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This paper presents the result of a study to identify the costs and benefits of obtaining ISO 9000 certification. Toward this goal, a survey of some 500 ISO 9000 certified companies has been carried out. Among them, more than 65 per cent believe that ISO 9001 certification is worthwhile, and more than 76 per cent believe that the cost of certification is inexpensive. The results indicate that companies which seek certification because of their customers’ request seem to gain less benefit from ISO 9000 certification. We also found that concern for high costs is much less after initial certification. In addition, we discovered that contrary to many people’s expectation, some factors do not have any bearing on whether benefits outweigh costs. These factors include time taken to get certified, number of years since certification, and reason for certification. Besides presenting the results of the survey, we also introduce a new classification scheme based on the company’s view on the “expensiveness” of the certification and the received benefits. There are some differences in responses from companies of different classes.

Certified and non-certified organisations must make strategic decisions regarding ISO 9001 adoption, maintenance, renewal and abandonment. However, the ISO 9001 literature lacks a typology of the strategic options available to these organisations. The purpose of this conceptual study is to develop a framework of the alternative strategies for the stages of the ISO 9001 life cycle (implementation/certification, certification maintenance and recertification/decertification stages).

The research method is based on literature review, selection of relevant variables and synthesis of coherent alternative strategies.

Results include the main variables of relevance for the definition of the ISO 9001 strategies (e.g. life cycle stage, organisational motivations, barriers, benefits, internalisation degree and quality of the certification body), the main situations in which organisations can find themselves (in terms of ISO 9001 certification, maintenance and decertification), the strategic options for each situation (e.g.: certify, maintain certification, try harder, change certification body, intensify learning and experimentation with ISO 9001) and the implications and consequences of such options. Research results are integrated into a strategy framework, composed of three strategy matrices, one for each stage of the life cycle. The matrices present the strategic situations, available strategic alternatives and benefits of the strategies.

This study combines the results of previous research to develop an original strategy framework, which constitutes the main research contribution. As far as the author is aware, there is no such strategy framework in the literature. The framework has relevant implications for theory and practice and helps to identify future research directions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of the implementation of the ISO 9001:2000 standard in the food sector in Greece.

Research was conducted in 97 Greek food companies certified to ISO 9001:2000, using the questionnaire method and aimed at examining the reasons for certification, the difficulties in implementing the standard, the benefits of certification and their relationships. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis was applied to define the main constructs of reasons‐benefits‐difficulties and to explore their relationships.

Results showed that the major reasons for certification, unlike benefits, concern firstly the internal business environment and then the external one and no particular difficulties were observed during the standard implementation. Achieving internal (external) benefits is positively affected by the existence of internal (external) reasons and negatively affected by the difficulties to meet the standard's requirements.

The present study is based on subjective data that refer to a short ISO 9001:2000 certification period. A more thorough research on food companies that have been certified for a long period using data coming from their internal environment, such as executives, managers, employees, would offer more information about ISO 9001:2000 and would reveal its impact on business performance.

The results of the study will be of great use to food companies that have not been certified yet, particularly in light of the new challenge they face with the ISO 22000 standard.

The present study is exclusively focused on companies in the Greek food sector in order to draw information about the revised ISO 9001:2000 standard.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between ISO 9000 certification and business performance for small-to-medium enterprises in the food and beverage (F&B) industry.

The research employed a qualitative approach based on case studies to investigate in depth how companies perceive ISO 9001. More specifically, four enterprises were examined, and a total of 26 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with top and middle managers from the companies. Questions were validated by experts and through pilot interviews. In total, 45 documents of a broad range related to the quality management system were examined. Personal observation and non-structured consultation with personnel were also used to evaluate the possible impacts and livelihood outcomes.

Research findings showed that the certified companies in the F&B industry gain a number of both internal and external benefits, including: quality awareness, increased productivity, increased personnel participation and efficiency, improved image and penetration into new markets. Regarding the financial benefits of certification, the findings are not as convincing, as one company reported no financial benefits, and the rest reported that financial benefits are indirect and intangible. Conclusively, it can be said that SMEs that wish to pursue certification should certainly expect benefits.

Although many studies have concentrated on analyzing the impact of the implementation of ISO 9001 certification, there is still a clear need for research in specific sectors. Practicing managers and researchers will be able to examine findings in order to evaluate benefits and weaknesses from certification, thereby identifying and acting before and after certification.

Although the F&B industry has shown a great preference for the ISO 9000 standard and has adopted it extensively, scant empirical evidence has been recorded on the subject. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the benefits for implementing the ISO 9001 certification and to the analysis of its application to the ever-important F&B industry in Greece, a country whose economy is particularly supported by SMEs and has been severely hit by the economic crisis. Researchers will therefore further their knowledge, understand benefits but also acknowledge weaknesses.

Although many studies have concentrated on analyzing the impact of the implementation of ISO 9001 certification, there is still a clear need for research in specific sectors. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implementation of this international management system standard in the tourism industry, and in particular the motivations conducting to its adoption and the satisfaction derived from it.

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 120 ISO 9001-certified Spanish tourism companies. Confirmatory factor analysis tests were used to verify the scales validity and reliability. The logit model was utilized to investigate the statistical effects of ISO certification.

The paper findings showed that the certified companies in the tourism industry implement ISO 9001 more for internal reasons, like improving processes and procedures or products and/or services, than for external reasons, like the image of the company or promotional or sales tools. The variables size, age and use of a consultant affect the cost and time factors for the implementation of a quality system. In addition, the certification process generated three categories of benefits, with the organizational and control benefits being the more relevant. These benefits are correlated to the antiquity of the certificate. In the final analysis, results show that tourism companies are generally satisfied with the ISO 9001 certificate.

The ISO 9001 quality management system is part of the modern management tools. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the motivations and benefits for implementing the ISO 9001 certification and to the analysis of its application in a particular industry as important as the tourism industry in Spain, a country that is recognized for its leadership in tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an exploratory study carried out on a sample of certified companies that operate in Spain, with the aim of obtaining empirical evidence on the benefits of the implantation of standardised quality systems. This study delves into the theoretical implications of a growing field of research that attempts to combine total quality management, its synergy with market orientation and the certification’s consequences. The empirical evidence obtained enables us to affirm that the benefits attained by companies as a result of ISO certification are basically linked to an improvement in internal efficiency. This points to the need for evolution towards more complex systems where total quality management may find its place together with the market orientation philosophy.

This paper aims to review the motivation and benefits of implementing halal food safety certification (HFSC) from the upstream perspectives. Food safety certification (FSC) has long been a prevailing issue in the field of food safety research. However, there remains a general paucity of research in religion-specific form of FSC, such as the HFSC. At present, the limited existing studies on HFSC focus on the demand side, but studies on the supply side are scarce and largely inconclusive. The review is further scrutinised by addressing the internal and external motivations and benefits of HFSC.

The explanatory and general review of this paper is based on an extensive literature review in FSC as well as the author’s personal reflections on past research in halal certification.

The internal motivations concern a firm’s internal processes, people and the available resources, while the external motivations relate to a firm’s external elements such as government intervention and market pressure. A firm can reap the internal benefits, such as improved product quality, or enjoy the external benefits of better marketing and larger market shares.

The paper offers unique acumens and advances of a less-researched side of the halal food chain. It also compiles the conclusions of FSC research that could have a significant bearing on the internal and external impetuses and advantages of HFSC.

The aim of this paper is to examine the motivations and benefits for pursuing or not pursuing the PHR and SPHR.

Using a sample of 1,862 participants, the study used multinomial logistic and hierarchical linear regression to test six hypotheses.

Participants pursuing SPHR were more likely to report intrinsic motivations pursuing certification, while PHR respondents were more likely to report extrinsic reasons. Other‐driven reasons were not significant predictors. Respondents not pursuing certification saw a lack of perceived benefits. Non‐pursuers of SPHR were concerned about time constraints. The pursuing and non‐pursuing groups did exhibit differences in their demographic and commitment profiles.

The sample is limited to only those professionals active in their local SHRM chapters. The data were cross‐sectional. Future research needs to address the validity of Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) certification and the lack of empirical research on the connection between certification and objective measures of job performance.

Results regarding perceived certification benefits suggest that organizations could run into retention problems if HR professionals continue to view marketability as the top benefit and view pay and promotion as unaffected by certification. The profiles of pursuers and non‐pursuers suggest that HRCI should target younger, less educated professionals when promoting the PHR and highlight increased marketability as the key benefit. Furthermore, HRCI should target those with high levels of affective commitment when promoting the SPHR.

The paper provides some of the first empirical evidence for why professionals pursue or do not pursue PHR and SPHR certification.

This paper tests and proves empirically the dramatic effect that an organisation’s true motives towards ISO 9000 certification may have on its future effectiveness and value to the certified companies. The paper reveals the true motives behind ISO 9000 certification for 85 large Greek companies and statistically tests their relationship with: after‐ISO performance and performance improvement in eight basic TQM categories; and the overall benefits gained from certification. The paper also reveals the real quantitative and qualitative “results” that these companies had from the standards implementation, addressing one main deficiency of the standards, which is the absence of requirements related to real “results” in the organisations. Finally, factor analysis is applied in both certification motives and benefits, revealing the main factors/categories of both, and their in‐between relationship.

This study aims to investigate the motives for and the benefits of authorized economic operator (AEO) certification in the supply chain. Also, whether there are significant differences in the perception of the AEO status as a necessity or privilege among cargo owners and service providers.

The research design includes an international survey of 159 AEO-certified companies from four European Union (EU) countries performing various roles in the supply chain. The data are analyzed using quantitative methods, including factor analysis and analysis of variance.

Based on factor analysis, the research reveals the motives for and benefits of AEO certification. This reveals significant differences between two distinct groups of supply chain participants, namely, cargo owners and service providers. Service providers are mainly driven by the need to gain or maintain their competitive advantage and treat AEO certification as a standard that is required by customers. Cargo owners are relatively more focused on the improvement of internal processes and treat AEO certification as a privilege that helps them achieve a high level of efficiency.

The study fills the existing literature gap as it focuses on the differences between two distinct groups (cargo owners and service providers) in terms of their perception of the AEO certification. As empirical research in this area is scarce, especially at the cross-country level, this study also significantly complements knowledge on AEO certification in the EU.