۱- ISO 9001 and China

۲- Fake ISO certificates

۳- Interviews and findings

۴- Recommendations

References

Abstract

Over 1.5 million ISO 9001 certificates are in effect worldwide, 30 years after this quality management standard was launched. As the factory of the world, China is by far the leading country for ISO 9001, in terms of both absolute and relative numbers and growth. Nevertheless, practitioners have cast doubts on the reliability of adopting ISO third-party quality certification in this country. In-depth interviews with 40 senior quality managers, consultants, and auditors with broad field experience and other complementary methods paints a disturbing picture. The widespread prevalence of fake ISO 9001 certificates is indicated, together with an eroded credibility of the process of third-party certification. We discuss the profound implications of the study—including whether or not the phenomenon is restricted to China—and introduce suggestions for managers and other stakeholders, as well as avenues for further research.

ISO 9001 and China

In its 30th year,the process of global dissemination of the ISO 9001 standard appears to be a success story, with at least 1,519,952 certificates in force at companies from more than 150 countries (ISO, 2016). From the scholarly perspective, the process has been seen as rather rigorous, monolithic, and uniform despite a number of works that have been more critical and pointed to a shadowy side to the process (e.g., Boiral, 2003, 2011;Heras-Saizarbitoria & Boiral, 2015; Walgenbach, 2007). But practitioners in the field have voiced criticisms ofthe reliability of ISO 9001 certification from its inception (e.g., Avery, 1994; Seddon, 1997).