The longitudinal effects of the ISO 9000 certification process on business performance

Abstract

This paper develops and tests several hypotheses relating to ISO 9000 quality system certification process using data collected in a cross-sectional study undertaken in Australia. Multivariate analysis is used to analyze the quantitative data and test the hypotheses. Our findings show that there is a significant and positive relationship between the manager's motives for adopting ISO 9000 certification and business performance. Those organizations that pursue certification willingly and positively across a broad spread of objectives are more likely to report improved organizational performance. The individual element found to contribute most to business performance was customer focus. The pr..