Customer satisfaction and ISO 9001 improvement requirements in the supply chain

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of ISO 9001 quality improvement requirements in ISO 9001:2008, i.e. the corrective and preventive actions and internal audit, on customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach For the purposes of the study, data were collected via a survey on 200 aerospace and transportation companies that belong to a Canadian multinational company supply chain. The relationships between the corrective and preventive actions and internal auditing, on the one hand, and customer satisfaction, on the other, were examined via the structural equation modeling technique. Findings The major contribution of this study is that it has identified internal audit as the most influential continual improvement ISO 9001 requirement prior to the ISO 9001 transition phase, along with the corrective actions, while the preventive actions in the present formulation do not significantly influence customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted on the supply chain level in the aerospace and transportation sector; hence, a longitudinal study is possible as a future research avenue. The generalizability of this study’s findings is limited to similar supply chains around a multinational company consisted of companies that have at least ISO 9001 standard, but also fulfill other industry-specific requirements. Also, findings are based mainly on quality managers’ attitudes, so future studies are recommended to examine other positions’ views, too. Practical implications This research contributes to the literature and bridges the gap between theory and practice. It could be of value to both the certification bodies and the organizations that are interested in improving customer satisfaction by implementing ISO 9001 in the multinational supply chains context such as the aerospace and transportation sector. Originality/value While the influence of the ISO 9001 standard on customer satisfaction has been the subject of prior research, this is the first time that the simultaneous effect of the corrective and preventive actions and internal auditing on customer satisfaction has been studied. The validity of the removal of preventive actions from ISO 9001:2015 has also been analyzed.

Drivers of Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Practices to Alignment With Un Sustainable Development Goals

“…(2014) recognize that the key to building a sustainable supply chain is to find alignment between economic and environmental issues. Other studies indicate the importance sustainable consumption and production (Govindan, 2018, Gualandris & Kalchschmidt, 2014Zimon & Domingues, 2018), reduce risk (Sajjad et al, 2015), prevention of production problems in developing countries, improved overall supply chain performance and the need to set sustainability criteria for their suppliers (Turker & Altuntas, 2014;Beske-Janssen et al, 2015;Fernandes & Bornia, 2019;Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019). In summary, we conclude there are many publications in the literature on the subject of SSCM with a call to look for and improve emerging areas of interest to researchers and practioiners.…”

Unleashing the potential of internal audits: a review and research agenda

“…Second, even though there are opportunities for audits to contribute to quality improvements (Sousa & Voss, 2002), enhance customer satisfaction (Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019) and improve operational performance (Kaynak, 2003), there seems to be general agreement that the value of audits needs to be improved. The two main reasons internal audits should be improved are as follows: (1) internal audits are perceived to be a waste of time, and auditors mainly follow checklists based on ISO requirements, which do not help improve organisational performance (Chiarini, 2019;Ramly et al, 2018) and (2) there is excessive focus on seeking compliance with ISO requirements instead of on opportunities for improvement (Sun et al, 2017).…”

“…In essence, the audit process should be viewed as an opportunity for improvement (Esa et al, 2006;Masanganise et al, 2013). Earlier research also points to the idea that internal audits can drive continuous improvements (Underdown & Yentzen, 2012;Verkhovskaya et al, 2016), contribute to improving business performance (Alic & Rusjan, 2011) and enhance customer satisfaction (Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019). Audits are found to be a way of identifying process improvements (Fletcher & Gupta, 1999) and generate new ideas and opportunities for strategic initiatives, which could challenge existing practices and lead to improvements (Hassan et al, 2019;Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019).…”

“…Earlier research also points to the idea that internal audits can drive continuous improvements (Underdown & Yentzen, 2012;Verkhovskaya et al, 2016), contribute to improving business performance (Alic & Rusjan, 2011) and enhance customer satisfaction (Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019). Audits are found to be a way of identifying process improvements (Fletcher & Gupta, 1999) and generate new ideas and opportunities for strategic initiatives, which could challenge existing practices and lead to improvements (Hassan et al, 2019;Tomic & Spasojevic Brkic, 2019). Furthermore, it is claimed that audits can be used to sustain gained improvements in, for example, a Six Sigma project as well as in the evaluation of such projects (Marques et al, 2013).…”

Organizational culture and quality improvement: Differences across continents

“…Resulting behavior of the employees is guided by organizational culture and it is a main prerequisite for continuous and systematic quality improvement that include all employees in the company [3,4,7,16,27]. Hence, organizational culture has strong influence on the essential dimension representing basis of every initiative for quality improvement, and therefore must be supported and guided from top executives and CEO's in the company [6,9,10,23,24] with a goal of advancement of the companies' business performances [25]. Accordingly, organizational culture should be compatible with quality improvement programs in the way that supports them [18,22,26].…”