The Effect of ISO 9000 on Operational .docVIP

The Effect of ISO 9000on Operational Environmental Performance:Is There One? Ann Terlaak Bren School of Env. Science Management University of California Santa Barbara 4670 Physical Sciences North Santa Barbara, CA 93106 Tel: (805) 893-2883 Fax: (805) 893-7612 aterlaak@  ABSTRACT This paper investigates the effect of the ISO 9000 quality management standard on operational and environmental performance. I explore the effect in ISO 9000 certified facilities but also consider that non-certified facilities may improve their operational and environmental performance as they imitate the ISO 9000 practices that they observe in the supply chain, in industry networks, and in sister facilities. I use a 12-year panel dataset with 24603 facilities from different manufacturing industries to investigate empirically whether and when ISO 9000 affects plant performance. A cross-industry analysis suggests that ISO 9000 decreases the operational performance and improves the environmental performance of both certified and non-certified facilities. However, these effects disappear in a within-industry analysis. Data limitations do not allow identifying conclusively which industry effects drive the spurious results of the cross-industry analysis, but there is some indication that industry wide spurts of facility growth may confound results. From a methodological viewpoint, the results of this paper contribute to the research on industry management standards by showing that industry effects can profoundly confound results. The results contribute from an empirical perspective by pinpointing growth as an important aspect that requires further research with respect to how it may influence performance indicators. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, this paper opens the discussion to the effects of vicarious learning in the context of industry management standards.  INTRODUCTION Industry management standards have become popular tools that guide business pr