Marketing and Cost Dimensions of ISO 9001 Implementations of Small and Medium Sized Manufacturers: A Case Analysis

The objective of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the implementation of ISO 9001 in small firms through three different case studies. For this we have conducted deep interviews with 3 manufacturing firms that have registered under the ISO 9001 quality assurance standard, their main customers and suppliers, to highlight the importance of standardization through customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and integration with suppliers to improve financial performance. This study applied to ISO 9001 certified companies verify that, ISO implementation can be regarded especially as a marketing tool since its marketing dimension gains more importance than its cost dimension.