Raising awareness of the benefits of certification and assurance services
In ‘ISO 9001:2000 implementation in the public sector: A survey in Macao SAR, the People’s Republic of China’, (To, Lee, Yu, 2011) research was carried out to test the applicability and effectiveness of ISO 901:2000.
The research was carried out by the development of a measurement instrument using the management principles of ISO 9001:2000. This instrument and the above two issues were then tested amongst 18 public bodies certified to ISO 9001:2000 in Macao, special administrative region in the People’s Republic of China. 360 questionnaires sent out to managers in these 18 bodies, 120 responds received.
‘The results on the correlation between overall adoption of ISO 9001:2000 and performance outcome indicate that ISO 9001:2000 is positively and significantly associated with customer feedback and behavioural response in terms of word of mouth. In other words, the application of ISO 9001:2000 can improve the quality of public service delivery from the external and internal customer perspectives’.
The report makes a very strong recommendation in its conclusion given the positive results and feedback the research revealed, ‘Therefore, we argue that simply adopting and maintaining the ISO 9001:2000/2008 certificates are not enough. Public organisations should consider ISO 9001:2000/2008 as a strategic management practice that can achieve superior organisational performance. The more resources and commitment a public organisation devotes to implement the principles of ISO 9001:2000/2008, the better performance it can achieve’.
Macao Polytechnic Institute, Macao SAR, People’s Republic of China (To, Yu), Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China (Lee)