From: Brian Charles Kohn
Subject: RE: ISO Conflict of Interest /MacKenzie/Taormina/Kohn
> What was an absolute in 1990 is, today, an opportunity. The latest "absolute"
> to crumble is that once you have selected a registrar, you are lifelong
> partners. Lately, some registrars are approaching registered companies and
> giving them a pitch of lower prices, better service and they will accept the
> other guy's certificate. Is this an ethical shift?
This avenue has always been open, but you are correct that folks have been taking that tack much more in recent years. I don't see it as a bad thing, however, because it forces inefficient registrars with tons of useless, non-value-added overhead, to either shape up or ship out.
> I've worked with six or seven of the big boys. What I have seen is that the
> auditor gene pool is shrinking and the number of really talented auditors is
> dwindling. For one reason, it is a burnout job, traveling constantly and
> trying to control costs.
Nail. Hammer. Hit on head.
I was one of those who simply walked away from "a very promising career" in ISO 9000 registration. As I've indicated before, I was a manager for one of the "big boys" as you put it, even at that level that type of work is just not worth it, at any salary level (even six-figures...)
> Second, there is pressure on the auditors to "keep the customer happy."
This wasn't the secondary reason for me. Rather, I asked myself the question, "Was this what I got my university degrees for?" I was an engineer by training and by preference, and the only engineering I got to do as an auditor was writing the software that controlled the workflow for the administrative and field-auditing functions of the registrar. I don't know many folks, especially engineers, who envisioned themselves spending their career as an auditor instead of a designer.
> I'm going to stick my neck out and offer an opinion (and it is just my
> educated opinion) that the decay will continue because we do not have a
> professional body of consultants and registrars setting and enforcing ethical
> standards ...
Perhaps, but I will go out on a limb here and say that I think a more critical source of decay will come from the tendency for folks who are technically excellent to want to do the technical work, rather than auditing.
Brian
Subject: RE: ISO Conflict of Interest /MacKenzie/Taormina/Kohn
> What was an absolute in 1990 is, today, an opportunity. The latest "absolute"
> to crumble is that once you have selected a registrar, you are lifelong
> partners. Lately, some registrars are approaching registered companies and
> giving them a pitch of lower prices, better service and they will accept the
> other guy's certificate. Is this an ethical shift?
This avenue has always been open, but you are correct that folks have been taking that tack much more in recent years. I don't see it as a bad thing, however, because it forces inefficient registrars with tons of useless, non-value-added overhead, to either shape up or ship out.
> I've worked with six or seven of the big boys. What I have seen is that the
> auditor gene pool is shrinking and the number of really talented auditors is
> dwindling. For one reason, it is a burnout job, traveling constantly and
> trying to control costs.
Nail. Hammer. Hit on head.
I was one of those who simply walked away from "a very promising career" in ISO 9000 registration. As I've indicated before, I was a manager for one of the "big boys" as you put it, even at that level that type of work is just not worth it, at any salary level (even six-figures...)
> Second, there is pressure on the auditors to "keep the customer happy."
This wasn't the secondary reason for me. Rather, I asked myself the question, "Was this what I got my university degrees for?" I was an engineer by training and by preference, and the only engineering I got to do as an auditor was writing the software that controlled the workflow for the administrative and field-auditing functions of the registrar. I don't know many folks, especially engineers, who envisioned themselves spending their career as an auditor instead of a designer.
> I'm going to stick my neck out and offer an opinion (and it is just my
> educated opinion) that the decay will continue because we do not have a
> professional body of consultants and registrars setting and enforcing ethical
> standards ...
Perhaps, but I will go out on a limb here and say that I think a more critical source of decay will come from the tendency for folks who are technically excellent to want to do the technical work, rather than auditing.
Brian