Operational planning and control: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
Operational planning and control (French: maîtrise opérationnelle) covers the arrangements through which an organisation organises, runs and checks the processes that carry its contribution to the SDGs: criteria, methods, resources, management of change and of outsourced processes. It is the subject of clause 8 of ISO 53001.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
This clause is often the longest to audit, because it means leaving the steering documents behind and watching activities. The auditor checks that actions planned under clause 6 are truly built into processes: SDG criteria in purchasing, in the design of an offer, in recruitment.
Changes get attention too: was a new site, a new product or a reorganisation assessed against the priority SDGs? As in any standard built on the harmonized structure, the clause also expects outsourced processes to be controlled. See clause 8 and the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
Operation within the chain of clauses
Clause 8 is where the plans of clause 6 meet the resources of clause 7, and its results are evaluated under clause 9. The auditor uses this chain to choose what to observe: an objective on supplier working conditions leads straight to the purchasing process and to a sample of supplier files.
See also
- Process: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A process (French: *processus*) is a set of related activities that uses inputs to deliver a result.
- Outsource: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)To outsource (French: *externaliser*) is to entrust an external provider with all or part of a function or process that remains within the scope of the management system.
- Objective: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An objective (French: *objectif*) is a result to be achieved, set at a given level and for a given function.
- ISO/UNDP 53001 clause 8: what the auditor checksISO 53001 clause 8 covers operation.