How to select the most suitable person to be the Management Representative?

[ykfoo]

Hi all, we are having a bit of a commotion here as who'll be the best person to be the management representative is still hanging. Would appreciate if anyone can feedback on some criteria or guidelines to select an appropriate MR. We are a corporate management office (providing our subsidiaries with support, corporate and engineering services) where the organisation structure is rather flat (there's no chief of operations). The leader of the organisation is our MD and he has the respective functional department heads directly reporting to him. So the question is, who will be the most suitable MR besides the MD? Would it be the most senior ranked HOD (this will be the CFO)? What could be the alternatives? We are actually in the midst of applying for the ISO9002:2000 certification.

 

[Jim Biz]

Just a few thoughts:
Each situation is different - I have seen
Head of Inspection as MR - Quality Assurance Mgr as MR..

I have also found - Part time folks (In reality counsultants) Assigned as company MR.

Nothing "wrong with CFO being MR - BUT - remember the statement "irrespective of ALL OTHER duties??" so it should be someone that interacts with all functions and has an ample ammount of TIME to deal with implementation AND maintaining after registration.-

MR duties take anywhere from 30% to 90% of my WEEKLY time on an ongoing basis - audit schedules - corrections - re-writes etc.

If your CFO has that kind of time to invest in "other than financial duties" - then go for it.

Regards
Jim

 

[energy]

What does MD and HOD mean? If I can figure out who they are, I can probably help a little bit.

energy

 

[JRKH]

I think Jim pretty much nailed it. The person selected must have the time to devote to it. He/She must be 150% committed to the process. Also, if it is not the MD, then it must be someone who has his/her full confidence. If not, you can run into authority issues.

Just some thoughts

James

 

[Al Dyer]

1: Thick skin
2: Complete knowledge of the standards
3: Level headed and practical
4: Able to communicate with operators as well as management
5: Be able to stand up to registrars and lead auditors
6: Morality above reproach
7: Good record keeping habits
8: Able to work un-supervised
9: Computer savvy (when applicable)
10: Commitment to the company (morally)
11: Able to wear multiple hats in the company
12: A sense of humor!

ASD...

 

[Rick Goodson]

My experience has been that it does not matter what their other function is as long as they have certain traits, most of which have been described quite well by Al. However, IMHO the implementations that have gone the best are those where the Management Representative (MR) was not a person with a job title that had the word quality in it. People tend to think of the implementation as just another quality flavor of the day program when the quality folks are in charge. Put finance or human resources in charge and there is a marked difference in how people view the project.

Rick

 

[ykfoo]

Thanks guys for the replies.

Does this mean that the MR does not have to be a member of management or even to an extreme of not being in the organisation structure, and this will still be in line with ISO requirements?

By the way Energy, MD is for Managing Director and HODs are Head of Departments.

 

[Randy]

Your management rep can be the janitor if thats what you wish. It's best though that the MR is knowledgable of the system, is an individual that possess some leadership ability, and can exert some type of influence within the organization.

 

[D.Scott]

Not sure I agree with "janitor". QS-9000 states (and it is in italics so I assume it is in ISO too) "...a member of the supplier's own management...". I figure Randy just used it to make a point, however I don't think it can be carried to the extreme. IMO the MR must be part of management and this would also preclude an outside consultant from being the MR (unless of course you had him on the payroll).

Dave

 

[energy]

Randy,
Let's not forget that he must be able to tiptoe through the mine field to show the Auditor the way.
ykfoo,
It appears that your type of business doesn't have the standard Quality Manager requirement. He is usually selected, or he selects a Quality Engineer type for that assignment. You should choose the person who has the most knowledge of how your operation functions. As others have said, he should have the authority to suggest, strongly, that changes be implemented and the ability to ensure that it is accomplished. Usually, the standard Department Head ducks this kind of responsibilty. The MD has far too many things to do, just ask him/her, to take on this task. There is also the possibility that you could have the "fox in the chicken coop" situation. JMHO
energy

[This message has been edited by energy (edited 21 August 2001).]