ISO 9001 Certification Benefits: A Principal Component Analysis

This research addresses the benefits of ISO 9001 to understand the reasons behind its worldwide adoption. By applying principal component analysis to the results of a survey encompassing 526 valid responses (24.4% response rate), a more business-oriented scale than the traditional internal/external type of motivation with three main categories of benefits is proposed: operational improvement benefit (regarded as the most relevant), profitability and, market. The internal benefits related to the operational improvement are the benefits most felt by organizations, highlighting the contribution of ISO 9001 to improve learning processes and knowledge generation. Concerning the organization size, medium-sized organizations attribute greater importance to the market and competitiveness. However, there are no statistical differences in the reporting of benefits felt in operational improvement and profitability. In relation to the year of certifcation, organizations certified before the year 2000 report higher market benefits when compared to those certified later. The investigation of ISO 9001 within Industry 4.0 and digital processes are suggested for future research.