ISO 9001:2015 "Quality management systems - Requirements" places great emphasis on stakeholders with reference to the quality management system but, years after its publication, many organizations still have many doubts about how to identify them. Let's try, then, to better understand together who these entities are and how to identify them correctly.
The norma ISO 9001:2015, at point 4.2, requires to understand the needs and expectations of the stakeholders and explains that the reason why it requires it is that the stakeholders can have an impact on the ability of the organization to provide products and services that constantly meet the needs of customers and, in general, the important requirements for the quality system.
To proceed correctly, you must first of all understand what a "stakeholder" is.
A "stakeholder", according to ISO 9000:2015, is a person or organization that can influence, be influenced by, or perceive to be influenced by, a decision or activity.
Starting from this definition, to understand which stakeholders are relevant to your quality system, it is good to start thinking about these four groups:
- customers - the people who use your product directly affect your ability to meet their needs. You must, therefore, understand their needs, expectations and requirements, because the way in which they will use your product or benefit from your services will determine how they should be created;
- i suppliers - suppliers can also influence the quality of your organization because they provide the material for your products, they can commit to non-disclosure of some confidential information, they can have different quality levels and make use of business practices that make them different from each other. Do not forget them in your analysis because they are essential for guaranteeing the provision of quality products and services that you will give to your customers;
- who decides which mandatory requirements a company working in a certain field must undergo - in many sectors there are legal requirements that products and services must meet and the stakeholders who decide them must be considered in your analysis;
- employees - even if employees do not purchase your products or do not make use of your services, they have clear needs such as, for example, working in an environment capable of producing products and services that meet the needs of the end customers because no one wants to create defective products or services. Do not forget them when you examine the requirements of the stakeholders;
- shareholders, owners, management - since financial profits are directly influenced by the costs of your products or services, shareholders, company owners and managers will certainly be interested in the performance of the quality system. In particular, expectations regarding continuous improvement may be extremely important for this group of stakeholders
Pay attention to a particular aspect that must not be forgotten in the analysis of stakeholder requirements: it is up to the organization, as the standard reminds us, to decide whether a particular requirement of a stakeholder is relevant to the Sistema di gestione della Qualità, or not.
ISO 9001:2015 talks about stakeholders in several points, to underline the importance of the concept. These requirements involving the knowledge acquired during the determination of the relevant stakeholders for the quality system and their respective requirements are fundamental to make operare correttamente i pocessi del sistema della Qualità. Let's see, then, in which points of the standard we talk about stakeholders:
- point 4.3 - to determine the scope of the quality management system, the requirements of the stakeholders must be considered;
- point 5.2.2 - the policy for quality must be available to the stakeholders, when appropriate;
- point 8.3.2 - in determining the phases and controls for design and development, the level of control of the design and development process expected by customers and other relevant stakeholders must be considered
- point 9.3 - the management review must include issues that concern the relevant stakeholders
In conclusion, we can therefore say that a correct pianificazione strategica must include the relevant stakeholders because, if their needs, expectations and requirements are understood, it is easy to immediately realize that they are essential to ensure that your products or services meet the expected quality, which is why you have designed and implemented a system that you want to certify (or that you have already certified) according to ISO 9001.