A Study on ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certifications – Reasons behind the Failure of ISO Certified Organizations

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ISO 9001 Certified Contracting organizations at United Arab Emirates and identify the potential reasons behind the failure of ISO 9001 certified organizations.For conducting this study, an in-depth literature review was made. A pilot survey was organized to capture the perceptions of these contracting organizations. The pilot survey findings were reviewed and resulted in a fine-tuned main survey collected from a stratified random sample of 100 organizations out of 800 populations. Survey findings studied were hypothetically validated and the gaps were identified. In spite of ISO 9001 certification being a powerful framework for managing the quality systems, the study results revealed that there were common gaps found in those certified organizations, classified into 4 basic categories such as a) Leadership related issues b) Strategy related issues c) Quality system related issues and d) Social responsibility related issues. Out of the nine constructs tested hypothetically, eight constructs revealed a significant relationship impacting the overall system performance. Out of these 8 significant elements, only 4 have been specified in ISO 9001 Standard explicitly. Even though around 15 research studies have been made so far in the same subject worldwide, this study has evaluated the effectiveness of Quality Systems. Also it will make the Quality Management System (QMS) more vibrant and value-adding.