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Recently, a number of environmental laws and regulations have been enacted to hold organizations more accountable for their environmental responsibilities. The International Standards Organization (ISO), issued ISO 14000 environmental standards to assist entities worldwide in managing their environmental requirements and to ensure that their environmental policies and practices conform to their missions and goals. ISO 14000 environmental standards are divided into six categories: (1) environmental management systems; (2) environmental auditing; (3) environmental performance evaluation; (4) environmental labeling; (5) life‐cycle assessment; and (6) environmental aspects in product standards. These standards assist entities in preparing step‐by‐step implementation plans to adopt an adequate and effective environmental management system, conduct proper environmental audits, and successfully become registered to ISO 14001. This article presents a 15‐step process which accountantsshould suggest to their organizations to achieve ISO 14001 certification.

This study aims to explore the barriers to implementation of ISO 9000 in China, and to identify how these barriers can be overcome.

Using a structural questionnaire survey, this paper examines the main barriers for enterprises in effective implementation of the ISO 9001 standard.

This paper highlights the problems in implementing the standard, which determines the sustainable implementation, including: short‐sighted goal for “getting certified”; over‐expectation on the ISO 9001 standard; mandatory requirement (not wholehearted commitment) in some industries; and following others (the trend) in certification. With regard to the effective audit of the ISO 9001 standard, the main problems were explored, including: lack of commitment from some certifying bodies; excessive competition between certifying bodies; and offering of a total packaged service from consultancy to certification by certifying bodies.

The ISO 9000 series have permeated into all industrial sectors. Although there are many stories of successful adoption of ISO 9001, problems in implementing the standards need to be explored, which may affect the sustainable implementation.

Based on the analysis, the paper proposes that the government should improve the legal framework and enforcement schemes to strengthen supervision and control for effective auditing of ISO 9000 standards.

The paper aims to investigate the pros and cons of having a standard for lean six sigma developed in 2015. The study follows up on a previous study by Antony et al. (2021) in more depth and aims to provide a more detailed investigation of various aspects of the standard.

A sequential mixed methodology was utilised by interviewing a panel of leading academics and practitioners familiar with lean six sigma followed by distributing a survey questionnaire to continuous improvement and operational excellence (OPEX) personnel.

The findings indicate that continuous improvement and OPEX professionals have conflicting views of International Standards Organisation (ISO) 18404. A majority of the participants of the qualitative study suggested, whilst supporting the requirement for a lean sigma standard, voiced concerns about the auditability of the standard and whether it is currently “fit for purpose” and proposed that it needs to be revised. Within the quantitative survey, 42% had never heard of the standard, and of the 58% who had heard of it, 90% had read it. Just 10% stated that they had or would apply the standard within their organisations. Just fewer than 50% felt that the standard was fit for purpose which suggests for further refinements of the standard in the future. Finally, 85% of respondents of the quantitative survey suggested for the revision of the standard whilst just 15% felt it should be removed.

Other than a previous study by Antony et al. (2021), implementation of ISO 18404 in organisations and its benefits as well as empirical study looking into the impact of the standard on corporate performance in the literature were limited. An opportunity to review lessons learnt from a case study on the ISO 18404 standard implementation within an organisation would further enhance the research.

The paper provides a valuable resource for organisations to obtain insight into a standard in lean six sigma and whether to implement it or not. Furthermore, the results can form the basis of a case for the future revision of the standard by consolidating and strengthening the findings from the first study with more detailed quantitative and qualitative study.

This paper aims to present and summarise the arguments for and against the ISO 18404 standard and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of implementing it.

A qualitative interview approach was utilised by interviewing a panel of leading academics and practitioners familiar with Lean Six Sigma.

The results indicate that Lean Six Sigma professionals have conflicting opinions on ISO 18404. An overwhelming majority of the panel questioned the “quality” of the standard and whether it is “fit for purpose”, while others see the advantages of a common standard in helping continuous improvement deployment.

As the standard has not been widely adopted, there were limited examples on ISO 18404 discussion in the literature. Much of the current literature focuses on the theoretical application of the standard, with sparse practical examples providing case study deployment. Also, the interviews were short and at a high level. There is an opportunity for further study and analysis. It was difficult to find qualified interviewees who were familiar with the standard. A very real constraint when conducting research into ISO 18404 is to obtain a balanced view of the standard from those who have a vested interest in its continuation and evolution, or not.

The paper provides a resource for people to obtain insight into the value or non-value add of a standard in Lean Six Sigma and the appropriate details of such a standard. These results can form the basis of a case for the implementation of the standard for those organisations currently trying to decide whether to implement it or not.

After 15 years of research, this paper aims to present a review of the academic literature on the ISO/IEC 27001, the most renowned standard for information security and the third most widespread ISO certification. Emerging issues are reframed through the lenses of social systems thinking, deriving a theory-based research agenda to inspire interdisciplinary studies in the field.

The study is structured as a systematic literature review.

Research themes and sub-themes are identified on five broad research foci: relation with other standards, motivations, issues in the implementation, possible outcomes and contextual factors.

The study presents a structured overview of the academic body of knowledge on ISO/IEC 27001, providing solid foundations for future research on the topic. A set of research opportunities is outlined, with the aim to inspire future interdisciplinary studies at the crossroad between information security and quality management. Managers interested in the implementation of the standard and policymakers can find an overview of academic knowledge useful to inform their decisions related to implementation and regulatory activities.

Little attention has been paid to how quality management systems (QMSs) are optimized by supportive employee behavior. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the literature on the inclusion of human factors in the ISO 9000 family of standards, identify deficiencies in the standard's current treatment of these issues, and offer recommendations on how human resources (HRs) can be better integrated into these business management standards.

This concept paper presents a survey of both academic and practitioner literature on the topic of HR and its treatment in quality standards. The focus is restricted to consideration of human factors that are specifically identified in the ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 9004:2009 standards.

ISO 9001 and 9004 include some HR topics, but their treatment is insufficient to meet the demands of today's business environment. The recent addition to the ISO 9000 family, ISO 10018 – Quality Management – Guidelines on People Involvement and Competence (ISO, 2012b) will help to address the deficiency if adopted by the marketplace. To improve the usefulness of ISO 9000 standards, the breadth of human factors should be enhanced both extensively to include components of workplace culture and work design and intensively to require more rigorous treatment of the HR considerations already included in the standards.

There is a need for more comprehensive consideration of human contributions to quality if organizations are to optimize the value they receive from their HR and their investment on the ISO 9001 QMS.

The limited references linking HR and the ISO 9000 series of standards have focussed upon how human factors contribute (or not) to the successful use of the ISO 9000 standards. In contrast, this paper offers a comprehensive and integrative examination of how the ISO 9000 QMS standards could more comprehensively and effectively incorporate HR into a firm's practices.

Traditional criticisms of the ISO 9000 standards, that they are generic, procedurally‐oriented, expensive and burdensome, are particularly applicable within the food industry. Their lack of fit with industry priorities and requirements, moreover, has created a growth in uptake of alternative “bespoke” standards in the UK, designed to better meet the needs of the industry and demands of the retail customer. The year 2000 revision of ISO 9000 may serve to redefine the role of this standard in the food industry, whereby it can augment such standards and provide a template for Business Excellence. This paper presents an analysis of industry trends in relation to quality standards, and discusses the potential role of ISO 9000:2000 within this sector based upon published data from ISO, industry survey data, and interviews with a major UK food certification body and with technical managers from food companies in the UK and overseas. Implications of such trends are presented in relation to the auditing of UK companies.

This article aims to report on original empirical research on the comprehensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 and the CSR Performance Ladder and identifies determinants for the adoption of CSR standards. In addition, it reviews and adds to literature on CSR standards adoption.

The empirical data were derived from interviews with CSR experts in The Netherlands.

The findings of our research show that the demands and wishes of customers, the attitude of a company’s management, the market position of the standard-developing organization and several tangible and intangible characteristics of the standard itself are particularly relevant for the adoption of CSR standards.

The article aimed at reaching analytical generalization instead of statistical generalization and was focused on The Netherlands. Differences across industries and sectors were not taken into account in this exploratory study. Having said this, we still think the article provides valuable insights.

Our research identifies “buttons” for policymakers trying to stimulate business to engage with CSR. It may help predict which CSR standards may surface as dominant and can also be used to inform the design and development of new CSR standards. Finally, it may also serve as input for (marketing) strategies by standardization organizations worldwide and other organizations that have taken CSR standardization initiatives as well as non-governmental organizations and even consultancies to spur the adoption of CSR standards as a means of CSR implementation.

The article presents original empirical material on CSR standards adoption and contributes to the literature on this topic with insights on determinants’ CSR standards adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to develop a standard providing requirements for managing the quality and competence of the biological resource centres (BRC).

The methodology for the standard setting was based on the principles of credibility, transparency, alignment and consistency. A justification study was performed to establish its objectives and scope, avoid overlap and prevent the risks in implementation. International documents providing rules for standard development were taken into consideration. Requirements were assembled from several standards and participation of interested parties was promoted.

No relevant international document exists covering fundamental issues for BRC operation. It is possible to develop a consistent and aligned standard, under a credible and transparent process that fits BRC purposes.

This standard will strengthen the BRC technical competence increasing its capability to provide authenticated high-quality biological materials – a crucial factor for biotechnological developments in the fields of health, agriculture and environment. It will serve as a basis for the BRC compliance assessment and the launch pad for establishing the global BRC network.

Original paper.

ISO 14000 is based on the concept that better environmental performance can be achieved when environmental aspects are systematically identified and managed. Despite the growing interest in voluntary environmental management standards, little empirical information exists and only a few survey studies have been made. This paper contains an evaluation of results from a survey on ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 companies. The study presents experiences from the standards implementation processes in Sweden. It focuses on motives for implementation, perceived benefits and key implementation factors. Further, comparisons are made between ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 systems. Swedish companies mainly use the standard to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection. Most benefits are also perceived in the improved relations with stakeholders and in marketing advantages. Since the standard requires companies to set their environmental policy and objectives themselves, the identification of environmental aspects was stated as most important and also as the factor requiring most effort. Organizations require their suppliers to implement ISO 9000 to a greater extent than ISO 14000.