TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, VOL. 13, NO. 6, 2002, 827- 841 Adoption of a quality assurance scheme and its eþect on ®rm performance: A study of Greek ®rms implementing ISO 9000 K ostas T sekouras ,E fthalia D imara &D imitris S kuras Department of Economics, University of Patras, University CampusÐRio, PO Box 1391, Patras, 26500, Greece abstract An analysis of 143 ®rms in the Greek manufacturing and service sectors reveals that adopters of ISO 9000 quality assurance schemes are larger companies producing intermediate goods, but less pro®table and with higher leverage than their non-adopter counterparts. The eþects of adopting an ISO 9000 scheme on ®rm performance and especially on certain dimensions of pro®tability are not signi®cant in a period of 5-6 years after adoption. Evidence suggests that the adoption of an ISO 9000 quality assurance scheme, being a continuous process of improvement, is bene®cial in the long term and does not necessarily improve ®nancial ratios in the short term. Active support policies for the promotion and dissemination of quality standards in the manufacturing and service sectors of Greece can be reconsidered and a more targeted policy should be implemented. Future research may be designed and implemented so that long-term and strategic eþects of the adoption of the new ISO 9000:2000 standards are revealed. Introduction The International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 9000 series was introduced in 1987, aiming to set standards for enterprises desiring to adopt a quality system, provide quality assurance to their business counterparts or ®nal customers and achieve zero-defect products. A `quality system’ consists of a set of ®xed business procedures and rules aiming to ensure that a product, process or service meets a predetermined and widely acknowledged set of standards (Vloeberghs & Bellens, 1996). Quality assurance is the industrial process designed to manage and update the quality system, able continuously to guarantee and demonstrate that the system conforms to the agreed set of speci®c conditions and standards (Rothery, 1992). The ISO 9000 series or, more formally, `Quality Management and Quality Assurance Standards’, outlines the requirements to be met by a producer illustrating its competence to design, produce and deliver products or services with a consistent and coherent level of quality. The ISO 9000 series consists of ®ve related standards numbered 9000 to 9004. ISO 9000 is a set of guidelines for the adoption, adaptation and use of ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003, providing an outline of quality management and quality assurance standards and oþering de®nitions of background key terms, fundamental for understanding quality concepts Correspondence : D. Skuras. Tel: + 30610996130; E-mail: skuras@econ.upatras.gr ISSN 0954-4127 print/ISSN 1360-0613 online/02/060827-15 © 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd DOI: 10.1080/0954412022000010163