Research
Companies gain financial rewards following implementation of ISO 9000 in Greece (2015)
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the acquisition of an ISO 9000 certification and the overall financial performance of the certified firms. More specifically, the study proposes a multidimensional conceptual framework, including “customers’ demand”, “ISO adoption”, “operation efficiency”, “market efficiency” and “overall financial performance”.
The proposed conceptual framework was tested on a sample of Greek ISO 9000-certified companies of various economic sectors. Quality managers were used as key respondents. The final sample consisted of 168 companies.
The paper makes an analytical effort to point out areas that companies should emphasize in order to successfully implement ISO 9000 and, therefore, harvest its potential benefits.
Overall the results show, ISO adoption enhances operation efficiency, and has the ability to directly influence customer satisfaction and sales revenue.
Finally, the study concluded that organisations decide to adopt ISO 9000 not only based on external factors, since it was found that internal factors have their own significant role in that decision. This finding reveals that modern organisations seek quality improvement because of their understanding of its significance.
Authors
Kipraios, N., Chatzoudes, D., Chatzoglou, P. (2015), ‘The impact of ISO 9000 certification on firms’ financial performance’, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 35, Iss 1 pp.145-174.