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The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether ISO 9001 certification by banks affects customers' perceptions of e‐service quality (and hence customer satisfaction and loyalty) in online banking services. In pursuit of this objective, the study also investigates: the validity of a modified scale for measuring e‐service quality in online banking services; and the factors that might influence customer satisfaction and loyalty in the context of online banking services (and the possible mediating/moderating effects of customer satisfaction on the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty).

An online survey is conducted among 428 customers of online banking services in Spain. Exploratory factor analyses, multi‐regression analyses, and Mann‐Whithney U‐tests are utilised to assess the proposed modification of the E‐S‐QUAL scale; the relationships among the constructs of service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty; and whether ISO 9001 certification affects customers' perceptions of e‐service quality (and hence satisfaction and loyalty).

Three of the four dimensions of the modified E‐S‐QUAL scale are confirmed, and all have a positive impact on customer satisfaction, which, in turn, significantly influences e‐loyalty. The mediating/moderating role of satisfaction on the relationship between service quality and loyalty is confirmed. Contrary to the research hypothesis, ISO 9001 certification does not seem to influence customers' perceptions of e‐service quality.

Managers should consider ISO 9001 certification, even if only for the internal benefits that it promises to provide. Managers must ensure superior e‐service quality (especially with regard to “efficiency”) if they wish to promote customer satisfaction and loyalty.

This paper is one of the first to investigate the impact of ISO 9001 certification on customers' perceptions of e‐service quality. However, the study is limited to a particular sector in a particular country.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the application and the level of integration of internal and external audits in organizations that are registered to multiple management system standards.

Using descriptive analyses, this work examines the manner in which organizations, categorized in a previous study with respect to the degree of integration of their standardized management systems (MSs), apply and integrate the related MS audits. The sample included 435 Spanish organizations registered to ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 14001: 2004 at the minimum.

It was found that organizations that exhibited a higher level of integration of their standardized MSs also demonstrated more highly‐integrated audits. In addition, the level of integration was generally higher for internal compared with the external audits.

The main limitation was related to the survey responses, because they were asked and obtained from the organizations' managers only, and not from the registrars or other external audit bodies.

The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the usage of auditing systems in organizations, in particular the level of integration of internal and external MS audits relative to the integration of the corresponding MSs.

Registrations to the ISO 9000 standard have grown rapidly in recent years with 343,643 certificates in 150 countries at the start of 2000, a growth of 71,769 on the previous year, of which 23,900 were in Europe. This suggests that there is a wide‐spread belief in the business benefits of ISO 9000 accreditation. However, failure to realise business performance improvement in practice could have a negative effect on the future credibility of quality certification and lead to ISO 9000 eventually becoming just another failed management panacea. Although there is much research describing implementation of ISO 9000 quality systems, there is little empirical research that examines whether ISO 9000 is linked to improvement in audited financial performance. This paper contributes to closing this gap in the literature by comparing the audited financial performance of 400 accredited and 400 non‐accredited Basque firms over a period of five years.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse which are the motivations for implementing two of the most important models for Quality Management practice popularized in recent years – ISO 9000 and EFQM models.

This paper provides a qualitative survey carried out using the Delphi methodology, triangulated with the results of other surveys carried out previously, as well as with the information gathered by means of several in‐depth interviews carried out with the experts that participated in the Delphi‐panel.

The paper finds strong consensus among experts of different backgrounds that external factors cause companies to implement the ISO 9000 standard. On the other hand, reasons for implementing TQM systems seem to be more varied.

The research in this paper is limited to Spain; studies in other countries should be conducted to compare the results obtained.

In this paper there is a greater understanding of the motivation to implement ISO 9000 and EFQM based on the opinion of managers, consultants, academic specialists and members of institutions.

The paper finds a new methodology for examining the motivation to implement ISO 9000 and EFQM.

This study aims to investigate whether ISO 9001 certification affects and enhances the relationships among customers' perceptions of service recovery and, consequently, customer satisfaction, perceived value and loyalty. In pursuit of this objective, the study also proposes a model linking loyalty and its antecedents to investigate the factors that might influence customer satisfaction and loyalty as well as the possible mediating effects of customer satisfaction.

An online‐based questionnaire was conducted to survey 123 online banking customers who have experienced at least one non‐routine encounter while conducting online banking. Structural equation modeling and a multi‐regression analysis were utilized to assess the relationships among the constructs.

Service recovery was shown to be directly and positively related to customer satisfaction and perceived value, which, in turn, was found to significantly influence loyalty. The mediating role of satisfaction was partially supported. The results also showed that ISO 9001 certification has no influence on customers' perceptions of service recovery or on customer satisfaction, perceived value and loyalty. However, ISO 9001 certification improved the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty by approximately 47 percent.

Service recovery can be used as a strategic driver in seizing new opportunities to enhance customer satisfaction and hence customer loyalty. This finding casts serious doubt on whether ISO 9001 helps to directly/indirectly strengthen customer loyalty. However, companies should consider ISO 9001 certification because it was shown to increase the loyalty of satisfied customers to firms.

This study is the first to investigate the impact of ISO 9001 on service recovery.

Much has already been written about the effects of ISO 9000 standards on business performance, mostly supporting the notion that implementing a standardized quality management system is beneficial. That said, no studies have been made into the impact that the implementation of these regulations has had on improvements, if any, to supply chain management (SCM). This paper aims to give an initial outline on this subject.

Using the five strategies proposed by Chandra and Kumar in 2000 that aimed at stimulating the implementation of correct SCM, along with an empirical study carried out in nearly 400 companies certified to ISO 9000 standard, how this quality assurance standard contributes to successful SCM implementation is analysed.

From the obtained results, it is interesting to point out that not only those indicators which show clear improvements in the SCM have been found but also those aspects in which the companies themselves recognize their limitations.

This paper is one of the first to analyse the effects of the implementation of a Quality Management Standard such as the ISO 9000, through SCM.

Seeks to analyze changes in the perceived benefits and costs of ISO 9000 implementation over time.

Results of two surveys, performed in 1998 and 2002, with 283 and 399 Catalonian companies participating, respectively, are presented, compared and analyzed.

There has been a significant decrease in the perception of ISO 9000 implementation benefits from 1998 to 2002. However, most companies still believe that ISO 9000 is beneficial overall. ISO 9000 implementation and maintenance costs have substantially decreased in the same four‐year period.

In July 2002, when the second survey was conducted, the majority of the participating companies were still registered to one of the old versions of the standard, namely ISO 9001/2/3:1994. The findings support the notion that ISO 9000 standards are limited in providing a set of concrete benefits over time.

The outcome of the study contributes to a better understanding of the temporal nature of the impact ISO 9000 requirement standards have had on companies.

This is one of the first papers that analyses the benefits and costs of ISO 9000 implementation over time.

In an economic environment characterized in recent years by globalization and the integration of economic processes, standardization in management systems has had a high growth. In this context, there has been a remarkable increase in certain standards, or norms, issued by international organizations. Among these standards, two main groups stand out, both issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO): one for quality management systems – the family of ISO 9000 standards – and the other for environmental management systems – the ISO 14000 standards. This paper aims to analyze the world wide diffusion process of these two standards, using data provided by the ISO itself.

The methodology proposed is developed in four separate phases. The first two analyze the diffusion model over time with a model based on the logistic curve proposed by Franceschini et al. The next two phases analyze whether the diffusion process has proceeded in a relatively homogeneous way in the different sectors of activity. In order to do that, the use of indices of concentration and instability has been carried out.

The conclusion is that the diffusion of both standards is very similar – in general and in terms of the different sectors. This result coincides with certain hypotheses formulated in the theoretical literature.

This is the first paper where it can be demonstrated that, world‐wide, both the ISO 14000 and the ISO 9000 standards have followed very similar patterns of diffusion in their expansion.

This paper aims to assess the quality of the service offered by quality consultancies. To this end, an empirical study, using SERVQUAL methodology, was carried out on Spanish companies that had used consultants when introducing their quality system in keeping with the ISO 9000 standards. Company representatives were asked about their previous expectations of the service and about the real benefits obtained from the consultants. This research study, after a factorial analysis, establishes a series of indicators designed to measure the input of the consultant in setting up the quality system. A gap was detected between the previous expectations of the service and the actual benefits obtained therefrom. Findings could be used for practitioners to improve their service.

Since 1987, when the International Organization for Standardization accepted a series of quality norms – the ISO 9000 standards – large companies and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) have been obliged to open their doors to something new: the culture of quality, a message which is very often associated with the initials of this well‐known standard. In Spain there are around 6,000 companies with this certificate, but they have not always obtained the same results. In this article we expose the results of an empirical research developed in 288 Spanish companies, to determine what the benefits are of the implementation of this standard. With a cluster analysis we found the existence of different typologies of companies. We found that nearly 65 per cent of the companies that have been certified in Spain have obtained very high levels of internal and external benefits.