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- The financial impact of a withdrawn ISO 9001 certificatePublication . Cândido, Carlos; Coelho, Luís; Peixinho, RúbenThe purpose of this paper is to assess to what extent the loss of the ISO 9001 certification affects the decertified firms’ financial performance. Design/methodology/approach – Using standard event-study methods, this paper matches a sample of 143 Portuguese companies that lost their ISO 9001 certification with similar non-event counterpart firms (according to return-on-assets and size) and compares the performance of these two groups of firms using financial data collected from the AMADEUS database. Findings – Results show no statistical significant differences in the financial performance (as measured by return-on-assets, return-on-sales, and sales growth) between companies that lost their ISO 9001 certification and their matched firms. Although the literature suggests that certification improves firms’ performance and that the benefits of certification may last over long periods of time, this paper’s results suggest that, after decertification, companies do not exhibit over or underperformance in their operations vis-à-vis comparable firms that do not undergo the same event. Originality/value – As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study assessing the impact of ISO 9001 certificate withdrawal on the decertified firms’ financial performance.
- Strategies for the ISO 9001 certification life cycle (StrategISO)Publication . Cândido, Carlos JFPurpose. Certified and non-certified organisations must make strategic decisions regarding ISO 9001 adoption, maintenance, renewal, and abandonment. However, the ISO 9001 literature lacks a typology of the strategic options available to these organisations. The purpose of this conceptual study is to develop a framework of the alternative strategies for the stages of the ISO 9001 life cycle (implementation/certification, certification maintenance, and recertification/decertification stages). Methodology. The research method is based on literature review, selection of relevant variables, and synthesis of coherent alternative strategies. Findings. Results include the main variables of relevance for the definition of the ISO 9001 strategies (e.g., life cycle stage, organisational motivations, barriers, benefits, internalisation degree, and quality of the certification body), the main situations in which organisations can find themselves (in terms of ISO 9001 certification, maintenance and decertification), the strategic options for each situation (e.g.: certify, maintain certification, try harder, change certification body, intensify learning and experimentation with ISO 9001), and the implications and consequences of such options. Research results are integrated into a strategy framework, composed of three strategy matrices, one for each stage of the life cycle. The matrices present the strategic situations, available strategic alternatives, and benefits of the strategies. Originality. This study combines the results of previous research to develop an original strategy framework, which constitutes the main research contribution. As far as the author is aware, there is no such strategy framework in the literature. The framework has relevant implications for theory and practice and helps to identify future research directions.
- Why firms lose their ISO 9001 certification: evidence from PortugalPublication . Candido, Carlos; Coelho, Luís; Peixinho, RúbenMore than one million certified companies must choose, every three years, whether to renew or to withdraw from ISO 9001 certification. This paper investigates whether ISO 9001 decertification decision is driven by economic motivations. Using standard event-study methods, the paper looks into this question by comparing the abnormal performance of a sample of Portuguese firms that lose their certification with that of similar, non-event, firms. The paper finds no statistically significant differences in the economic performance of these two sets of firms in their post-ISO certification period. Such evidence suggests that economic underperformance is not the reason why companies are ISO decertifying and further suggests that the decision to decertify is economically irrelevant. The study advances possible explanations for this (ir)relevancy and puts forwards implications for theory and for the ISO 9001 governance system. The governance system must change in order to increase the economic benefits that organisations can expect to gain from ISO (re)certification. This is the first study assessing the impact of ISO 9001 certification on firms that subsequently lost the certificate.
- A survey on ISO 9001 decertified companies: the three stages leading to withdrawalPublication . Delfino, Pedro; Peixinho, Rúben; Candido, Carlos Joaquim Farias; Serra Coelho, Luís MiguelThis study investigates the three main stages of the ISO 9001 certification process (implementation, maintenance, and withdrawal) from the perspective of decertified firms. The research employs a descriptive and inductive survey methodology, drawing insights from a literature review and the analysis of primary data obtained from a sample of decertified organisations. Results suggest that the decertification is triggered during the pre-certification stage, where these firms overemphasise external motivations to the detriment of internal ones. Additionally, this study finds that, in the maintenance stage, these firms are unable to commit to continuous improvement. The interplay of external motivations, the lack of internalisation and continuous improvement, and the nature of benefits gained by these entities ultimately leads to certification withdrawal. Furthermore, the paper highlights that the consequences of decertification vary: most firms report no negative impact on their performance, but some report a negative impact, which seems to result from even stronger external motivations. This is the first descriptive (and inductive) study to address decertification from the dual perspective of the whole certification process and of the decertified firms, adding to the scarce research on decertification by providing a comprehensive overview of this phenomenon and identifying a holistic explanation for the withdrawal.
- A survey on ISO 9001 decertified companies: the three stages leading to withdrawalPublication . Delfino, Pedro M.V.; Peixinho, Rúben; Candido, Carlos Joaquim Farias; Serra Coelho, Luís MiguelThis study investigates the three main stages of the ISO 9001 certification process (implementation, maintenance, and withdrawal) from the perspective of decertified firms. The research employs a descriptive and inductive survey methodology, drawing insights from a literature review and the analysis of primary data obtained from a sample of decertified organizations. Results suggest that the decertification is triggered during the pre-certification stage, where these firms overemphasize external motivations to the detriment of internal ones. Additionally, this study finds that, in the maintenance stage, these firms are unable to commit to continuous improvement. The interplay of external motivations, the lack of internalization and continuous improvement, and the nature of benefits gained by these entities ultimately leads to certification withdrawal. Furthermore, the paper highlights that the consequences of decertification vary: most firms report no negative impact on their performance, but some report a negative impact, which seems to result from even stronger external motivations. This is the first descriptive (and inductive) study to address decertification from the dual perspective of the whole certification process and of the decertified firms, adding to the scarce research on decertification by providing a comprehensive overview of this phenomenon and identifying a holistic explanation for the withdrawal.
- Certification, maintenance and decertification of standardised innovation management systems: Motivations, barriers and benefitsPublication . MENDES DE SABOYA, LIANA; Candido, Carlos Joaquim Farias; Cesário, MarisaThe role of standardised innovation management systems (SIMS) in fostering organisational innovation has been largely overlooked in the literature. This study addresses this gap by investigating the certification, maintenance, and decertification of SIMS. Using a descriptive and inductive methodology, the research analyses primary data from 94 Portuguese organisations with certified SIMS. The findings reveal a strong prevalence of internal motivations for certification, low implementation obstacles, and significant benefits, suggesting that these firms have successfully internalised the SIMS standard into their innovation management processes. Maintenance motivations are also strong, particularly internal ones, which align well with the critical success factors for sustaining certification. The benefits of maintaining SIMS are substantial, particularly internal benefits, as initial external motivations for certification often evolve into internal maintenance motivations. Decertification motivations and propensity are weak among the sample firms. Expectations of negative performance impacts following potential decertification are also low, likely because these organisations have effectively internalised the SIMS standard. This study is the first to explore the maintenance and decertification of SIMS, providing evidence that SIMS can deliver substantial benefits, be efficiently maintained, and continuously enhance innovation and competitiveness. As a result, most organisations exhibit little interest in decertification. The findings offer significant contributions to research and provide actionable insights for practitioners, suggesting that innovation management systems can indeed be standardised with considerable benefits.