An empirical study of the benefits and costs of ISO 9001: 2000 compared to ISO 9001/2/3: 1994

Much has already been written about the effects of the 1994 version of the ISO 9001/2/3 standard on business performance, mostly supporting the notion that the implementation of this standardized quality assurance system is beneficial. However, there is a surprising lack of empirical research literature regarding the current 2000 version. This paper illustrates a study conducted with the purpose of comparing the perception of businesses regarding the motivation, challenges, benefits and costs of ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 9001/2/3: 1994. The results of a survey of close to 400 Spanish companies performed in 1998 are presented and analyzed. While no significant differences in terms of the main motivation factors and implementation challenges are found, ISO 9001: 2000 registered companies report lower levels of satisfaction with the benefits of the standard, coupled with higher levels of implementation and maintenance costs, in comparison with the ISO 9001/2/3: 1994 registered ones. Although this study also shows that most companies still believe that ISO 9000 is beneficial overall, it seems that the findings support the notion that ISO 9001: 2000 faces a number of perhaps insurmountable challenges. A very low adoption rate of the standard only a few months before the deadline is but one symptom of a bigger problem with the standard.