ABSTRACT
ThischapterservesasanintroductiontoDavidJones'invitedchapter''ISO9000 andtheRealWorld"whichfollows.Thisoverviewgivesabriefdescriptionof theworldwideimportanceofISO9000internationalqualitymanagementsystem (QMS)standards,andthegrowingsignificanceoftheISO14000international environmentalmanagementsystem(EMS)standards(currentlyISO14001).In addition,manyiterationsandvariationsofmanagementsystemstandardsare flourishingthroughoutvarioussectorsofbusinessandindustry.Fromahumble beginningamongthequalitystandardsandtheirprecursorsinthe1960sand 1970s,ISO9000andthird-partyorindependentregistrations(knowninEurope ascertifications)nowprobablynumberover50,000plantsitesand/orbusiness
entities in North America and about 200,000 worldwide. Even the widely read and syndicated comic strip Dilbert is replete with ISO 9000 cartoons and frustrated business managers having to create anew, cope with, or curse about these same quality standards. From the sometimes arcane world of technical standardizers to having now become the common vocabulary of business and government leaders, one must now conclude that voluntary international standards such as ISO 9000 and now ISO 14000 have "arrived" on the business scene. Paraphrasing another popular advertisement of the 1990s, "You've come a long way, ISO.''
