DTD 5 Achieving competitive advantage through implementing a replicable management standard: Installing and using ISO 9000 Eitan Naveh a, * , Alfred Marcus b,1 a Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Haifa 32000, Israel b University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA Received 1 December 2002; received in revised form 1 January 2005; accepted 28 January 2005 Abstract This paper investigates the effects of implementing the international standard ISO 9000 on measures of business and operating performance. Based on the literature and a case study we identified two stages in implementing ISO 9000—(1) Installation, which has two dimensions: (a) external coordination and (b) integration; and (2) Usage, which also has two dimensions: (a) in daily practice and (b) as a catalyst for change. The hypotheses were that installation of ISO 9000 is positively related to use of ISO 9000, and use of ISO 9000 is positively related to operating performance. In addition, use of ISO 9000 is positively related to business performance since operating performance is positively related to business performance. We used hierarchical linear models (HLM) to test our hypotheses and validated the results by comparing the longitudinal performance of ISO 9000 certified companies with four matched samples of companies that were not ISO 9000 certified. Our analysis indicated that while the installation stage was necessary to successfully implement ISO 9000, organizations achieved a distinct operating advantage from this replicable standard when they used it in daily practice and as a catalyst for change. These findings were based on responses to a survey of 1150 quality managers in 924 organizations, which was supplemented for about one-third of the organizations with longitudinal information from the Compustat database on the organizations’ business and operating performance. The validation indicated that implementing the ISO 9000 standard led to improved operating performance, but that this outcome did not necessarily or automatically yield better business performance. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: ISO 9000 standard; Operating and business performance; Usage; Installation 1. Introduction The International Standards Organizations in Geneva established the ISO 9000 standard in 1987. Its origins, however, rest in earlier American (1960s— MIL-Q-9858A and MIL-I 45208A) and British www.elsevier.com/locate/dsw Journal of Operations Management xxx (2005) xxx–xxx * Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 4 829 4527. E-mail addresses: naveh@ie.technion.ac.il (E. Naveh), amarcus@csom.umn.edu (A. Marcus). 1 Tel.: +612 624 2812. 0272-6963/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jom.2005.01.004