Strategic orientation and financial performance of firms implementing ISO 9000

Abstract

The ISO 9000 scheme has been reproved for being a paper driven process with little if no impact on firm performance. As international scientific literature indicates a wide range of factors leading to the adoption of the ISO 9000 schemes, the impact of this adoption should be viewed and examined in a framework of the firms’ strategic orientation. A sample of Greek businesses that adopted the ISO 9000 scheme in the early 1990s is classified into three categories of strategic orientation, namely cost leadership, market differentiation and focus strategy. If all the firms are pooled together, there is no significant difference in their financial performance indicators after a period of six years following the adoption of ISO 9000. However, if the firms are examined separately and according to their strategic orientation, those firms pursuing a cost leadership strategy present statistically significant growth of financial profitability indicators, while those firms pursuing a market differentiation strategy present statistically significant growth of their turnover and market share. Thus, strategic orientation is a moderating factor influencing the relationship between registration to a quality scheme such as the ISO 9000 scheme, and the firm's financial performance.

Evidence for quality management systems being instrumental in improving supplier performance: the case of the wind power sector

“…The literature is full of research articles describing ISO 9000 certification successes and failures and the resulting impacts on company profits and performance. For instance, Curkovic and Pagell (1999) point out that ISO 9000 is not directly connected to product quality and other researchers argue that certification does not ensure an improvement in a firm's performance (Anderson et al, 1999;Dimara et al, 2004;Morris, 2006;Tsekouras et al, 2002). Moreover, there are many studies that show some companies adopt ISO certification under pressure from their customers (Anderson et al, 1999;Davis, 2004;Martínez-Costa et al, 2008).…”

Analysing customer requirements and satisfaction in the furniture industry according to ISO 9000 certification: a case study

“…2) Estudiar los resultados financieros debido a la implantación de la norma (ej. Flynn et al, 1997;Caruana y Pitt, 1997;Chapman et al, 1997;Chow-Chua et al, 2003;Dimara et al, 2004). 3) Analizar la relación de las normas ISO 9000 con la Gestión de Calidad Total (ej.…”

Impact of Different Quality Management System Implementation Patterns on Performance Outcomes

“…Some authors classify organisations into three categories of strategic orientation, namely, cost leadership, market differentiation and focus strategy, and conclude that strategic orientation is a moderating factor influencing the relationship between registration to a quality scheme, such as the ISO 9000 and the organisation's financial performance (Dimara et al, 2004).…”