Management review: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
Management review (French: revue de direction) is the examination of the SDG management system by top management at planned intervals: results, changes in context, feedback from interested parties, audits, resources. In ISO 53001 it leads to decisions on improvement or change, retained as evidence.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
The auditor reads the latest management review minutes and checks that they cover the inputs set out by the harmonized structure. The outputs matter most: decisions, resources allocated, objectives revised. A review that merely comments on figures, without settling anything, does not do its job.
The decisions recorded are then compared with what has happened since. Dated, signed minutes announcing an action that was never launched provide grounds for a nonconformity. The subject is covered in subclause 9.3 of clause 9 of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
Generic inputs, SDG content
Applied to an SDG system, the generic inputs of the harmonized structure translate into concrete items: progress on the priority SDGs, negative effects detected, changes in the expectations of affected groups. A review held only once, just before the certification audit, gives little assurance that top management steers the system across the year.
See also
- Top management: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Top management (French: *direction*) is the person or group of people who direct and control the organisation at the highest level: chief executive, executive committee, board of an association.
- Continual improvement: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Continual improvement (French: *amélioration continue*) is the recurring activity through which an organisation strengthens its performance and the relevance of its management system.
- Performance: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Performance (French: *performance*, the same word) is a measurable result, quantitative or qualitative.
- Internal audit: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An internal audit (French: *audit interne*) is one the organisation conducts itself, or has conducted on its behalf, to check that its SDG management system follows its own rules and the standard and is effectively implemented.
- ISO/UNDP 53001 clause 9: what the auditor checksISO 53001 clause 9 deals with performance evaluation.