The quality of quality awards: Diminishing information asymmetries in a hotel chain

Services suffer to a great extent from information asymmetries because their attributes are more difficult to grasp in advance. Within services, the tourism industry is an especially notable and interesting case. Akerlof [Akerlof, G. The market for ‘lemons’: Quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics 1970; 84 (3): 488-500.] suggests the applicability of information asymmetries and counteracting institutions to hotel chains. To reduce these asymmetries different strategies have been proposed. Among them, quality certificates have become one of the most popular tools. However, two questions arise: one, are quality certificates effective tools to reduce information asymmetries in the tourism industry, with its inherent uncertainty? and two, are all types of existing quality certificates equally effective? Thus, the objectives of this study include analyzing the market value variation of a hotel chain due to quality certification, and to test the effect by type of award. The method builds from the event study technique and regression analysis. The results show that the stock market reacts positively to certificates, thus implying that quality certification can be a useful tool for reducing information asymmetry; however, this positive reaction is not equal for all kinds of certificates, the ISO 9000 shows the highest impact.     

Effects of product quality certification on quality perceptions of stores' own brands

Retail stores' own brands offer an alternative to national brands, but a perception of inferior quality deters potential purchasers. This study investigates the role of third-party quality certification labels in overcoming that weakness. Data collected from 268 mall shoppers in Taiwan revealed for two distinct household products that quality certification significantly enhanced perceptions of the quality of the store brands and had relatively little influence on the perceived quality of the national brands. Managerial implications are discussed, and fruitful directions for future research suggested.     

A Comparative Analysis of Global Halal Certification Requirements

The aim of this study is to compare the various Halal certification bodies around the world based on the criteria for Halal certification. As the process of awarding Halal certificates varies among the certification bodies, it is pertinent to identify the differences between these selected certification bodies to gauge the gap existing among them. This study will also identify the position of JAKIM, which is the main Halal certification body in Malaysia, among the other main certification bodies around the world. Nine categories were identified in awarding Halal certification to companies. Comparative analysis was then used to see the differences that exist between these certification bodies. The results of the analysis indicate that, based on the nine categories identified, JAKIM is the strictest body in awarding Halal certification to companies.     

国际认证标准的人文化:增强趋势两重效应应对措施--从ISO9000、ISO14000到 SA8000

将ISO9000、ISO14000和SA8000统一起来分析,可以看出它们所包含的“人文化”内容有不断增强的趋势.国际认证标准的“人文化”增强的趋势,既同社会经济发展、社会进步相关,又是国际市场竞争关系失衡的产物.     

2009 China Market Suppliers List

Company Name： Fuzhou Changhua Power machinery Co.Ltd.
Company Profile： We are professional electric machinery manufacturer in china, which specializes in producing diesel and gasoline engine, diesel and gasoline generator, as well as diesel and gasoline water pump. Our company has obtained ISO9001 certification and Chinese national CCC certification, most of our products now have passed CE certification. Our products have been exported to more than 30 countries and regions, mainly in Europe, Southeast of Asia,     

The sustainability of ISO 9001 in a legal service organisation

This paper examines the sustainability and the changes experienced by a legal service organisation in the implementation of ISO 9001 in terms of reasons, benefits, and key success factors over an 8-year time interval. This exploratory study employs qualitative methods using a single case study approach. Data were collected through two phases of interviews, 1996 and 2004, with the same quality manager in the legal service organisation. Both interviews were based on a similar set of structured questions derived from the previous studies. Pattern matching was used to analyse and compare the 1996 and the 2004 findings. Three major findings are identified in this study. First, the internal reasons for implementing ISO 9001 are sustained, whereas the external reasons are diminished. Second, the benefits are mainly internal rather than external, and these are sustainable over time. Third, top management commitment and staff involvement are shown to be the critical factors of both the implementation and the maintenance of ISO 9001. The results contribute to a better understanding of the benefits of ISO 9001 as well as the level of commitment required to sustain these benefits. The results also show the learning process taken up by firms in better understanding the value of ISO 9001 implementation over time.     

Environmental management,nonmarket strategy,and firm performance in emerging markets: The case of ISO 14001

Firms use environmental management standards such as ISO 14001 to reduce the impact of business activity on the natural environment. Though these standards are widely celebrated on moral and ethical grounds, their implication for financial performance and competitiveness is equivocal. Drawing on neo-institutional theory, we conceptualize ISO 14001 as a nonmarket strategy and examine its impact on firm performance within the contexts of three highly polluted emerging markets – China, India, and Pakistan. Employing a rigorous event-study approach, we find that ISO 14001 certification has a negative impact on firms’ operating profitability and market value in both short and long runs. This negative impact appears to be stronger in contexts with weak institutions and poor environmental protection regimes. Further multivariate analyses show that the negative impact of ISO 14001 on firm performance is weaker among socially responsible firms and stronger among politically connected firms. These findings contribute to the environmental management literature. They also have practical implications for managers.     

Standards and export performance in developing countries: Evidence from Pakistan

Several studies have analyzed the exporting pattern and performance of firms located in a developing country. However, there is limited work on the impact of standards on the performance of developing country exporting firms. This paper uses data from Pakistan to assess the effects of ISO 9000 certification on export sales and share of exports (relative to domestic and export sales) for textiles and the agro-food sector. As certification is not randomly assigned but there is ‘self-selection into treatment’, we use propensity matching methods to estimate the causal effect of certification on the change in the firms' value of export sales between 2000 and 2004. The results show that export performance is positively correlated with ISO 9000 certification.     

我国企业SA8000认证的最新情况分析及对策

中国正面临跨国公司SA8000认证的种种考验,此认证对我国企业也产生了较大的影响。鉴于此,本文就我国企业通过SA8000认证的最新情况进行了结构及其原因分析,最后给出了企业和政府在理性接受和应对SA8000社会责任国际标准问题上应采取的对策。     

The Financial Impact of ISO 14001 Certification: Top-Line, Bottom-Line, or Both?

It is not easy being green, but it does beg the question: Does being green pay off on the bottom-line? Unfortunately, that question of becoming ISO 14001 to reap financial benefit remains widely unanswered. In particular, corporate practice is interested in how environmental management impacts firms’ finance through top-line impact, bottom-line impact, or both—as this paves the way for an investment of environmental management. As current findings are mixed, our study tracks financial performance of publicly traded US firms between 1996 and 2005 to test whether ISO 14001 leads to improved financial performance. Employing a rigorous event-study approach, we compare certified firms to different control groups based on several matching criteria that include industry, size, and/or ROA. In the short run, ISO 14001 certification makes only a minor impact on the bottom-line, according to our results. However, these same results show a significant financial improvement over the long haul with ISO 14001 certification. Additionally, this long-term improvement also makes a significant improvement in top-line performance. Thus, we conclude that environmental management pays off along both dimensions.     

“一带一路”沿线国家认证认可国际竞争力评价

认证认可是国家质量基础设施的重要组成部分,被称为质量管理的"体检证"、市场经济的"信用证"、国际贸易的"通行证",在提升产品质量水平、推动产业结构升级、规避双边贸易壁垒、降低贸易通关成本和促进贸易合作与发展方面扮演日益重要的角色。选取"一带一路"沿线国家作为样本,从服务竞争力、区域竞争力、国际影响力、创新竞争力、基础竞争力等五个维度构建"一带一路"沿线国家认证认可国际竞争力指标体系,考察沿线各国比较优势,研判"一带一路"认证认可格局。结果显示:"一带一路"认证认可格局涵盖卓越型竞争力、潜力型竞争力、成长型竞争力和沉寂型竞争力四个阵营,我国位于卓越型竞争力阵营,在区域竞争力、国际影响力和基础竞争力方面占据比较优势。"一带一路"倡议提出以来,我国积极发展与沿线国家间的经贸合作与双边互认,与蒙古、新加坡、哈萨克斯坦等签署了标准化合作协议,推进产品标准双边互认建设。中国认证认可的影响逐步深入至经济、社会的各个领域,其服务能力、服务效果仍具备较大的提升空间。     

Place and certification cue usage with Canadian forest products

Place-based promotion is used in many industries, including food and wine products, to create a competitive advantage. This study focused on consumer behaviours related to cue usage of origin (i.e. local and imported) and certification (i.e. sustainable products) with the goal of understanding the importance of these two cues used together or separately in the context of Canadian forest products. The study asked consumers in a small Canadian city about their quality beliefs, value assessments and purchase intentions for local and/or certified products. Using a quasi-experimental design, the manipulations include location (local vs. imported), certification (certified vs. uncertified) and product type (commodity vs. value-added). A repeated measures ANOVA found that both cues of origin and certification were important as respondents perceived local products as better quality and higher value, and respondents were more likely to purchase them over most other types. A regression analysis indicated that in most cases quality and value were predictors, but value was the most important indicator of the likeliness to purchase specific forest products. This study has the potential to aid marketers because certification cue usage does not appear to have been examined in conjunction with a product’s local vs. foreign origin.     

煤矿区队管理者安全素质能力提升研究

区队管理者在煤矿安全管理体系中起着承上启下的作用,其安全素质能力的提升对于提高我国煤矿安全管理水平具有重要的现实意义。本文结合我国煤矿企业实际,从区队管理者应具备的素质能力着手,构建了包含素质、能力、行为三个层面的区队管理者素质能力模型,系统地提出了区队管理者素质能力的提升路径及提升策略。     

Enterprise‐level training in developing countries: do international standards matter?*

Several studies have examined the determinants of training in developing countries but few have paid attention to the potential importance of international standards such as ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 on the firm's training decision. This article examines training determinants using recent employer surveys for five developing countries: Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco and Nicaragua. It finds that ISO certification status is an important determinant of training, even after controlling for other characteristics such as workers’ formal schooling, firm size, industry and foreign ownership. This points toward the importance of international standards, including product quality and production standards, for firm training. The article also discusses policy implications related to the findings and provides directions for further research.     

我国会展UFI国际认证热潮的冷思考

随着国内会展业链条上的诸多机构纷纷申请加入UFI,会展业掀起了一股UFI认证热潮。从目前我国通过UFI认证的正式会员和展会的情况看,我国会展UFI国际认证的发展出现了地区差异明显、政府主导色彩浓、外企进驻加剧展览市场竞争特征。依据认证热潮背后的深层次原因看,EFI认证并非完全适合我国国情,会展业要真正走向国际化必须提升品牌竞争力并要促进本土化的会展认证体系的构建。     

The Implementation and Impact of ISO 9000 among Small Manufacturing Enterprises

Quality is essential to customer satisfaction and competitive success. Unfortunately, resource constraints can place the small-firm manufacturer at a quality disadvantage. This paper considers the benefits and barriers to International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 certification among small-firm manufacturers. An empirical study explores whether small manufacturers can successfully implement and benefit from a standardized and resource-intensive program such as ISO 9000. The answer is yes if management can internalize core ISO practices. Keys to success include inculcating a quality culture, reducing behaviors that inhibit ISO adoption, performing a readiness analysis that helps tailor the ISO program to company needs, and leveraging a dynamic environment to drive quality consciousness.     

The future of standardised quality management in tourism: evidence from the Spanish tourist sector

As quality management has become more important in the tourist sector, the implementation of standardised quality management systems has become more common in this industry. A forerunner in this development has been the Spanish tourist sector, in which 17 specific quality management standards have been developed over several years in various tourist sub-sectors, including hotels, rural accommodation, restaurants, spas, and travel agencies. The present study, which is exploratory in nature, analyses the diffusion of these standards using a model that has been well attested in the specialised literature, together with a qualitative analysis of three practical cases. The study concludes that the standardisation of quality management in tourism will increase in coming years. The worldwide diffusion of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in many service sectors and the findings of the present study with respect to the increasing implementation of the Spanish standards provide an indication of what is likely to happen in the service sector as a whole in most countries.     

Is certification an effective legitimacy strategy for foreign firms in emerging markets?

This study explores the effect of certification on profitability in a transition economy. Obtaining a certification is a strategic legitimacy action that positively affects a firm’s profitability, specifically for a foreign firm in a transition economy, where institutions are less developed and stable. However, we argue that certification is particularly effective if legitimacy based on adaptation to local circumstances is weak. An analysis of data from 319 MNE subsidiaries in China over the period 1998–2009 largely supports our hypotheses. Certification is an effective strategic action which improves profitability. However, the strength of this effect is influenced by the level of marketization of the host region, the institutional quality in the home country, the density of the foreign firm community in the host country, the number of years the foreign firm has been in the host country, and the size of the foreign firm. These findings throw light on the role certification can play in helping firms overcome the liability of foreignness in a transition economy.     

Environmental Certification and Technical Efficiency: A Study of Manufacturing Firms in India

Obtaining environmental certification (such as the ISO-14,001) has become a status symbol for adopting greener practices for the corporate sector in emerging economies. Such certification can help improve the global visibility of firms and is mandated in international trade. This paper attempts to examine the impact of such certifications on technical efficiency of firms belonging to the manufacturing sector in India. In analyzing the impact of ISO Certification on technical efficiency, this paper uses data from the CMIE Prowess from 2007 to 2012. In the first step, the paper estimates technical efficiency for the sample firms and then examines the determinants of inter-firm differences in technical efficiency using firm specific characteristics. The results of this study conclude that there are substantial inter-firm differences in technical efficiency and they are systematically different based on firm age, firm size, debt capital, MNE affiliation, and ISO certification. ISO certification, especially maintaining the standards associated with it, turned out to be an important factor in making the firms achieve higher technical efficiency. In addition, the results of this study also confirm that firms that are ISO certified and doing R&D are better off in technical efficiency as compared to others.     

2008-2009 China Market Suppliers List

Company Name:Jiande Yuanfeng Tool Co.,Ltd. Company Profile:Jiande Yuanfeng Tool Co.,Ltd.is a specialized manufacturer of screwdriver series products in China.It covers 40,000m~2 with 430 staff.In 1998,the company was approved with ISO9001/9002. It is equipped with advanced facilities,