The importance of internal aspects in quality improvement

Motivations for ISO 9001 quality management system implementation and certification – mapping the territory with a novel classification proposal

Purpose

This paper aims to identify and characterize the motivations for ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) implementation and certification, with a novel, valid and business-oriented scale applied to a large sample. Instead of adopting a normative approach focusing on the internal/external nature of the motivation, this investigation aims to emphasize the ISO 9001 driving forces from an instrumental (productivity, market and competitiveness) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is framed with a quantitative methodology supported by an email survey encompassing a sample of 526 Portuguese ISO 9001 certified organizations. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factorial analysis (EFA), t-tests and correlation analysis were performed according to the proposed research questions.

Findings

Regarding the motivations, three factors were obtained by applying EFA: market, productivity and competitiveness. The respondent organizations consider the productivity factor (mainly related to internal motivations) to be the most important. Concerning the other factors, competitiveness in the sector is ranked second and the reasons related to the market come in third. Additionally, organizations of medium dimension (between 50 and 249 employees), certified up to 1999 or from the private sector, give greater relevance to motivations related to the market and competitiveness.

Research limitations/implications

This investigation suffers from the limitations inherent to the survey methodology (e.g. potential bias) and a Portuguese sample’s restrictions. Moreover, this research does not cover organizations that have been certified after 2015, namely, with an initial ISO 9001:2015 certification. Nevertheless, most of the respondents’ organizations remain ISO 9001 certified today.

Practical implications

The information provided allows managers to know the driving forces and motivations behind seeking ISO 9001 certification. It can assist certification bodies in fine-tuning their marketing strategies to attract new customers and support ISO 9001 stakeholders in the ISO 9001 revision cycles.

Social implications

Policymakers can also adjust policies to foster ISO 9001 certification accordingly. Furthermore, as Wawak et al. (2020) suggested, with ISO starting a new revision cycle for ISO 9001, an increase in the research topic is expected. This study brings additional knowledge that can assist ISO stakeholders in that process.

Originality/value

This study presents a novel, valid and more business-oriented scale to characterize and identify the motivations for ISO 9001 QMS certification and maps the driving forces for ISO 9001 certification in a large sample size of diverse organizations. The instrumental nature of the scale (productivity, market and competitiveness) improves the consistency with recent research on ISO 9001 contributions for organizational performance compared with previous scales that focused on the internal/external nature of the motivation.

Environmental effects of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management system implementation in SSCM

Purpose

Comprehensive management systems such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 are designed to help organizations improve processes, ensure customer satisfaction, efficient information flow, efficient use of resources and many other prosperous management areas. These systems can also bring unintended direct and indirect effects on organizations. In this study, the authors examine the environmental effects that the implementation of these management systems cause.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey-based methodology was used for this study, with textile organizations in three countries – Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The research focused on four areas related to environmental effects. The first area was the level of improvement of the organizations' environmental performance, which was examined by the methods of descriptive statistics. The second area was analyzing differences in environmental effects concerning the implementation of the systems using inferential statistics. The third area was the analysis of latent links between individual effects using factor analysis.

Findings

This study's insights shed some light on the benefits of implementing more, not fewer systems with benefits to organizations and entire industries with new possibilities for economic growth that do not have to come at the expense of the environment.

Originality/value

Organizations implementing management systems can realize dynamic benefits across a supply chain and within a manufacturing organization. Here the authors see an opportunity for ISO systems as a stepping stone to a more sustainable textile manufacturing economy.

What determinants influence the diffusion of ISO 9001 by countries?

Purpose

This study has the main aim of analyzing the influence of six factors on ISO 9001 implementation: Economic Development, Exporting to Europe, Reputation, Competitiveness, Innovation and Business Sophistication. As a complement, a new factor relating to quality by country has been added: the World Quality Scoreboard.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses are proposed that establish a (positive or negative) linear relationship between the diffusion of ISO 9001 and the indicators of the different factors analyzed in each country. The SPSS program was used to evaluate the hypotheses using data from 2009 to 2018.

Findings

The results indicate strong positive relationship for the country's economic development only when countries with low levels of income are considered. For the rest of the variables, the results indicate that their behavior varies according to the degree of development of the countries. When only developed countries are considered, significant and negative correlations are obtained for reputation, competitiveness, innovation and business sophistication, while considering the group of less developed countries, the results are reversed. The new World Quality Scoreboard has the same behavior whereas regarding exports; we did not obtain conclusive results.

Originality/value

This study adds important information on the studying of ISO 9000 phenomenon diffusion/evolution by analyzing the effect of six variables on the degree of implementation of the ISO 9001 standard in different countries. This information is interesting for companies and certification bodies across the world because it allows a better understanding of the reasons and conditions of implementing a quality management system.

Examining the relationship between soft total quality management (TQM) aspects and employees' job satisfaction in “ISO 9001” Sudanese oil companies

Purpose

Soft total quality management (TQM) aspects are the facets of TQM that mainly concern with the management of human resource in a way to achieve the results of employees' job satisfaction. Based on this approach, the objective of this research is to examine the relationship between the most popular five soft TQM aspects and employees' job satisfaction in “ISO 9001” certified Sudanese oil companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through questionnaires from employees across a total of five Sudanese oil companies owned by the government, and adopting an ISO-9001 quality program. The total population of the study consists of 1,505 permanent employees, while the sample size was 253 employees, determined by adopting a stratified random sampling technique. The multiple regression model was adopted for data analysis.

Findings

The results showed that the construct of soft TQM aspects including “top management commitment”, “employee empowerment”, “teamwork”, “training and education” and “employee involvement” explain 74% in the variance of employees' job satisfaction. Results showed positive association between soft TQM aspects and employees' job satisfaction at the 5% significance level. It was also found that each individual variable of the five soft TQM aspects has a significant positive association with employees' job satisfaction. Meanwhile, the results indicated that the most important soft TQM aspect in explaining the variability of employees' job satisfaction was the “employee empowerment” with the highest correlation coefficient (β) of (0.189).

Practical implications

The study recommends that in order to achieve their primary goal of employees' satisfaction, HR practitioners within organizations adopting total quality programs should align their practice in such a way to enhance soft aspects of TQM. Policy makers and top management in order to gain long-term infrastructural benefits obtained from employees' job satisfaction should show a visible support to TQM programs and allocate necessary resources to train their staff in the quality management system that enhance their empowerment and involvement. The study also recommends that since soft aspects of TQM raise their job satisfaction, employees should support and conform to quality management systems within their organizations.

Originality/value

The paper focuses on soft TQM aspects’ practical implementation. The findings make a significant contribution by using ISO-certified governmental Sudanese oil companies and tested the hypothesized model entails the impact of soft TQM implementation and employees' job satisfaction.

The heterogeneous implementation of ISO 9001 in service-oriented organizations

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the heterogeneity in the implementation of the ISO 9001 quality management system in service-oriented organizations, and to identify patterns (i.e. relationships, dependencies and exceptions) among critical implementation factors, possible implementation determinants and desired post-implementation outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a qualitative approach, in the form of a multiple case study of five ISO 9001 certified, service-oriented organizations, located in Greece. Using multiple data collection methods including interviews with upper management and employees, desk research and on-site observation allowed for data triangulation.

Findings

The analysis reveals that ISO 9001 implementation can range across different levels of fidelity, from merely superficial to genuinely substantive. Several determinants (i.e. implementation experience, motivation for certification, perception of quality, commitment to change) affect the level of fidelity and, in turn, the post-implementation outcomes. Interestingly, even a superficial ISO 9001 implementation can initiate, at least to a moderate degree, beneficial changes throughout the organizations. The organizations that strictly abide by ISO 9001 requirements still have to address some challenges, most notably to instill a culture of prevention in their management system and to efficiently balance standardization and flexibility.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the ISO 9001 internalization literature, providing an in-depth analysis of possible patterns among ISO 9001 implementation factors, determinants and outcomes. Related findings are also discussed under the prism of the revised ISO 9001:2015.

Motives for implementing ISO 9000 – does enterprise size matter?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motives for obtaining an ISO 9000-certified quality management system in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and whether such motives differ between large companies and SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a qualitative approach, using multiple case studies. The primary research consisted of interviews with top and middle managers in four organizations and was complemented with direct observation and documental analysis.

Findings

The research findings confirmed the existing literature. The most common motivations for certification came from external pressure such as customer demand and ability to participate in public tender. It therefore validates that the classification of motives adopted for large companies is also appropriate for SMEs. The research also brought to light one implication of ISO certification that has escaped mention in the literature, namely, the distinction between primary and secondary motives. That is, companies driven by externally-driven motives to pursue ISO 9000 certification appreciated other benefits once they realized the full potential of the standard, leading to additional motivations.

Practical implications

The study was restricted to a single region of Greece and a single sector, food and beverage industry. This study may provide key insight for managers to understand and appropriately evaluate motives for ISO 9000 certification and to save them from misinterpretation and hasty conclusions.

Originality/value

Because the data gathered were longitudinal, this study offered a deep understanding of the true motives for ISO 9000 certification.

ISO 9001 and supply chain quality in the USA

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of ISO 9001 certification and diffusion in the USA in relation to organizational supply chain position, quality maturity, and supplier quality maturity.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for comparison in this study comes from an e-mail survey questionnaire of supply chain professionals across the USA. A pilot survey was initially e-mailed to 100 supply chain professionals and preliminary data from 27 respondents were used to revise the questionnaire. Respondents to the revised questionnaire returned 565 e-mailed questionnaires out of 2,924 active e-mail addresses.

Findings

The results suggest that companies adopting ISO 9001 are likely doing so as part of an overall quality management program more so than from direct market pressure. It appears that ISO 9001 certification rates differ by organizational position in the supply chain. ISO 9001 certified organizations are more likely to have quality programs of greater maturity and suppliers with greater quality maturity than organizations that are not ISO 9001 certified. Certified organizations are also more likely to use suppliers that are ISO 9001 capable or certified than non-ISO 9001 organizations.

Research limitations/implications

Not all industry groups or supply chain positions were well-represented due to some small sub-group sizes.

Practical implications

The study of ISO 9001 certification in US organizations has been lacking in the literature. Given the weak adoption rate of ISO 9001 in the USA, this study helps characterize ISO 9001 certification from a supply chain perspective and explores possible reasons for low certification rates.

Originality/value

This research extends the knowledge of quality management in the supply chain by studying ISO 9001 certification in relation to supply chain position and differences in quality maturity between certified and non-certified organizations in the USA.

Empirical evidence about ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 in Italian companies

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the experience of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 certified companies, examining their motivations to introduce the standard and their perceived benefits and barriers. In parallel, the research investigated the knowledge and perception of ISO 9004 guideline, analyzing if it could give an added value to certified companies.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was proposed by e-mail to 2,581 Italian ISO 9001 certified companies from January 18 to March 31, 2016; 522 companies participated to the survey.

Findings

Companies of different size have been driven by different motivations to certification, reaching different types of benefits, while both large and small ones perceived the greater bureaucratization as an obstacle. The ISO 9004 standard is little known and applied among Italian companies, but the ones which adopted it benefited from it.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation may be derived from the fact that the sample was composed only of Italian companies, although this effect was to understand perceptions and trends of these international standards in the Italian reality.

Practical implications

Analyzing perceived advantages and disadvantages of ISO 9001 and 9004 could be crucial for managers to understand if their joint use is the right strategy to gain competitiveness in the reference markets.

Originality/value

Compared to previous studies in which ISO 9001 was evaluated as a stand-alone standard, the research made a comparative evaluation with ISO 9004, as ISO considers them to be “consistent pair of standards,” covering the literature gap about the effectiveness of the joint use of them.

The moderating effect of motivations on the relationship between obtaining ISO 9001 certification and organizational performance

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is threefold, first to investigate if ISO 9001 certified companies in an Iranian province (Kermanshah) perform better than non-certified ISO 9001. Second, what is the main motivation of the manufacturing companies of Kermanshah province on obtaining ISO 9001 certification, i.e., internal or external motivations. And finally, if ISO 9001 certified companies with high scores of internal motivations, show better levels of performance in comparison with certified companies obtaining low scores of internal motivations.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey questionnaire was distributed to the 350 companies with ISO 9000 certification, and a total of 287 usable responses were returned. Using a structural equation model, this study empirically examines the relationship between ISO 9000 implementation and firm performance, and the moderating role of firm motivation on organizational performance.

Findings

– The results demonstrate that ISO 9001 certified companies show better organizational performance than non-certified ISO 9001 companies and internal motivations play more important role on obtaining ISO 9001 certificate than external motivations. Also ISO 9001 certified companies with high scores of internal motivations show better levels of performance than those ISO 9001 certified companies with low scores of internal motivations.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample is restricted to only a single region and manufacturing, so it would be strongly recommended that data be gathered from various parts of Iran including both manufacturing and service industries. As in this study the data gathered were cross-sectional, it is recommended in order to gain deeper understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship among the variables data to be gathered longitudinally.

Originality/value

– This study represents a first attempt to construct a conceptual framework that integrates the motivations behind implementing ISO 9000 certification, and ISO 9000 performance in the context of Iran and gives a particular focus on the Iran manufacturing companies.

The true motives behind the adoption of QLASSIC-CIS 7: 2006

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate contractors’ awareness level and adoption of QLASSIC assessment system in construction industry and to identify the variables that influenced the adoption of QLASSIC assessment system.

Design/methodology/approach

– Quantitative research method was adopted in order to test the above issues. The questionnaire composed for two parts: awareness and adoption of QLASSIC system; and the factors that influenced the adoption of QLASSIC system. Those contractors who registered under grade 6 and 7 are the scope of respondents in this study.

Findings

– The adoption of QLASSIC assessment is not significantly affected by the awareness whereas the motivations and barrier factors do. It was discovered that the contractors perception on QLASSIC adoption are basically due to the significant factors; the internal motivations and barrier. The major influencing factors are internal motivation factors, external motivation factors and barrier factors.

Originality/value

– This study reveals the true motives behind the adoption of QLASSIC assessment in the construction industry, where this finding significantly contributes to the understanding of contractors’ perception on this quality assurance program for the construction industry.

A proposal of a new paradigm for national quality certification systems

Purpose

The goal of this paper is to suggest a new incentive model that is capable of creating the conditions for the autonomous growth of diffusion and credibility of the ISO 9000 national quality certification system.

Design/methodology/approach

The first part of this work contains some considerations about the general interest of organisations in quality certification systems, emphasising the advantages and the drawbacks in being certified. Next, the attention shifts to future scenarios. Specifically, a new model is proposed that is capable of encouraging certified organisations (COs) and certification bodies (CBs) that operate blamelessly and seriously, while at the same time penalising those that do not.

Findings

The suggested model consists of two inter‐connected sub‐models relative to COs and CBs, respectively. Each sub‐model includes different states with different incentives/penalties. The switch‐over from one state to another depends on the practical results recorded in recent years by the CO/CB of interest. The switching rules are based on a set of objective, transparent, and non‐manipulable indicators.

Research limitations/implications

On‐site analyses and simulations are necessary so as to tune optimal switching rules to balance the whole model.

Practical implications

The (possible) future implementation of the model could have great impact on COs' and CBs' modi operandi, promoting the real implementation of quality management practices but – at the same time – not requiring significant additional effort from the state and the authorities accrediting/controlling CBs.

Originality/value

The proposed model is absolutely new and may represent a proper way to combine the interests and expectations of COs and CBs into a unique “virtuous circle” for improving the real implementation of quality management.