ISO 9001 maintenance, decertification and recertification: a systematic literature review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Synthesis of the systematic review procedures. Legend: ISO 9001 maintenance (M), decertification (D) and recertification (R).

Figure 2. Evolution of the number of articles.

Figure 3. Relative weights of maintenance, decertification and recertification.

Figure 4. Methodologies adopted in the selected articles.

Figure 5. What do companies do in the post-certification period? An ISO 9001 QMS maintenance, decertification and recertification framework. Legend: Relationships that have been tested empirically in the reviewed literature: (1) Arauz and Suzuki (2004), (2) Lo and Chang (2007), (3) Pan et al. (2009), (4) Alič (2014), (5) Ong et al. (2015), (6) Cândido et al. (2016), (7) Lindlbauer et al. (2016), (8) Kafel and Simon (2017), (9) Castka (2018), (10) Nurcahyo et al. (2020), (11) Cândido et al. (2021), (12) Ferreira and Cândido (2021), (13) Cândido and Ferreira (2022), (14) Cândido and Ferreira (2023), (15) Clougherty and Grajek (2023).

Table 1. Article sources.

No.	Source title	Maint.	Decert.	Recert.	Total
1	Total Quality Management & Business Excellence	3	4	0	7
2	International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management	5	0	0	5
3	International Journal of Production Economics	1	1	0	2
4	Production Planning & Control	0	2	0	2
5	International Journal of Production Research	1	1	0	2*
6	African Journal of Business Management	1	0	0	1
7	Building Research and Information	1	0	0	1
8	European Journal of Operational Research	0	0	1	1
9	Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries	1	0	0	1
10	Innovar	0	1	0	1
11	International Conference on Management and Service Science (Proceeds)	1	0	0	1
12	International Journal for Quality Research	0	1	0	1
13	International Journal of Operations & Production Management	0	1	0	1
14	International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management	0	0	1	1
15	Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management	1	0	0	1
16	Quality Innovation Prosperity	0	1	0	1
17	Quality Management Journal	1	0	0	1
18	Research Policy	0	1	0	1
19	The Service Industries Journal	1	0	0	1
	Total	17	13	2	32*

Note: * One article classified in two areas.

Table 2. Research on ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) maintenance.

Author, year	Study purpose/ objective	Supporting theory	Method	Main findings/ results	Financial impact	Future research directions
Low and Omar (1997a)	Study motivations, obstacles, approaches and measures for maintaining the ISO 9001 QMS	None	Survey, interviews	Maintenance critical success factors (CSFs) are top management commitment, technical aspects, socio-cultural aspects and productive relationships. Maintenance obstacles are related with structure, attitudes, lack of resources, coordination, communication, training and supervision. Measures to overcome the obstacles are also identified.	n/a	There is a need for more research on the maintenance stage of ISO 9001 certification
Low and Omar, (1997b)	Study the need, problems, approaches and measures for maintaining the ISO 9001 QMS	None	Case study	Maintenance in practice is based on the technical approach (i.e. the standard requirements, or the hard QMS). Proper maintenance depends also on non-technical aspects (i.e. human aspects, or the soft QMS). Identifies maintenance problem areas and recommends measures to overcome them.	n/a	Need for more research on maintenance
Cheng and Tummala (1998)	Study the employee involvement strategy at all levels in ISO 9001 maintenance	None	Case study, interviews, survey	Establishes a strategy and activity plan (framework) for the participation of employees at all levels of the organisation and at each of three stages of ISO 9001 implementation and maintenance.	n/a	n/a
Water (2000)	Design a model to determine and specify the maintenance of quality management	None	Conceptual	Defines several maintenance concepts and develops a framework within which the organisation can discuss and specify the ISO 9001 QMS maintenance to be performed.	n/a	Calls for research on maintenance to ‘kill the criticism that TQM does not function’.
Arauz and Suzuki (2004)	Identify factors that influence perceived performance of ISO 9001 maintenance	None	Survey, factor and regression analysis	Identifies several maintenance activities. Organisational performance significantly depends on ISO 9001 QMS maintenance activities, but only in medium and large companies.	Assesses the perception of maintenance impact	Analyse the performance impact of the integration of ISO 9001 with Six Sigma.
Prado et al. (2004)	Develop a method for ISO 9001 maintenance based on improvement teams	None	Case study	Proposes a methodology based on improvement teams that contributes to personnel involvement and maintenance of the ISO 9001 QMS.	n/a	n/a
Lo and Chang (2007)	Compare perceived benefits between firms that maintain the certification and those that lose it	None	Survey, MANCOVA	Firms that maintain the certification are firms that have higher perceived certification benefits.	Assesses the perceived benefits of certification	Consider the newer version of the standard for a similar analysis.
Prajogo (2008)	Compares motivations, benefits and success factors of implementation with those of maintenance	None	Case study, interviews	Having internal motivations is fundamental for successful ISO 9001 maintenance. Success factors for the implementation are mostly the same for successful QMS maintenance. Most implementation benefits are sustained during maintenance.	n/a	Consider larger samples to access generalisability of these results.
Pan et al. (2009)	Develop a model to guide the implementation and maintenance of ISO 9001 QMS	None	Survey, CB-SEM	The structural model proposed is largely supported by the data. Pre-implementation planning significantly influences employee empowerment. Both variables significantly influence maintenance activities, which in turn have a significant impact on operational performance.	Assesses the perception of certification cost reduction	Consider other factors and examine the model in other settings.
Wahid and Corner, (2009)	Identify CSFs for ISO 9001 maintenance, problems and measures to overcome the problems	None	Case study, interviews, thematic analysis	Maintenance CSFs are top management commitment, employee involvement and participation, teamwork, continuous improvement, reward system, understanding of ISO 9001, performance measurement and communication. Most important problems are changing culture and attitude of employees and suppliers. Measures to overcome the problems are also identified as well as maintenance benefits.	n/a	There is a lack of research on the post-certification period
Basir et al. (2011)	Develop a framework of the elements of organisational culture that influence the maintenance of ISO 9001	None	Conceptual	Identifies elements of organisational culture that affect ISO 9001 maintenance: teamwork, recognition, incentive schemes, top management commitment, staff loyalty and motivation for continuous improvement.	n/a	Increasing need to research ISO 9001 QMS maintenance
Wahid et al. (2011)	Analyse QMS maintenance and outcomes	None	Case study, interviews, thematic analysis, survey	Identifies maintenance motivations, benefits and CSFs. CSFs are top management commitment, internal communication, training, adequate resources, quality culture, rewards, recognition, empowerment, and supplier relationships.	n/a	QMS maintenance CSFs, challenges, problems, benefits, impact, reasons for failure and others.
Wahid (2012)	Investigate the success factors and problems of ISO 9001 maintenance	None	Case study, interviews	Identifies the CSFs and problems of ISO 9001 maintenance. Suggests a framework for ISO 9001 maintenance in service organisations.	n/a	Investigate ‘how ISO 9001 can be more effectively maintained’
Ong et al. (2015)	Examine the role of practitioners’ perception and belief in the behavioural intention to maintain ISO 9001	Theory of reasoned action, technology acceptance model	Survey, CB-SEM	Develops a model of practitioners’ beliefs and QMS maintenance. Intention to maintain QMS depends on peer and management support, understanding of ISO 9001 requirements, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.	n/a	Organisational and social aspects of QMS maintenance, including linkages between organisational levels.
Basir et al(2017)	Investigate the influence of the elements of organisational culture on ISO 9001 maintenance in universities	None	Case study, interviews, direct observation	Four cultural elements influence ISO 9001 maintenance in universities: academic freedom, individualism, professionalism and collegiality	n/a	Influence of organisational culture on ISO 9001 QMS maintenance.
Basir and Davies (2018)	Understand the measures needed for effective ISO 9001 maintenance	None	Case study, interviews	Six measures identified: documentation control, internal audits, data analysis and feedback, management review, training, and corrective and preventive actions.	n/a	‘Impact of human factors on ISO 9000 maintenance.’
Castka (2018)	Examine the patterns of activities and interventions that firms pursue to maintain their certifications	Configurational theory	Case study, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, interviews	Identifies causal configurations (models) of variables influencing the complexity and intensity of activities to maintain the certification.	n/a	Use the configurational theory in future research.

Table 3. Research on ISO 9001 QMS decertification.

Author/Year	Study purpose/Objective	Supporting theory	Method	Results: decertification motivations and antecedents	Results: withdrawal consequences	Future research directions
Lo and Chang (2007)	Compare perceived benefits between firms that maintain the certification and those that lose it	None	Survey, MANCOVA	Identifies decertification motivations: time, cost, paperwork and ISO 9001 is a minimum requirement. Concludes that firms that lose certification are firms that have lower perceived benefits.	n/a	Consider the newer version of the standard in the analysis.
Alič (2014)	Study organisations that lost the certificate and how they operate after decertification	None	Longitudinal survey	Suggests decertification motivations: effects of inadequate implementation, and low attractiveness of the certification	Negative repercussion on performance although some organisations might already be in financial difficulties before losing the certification	Conduct research in other countries to generalise the findings.
Kafel and Nowicki, (2014)	Determine motives and repercussions of decertification	None	Case study	Identifies decertification motivations: cost, low benefits, customers ceasing to demand certification	(Part of) the quality management system continues to operate. Identifies the parts of the QMS that continue to operate.	Correlate the maturity level of the QMS with the motivations to decertify
Sansalvador and Brotons (2015)	Determine the value of the real option to abandon certification	None	Secondary data, fuzzy real options	Identifies decertification motivations: low benefits, savings from decertification, no internalisation of ISO 9001	Reduction of the company value	Consider including intangibles in future valuations
Cândido et al. (2016)	Determine the impact of decertification on performance	None	Event study, secondary data	Identifies decertification motivations: standard already internalised, cost, company does not expect to pass the audit	There is no statistically significant repercussion of decertification on economic and financial performance	Conduct research in other macroeconomic settings to generalise the findings.
Kafel and Simon, (2017)	Assess the financial performance after decertification and its relationship with the decertification motivations	None	Secondary data	Identifies decertification motivations.	Financial problems, absence of profits, or ROA below industry average. Concludes that there is no relation between type of decertification motivation and financial performance.	Relationship between type of post-decertification QMS and performance. Relationship between motivations to certify and decertify.
Simon and Kafel (2018)	Determine the motives for decertification	None	Survey data, descriptive statistics	Identifies decertification motivations: company already in financial distress, no competitive advantage from ISO 9001, certification not demanded by customers, alternative standards or QMS	n/a	Analyse the correlations between (1) decertification and economic cycle, (2) performance after decertification and size and sector.
Chiarini, (2019)	Determine the motives for decertification	None	Delphi method, survey	Identifies decertification motivations: customers not interested in certification, no management commitment, lack of improvement measures, cost	n/a	Use multivariate statistics to analyse the relationships between variables.
Cândido et al. (2021)	Determine whether underperformance is the decertification reason	None	Event study, secondary data	Concludes that low economic performance is not the reason why companies decertify. Identifies decertification motivations: standard already internalised, and not a rare and inimitable resource.	n/a	Consider how issues related to ISO 9001 implementation (preparation, fraud, obstacles …) may lead to decertification.
Ferreira and Cândido (2021)	Develop a comprehensive model of ISO 9001 QMS decertification propensity	None	PLS-SEM, survey data	Worldwide decertification propensity is 18%. To understand this decertification propensity, the aspects relating to pre-certification, certification, decertification and post-decertification must be considered together. This involves certification motivations, barriers, benefits, decertification motivations and EPAD.	Proposes an explanation to the contradiction in the field concerning the withdrawal repercussions. Introduces the concept of EPAD.	Consider other settings, research methodologies, and internal and external variables, such as those suggested in the article.
Cândido and Ferreira (2022)	Develop a model to identify the antecedents of expected performance after decertification (EPAD)	None	PLS-SEM, survey data	Main antecedents of EPAD are external decertification motivations and internal certification benefits. Internal benefits have a U-shaped relationship with EPAD. Negative direct effect of external benefits on EPAD counterbalance the positive indirect effect.	EPAD may be a better predictor of decertification (and of its consequences) than past certification benefits.	Consider other settings, research methodologies and antecedent variables, such as those suggested in the article.
Cândido and Ferreira (2023)	Develop a model to determine the antecedents of internal decertification motivations	None	PLS-SEM, survey data	Certification barriers do not disappear after certification and are a much stronger antecedent of internal decertification motivations than low benefits.	n/a	Consider other settings, research methodologies and antecedent variables, such as those suggested in the article.
Clougherty and Grajek (2023)	Study the relationship between innovation and decertification	Transaction costs theory, signalling theory	Secondary data, regression analysis (probit)	Radical innovation is a decertification motivation. Incrementally-innovate organisations are less likely to decertify than radically-innovative organisations.	n/a	Research that differentiates between radical and incremental innovation or focus on other organisational characteristics.

Note: Expected performance after decertification (EPAD).

Table 4. Research on ISO 9001 QMS recertification.

Author/year	Study purpose/objective	Supporting theory	Method	Main findings/results	Future research directions
Lindlbauer et al. (2016)	Examine whether certification and recertification have an impact on efficiency	None	Secondary data, DEA, genetic matching, regression	Efficiency is negatively related to ISO 9001. There is a ‘significant negative impact on efficiency … in the year of recertification and the year after that’.	Measure the impact of QMS certification on financial performance and on service quality
Nurcahyo et al. (2020)	Examine the impact of ISO 9001 recertification on efficiency	None	Secondary data, DEA	Recertification does not have a significant impact on efficiency, nor does it act as a catalyst to improve an organisation’s QMS.	Analyse other contexts and the new version of ISO 9001:2015

Table 5. Grouping research on ISO 9001 QMS maintenance, decertification and recertification.

Topic area	Group	Main aim and results	Authors	No.	%
ISO 9001 certification maintenance	1	Identification of critical success factors, maintenance motivations, maintenance activities, maintenance problems, measures to overcome the problems and maintenance benefits	Low and Omar (1997a, 1997b), Arauz and Suzuki (2004), Lo and Chang (2007), Prajogo (2008), Wahid and Corner (2009), Wahid et al. (2011), Basir et al. (2017), Basir and Davies (2018)	9	28
	2	Development of prescriptive and/or explanatory maintenance models/ frameworks/ systems	Cheng and Tummala (1998), Water (2000), Prado et al. (2004), Pan et al. (2009), Basir et al. (2011), Wahid (2012), Ong et al. (2015), Castka (2018)	8	25
ISO 9001 decertification	3	Identification of reasons for decertification	Lo and Chang (2007), Kafel and Nowicki (2014), Simon and Kafel (2018), Chiarini (2019), Cândido et al. (2021), Cândido and Ferreira (2023), Clougherty and Grajek (2023)	7	22
	4	Identification of consequences of decertification (economic-financial or otherwise)	Alič (2014), Kafel and Nowicki (2014), Sansalvador and Brotons (2015), Cândido et al. (2016), Kafel and Simon (2017), Cândido and Ferreira (2022)	6	19
	5	Development of empirical models of decertification	Ferreira and Cândido (2021), Cândido and Ferreira (2022, 2023)	3	9
ISO 9001 recertification	6	Assessment of the recertification impact on efficiency	Lindlbauer et al. (2016), Nurcahyo et al. (2020)	2	6
Total				32*	100*

Note: * Four studies (Cândido & Ferreira, 2022, 2023; Kafel & Nowicki, 2014; Lo & Chang, 2007) were classified in more than one group because they address more than one topic with similar emphasis.

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