Why are so many management systems built around the requirements of an external standard?
Because managers are often “happy” to manage by the seat of their pants and to sort out problems as they happen (it helps them to feel as though they have achieved something!) And they only document how they work when they are forced to adopt an external standard as a means of staying on tender lists, for example. Many then work around the system and find it an overhead rather than an asset. And it has until now been difficult to find an approach to describing what the organisation does, and how it does it, which people can understand and are happy to use.
