Study: Companies, Employees Benefit Directy from ISO 9001

Companies that adopt ISO 9001 are much more likely to stay in business and, in turn, experience faster sales growth than those that choose not to pursue certification to the quality management system standard, a new study finds.

ISO 9001 adopters also seem to grow their employment bases, total payrolls, and average annual earnings much faster than companies that do not adopt ISO 9001. In turn, employees experience indirect benefits when their companies take on ISO 9001.

The report, "Quality Management and Job Quality: How the ISO 9001 Standards for Quality Management Systems Affects Employees and Employers," is the "first large-scale study to examine changes in employee outcomes after their employers adopt ISO 9001, including wages and frequency and magnitude of worker injuries," wrote the study's authors, David I. Levine of the University of California, Berkeley, and Michael Toffel of the Harvard Business School.

The study examined the experiences of manufacturing firms in California that adopted ISO 9001 and analyzed data from the Directory of ISO 9000 Registered Companies, Dun & Bradstreet, and the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California.

This study will be published in Management Science later this year. A final version of the working paper is available.