The effect of the ISO 9001 quality management system on the performance of SMEs

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a difference between ISO 9001 certified and non‐certified companies in terms of performance.

In order to determine the effect of certification on performance, motivations for certification and companies' quality practices have been considered as factors. A survey was carried out with 255 small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. The differences between certified and non‐certified companies in terms of performance and quality practices were examined by one‐way analysis of variance (one‐way ANOVA).

The results showed no statistically significant difference between certified and non‐certified companies in terms of performance. Certification showed no direct effect on performance. Also it has been claimed that the quality practices of certified companies was higher than those of non‐certified companies, according to results it is showing a statistically significant difference, in the 0.01 level of significance. However, higher quality practice does not necessarily mean higher performance. Motivations for certification also affect performance; it was found that companies that are internally motivated for certification have partially higher performance than companies externally motivated.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study examining the effect of the ISO 9001 quality management system on the performance of SMEs in Turkey.