ISO 9000 and organizational effectiveness : a systematic review

Despite the many studies on the ISO 9000 standard and the growing number of certified organizations around the world, the impacts of this quality management system remain controversial. The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the best available empirical studies on the impacts of the ISO 9000 standard published between 1994 and 2008 in peer-reviewed journals. The systematic review of the 111 empirical papers selected was based on a categorization framework comprising 46 variables. Most of these papers were focused on potential benefits rather than problems, and shed light on positive impacts. Nevertheless, similarities in terms of objectives, approaches, and methods tended to produce quite predictable, homogeneous, and optimistic results. Through the overall mapping of the literature on ISO 9000 effectiveness, this systematic review highlights the need for more critical and diversified approaches likely to challenge dominant and optimistic discourses on the standard impacts. This systematic review also sheds light on the practical implications of ISO 9000 for managers based on a large array of empirical studies