On Thursday 29 March, the first results of the work to determine the causal link between the quality approaches, represented by ISO 9001 certification, and innovation were presented. They were unveiled at the official launch of the "Performance of Organizations" Chair by Olivier Peyrat, CEO of the AFNOR Group, and Laurent Batsch, President of the University of Paris-Dauphine.
Sylvie Rolland, Scientific Director of the Chair, and Sanja Pekovic, researcher, presented the first results of the work seeking to determine the causal link between quality approaches, represented by ISO 9001 certification, and innovation. Innovation is a central survival factor for businesses and, beyond that, human societies; but what is the influence of a quality approach on an organization's ability to innovate? That was the initial assumption.
By analysing a sample of more than 1,100 French industrial companies with at least 20 employees, the study shows that the best performing companies are those that are certified according to ISO 9001. This is all the more true when these same companies have taken other quality approaches and their suppliers are themselves certified. Several indicators make it possible to draw these conclusions: increased spending on research and development, the number of new or improved products introduced to the market, the development of new manufacturing processes...
The power of a global quality approach
On the other hand, implementing a quality approach at a minimum, or relying only on those of suppliers, does not offer an environment conducive to innovation. Business success can only be achieved if executives are themselves convinced of the merits of ISO 9001 and incorporate the practices of the standard into the organization's strategy: customer orientation, leadership, employee involvement, continuous improvement, etc. These companies, in order to ensure optimal performance, must also educate their stakeholders to follow suit.
This study corroborates the fact that "organizations engaged in such organizational and managerial approaches (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, EFQM...) are more resilient in times of crisis, integrate the evolution of constraints more easily and react more appropriately to external events," said Olivier Peyrat. Quality is therefore resolutely a sustainable value, a factor of innovation.
The "Performance of Organizations" Chair
The "Performance of Organizations" Chair brings together twelve researchers and four PhD students. "We want to stay connected to organizations while maintaining a multidisciplinary academic approach," batsch said. "A winning formula for AFNOR, the University and researchers; an original approach that we take pride in."
The Chair's studies measure the impact of management systems (ISO 9001, ISO 14001...) on the functioning of an organisation (companies, public administrations, non-governmental organizations, associations, etc.). In particular, they analyse the impact of a certification (or labeling) on its performance: sales growth, brand image, rising stock price, attractiveness of the company...
Read more: www.fondation.dauphine.fr/nos-chaires/chaire-performance-des-organisations/chaire/10/