The penetration of ISO 9000 Certification in Greek Industries

Abstract

Consideration is given to a systematic evaluation of the actual penetration of both ISO 9000 certification as well as different certification agencies in Greek industries. After identifying nearly all certified enterprises in Greece by the end of the year 2002, a large cluster of 1479 enterprises (circa 59.4% of all certifications), for which published information was available, is analysed. The data used concern both individual enterprises and demographic averages for respective industrial activities (determined by industry and sector). Statistical analysis reveals ISO 9000 to be mainly accepted in manufacture, with both services and commerce seriously lagging behind. Analysis by sector, a more detailed activity indicator, shows marked ISO 9000 penetration differences between sectors, suggesting the influence of activity-related practices as one of the major certification drivers. Although not uniform across activities, evidence is also provided relating large and profitable enterprises with certifications. Finally, analysis of all main certification agencies identified in Greece demonstrates that (with one exception) the choice of agency, although dependent on industrial activity, is mostly independent of certified enterprise's size and profitability.

The financial impact of a withdrawn ISO 9001 certificate

“…Corbett et al (2005) Significant abnormal improvement in financial performance. Lagodimos et al (2005) Significant differences in ROA between certified and non certified companies found only in the commerce industry. Sharma (2005) Financial performance of certified firms was significantly greater than that of non-certified firms.…”

The state of ISO 14001 certification in Greece

“…[1,13,17]). Considering, however, that these are the principal poles of the certification process, relationships could exist, resulting in the manifestation of selective preferences by particular enterprises for specific agencies.…”

“…Central among these trends is the penetration of ISO 14001 per se and of certification agencies within different industrial activities. Note that a closely related study focused on ISO 9000 certification has recently appeared [17]. In fact, the results of this study used here are as the basis for comparison between ISO 9000 and ISO 14001 certification trends in Greece.…”

“…[22,37]). However, such a deduction cannot by any means be conclusive, suffering from that it ignores the underlying population demographic status [17]. It is with a first systematic investigation of the relation between industrial activity and EMS certification that we are concerned in this paper.…”

Quality and safety systems for the port industry: empirical evidence for the main Greek ports

“…In Greece, the adoption of quality and safety standards has increased considerably [28]. Beyond that, in multidisciplinary studies (e.g.…”