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Nineteen automotive supply organizations were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of a North American automotive certification programme. The major findings were that: suppliers viewed preparing for the evaluation as the most important aspects of the process; the evaluators detected only a small percentage of the suppliers′ significant business and manufacturing problems; suppliers perceived an overemphasis on procedures and documentation on the part of the evaluators; and suppliers felt that the evaluation did not accurately reflect their effectiveness. It was concluded that the supplier evaluation programme reflected the management style of the large bureaucratic customer organization, which was not necessarily appropriate for the size and nature of the supplier′s business. Further, good performance on the evaluation did not directly correspond with further business contracts.