Critical success factors examined in ISO 9001:2008-certified Greek companies using multidimensional statistics

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of the importance and implementation of the critical success factors (CSFs) required for the appropriate function of a quality management system (QMS) in ISO 9001:2008-certified companies and the differences between the CSFs and the demographic variables of the companies. Design/methodology/approach – A research project was carried out in Greek companies from all business sectors using the questionnaire technique. The selected companies all implement a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001:2008 standard. Correspondence analysis, a methodology from the multidimensional statistics field, was also used to identify significant differences between the importance and implementation levels of the CSFs of the QMS. Findings – The importance that quality assurance managers attribute to these CSFs was high enough in most categories, but there was a significant difference in the implementation level, which displayed much lower scores. The most important factors seem to be management commitment, education, and communication, while the least important were the availability of data and use of statistics. Differences between categories of demographic variables were present only for the firm size variable. Research limitations/implications – The study was based on the perception (i.e. subjective data) of only one quality manager/representative of each company. Practical implications – The paper provides information to certified companies in Greece on the differences in the importance and implementation levels of quality management practices (especially for hard factors) and motivation to investigate possible causes. Moreover, the most important factors for the successful implementation of ISO 9001 are presented. Originality/value – This paper describes the implementation and given importance of the CSFs in companies with experience of the ISO 9001:2008 standard and for the analysis of the data a methodology from the multidimensional field is applied, with the complementary use of some special tables of coincidences.

ISO 9001 Standard: Developing and Validating a Survey Instrument

“…If these factors are not prioritized, completed, or fulfilled when companies embark in new projects, such projects are likely to fail. In this research, we conducted an extensive literature review to identify those CSFs that allow organizations to successfully implement a QMS following the ISO 9001 standard [12], [26], [56]- [60], [30], [34], [50]- [55]. After ISO 9001 was updated in 2000, ISO 9001:2015 began to emphasize on the concept of principles.…”

“…For instance, the items belonging to Leadership (LID), Customer Focus (CF), and Process Approach (PA) showed significant factor loadings on the same constructs. Consequently, these three QMPs were considered as one factor, Top Management Commitment (TMCM) [12], [78]. Similarly, the items related to Improvement (IMP), Evidence-based Decision Making (EDM), and Relationship Management (RM) loaded all together on the same construct.…”

The intellectual structure of research in ISO 9000 standard series (1987–2015): a Bibliometric analysis

“…Factor 4 is comprised of more recent period articles, which focused on identifying organizational practices, quality tools and techniques, success factors, and performance dimensions associated with ISO 9000 standards (Ismyrlis & Moschidis, 2015b;Ismyrlis et al, 2015;S. K. Jain & I. S. Ahuja, 2012;E.…”

Development of Quality Management System Under ISO 9001:2015 and Joint Inspection Group (JIG) for Aviation Fuelling Service

“…However, there were a few criticisms published of ISO 90001 drawbacks including; increased bureaucracy and documentation [19], excessive implementation costs that may not be unaffordable for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) [20], and that the standard is too generic requiring extension to specific industries [9]. The most important factors of implementing ISO 9001 include; management, training, resources, and customers-focus [21].…”