To: Crab
Lu, just writing all that stuff down does not help people work better together - I agree that evryone should have a job description and some terms of reference and responsibilities laid out but things like ISO9001 are just paperwork exercises designed by consultatnts to make money from industry.
Being certified to ISO standards and working to those standards are two different things. Most companies have a standards manual for the handling of paperwork or a quality control manual. If everyone worked to those standards the company would be fine. However personalities enter into the equation where one boss does not like another and all lines of communications break down. The product suffers and the company suffers and most of all the people in the respective departments suffer even more. This was true for an Italian helicopter manufacturer at least when I worked there.
Whether you are talking about CRM or ISO 9001-1994 or, 2000 or whatever the reason they are being implemented is that there are humans involved. No matter if the Captain or the manager are total ass-bites they still have a responsibility to the people in their crew or department as well as the crew or personnel having a responsibility to the Captain or the manager.
There have to be operational standards in every type of operation whether it is in aviation or the manufacture of canned soup.
I once thought that ISO 9001 was a joke that is until I saw it being implemented into the engineering department of a major aircraft company. The management personalities entered into it and they could never get certified. However, the Manufacturing facility did get certified and they are a model for the industry. Companies like Boeing and Airbus have come to see the manufacturing facility and the methodology used in constructing aircraft.
CRM or Cockpit Resources Management was implemented by United Airlines when there were several mishaps resulting from poor crew communication. Since then it has grown like Topsy and included relations with cabin crew, ground crew and anybody that even touches an aircraft.
What it all boils down to is to park your personality at the Jetway prior to boarding the aircraft and, treat others with respect but then again that is what the “Golden Rule” is all about.
