The standard wants to see this policy based on the strategic goals of the company. Management must look at both the system and the products for non-conformities and for opportunities for improvement. The tie-in with internal auditing as one way to do this is made later in the standard. The guideline standards talk about management taking a proactive stance in looking for common problems and ways to improve the system. It is the role of the ISO coordinator to report to management on the state of the quality system.
Management can choose to audit more than once a year.
The note that appeared at the end of element 4.2 in the 1987 edition now is fully integrated into the standard. The rest of the element liberalizes the use of documentation within your system. The idea is to make ISO 9000 applicable to a wider range of businesses. The new definition of product to include hardware, software, service, and processed materials reinforces this change. Finally, element 4.2 says that written quality plans are highly recommended.