO operates in 165 countries, has adopted more than
23,000 ISO standards and comprises 785 technical committees and subcommittees for
standardization.
This organization created in 1947 aims to produce international standards in the industrial and
commercial fields called ISO standards . They are useful to industrial and economic
organizations of all types, governments, regulators, conformity assessment professionals,
suppliers and buyers of products and services, in both the public and private sectors. Overall,
these standards serve the interests of the general public when acting as consumers and users.
ISO consists of several standardization organizations that deal with the development and
publication of internationally recognized ISO standards. These are industry standards,
guidelines, rules, and requirements to maintain quality, safety, and consistency.

ISO standards are developed by ISO to establish standards of safety, quality and uniformity valid
worldwide. They aim to optimize international production, manufacturing, communication and
cooperation between countries, enterprises and institutions in areas such as economy, science and
technical development. An ISO standard defines specific quality and form requirements,
compliance with which is guaranteed and made visible by ISO certification. The standards are
published monthly in a newsletter and in the “Standard Handbooks”. All ISO standards are
recognizable because they contain the abbreviation of the standards organization (ISO) and a
number ranging from 1 to 99999.

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The standards cover all areas except electronics, electricity and telecommunications. The
International Electro technical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) are respectively responsible for the latter. The ISO, IEC and ITU trio form the
World Standards Cooperation (WSC) working group, which deals with international
standardization in general. The ISO Central Secretariat is located
in Geneva , Switzerland ensures overall coordination. It provides ISO members with
administrative and technical support, coordinates the decentralized standards development
program and publishes them.

2. HISTORY
In 1912 , in order to establish a national organization capable of defining common industrial
standards, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), today the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), invites the other professional institutes:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME);
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE);
American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (AIMME);
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers ( AIME);
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), etc.
The October 19, 1918, the American Engineering Standards Committee (AESC) is created as the
American national coordinator of the standardization process. Its role is then to fight impartially
against inaccuracies in terms of design and level of acceptability of products and materials. The
US Departments of War, Navy, and Commerce joined the five founding organizations that year.

In 1921 , the first American safety standard (American Standard Safety Code), aimed at
protecting the eyes and heads of industrial workers, was approved. In 1926 , the AESC was the
leader of the movement orchestrated by the Englishman Charles Le Maistre (General Secretary
of the CEI ) which led to the creation of the International Standards Association (ISA); it is a
federation that brings together the non-governmental standardization institutes of some fifteen
countries, mainly European, with the participation of the AESC for the United States and that
of Japan .

The French Association for Standardization (AFNOR), created in 1926, plays a very active role
in this. The ISA thus adopts, on a French proposal, the first international standard on normal

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numbers. The ISA, which was very active in the 1930s , had to cease its activity at the start of
the Second World War . In 1928 , the AESC took the name of American Standards
Association (ASA). From the beginning of the Second World War, the ASA developed military
standards (War Standard Procedure) to regulate American production as part of the war effort
(we then spoke of “military standards”).

In 1946 , just after the end of the Second World War , the ASA, AFNOR and the British
Standards Institution (BSI) participated in London with the standardization institutes of 22 other
countries in the creation of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It was
officially created on February 23, 1947.

The ISO thus succeeds the ISA and the UNSCC, an organization set up by the Allies during the
Second World War. The name "ISO" was retained in 1946. The name "IOS" (International
Organization for Standardization) was not chosen: it would have given rise to
different acronyms depending on the language ("IOS" in English and "OIN" in
French). According to the ISO website, the name ISO was chosen because of its reminiscence of
the Greek word ίσος / ísos meaning “equal”. However, the testimony of one of the participants in
the choice of this name shows the opposite, the explanation was therefore imagined after the
fact 2. The founders decided to give their organization the name "ISO" (evoking the International
Standards Organization but not corresponding to the official name, and therefore officially
considered a false acronym) so that it remains "ISO" whatever either the country or the
language. "iso-" is also the prefix that French and English use to form words carrying the
meaning of equality.
3. STRUCTURE
ISO has 167 members.
There are three different categories of members:
 The ISO member body: the national body “most representative of standardization in its
country”;
 The corresponding member for countries which do not yet have a national representative
body;
 The subscribed member for countries with limited economy.

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Agreements have been made with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in order
to create a kind of “non-aggression” pact between the two competing entities and to avoid
redundant standards.
For French-speaking countries, members are: AFNOR for France (Member
Committee), ILNAS for Luxembourg (Member Committee), IBN for Belgium ( Member
Committee), SNV for Switzerland (Member Committee), SCC for Canada (Member Board), etc.
ISO cooperates with the International Electro technical Commission (IEC), which is responsible
for the standardization of electrical equipment. The most important concrete mark of this
cooperation was, in the mid-1980s, the creation of the Joint Technical Committee on Information
Technology (JTC1) which brought together the hardware competence held by the IEC and the
software competence held by the ISO. The JTC 1 is the producer of most of the standards
concerning computing.
4. ISO STANDARDS:
4.1. What Are The Existing Standards?
ISO offers standards in almost all walks of life and industries and includes a long list of
standards and technical specifications (over 20,000 standards). The best known and most
important standards are in areas such as quality management systems, the environment,
occupational safety, medicine, production or food reliability. There are also well-known
standards in the field of health protection, data and information security, as well as compliance.
The most frequently certified ISO standards are:
 ISO 27001 : information security
 ISO 8601 : reliable communication of dates and times
 ISO 50001 : energy management
 ISO 14001 : sustainability standard
 ISO 45001 : standard for occupational health and safety
 ISO 31000 : standardized risk management
 ISO 9001 : quality certification
ISO 26000: corporate social responsibility (no certifiable standard, but rather an action guide on
sustainability, transparency, human rights, ethics). ISO 9001 is one of the best known and most

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often certified ISO standards. It is synonymous, as a standard, with proof of proven improvement
for customers, but also for competitiveness and quality management systems.
4.2. Standards Development Process and Products
The development of ISO standards is carried out by national and international standardization
bodies. Standards are developed, reviewed, approved and published as international standards by
ISO member bodies. The development-to-release process consists of six steps:
1. Proposal ;
2. Preparation ;
3. Committee;
4. Investigation ;
5. Approval
6. Release
1) Proposal/draft (NP - New Work Item Proposal): new standardization plans are
collected, evaluated and classified by standardization committees.
2) Development (WP - Working Draft): working groups of experts develop basic projects.
3) Committee draft (CD - Committee Draft): the national representatives draw up a first
draft of the standard.
4) Inquiry (DIS - Draft International Standard) : a draft standard is published for voting
or comment. If less than 75% of the members approve the project, a second project is
submitted to the survey. If the DIS is adopted by a clear majority, the FDIS phase can be
skipped.
5) Adoption (FDIS - Final Draft International Standard): the final draft is published for
comments, polling and voting. If the majority of members reach at least two-thirds, the
FDIS proceeds to the publication phase.
6) Publication (ISO standard): the new ISO standard is published, for example, in the ISO
Bulletin and the Standard Handbook.
Another phase is that of revision. Since an ISO standard only makes sense if it remains at the
forefront of technology and society, its validity, accuracy and topicality are checked at the
latest every five years. If there is a possibility of improvement, the revision takes place. If a
revision is not necessary, the ISO standard is withdrawn and replaced by a new updated standard.

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In the 1990s, under the pressure of rapid developments in information technology , ISO made the
process of developing standards more flexible, taking into account the activity of consortia,
which was considered not to constitute, not a threat to the official standardization system.

Several types of normative documents are available today:

 the ISO's norm ;
 ISO/PAS, publicly available specification;
 ISO/TS, technical specification (example ISO/TS 15000 on ebXML );
 ISO/TR, technical report;
 International Workshop Agreement (IWA);
 ISO guide.
5. ISO CERTIFICATIONS
Individual certification is not carried out by ISO, but by external certification bodies. ISO
advises against using terms such as “ISO certification” or “ISO certified”. Rather, the ISO
standard should be designated by its version number in order to show that the products, services
or systems meet the ISO requirements.
Certification by external and independent inspection bodies is not free. The costs to
expect depend on the size of the company, the sector and the initial certification or
verification of the certification. Although certification represents a certain investment in terms
of costs and time, it offers many advantages:
 Proof of the existence of current international norms and standards is a guarantee of
seriousness and professionalism.
 Products and services that meet ISO standards inspire confidence in customers.
 Quality standards ensure the internal and international consistency, effectiveness and
safety of management systems in different business sectors and institutions.
 Compliance with international standards allows consistency and total collaboration
across borders.
5.1. Stages of ISO Certification
Depending on the standard concerned and the competent certification body, the certification
process consists of different stages and levels. The important steps are as follows:
 Collect information on the relevant ISO standard

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 Identify structures and processes in the internal areas of the company that do not
comply with ISO requirements
 Document projects and potential for optimization
 Implement ISO standards
 Verify compliance with the ISO standard through internal controls
 Request an official compliance report or certification from the competent body
5.2. Validity of ISO Certificates
The validity of an acquired ISO certificate is generally three years. In the case of the ISO 9901
standard, surveillance checks must also be carried out the following two years after the first
certification. After expiry of the validity, it is possible or recommended to refresh the ISO
certification by certification verification. With the ISO 9001 standard, it takes between three
and six months to obtain certification, depending on the complexity of the company's structures
and systems.
REFERENCE
https://www.ionos.fr/digitalguide/serveur/know-how/quest-ce-quune-norme-iso (Accessed: on
March 03, 2023)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_internationale_de_normalisation (Accessed: March
03, 2023)

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