International Standardisations have become a topic of interest in recent years by international organisations, national bodies, private and government institutions, regulators, exporters and importers, Trade Associations, consultants, not-for profit organisations and consumers of goods and services. Among the major issues usually discussed are the functions of International standardisation bodies, benefits of international standardisations for societies; businesses and governments and the importance of creating awareness to ensure all stakeholders can maximise the benefits of International standardisations as we shall soon find in the succeeding paragraphs.
There are several international standards bodies but the most internationally accepted organisation is The International Organisation for Standardisations (ISO) which has over 1900 standards covering a wide range of different disciplines such as technology and business and in specific areas from food safety to computers, agriculture to healthcare, manufacturing to financial services, transportation to construction, restaurants to hotels, and the environment to supply chain etc. As a result, we will be using ISO and international standards interchangeably throughout this work."ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards. International Standards give state of the art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping to make industry more efficient and effective. Developed through global consensus, they help to break down barriers to international trade."
The objective of this article is to create awareness to the Ghanaian public, government agencies and businesses regarding the growth of international standardisation and the opportunities associated with their applications and how businesses, society and the government could access information and obtain certifications at cheaper cost since our own research revealed that, whereas the major challenges facing individuals, businesses and government institutions are down to the high cost involved in obtaining certification; how to obtain certification, no motivation on the parts of businesses, governments and individuals, others are completely ignorant of the opportunities international standardisations present to them and their businesses hence the need for us to create public awareness about these standards.
To Quote directly from ISO’s website “ISO International Standards ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality. For business, they are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors and increasing productivity. They help companies to access new markets, level the playing field for developing countries and facilitate free and fair global trade.”
Research has revealed that whereas businesses, governments and professionals in the developed countries are enjoying the above benefits of International Standards to the maximum, their counterparts in the developing countries of which Ghana is no exception, are not only missing the great opportunities presented by international standards such as creditability and competitive advantage, cost savings, increased sales due to customer satisfaction, increased productivity due to increased efficiency, access to international markets, job opportunities for holders, improved internal processes and procedures but are rather suffering from the impacts and consequences of not complying with international standards laid down procedures. Some of the consequences are high cost of production, not gaining access to international markets, increased errors and rejects in production/ operations, penalties and heavy fines by regulators and customers leading to heavy losses for businesses which consequently affect economic development and society as a whole.
In order to buttress the above point, we quote what Mr Martin Denison, Managing Director of Scuba Schools GmbH, Austria, had to say regarding how ISO certifications could save businesses and industries from collapse:
"Without standards I would have had to close down… Not taking part (in standardization) would have cost me my company and my livelihood… What does it cost me if I do not get involved and others define rules that are out of line with my needs, interests and experiences, but which I have to comply with because they are laid down in a standard?
Hence, it is best to join in right at the start."
Considering the benefits of complying with ISO standards and certifications, one would wonder why African businesses, governments and society as a whole are not registering or complying with ISO standards. In order to solve this puzzle, we carried out a research and discovered that, there are a number of factors accounting for this. The major problems or challenges identified in our research are shown below:
High cost of certification
Ignorance on the part of management and individuals regarding the benefits of International Certifications
The difficulties involved in obtaining certification
The fact that its voluntary
The time scale it takes to get the certification
The fact that there are insufficient number of training and International certification bodies in Ghana to train, certify and create awareness
The fact that there is acute shortage of ISO certified professionals such as auditors and lead implementers to train individuals, the public and help companies and government institutions
In the developed countries, customers, pressure groups and government bodies have high motivation to put pressure on providers of goods and services to obtain certifications, there is not such motivation among customers, government bodies and pressure groups in Ghana. In some countries in Asia for example, they have government funded programs to promote the development of ISO standards by all industries.
The identification of the challenges businesses, individuals and government institutions face in their attempt to comply or get ISO certifications, leads to another question, which is, how can they overcome the challenges? The answer is simple, and that is, there is the need to create public awareness about international standards to educate the public on the benefits, challenges, where to go to for help, the cost involved and how to reduce the cost, how to get certified etc. to make the process easy for them.
It is however very important to point out that, the fact that the majority of companies and institutions in Ghana do not comply with ISO standards does not mean they are inefficient or do not have any good standards and procedures in place. Many companies in Ghana have successfully developed relatively cheaper internal processes, practices and procedures which are in line with ISO even though they have not obtained ISO certifications.
Apart from following internal standards and processes, Ghanaian companies and institutions also follow standards set up by their regulatory bodies. There are various independent and government regulatory bodies in Ghana that establish, promulgate and promote standards in Ghana to ensure goods and services produced in Ghana for both export and the local market are of the highest quality. They also ensure their members as well as industries comply with high level standards in order to operate efficiently across all sectors of the economy to save lives and produce high quality goods and services. Examples of such bodies include the National Standards Board, Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission, Medical and Dental Council of Ghana, National Petroleum Authority, the National accreditation Board, Ghana Pharmaceutical Council etc.
The question then is, if internal procedures, processes and national standards can ensure efficiency at a relatively cheaper cost, then, why do industries, society and national governments need international standards such as ISO? The answer to this question is not farfetched but before we answer this question, let us look at what Mr Franco Nava, the Owner of TW_TeamWare, Italy, said about how ISO standards and procedures have helped improved his business’s internal and operational processes and increased customer satisfaction internationally:
"The high technical level of our activity must be based on a sound methodology, on personnel experience and on rigorous project management. ISO 9001 and ISO 9004
helped us in building up processes to manage all these aspects coherently and unambiguously from design, up to deployment and customer help, which is deeply appreciated by our national and international customers."
The international standards procedures are prepared by experts and professionals therefore companies that follow the procedures benefit directly from the expertise of the professionals and since these professionals and experts are in most cases not found in Ghana, it will be in the best interest of Ghanaian businesses, individuals and government institutions to comply with international standards procedures but unfortunately the reverse is the case. It is also worth noting that, African countries face more information security risks, environmental problems, energy and water problems, poor quality control methods, inefficient management systems, high rate of corruption in both the private and public sectors, high unemployment rates, shortage of highly skilled labour, serious health problems, poor sanitation, identity theft problems, air pollution, high production cost and as a results need more expert services than their counterparts in the developed countries and consequently need to use the international standards to improve their internal processes and thereby reduce the negative impacts of the above problems.
In addition to the above, Apart from the fact that international standards ensure that industries, governments and societies all over the world follow the same high quality standards in their operations, it must also be noted that, there are a number of businesses that will deal with only companies that comply with internationally recognised standards. As Ghana strives to be the gateway to Africa in terms of attracting foreign investors and businesses into the country as well as promoting our products and services abroad, it is extremely important that our businesses and government institutions adhere to international standards since these standards are recognised worldwide. This will help the country reap dividends from the huge investments made by the Ghana government and business promoting our country’s image, products and services to the outside world.
If we fail to do our home work well, the huge amount of money spent by businesses and government officials travelling abroad in a bid to promote the country’s image, products and services will be wasted. The truth is, if the proper infrastructures are not laid down, we might attract the foreign investors and business here but they will neither invest a dime here nor patronise our goods and services and hence the need for us to wake up.
A quote from Mike Chilman, Managing Director of MC Fire Protection, United Kingdom may shed a bit of light on how important it’s for companies to comply with ISO standards or register for international certifications:
"Basically, I was prompted into finding out more about ISO 9001 because many of our competitors were starting to publicize the fact that they complied with it. Now that we
can do the same, we are finding that we are attracting lots of business from larger companies that want the reassurance of dealing with a firm that can demonstrate it complies with appropriate standards. A lot of businesses choose to trade with companies that comply with recognized standards ahead of those that don’t – especially in a trade like ours,
where we deal with lifesaving devices"
At present, there are insufficient ISO certified professionals such as consultants and auditors in Ghana to train other people and help organisations and companies comply with ISO standards or develop efficient and strong internal processes to ensure efficiency in operations. This means, there is a huge market and job opportunities in Ghana and abroad for those who train to become ISO certified professionals. In short what we are saying is, companies and institutions that comply with ISO standards would benefit from the high quality procedures laid down by the standards.
Having highlighted the benefits of international standardisations such as ISO and challenges societies, individuals and businesses in Africa face in obtaining certification, we call on the government, industry leaders, trade associations, religious leaders, school authorities etc to create awareness in our communities, schools, churches, Mosques, organisations etc. Time and space would not permit us to touch on specific areas and we know there are a number of organisations and individuals who might have several questions to ask such as; how can they get ISO certifications at a cheaper cost, what are the processes involved in obtaining certification and where can they get more information from?