Standards for Top Management

FRAMEWORK

Introducing the framework

Welcome to the Standards for Top Management Framework. This guide was created for leaders who want to use ISO standards to drive real results. We won’t overwhelm you with references to standards you don’t need. Instead, we’ll focus on the most important ones for top management, show how they connect to your strategic goals, and share tips to help you use them effectively.

As you explore these pages, you’ll learn that standards are more than just rules to follow. You’ll also discover how emerging standards reflect current trends and shape the future of global business, and you’ll find out how to turn these trends into opportunities for your organization. By highlighting what truly matters, this framework will help you make smart decisions, create stronger strategies, and inspire innovation—through standards—ensuring your organization thrives for many years to come.

Think of this framework as a friendly guide on your journey to better performance and enduring success. Let’s move forward together and see how the right standards can light the path to sustained growth.

Scope & objective

To set the stage and expectation from the very beginning, this section outlines what to expect from the report, ensuring you can move forward efficiently without wasting time or effort. With a clear understanding of the report’s purpose, we begin by defining its scope.

Scope

This framework provides top management with an overview of essential ISO standards, as well as key updates and current developments. It guides you through more than 24,000 published standards, highlighting those most relevant to senior decision-makers, helping you to make smart, informed decisions that are aligned with your organization’s strategic direction.

Objective

The primary aim is to empower executives, leaders, and managers to leverage ISO standards in a way that supports their strategic goals. It guides you through approximately 150 carefully curated ISO standards to ensure your  organization’s sustained success in 2025 and beyond.

Expectations

Navigating the extensive landscape of international standards can be challenging. This report is designed to serve as a strategic guide through this complexity. However, it’s important to recognize that while the insights and recommendations provided are valuable, they may not be universally applicable. Each organization must adapt the guidance to fit its unique needs and circumstances. Also,  due to ISO’s copyright policies, the actual standards discussed here are not included and must be purchased separately. Our goal is to help you identify the most relevant ones, enabling you to avoid unnecessary costs while still capitalizing on the benefits that ISO standards can bring.

Focus on ISO standards

As the number of standards continues to grow, it’s essential for executives to stay informed and selective. While there are many organizations develop standards at a global, regional, and local level, this report focuses on ISO standards due to their broad scope and widespread acceptance in over 160 countries. ISO is the global leader in standard-setting, known for its excellence

and consistency. Since its founding in 1947, ISO has been a driving force for international collaboration, uniting diverse experts for over 70 years. By concentrating on ISO standards, this report ensures that top management has the knowledge to identify and implement the most relevant standards, unlocking substantial benefits. Achieving ISO certification, for example, can enhance your brand’s reputation and create opportunities in new markets and with new customers.

Subject & content

This report is meticulously structured to provide top management with a comprehensive understanding of international standards by organizing them across two primary dimensions: Standards by Subject and Categorization of Content. This dual-framework approach ensures that the information is both accessible and actionable, enabling leaders to effectively navigate and implement the relevant standards within their organizational contexts.

This subject-based classification includes the following topics:

  • Governance of organizations
  • Project, program & portfolio
  • Compliance management
  • IT management
  • Asset management
  • Information security
  • Social responsibility
  • Risk management 
  • Environmental management 
  • Energy management 
  • Human resource 
  • Brand & Reputation
  • Occupational health & safety
  • Security & resilience 
  • Business collaboration 
  • Innovation management 
  • Supply chain management 
  • Quality management
  • Information management 
  • Artificial intelligence 
  • Circular Economy.

This content-based classification includes categories such as:

  • Assessment 
  • Framework 
  • Fundamentals
  • Governance 
  • Guidance 
  • Guidelines 
  • Management standard
  • Management system 
  • Measurement 
  • Methodology 
  • Principles 
  • Recommendation 
  • Report 
  • Requirement 
  • Specification 
  • Vocabulary

Resources

Online Browsing Platform
To search for any of the over 24,000 published ISO standards

List of technical standard organizations
For more information on technical standard-setting organizations.

Good standardization practice (GSP)
For more information on technical standard-setting organizations.