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Quality Management and Job Quality: How the ISO 9001 Standard for Quality Management Systems Affects Employees and Employers

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Listed author(s):
  • David I. Levine

    ()

    (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720)

  • Michael W. Toffel

    ()

    (Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02163)

Abstract

Several studies have examined how the ISO 9001 quality management systems standard predicts changes in organizational outcomes such as profits. This is the first large-scale study to explore how employee outcomes such as employment, earnings, and health and safety change when employers adopt ISO 9001. We analyzed a matched sample of nearly 1,000 companies in California. ISO 9001 adopters subsequently had far lower organizational death rates than a matched control group of nonadopters. Among surviving employers, ISO adopters had higher growth rates for sales, employment, payroll, and average annual earnings. Injury rates declined slightly for ISO 9001 adopters, although total injury costs did not. These results have implications for organizational theory, managers, and public policy.

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File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1100.1159
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Article provided by INFORMS in its journal Management Science.

Volume (Year): 56 (2010)
Issue (Month): 6 (June)
Pages: 978-996

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Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:6:p:978-996
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Keywords: ISO 9001; quality management; standards; occupational health and safety; wages; labor; empirical; California;

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Cited by:

  1. Neda Trifkovic, 2016. "Private standards and labour productivity in the food sector in Viet Nam," WIDER Working Paper Series 163, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
  2. Damien Euzénat & Meradj Mortezapouraghdam, 2016. "Les changements d’organisation du travail dans les entreprises : quelles conséquences sur les accidents du travail des salariés ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 486(1), pages 129-147.
  3. Joseph Lanfranchi & Sanja Pekovic, 2012. "How Green is my Firm? Workers' Attitudes towards Job, Job Involvement and Effort in Environmentally-Related Firms," Working Papers halshs-00976341, HAL.
  4. Lindlbauer, Ivonne & Schreyögg, Jonas & Winter, Vera, 2016. "Changes in technical efficiency after quality management certification: A DEA approach using difference-in-difference estimation with genetic matching in the hospital industry," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(3), pages 1026-1036.
  5. Lamar Pierce & Michael W. Toffel, 2010. "The Role of Organizational Scope and Governance in Strengthening Private Monitoring," Harvard Business School Working Papers 11-004, Harvard Business School, revised Feb 2012.
  6. Paglia, John K. & Harjoto, Maretno A., 2014. "The effects of private equity and venture capital on sales and employment growth in small and medium-sized businesses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 177-197.
  7. John C. Camillus, 2011. "Organisational identity and the business environment: the strategic connection," International Journal of Business Environment, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(4), pages 306-314.
  8. Susan A. Kayser & John W. Maxwell & Michael W. Toffel, 2014. "Signaling without Certification: The Critical Role of Civil Society Scrutiny," Harvard Business School Working Papers 15-009, Harvard Business School, revised Jul 2016.
  9. Armenia Androniceanu, 2017. "The Three-Dimensional Approach of Total Quality Management, an Essential Strategic Option for Business Excellence," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(44), pages 1-61, February.
  10. Jodi L. Short & Michael W. Toffel & Andrea Read Hugill, 2013. "Monitoring Global Supply Chains," Harvard Business School Working Papers 14-032, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2015.
  11. Chonnikarn Fern Jira & Michael W. Toffel, 2011. "Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change," Harvard Business School Working Papers 12-026, Harvard Business School, revised Oct 2012.
  12. Clougherty, Joseph A. & Grajek, Michal & Shy, Oz, 2016. "Taking 'Some' of the Mimicry Out of the Adoption Process: Quality-Management and Strategic Substitution," CEPR Discussion Papers 11661, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  13. Castka, Pavel & Prajogo, Daniel & Sohal, Amrik & Yeung, Andy C.L., 2015. "Understanding firms׳ selection of their ISO 9000 third-party certifiers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 125-133.
  14. repec:eee:wdevel:v:97:y:2017:i:c:p:79-101 is not listed on IDEAS
  15. Ion IVAN & Cristian CIUREA & Mihai DOINEA & Arthur AVRAMIEA, 2012. "Collaborative Management of Risks and Complexity in Banking Systems," Informatica Economica, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 16(2), pages 128-141.
  16. Trifkovic Neda, 2015. "Spillover Effects of International Standards: Work Conditions in Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises," WIDER Working Paper Series 047, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
  17. Veronika Vynaryk & Aoife Hanley, 2015. "Effects of the Qms ISO 9000 Certification on Russian Manufacturing Companies," HSE Working papers WP BRP 39/MAN/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
  18. Susan A. Kayser & John W. Maxwell & Michael W. Toffel, 2014. "Supply chain screening without certification: The critical role of stakeholder pressure," Working Papers 2014-08, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
  19. Ebers, Mark & Semrau, Thorsten, 2015. "What drives the allocation of specific investments between buyer and supplier?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 415-424.
  20. Elisa Calza & Micheline Goedhuys & Neda Trifkovic, 2017. "Drivers of productivity in Vietnamese SMEs: The role of management standards and innovation," WIDER Working Paper Series 068, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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