The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or process. However, the standards that have earned the ISO 9000 families a worldwide reputation are known as "generic management system standards". "Generic" means that the same standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product - including whether its "product" is actually a service - in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department. "Management system" refers to what the organization does to manage its processes, or activities. "Generic" also signifies that no matter what the organization is or does, if it wants to establish a quality management system then such a system has a number of essential features which are spelled out in the relevant standards of the ISO 9000 families.

ISO 9000 is concerned with "quality management". This means what the organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements and continually to improve its performance in this regard.