What are the impacts of implementing ISOs on the competitiveness of manufacturing industry in China?

Based on the proposed ‘PIE’ analytical framework, this paper argues that the preparation, implementation and evaluation of international standards (ISOs) affect the competitiveness of (foreign-financed) export-oriented manufacturing industry in southern and southeastern China, both in the short- and long-term. During the period of preparation, the decision to adopt ISOs is mainly driven by market demand and/or by the decisions of established competitors. Negative effects due to the diversion of scarce resources and institutional resistance to change during the period of transitional implementation are offset by the overall enhancement of the firm's productivity in the long run. ‘Tailoring for the external audit’ and ‘second-best’ practices are two strategies commonly employed by Chinese firms to lower the transaction costs involved in ISO audits

Standards compliance as an alternative learning opportunity under globalization in Latin America

globalization, technological infrastructures, certification, capability, Latin America, Chile

Shedding more light on the impacts of quality certified systems in small service enterprises: A multidimensional analysis

The purpose of this paper is to describe the small enterprises within the service sector that have adopted certified quality systems, focusing on the motives that have encouraged these enterprises to do so and the organizational impacts such adoptions have had. The results highlight the importance that these enterprises grant to certified quality systems as a strategic tool that can be used in a proactive way to contend with market changes and adverse economic situations, providing them commercial benefits in particular. These results can help managers of small service enterprises analyse the advantage or disadvantage of the position in the market that they can achieve when they decide to implement certified quality systems. This paper provides evidence of how the motives behind small service enterprises’ implementation of quality systems differ from those found by research papers, focused on other types of service and industrial enterprises

Renewing environmental certification in times of crisis

The certification of environmental management systems based on international meta-standards such as ISO 14001 and the Eco Management and Audit Scheme has become one of the most common environmental practices. Nevertheless, the financial and economic difficulties faced by many organizations raise the issue of certification renewal and may have an impact on the trends toward decertification recently observed, notably in the case of the later standard. Surprisingly, this issue remains almost unexplored in the literature. The objective of this paper is to analyze the intention to renew environmental certifications in time of crisis in light of the motivations, obstacles and benefits of this standard. For that purpose, correlation and regression analyses were used with data obtained from 361 Spanish certified firms. The novelty of the study lies in analyzing for the first time in the literature how the intention to renew environmental certifications is shaped by several factors within a context of deep economic crisis. The article contains practical implications for the stakeholders of third party environmental certification, notably managers and policy-makers

ISO 14001 and international trade

The purpose of this paper is to study potential association between international trade and ISO 14001 certification. The study is based upon a search conducted by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) performed in 2013, which includes responses from 110 countries in 11 languages. At this time, among all topics from the research, the variables studied were motivations for implementation and the benefits achieved. These data were crossed with features of international business trade to identify its real outcome. The null hypothesis to be tested is that there was no correlation or association between international trade and the studied variables. Results show that there were 16 weak correlations between motivations to implement ISO 14001 and international trade.  The survey result shows that there are weak correlations among countries international trade and motives to get certification. Because the degrees of correlation are low, there is reason to further studies, what could probably include multivariate techniques. Anyway, the study suggests that some of the expected results and benefits for the business were not achieved or were achieved at degrees lower than expected in countries where trade is higher. Regarding motivations to implement the survey confirmed that attending to customers’ and stakeholders’ interests is an important driver for companies that export

Concepts and standards for the corporate internalization of sustainable development

Based upon a conceptual framework related to the importance of corporate internalization of the sustainability requirements, the paper discusses the role of implementing international management standards and highlights the factors which hinder corporate adoption in Hungary. Corporate social responsibility is treated in relation to hierarchical levels of sustainability. A concise and comparative review is given about the related principles and the use of the ISO 9001 quality standard, the ISO 14001 environment standard, the EMAS, as well as the AA1000 and SA8000 social standards and the GRI Reporting recommendation

City indicators : now to Nanjing

This paper provides the key elements to develop an integrated approach for measuring and monitoring city performance globally. The paper reviews the role of cities and why indicators are important. Then it discusses past approaches to city indicators and the systems developed to date, including the World Bank's initiatives. After identifying the strengths and weaknesses of past experiences, it discusses the characteristics of optimal indicators. The paper concludes with a proposed plan to develop standardized indicators that emphasize the importance of indicators that are measurable, replicable, potentially predictive, and most important, consistent and comparable over time and across cities. As an innovative characteristic, the paper includes subjective measures in city indicators, such as well-being, happy citizens, and trust.Cultural Policy,City Development Strategies,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,ICT Policy and Strategies,Housing&Human Habitats

Motivational factors for the adoption of ISO 9001 standards in Eastern Europe: the case of Bulgaria

Purpose: This study analyzes the motivational factors for ISO 9001 certification in Bulgaria from the internal/external motivations perspective, or the so-called dual model. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a mixed method research approach, which employed two interviews with experts in the field of quality management at the exploratory stage, and a survey involving 127 companies at the descriptive stage. Findings: This study claims that enhanced company image and competitiveness – an external motivation - is the leading motivational factor for ISO 9001 certification in Bulgaria. At the same time, our primary investigation reveals that Bulgarian firms are not predominantly externally driven, for internal motivations including process improvement and product quality improvement seem to be an important driver for ISO 9001 certification. Last but not least, this research asserts that enhanced company image and competitiveness has a stronger impact on the motivations for ISO 9001 certification than customer and supplier pressure, which is in line with previous research works on developing economy economies such as Bulgaria. Finally, our study indicates a moderate, yet positive correlation between motivations for and benefits of ISO 9001 certification. Social implications: This research work casts some light on the evolution of quality management in Bulgaria since the end of communism, which can serve as an important foundation for the better understanding of quality management in former communist economies in general and Eastern European states in particular. Originality/value: Derived from the acute gap between ISO studies in Western and former communist economies, this research work presents one of the first official, international studies in the field of ISO certification in Bulgaria, and more precisely, a paper describing the motives for ISO 9001 certification among Bulgarian businesses.Peer Reviewe

Adoption of ISO 9000 management standard in EU's transition economies: the case of the Baltic states

This article analyzes the dissemination of the main global management standards, the ISO 9000, within the transition economies of the European Union (EU). In the article, the specific case of the Baltic States is analyzed in depth. The work refers to the diffusion of the ISO 9000 standard in the Baltic States in terms of its certification intensity and sectorial distribution. Likewise, the work refers to the huge increase of certifications achieved by the countries and the other transition economies in the previous years of their adhesion to the European Union in years 2004 and 2007. The conclusions drawn in the article may be of interest both for academic and professional spheres of activity but, overall, for public-decisors