A Statistical Analysis of ISO 9000-Related Data for European Union Ultra-Peripheral and Portuguese Regions

According to the last available ISO survey (ISO 2007), in December 2006 there were nearly 900,000 ISO 9001 certificates, thus reflecting the importance of ISO 9001 certification to companies worldwide. This article presents the results of a research project that the authors are leading in Portugal, aimed at conducting a deeper quantitative analysis of the ISO 9000 worldwide phenomenon. The authors provide some key results that derive from a statistical analysis performed over ISO 9001 data, which try to answer some important questions regarding Portuguese regions, including a comparison between several ultra-peripheral regions in Europe and countries that share similarities with them. The authors believe that these results provide an important contribution to the study of the ISO 9000 phenomenon diffusion/evolution as they relate to its main features in regions where specific challenges and difficulties arise, as is the case for ultra-peripheral and similar regions or countries.