Management system guidance
5.0 Leadership
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5.1 Leadership and commitment
5.1.1 General
Top management must demonstrate leadership and commitment to the quality management system (QMS). This includes making sure that the quality policy and quality objectives are in place and fit the strategic direction of your organization, and that the human and financial resources needed for the QMS are available.
You should look for evidence that Top management has taken a ‘hands-on’ approach to the management system during interviews and whilst recording compliance to other requirements e.g. determining organizational context, policies, objectives, management review minutes, provision of resources etc. The following questions follow the order of Clause 5.1.1 a) to l):
- How are the quality policy and quality objectives established, and do they align with the strategic direction of the organization?
- How are the requirements of the QMS integrated into the business processes?
- How are the resources needed for the QMS determined and made available?
- How do you communicate the importance of effective quality management, and of conforming to QMS requirements?
- How do you ensure that the QMS achieves its intended results?
- How do you engage, direct and support people who contribute to the effectiveness of the QMS?
- How is continual improvement promoted?
- How are other relevant management roles supported to demonstrate leadership in their areas of responsibility?
- How does Top management promote a quality culture and ethical behaviour?
- How is the use of the process approach promoted?
- How is risk-based thinking, and opportunity-based thinking, promoted?
- How does Top management take accountability for the effectiveness of the QMS?
What changed in ISO 9001:2026: Clause 5.1.1 now contains twelve items, a) to l). Promoting quality culture and ethical behaviour (i) is new. Promoting the process approach (j) is now a separate item, and the 2015 call to promote risk-based thinking has been extended to risk-based thinking and opportunity-based thinking (k). Taking accountability for the effectiveness of the QMS is carried over from 2015 but now appears as item l). A new note explains that an organization’s quality culture and ethical behaviour show up in its shared values, attitudes, practices and actions.
Quality culture cannot be demonstrated by a poster or a slogan. Auditors are likely to look at how leaders behave and what they reward: whether decisions are consistent with the stated values, whether people feel able to raise problems and report errors without fear, whether quality is protected when deadlines or costs are under pressure, and whether a code of conduct or ethics policy is applied in practice. ISO 10010 gives further guidance on understanding, assessing and developing quality culture.
Without solid management commitment, you will not have a successful management system. This is not a commitment in words; it is the continuous and active demonstration to everyone in the organization that the need to meet customers' expectations is vital. The actions required of Top management must include:
- Supporting the management system and actively promoting the agenda;
- Encouraging the goal of meeting customer, regulatory and statutory requirements;
- Developing and supporting the management system by defining and communicating the quality policy;
- Establishing quality objectives;
- Ensuring appropriate resources are available.
- Implementing and improving the management system by encouraging employees to achieve requirements;
- Setting an example of the quality culture and ethical behaviour expected of everyone in the organization;
- Reviewing management system performance;
- Ensuring resources are available to improve the management system.
5.1.2 Customer focus
Customer focus involves determining customer requirements and ensuring that processes exist to meet the requirements and achieve customer satisfaction. Enhance customer satisfaction by ensuring that customer requirements are identified.
The principal message that Top management must convey is that the objective of the business is to satisfy your customers by ensuring a process exists to achieve the following:
- Identifying customer requirements;
- Meeting customer requirements;
- Enhancing customer satisfaction.
When auditing customer focus, you should assess whether customer satisfaction is adequately determined and whether appropriate corrective action is undertaken when things go wrong.
The customer feedback process should be audited as a process in its own right and not just as a clause in the standard. Determine how this process is planned, implemented and improved as these factors will affect the processes’ ability to provide meaningful information about the effectiveness of the management system.
Top management must also ensure that customer requirements, together with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, are determined, understood and met consistently, and that the focus on enhancing customer satisfaction is maintained.
Top management must also ensure that any risks and opportunities with the potential to affect product and service conformity, or the organization’s ability to enhance customer satisfaction, are determined and addressed. ISO 9001:2026 now deals with these through separate clauses: actions to address risks (Clause 6.1.2) and actions to address opportunities (Clause 6.1.3).
You should seek and record evidence that Top management is taking a ‘hands-on’ approach to the management of the management system, be prepared to constructively challenge Top management’s commitment.
Top management's commitment can likely be demonstrated by their actions, and by their views on what the quality policy means to the everyday activities of your organization, as well as the policy’s relationship with the organization's strategic direction.
- Are Top management attending management review meetings?
- Do they support the QMS Manager during day-to-day activities and with improvement initiatives?
- Do they lead the way and take accountability for the effectiveness of the QMS?
- Do their own decisions and behaviour reflect the quality culture and ethical standards they expect of others?
- Have they ensured that responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles are assigned and understood?
- Have they ensured that responsibilities and authorities are communicated?
- Have they established, implemented and maintained the quality policy and quality objectives?
More information on PDCA
Planning
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Planning
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Doing
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