In 1996 we decided that opinion research into ISO 9000 was leading nowhere in terms of learning about what registration was doing to the performance of companies. Instead, therefore, we decided to look closely at individual cases to learn more about what ISO 9000 had meant in practice and how registration had affected business performance.

We now take the view that registration to ISO 9000 will predictably cause sub-optimisation.

Introduction read more

Case 1 read more

Case 2 read more

Case 3 read more

Conclusions read more

Appendix 1 – comparison of Surrey University and Vanguard 1993 research

Appendix 2 – Manchester Business School research

Appendix 3 – A brief history of ISO 9000