Management responsibility
Top management makes for the development and implementation of the quality management system in the organization. It provides the policy of the organization, establishes goals and quality objectives, conducts management reviews and at last ensures the availability of resources. Top management shall ensure that customer requirements are determined and are met with the aim of enhancing customer satisfaction. The quality policy must be appropriate to the purpose of the organization and depends on how well it is communicated and understood within the organization. Establishing quality objectives top management considers them to correspond with relevant functions and levels within the organization. These objectives must be measurable with the quality policy of the organization.
It is advisable for a top management to appoint a member of management who, irrespective of other responsibilities, has responsibility and authority that include:
ensuring that processes needed for the quality management system are established, implemented and maintained;
reporting to top management on the performance of the quality management system and any need for improvement;
ensuring the promotion of awareness of customer requirements throughout the organization.
Top management’s effectiveness is based on review of the organization's quality management system, at planned intervals, to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. This review shall include assessing opportunities for improvement and the need for changes to the quality management system.
Management review shall include information on the input:
results of audits,
customer’s feedback,
process performance and product conformity,
status of preventive and corrective actions,
follow-up actions from previous management reviews,
changes that could affect the quality management system, and
recommendations for improvement.
The output from the management review shall include any decisions and actions related to:
improvement of the effectiveness of the quality management system and its processes,
improvement of product related to customer requirements, and
resource needs.
Task 4
You have read about top management responsibilities. Please speak on the most important ones. Give your view on this aspect of management. Formulate your own idea of what is the role of top management in organization, its functions and responsibilities.
Task 5
Read the text.
Every company has its own culture when it comes to security. That’s why what’s good for one company is not necessarily good for another. Each company should understand what it wants from security and then practice it from the top down. Management cannot be excluded.
Don’t delegate security. Managers often rule from on high with little contact with the masses. Such an approach threats security. When security mandates are dictated from above different types of problems occur. So in the process of security must be involved all employees from the highest executive, as well as the lowest technician. Remember that all employees are responsible for the security and the safety of company’s data.
Keep levels of management to a minimum. Security is guaranteed when too many levels are involved in it. Such structure ensures security messages cannot be misinterpreted, misunderstood, or simply lost. An executive manager should remember too many links can weaken even the strongest chain of command
If you’re a link at the end of the chain, make sure you know exactly who it is that wants you to complete a given task. Keep in mind that “management” is a concept, and not a person’s name. You can’t very well report back to a concept if you run into implementation or operational problems.
Report back to executive management to know whether your company is at risk you should answer the following questions:
Have you ever received an executive security report?
Do you have a security manager?
Do you have any security experts?
If you answer “NO” you need to conduct a security audit. If your team can’t conduct a security audit or provide you with an executive security summary, you definitely need outside help. You should be provided with executive-level security summaries on a regular basis (it reflects funds approvement, head count, training, fix problems). With executive security summary it is usually obvious when a problem has been fixed.
Provide or take training as required. Regular reminders about the importance of information protection, password maintenance, and intranet security should be sent by email. Your company should have people who know enough about security to design and run basic training sessions on their own or provide your employees with individualized email classes “security training”.
Make sure that all managers understand security All members of management should understand the risk of unsecured systems. Otherwise, the company’s reputation, proprietary information, and financial results may suffer.
Communicate to management clearly. System administrators should complain to their supervisors. Other times, system administrators find that complaining to their supervisors is remarkably like complaining to their terminals. Being a supervisor (or other manager), make sure that your people have easy access to your time and attention because strong communication with the people in your organization guarantee security.
Checklist. This checklist will help to determine whether your company’s organization and management levels provide security adequately. Mark a “Yes” beside each item.
Executive-level security summaries are produced regularly.
A clear communication path exists from the top level of management to the line-level workers. Everyone knows what or where that communication path is.
Responsibility for security rests with a Vice President, Director of Security, or other member of management. The manager responsible for security isn’t buried deep within the organization, and has the authority to act.
Management must appropriately present and enforce the company’s security program.
Adequate funding for security is available.
All system administrators resolve security issues quickly.
Security awareness training is oriented for new employees at all levels — line-level and upper management.
All employees (from the top down) are aware of the company’s information-protection policies.
Employees know whom to call for help when a security breach occurs or when they don’t understand their roles.
Security audits are conducted on a regular basis.
If you are an executive manager and you should expect threats against enterprises continue to rise, requiring higher and higher levels of security on intranets.
("IT Security: Risking the Corporation" by Linda McCarthy, published by Prentice Hall).
Task 6
Answer the questions.
What are the advantages of the organization chart proposed by the author?
Why is security so important nowadays?
Do you think that security depends on the size of the company?
What can treat company’s security?
Why is management from its top responsible for company’s security?
What elements of security of the company do you know? Dwell on them.
Which ones are the most effective?
What can the proposed checklist be useful for?
If you knew your co-worker divulgated confident information of your company, what would you do?
What motivates people when they divulgate confident information?
Task 7
Give your own portrait of an ideal manager using the following words.
Organize and coordinate the activities of the rest of the staff; employ a (half)-democratic/autocratic management style; make quick decisions in any situation; a leader, a respected and professional person with strong character, with strong communication skills; decent, honest, friendly, patient person, workaholic, with good sense of humor; tough; have wide knowledge in a number of spheres, intelligent person with new ideas; acquire competent knowledge of business; from traditional to risky styles of management; set concrete goals and achieve them; a nuanced psychologist and a good analyst.