The knowledge discovery in databases approach: identifying variables that influence ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications

Abstract

With the rapid expansion of international trade, companies are progressively adopting management system standards that ‘dazzle’ the market, such as those in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. However, the reports for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 only provide the number of valid certifications, without presenting information on the variables that may influence an increase or difference in the number of these certifications. In response to this gap, this article aims to identify the main variables of the World Development Indicators (WDI) that influence the number of valid ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. The Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) approach was used to identify relevant indicators, with correlation analysis performed to validate the data. Our investigation shows influences that previous studies had not found: the number of certifications and scientific articles, passenger transport by railways and air, greenhouse gases, and methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

Keywords:

• ISO 9001
• ISO 14001
• World Development Indicators
• knowledge discovery in databases
• correlation analysis

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers who devoted their time and expertise to improve the earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was financially supported by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).