Purpose – In recent years, “trade up” argument has gained momentum. It argues that international integration can benefit developing countries' environments by fostering the adoption of voluntary environmental standards, such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001...

Purpose – This paper aims to present the findings of a case study conducted at ABC Structures (pseudonym), which is a small North American manufacturing company that has spent close to one year working on implementing the ISO 9000 standard. The main obstacles faced by ABC during implementation...

Companies pursuing certification to quality standards must apply change methodologies to institutionalize the requirements into the business. Existing change models, such as Burke‐Litwin, can serve as the foundation for identifying underlying, predictive variables impacting response variables...

Purpose – To test the strength of the relationship between motivation for seeking ISO 9000 certification, quality culture, management responsibility, and the perceived benefits derived from ISO 9000 certification. Design/methodology/approach – The research involved the development and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine management attitudes/perceptions of Egyptian manufacturing organizations toward the implementation of ISO 9001:2000. The implementation of ISO 9001:2000 depends on how the standard is perceived by Egyptian companies themselves....

Purpose – The purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine the fit between values underpinning the ISO 9000 standard and selected managerial and organisational factors. Design/methodology/approach – The study is a conceptual one relying on the literature on the selected strategic factors...

Purpose – One of the stated goals behind the formation of the International Organization for Standardization was to develop standards to facilitate international trade in goods and services. This goal has caused different country‐group trends in the diffusion of ISO certification. The...

Purpose – As organizations try to provide quality assurance from ISO certification, the importance of people management through better HR management assumes greater significance. This paper aims to examine this issue. It seeks to compare selected ISO certified SMEs with non‐ISO certified...

This paper is an analysis of knowledge creation following implementation of the world's leading quality assurance standard, ISO 9000. We combine the perspectives of Nonaka on knowledge creation (Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995; and Krogh, Nonaka, & Nishiguchi, 2000) with those of authors who have...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the order or the strategy of management system standards (MSSs) implementation in an organization determines the level of integration of its standardized MSSs. Design/methodology/approach – Groups of organizations that follow...