| DO SMALL AND MEDIUM COMPANIES NEED TO CERTIFY ACCORDING TO ISO 9000? Peter Neergaard Issue 28 (Vol. 14, No. 2), December 2004, pp. 153-167. Today, most companies in the Western economies work with quality as an important management issue. The ISO 9000 quality standard is accepted by all industrialised economies and has been globally accepted as a unified platform for quality. Around the world, academics and practitioners alike have reported research on and experiences with ISO 9000. However, many articles about ISO 9000 have been criticised for being speculative, impressionistic, anecdotal and typically based on the results of a few companies (Coleman & Douglas, 2002). The study here is based on large surveys conducted in 1994 and 1998 with a particular emphasis on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The paper will present the dominant reasons for implementing ISO 9000 and the benefits achieved in SMEs. The changes in the certifications from 1994 to 1998 will be described and the results of certified organisations compared with the result of organisations without a quality management certification. In a general vein, the paper will also question whether it is profitable for a SME to achieve certification of its quality system or whether it is possible to achieve the same benefits without certification. |