The average lifespan of enterprises is shortening, but some enterprises have existed for hundreds of years. How to survive in a rapidly changing world? A newly released standard can help you.

By 2027, the average lifespan of companies in the S&P 500 Index will be only 12 years. The S&P 500 index is an index consisting of 505 stocks issued by 500 large companies with a market value of at least $6.1 billion. New technologies, economic shocks, disruptive competitors, and inadequate foresight and preparation for future challenges are the key reasons for its demise.

The newly released ISO 9004 "Quality Management - Organizational Quality - Guidelines for Achieving Sustainable Success" reveals the secrets and strategies of some of the world's longest standing businesses to help other organizations prepare for these challenges while optimizing their performance.

Charles Corrie, the secretary of the ISO committee that developed this standard, stated that it is not only to help organizations survive, but also to achieve 'sustained success'.

He said, "Business failure is often due to the inability to effectively adapt to changes in the market, competition, or new technologies.

ISO 9004 draws on the strategies, best practices, and experiences of some of the most successful companies in the world, providing guidance for any enterprise, regardless of its size or type. This includes how to predict future challenges and how to achieve higher levels of performance in the process.

This standard is a revised version of ISO 9004:2009, based on previous guidelines, to help organizations improve overall performance by fully leveraging the potential of quality management systems.

It will help organizations go beyond ISO 9001 (Quality Management System) and address topics such as strategic, policy, and goal adjustments and deployments within the broader context of the organization's vision, mission, values, and culture.

ISO 9004 was developed by ISO/TC 176 (International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee on Quality Management and Quality Assurance) and SC 2 (SC2 Quality Management and Quality Assurance Technical Committee Quality Systems Subcommittee), with its secretariat held by BSI (British Standards Institution), a member body of ISO UK.