ISO 9000 and First Nations / Aboriginal / Indian Groups

[Stacey@FinnStar]

I have been asked to provide a proposal to complete the ISO 9001:2000 process for the Indian Band and all of its 11 incorporated subsidiaries. The criteria is extremely vague, their organizational structure in in flux and quite honestly I am at a loss as to where to begin. They have roughly 200 employees and some of the areas they are looking to certify include administration, finance, housing, forestry, lands, maintenance, economic development, utilities and revenue generating services. Any assistance anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

[Wes Bucey]

Long time between posts, I see! Welcome back to the active part of the Cove.

Essentially, the situation you describe is more like a loose conglomerate than a multi-division corporation. I'm not aware of any outstanding synergies between the activities, especially in view of the fact there are ONLY 200 employees.

They have roughly 200 employees and some of the areas they are looking to certify include administration, finance, housing, forestry, lands, maintenance, economic development, utilities and revenue generating services.

I have a suspicion they MUST be dealing some or all of these areas through contracted services. Help us get a clearer picture of what is going on by giving us a ball park figure for the total budget of all these activities. (After all, I take care of most of these activities [administration, finance, housing, forestry, lands, maintenance, economic development, utilities and revenue generating services] myself just running my house on a large suburban lot. I have a lot fewer than 200 employees, none full time, but I do contract out my gas, water, sewer, and electricity in addition to paying taxes for fire and police coverage of person and property.)

Perhaps the situation is more analogous to a municipal government which owns its own utilities and rental housing and health care facilities and also sells lumber and minerals from municipal-owned land.

How many total constituents/customers are represented by these 200 employees? Do the constituents have a say in whether the Indian Band seeks registration? What is the avowed purpose for seeking registration? Is it a valid purpose?

Probably, the most telling line in your post is
"their organizational structure in [is] in flux"

Such a statement invokes visions of folks running around saying stuff like, "if we get registered to this Standard, it will solve ALL our problems" but the biggest problem is they haven't identified the problems they need to solve.

In my opinion, a good consultant will sit down with the decision makers and clarify what they really want to accomplish and whether they have the corporate will to accomplish that. Next comes a cold, hard Gap Analysis of the current management system against the Standard to outline the areas for change and/or improvement as well as to identify the good things which already meet the Standard.

With that analysis in hand, it will be a lot easier to lay out a plan and timetable for proceeding toward Registration.

[paradigmcorp]

Hi Stacey,

We are consulting firm located here in Richmond Hill, Ontario specializing in ISO 9001:2000 certification, training, auditing, etc.

One our clients is a First Nation located in London, Ontario in which we helped them achieve ISO 9001:2000 certification. They were operating a distribution company which catered to a lot of First Nation businesses as well as other non-indian businesses.
Thanks
Adam

[CarolX]

In Reply to Parent Post by paradigmcorp

Hi Stacey,

We are consulting firm located here in Richmond Hill, Ontario specializing in ISO 9001:2000 certification, training, auditing, etc.

One our clients is a First Nation located in London, Ontario in which we helped them achieve ISO 9001:2000 certification. They were operating a distribution company which catered to a lot of First Nation businesses as well as other non-indian businesses.
Thanks
Adam

Hi Adam and welcome to the Cove,

What other direction or assistance can you give the OP, other than trying to drum up business. Sorry to sound harsh, but our motto here is people helping people, and we do frown upon using this site to drive a business.

Can you shed some lite on what special circumstances might need to be addressed.

Again, Welcome to the Cove!

[paradigmcorp]

My expertise would involve dealing specifically with the First Nation Indian community. There are some sensitive issues when dealing with the First Nation Indian and when implementing ISO requirements across 11 independent incorporated businesses can be delicate.

Based on past experiences, they don;t pay their bills very well among a variety of different issues.

Also, I was not aware that conducting some business was frowned upon within the Cove, my mistake!!

Thanks.
Adam

[CarolX]

In Reply to Parent Post by paradigmcorp

My expertise would involve dealing specifically with the First Nation Indian community. There are some sensitive issues when dealing with the First Nation Indian and when implementing ISO requirements across 11 independent incorporated businesses can be delicate.

Can you give us some examples and how those issues were handled?

In Reply to Parent Post by paradigmcorp

Based on past experiences, they don't pay their bills very well among a variety of different issues.

That is a biggie!

In Reply to Parent Post by paradigmcorp

Also, I was not aware that conducting some business was frowned upon within the Cove, my mistake!!

Thanks.
Adam

People helping people is what this site is all about. A free exchange of ideas and information. And I sincerely hope that you can offer your help here as well. We have many consultants that visit and participate in discussions on a regular basis. And that is all we ask, is for your participation. We have had many individuals who attempt to post links to their web site, or "call me - I can help" statements, and they share no other information.