I'm looking after the quality related activities/ISO 9001/ 17025 etc etc of the whole organization.
Employees sometimes are unreasonably irritant, sometimes respond very negatively, uncooprative sometimes.etc
I read the responsibilties of the quality management representative but my question is what are his authorities.

I'm looking after the quality related activities/ISO 9001/ 17025 etc etc of the whole organization.
Employees sometimes are unreasonably irritant, sometimes respond very negatively, uncooprative sometimes.etc
I read the responsibilties of the quality management representative but my question is what are his authorities.

The authority should be in line with responsibility. There is no universal answer, but if anyone lacks the authority to fulfill responsibilities, the responsibilities won't be fulfilled.

Here's the simple version....

Think of the management system and the organization as a puzzle, a Role is nothing more than a piece of that puzzle. Responsibility is nothing more than the requirements necessary (those things that make the piece physically fit the puzzle) to fulfill the defined role. Authority is simply the ability to make a decision and act in order to fulfill responsibility (Whereas the piece may physically fit the puzzle, it isn’t correct if the picture is wrong. The design or coloring enables the piece to work).

Not stated or specified is something related to responsibility, it is called accountability. Accountability is the process of holding one answerable to responsibility. Responsibility may be delegated or passed on, but accountability cannot.


But then again, what do I really know.

We have a corporate structure and a corporate quality structure.
In the corporate quality structure, the management representative is only junior to the president and everything directly or indirectly related to product quality is his responsibility and authority.

I like a lot of Randy's answer. I'd like to add to it in the following manner:

You writeEmployees sometimes are unreasonably irritant, sometimes respond very negatively, uncooprative sometimes.etc
I read the responsibilties of the quality management representative but my question is what are his authorities.

Let me suggest the job of a QM rep (QMR)is very analogous to ANY change agent. This means the QMR has to

be sure his own information is accurate
understand the root cause of employee and staff resistance to change
help the resistant employees become dissatisfied with status quo
show the employees how the suggested changes will relieve that dissatisfaction
continually evaluate the changes to assure they do, indeed, improve the situation from status quoWhen the QMR fails in any of the above, he hasn't earned the respect of the employees and will find that disrespect reflected in passive or active resistance to his suggestions.

The key here is not AUTHORITY, but effective persuasion of the value of the suggested changes. As Quality professionals, our job is more teacher than policeman. When a teacher spends more time "teaching" (telling instead of "helping students learn"), we end up with a classroom full of resentful people instead of a classroom of scholars.

I like a lot of Randy's answer. I'd like to add to it in the following manner:

You write

Let me suggest the job of a QM rep (QMR)is very analogous to ANY change agent. This means the QMR has to
be sure his own information is accurate
understand the root cause of employee and staff resistance to change
help the resistant employees become dissatisfied with status quo
show the employees how the suggested changes will relieve that dissatisfaction
continually evaluate the changes to assure they do, indeed, improve the situation from status quoWhen the QMR fails in any of the above, he hasn't earned the respect of the employees and will find that disrespect reflected in passive or active resistance to his suggestions.

The key here is not AUTHORITY, but effective persuasion of the value of the suggested changes. As Quality professionals, our job is more teacher than policeman. When a teacher spends more time "teaching" (telling instead of "helping students learn"), we end up with a classroom full of resentful people instead of a classroom of scholars.

Unfortunately, the type of person you describe is far too rare. Your average management rep is a clueless manager who delegates (perhaps I should say abdicates) all responsibility, but little or no authority. While I heartily agree that authority is not the key in an ideal world, and that being a good teacher is invaluable, the sad fact is that lack of authority being granted to people who know how to use it is the key problem.

But what did you think of my answer Jim?

But what did you think of my answer Jim?Well, Brother Randy, Mom always did like me best!:lmao: Why should Jim be different from Mom?:notme:

But what did you think of my answer Jim?

Actually, I didn't read it the first time around, but now that I have, I especially like this part:

But then again, what do I really know.

Except for the punctuation error.

Kidding aside, I agree wholeheartedly, especially the part about roles, or the piece in the puzzle that each person is supposed to represent.