Impact of ISO 9000 certification on quality management practices: A comparative study

The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and quality management practices and quality results of firms in Singapore. The findings are compared with those reported by Rao et al. (1997, Total Quality Management , 8, pp. 335- 346) on firms in the USA, Mexico, China and India. Eight constructs for quality management practices are identified. Using the questionnaire developed by Rao et al. a survey is carried out on selected firms from the manufacturing, service and construction industries in Singapore. Both ISO 9000 registered and non-registered firms are included in the survey. The questionnaire consists of 91 statements, on a five-point Likert scale, to represent all the eight constructs. A total of 93 valid responses were received. The respondents are mainly from service industries, followed by construction and manufacturing. The majority of these firms are small and medium-sized enterprises, which are locally owned and have local customers and competitors. The data set is subjected to reliability and validity tests. Analysis of variance is carried out to explore the relationship between ISO 9000 certification and quality management practices. The result reveals that the ISO certification does not affect quality management practices and quality results of firms in Singapore. Further analyses indicate that some organizational characteristics, such as size and industry, have relationships with certain constructs of quality management practices.