The erosion of ISO 9000 benefits: a temporal study

Purpose - To analyze the changes in the perceived benefits of ISO 9000 with the passage of time. Design/methodology/approach - An empirical survey of 399 companies conducted in 2002 in Catalonia (region of Spain). Findings - ISO 9001: 2000 registered organizations report benefits to a lesser extent than their ISO 9001/2/3: 1994 registered counterparts across all studied benefit categories. Considering that the new standard is supposed to be a much improved version of the old one, these findings are then contrasted with the results of an almost identical survey performed in 1998. The discussion demonstrates that the perceived benefits of the ISO 9001/2/3: 1994 implementation have also decreased over time. Research limitations/implications - These findings may indicate that ISO 9000 will eventually fade away due to the lack of short-term reasons to implement yet another version in the future, unless substantial long- term benefits are proven. In July 2002, when this survey was conducted, the number of ISO 9001: 2000 registered companies was still small, constraining more in- depth research in this field. Originality/value - This is one of the first papers trying to analyze the benefits and the implications of ISO 9001: 2000. On the other hand, it is probably the first paper that evaluates the evolution of such benefits over time.