International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 1 No. 3; November 2011 ISO 9000 Adoption in Algeria: An Examination of the Implementation Experiences of Certified Companies Mohamed Djerdjouri School of Business and Economics State University of New York at Plattsburgh New York, USA. Mustapha Boukhatem , Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (EHEC) Algiers, ALGERIA Abdelmadjid Mesbah Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (EHEC) Algiers, ALGERIA Abstract Purpose – Quality management systems are a very new trend in Algeria. The main objective of this article is to study the implementation of ISO 9000 systems in Algerian organizations and report on their experiences with the goal of improving the implementation process in terms of time and cost for the upcoming companie. Methodology – A questionnaire consisting of 30 questions was developed and tested. It covered the profile of the company, the certification process, the structural changes and training for certification, the reasons for ISO 9000 adoption, the sources of assistance obtained before and during implementation, the satisfaction level with auditing agencies, the benefits obtained from certification, the difficulties encountered during implementation, the lessons learned and future quality management systems plans. The questionnaire was sent to all the 132 certified companies listed in the Ministry of Industry directory. Most of the questionnaires were filled out through a one on one interview with managers. 87 usable questionnaires were returned representing a 66% response rate. Findings – The main findings indicated that the firms benefited from certification and had plans to continue implementing quality management systems beyond ISO 9000; however they reported problems with sources of information and lack of assistance from government agencies before and during the implementation process. Moreover, problems with motivating employees and staff and interesting them in quality management systems were encountered, resulting in a strong resistance for change Originality/Value – Quality management systems in general and ISO 9000 systems are a new phenomenon in Algeria. To our knowledge, this is the first wide-ranging study of ISO 9000 certified companies in Algeria. The results provide an insight into quality management adoption and practices of Algerian companies, which are trying to learn how to compete in the global market. Furthermore, the study shows that awareness and interest in quality management systems by Algerian managers are growing rapidly. Keywords – Quality management systems, ISO 9000, Emerging markets. Introduction ISO 9000 certification is by now widespread among organizations in the industrialized world. ISO 9000 standards are fast becoming an unavoidable market requirement around the world (Vloeberghs et al., 1996; Lee and Palmer, 1999; Beatie and Sohal, 1999; Ismail, M.Y. et al., 1999; Djerdjouri et al., 2005). This has led, in the past few years, to a quality awareness of companies in the emerging markets, which resulted in many of these organizations seeking ISO 9000 certification in droves (Gupta, A., 2000; Acharya and Ray, 2000; A. Bestkese and U. Cebeci, 2001). Algeria, a North African country, once a socialist centralized economy, has embarked in the last decade, on a large scale restructuring of its economy. The private sector has flourished and the public sector is adopting new management philosophies and methods. Having realized that quality is not a luxury but a key to competitiveness in the global market, many Algerian companies have sought ISO 9000 certification in a big way since 2000. 126 © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijbhtnet.com In fact of the total 132 certified firms listed in the Ministry of Industry directory, all except two have received their certification in late 2000 or on and after 2001. Little was known about the motives for certification, the implementation processes in practice, the problems encountered during implementation, the impact of certification on the performance of the firms, the profile of the auditing agency used for certification, the benefits of ISO 9000 in Algerian firms, the type of assistance available, and many others issues. It is mainly to answer these questions and to develop a profile of the auditing firms and the implementation process that this study has been undertaken. Many such surveys have been conducted in different parts of the world (Calisir & al., 2001; Ismail and Hashmi ,1999; Gupta, A., 2000; Djerdjouri and Patel, 2000). However, we do not know of any published such wide ranging study done in Algeria, an emerging market economy in full transition. We feel that the consideration of ISO 9000 registered companies will provide us with a very good insight into the quality management practices of Algerian organizations, which intend to compete in the global market. The main objective of this paper is to present the results of such a study conducted in 2005. In the remainder of the paper, the data collection procedure is presented, then, the preliminary findings of the study are also presented, followed by a discussion of the results and few recommendations. Data Collection The questionnaire was constructed based on an extensive review of the literature of ISO 9000 implementations. Many of the survey questions were adopted from previous studies. The questionnaire consists of 30 questions that covers the following aspects: - the profile of the company, the certification process, the structural changes and training for certification, the reasons for ISO 9000 adoption, the sources of assistance obtained before and during implementation, the satisfaction level with auditing agencies, the benefits obtained from certification, the difficulties encountered during implementation, the lessons learned and future quality management systems plans. A preliminary test was performed and the suggestions made were taken into account when designing the final version of the questionnaire. A five point Likert scale was used to answer many questions in the survey (1 being the lowest score (Least important) and 5 the highest score (extremely important)). Then a directory of all the certified companies was obtained from the Ministry of Industry. As of October 2005, the end of the data collection phase of this study, the directory contained a list of 132 companies that had obtained ISO 9000 certification. All the companies were contacted and told about the objectives of the survey and then they were invited to participate in it. A group of students1 from the Institut National de Commerce (INC) were selected to administer the survey. Prof. Boukhatem and Prof. Mesbah held a workshop where they told the students about the objectives of the study and familiarized them with the questionnaire. Then, the students conducted mock interviews. Each team of two to three students was assigned a group of companies. Over a period of two weeks in April 2005, the students visited the companies to interview the manager or the designated person. In fact, a large number of questionnaires were filled through personal interviews with the quality manager of the organization, while few others decided to take the questionnaire, fill it out themselves and then return it to us by mail or fax. Out of the 132 questionnaires, eighty-seven usable questionnaires were received, which represents a of 66% response rate. Survey Results The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. In this section the main findings of the study are presented. This includes descriptive statistics as well as results based on means and standard deviations of responses together with t-tests and independent t-tests to compare means. The fact that the response rate was high (66%), the results will present a good insight about the experiences of the certified companies as a whole in their quest for ISO 9000 certification. Companies’ profile Out of the total number of respondents, 80% were manufacturing organizations, while 20% were service providers (Table 1). About 14% employed less than 100 persons, 44% had between 100 and 500 employees and 42 % employed more than 500 people (Figure 1) 1 The authors would like to thank the group of EHEC students who helped administer the survey 127 International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 1 No. 3; November 2011 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% Percent 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% between 1 and between 51 between 101 between 251 between 501 more than 1000 50 and 100 and 250 and 500 and 1000 Number of Employees Figure 1. Size of the firms (# of employees) Only 77 out of the 87 respondents (88.5%) reported on their revenues for year 2004. Among these firms, 6.5% had revenues less than 50 million dinars, 14.3% between 50 and 250 million dinars. Moreover, 16.9% reported revenues between 250 and 500 million dinars and 62.3% had revenues higher than 500 million dinars (Figure 2). 40.0% 30.0% Percent 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 215,0,0B00e00t,w0,00e00e0 na D nAd 2550,,00B00e00t,w,00e00e00n aD nAd 501,00B00e,00Dt,w00Ae00 ,e00n 0a 0n d 2150B00e,,0a0Dtw0n0Ad0e0 ,e,00n00 00 2550b00e,,a00tDwn00Ad00e ,,e00n00 00 15,00B00e0,a0Dt,w0n0A0d0e 0 ,e0,n00 000 1,0m0o0r,e0 0th0a,0n0 0 Revenues (Algerian Dinars) Figure 2. Size of revenues 100% of the certified firms operate in the local market. Out of these, about 14% export to the Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya); 8% export their products to African countries; 10.3% export to the European Union; 8% export to the rest of Europe and only 4.6% export their products to other countries such as Mexico and Canada, other Arab countries and countries in Asia. 128 © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijbhtnet.com MARKET Frequency Percent Local Market 87 100% Maghreb 12 13.8 % Africa 7 8% European Union 9 10.3% Rest of Europe 7 8% Others 4 4.6% Table 1. Market Certification process As a result of deciding to implement ISO 9000 certification, 65.5 % hired a consultant to help them with the process, while 34.5% did not. Also, only 24.1 % hired additional personnel. Most of those hired 1 to 5 people, depending on the size of the firm, mainly to staff the newly created quality department. Frequency Percent No 30 34.5 Yes 57 65.5 Total 87 100.0 Table 2. Hiring a consultant for ISO 9000 implementation Time and cost of certification Total time taken for certification varied from one year to as high as three years. Around 21.8 % of the firms obtained their certification within one year, 19.5% between one and one and a half years, and the majority (36.8%) took between 1.5 to 2 years to get certified. About 13.8% took 2.5 to 3 years and about 7% took more than 2.5 years. It took on average 20 months to complete the ISO 9000 certification process. Frequency Percent Less than 1 year 1 1.1 1 year 19 21.8 1 to 1.5 years 17 19.5 1.5 to 2 years 32 36.8 2 to 2.5 years 12 13.8 2.5 to 3 years 5 5.7 more than 3 years 1 1.1 Total 87 100.0 Table 3. Time taken for Certification There was a great variation in the estimated cost of certification. It varied between about 3,000,000 DA to 6000000 DA, with a mean cost of 4700000 DA. 50% of the firms had a certification cost lower than 3100000 DA. The high variation is mainly due to the two main factors, the length of time for certification and the auditing agency used. Obviously the cost was lower if a local auditing agency was used and the time for certification was short (within a year). Cost of Certification Mean 4686270.58 95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound 3179945.42 N = 60 for Mean Upper Bound 6192595.75 5% Trimmed Mean 3873633.98 Median 3128000.00 Std. Deviation 5831070.215 Minimum 0 Maximum 40000000 Range 40000000 Interquartile Range 4500000 Skewness 4.126 Kurtosis 22.768 Table 4. Cost of certification 129 International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 1 No. 3; November 2011 Auditing agencies 58.5 % of the firms used a French auditing agency. The most popular agency seems to be AFAC-ASCERT international with 28.7 %, closely followed by SGS – ICS with 21.8 % of the audits. Next, Belgian agencies with 16% of the audits done in Algeria, with almost all of these done by one agency, namely AIB- VINCOTTE. Canadian agencies were equally used with about 16% of the audits done, and QMI was the agency with the biggest share (12.6%). Only 4.4 % of the auditing agencies were located in Algeria. The other agencies used are located in Lebanon (1) and Switzerland (1) (Table 5). Auditing Agency Country Frequency Percent AFAQ - ASCERT International, France 25 28.7 AIB - VINCOTTE International Belgium 13 14.9 SGS Belgium 1 1.1 QMI Canada 11 12.6 SGS - ICS France 19 21.8 MOODY France 4 4.6 DET NORSKE VERITAS (DNV) France 3 3.4 SGS - Geneve Switzerland 1 1.1 SGS - Alger Algeria 1 1.1 SGS – QUALITEST Algeria 1 1.1 Deloite and Touche Canada 1 1.1 GENI Canada 1 1.1 ITS Canada 1 1.1 QMI Lebanon 1 1.1 AFAQ – Alger Algeria 1 1.1 QMC –Tizi Ouzou Algeria 1 1.1 QMC – Alger Algeria 1 1.1 CMM/PTL – Oran A l g e r i a 1 1.1 Table 5. Auditing Agencies Around 77% of the companies reported that they selected their auditing agency because it had a good reputation, 26.4 5 chose the agency because it was recommended to them and 42.5% made the selection based on the costs which, they felt were reasonable. Frequency Percent Good reputation 67 77 Recommendation 23 26.4 Reasonable Costs 37 42.5 The only choice 6 6.9 Other 4 4.6 Table 6. Reasons for selecting the auditing agency When it came to the company’s satisfaction with the auditing agency, 46% of the firms reported that they were very satisfied with the agency’s auditing process and results, and 54% indicated that they were merely satisfied with the work done by the selected auditing agency. Frequency Percent Very satisfied 40 46.0 Satisfied 47 54.0 Total 87 100.0 Table 7. Satisfaction level with the auditing agency Out of the 87 surveyed firms, 86 (or 98.9%) received their certification after the first audit; only one company failed the first audit and received the certification after the second audit. Unfortunately, even though the questionnaire asks for a reason, the firm declined to respond to this question. This may explain in part the long implementation times, where companies decided to take a longer time to prepare before the final audit. 130 © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijbhtnet.com Frequency Percent No 1 1.1 Yes 86 98.9 Total 87 100.0 Table 8. Number of certifications obtained after the first audit As a result of certification, 57.5 of the companies reported that they changed the structure of the firm. The majority of them added a quality management department, while some closed departments and few others merged them. Frequency Percent -No structural Change 36 41.4 -Establish New departments 12 13.8 -Merge Existing Department 1 1.1 -Establish a new Quality Department 40 46 -Closed existing departments 2 2.3 Table 9. Type of structural change Training All the surveyed companies reported that they conducted training sessions before the implementation of ISO 9000. However as indicated in the table below, top managers were the ones targeted by the training with an average training time of 2.5 months. Middle managers had one month of training on average and low level managers an average of 1.5 months. It is worth to note that the sessions were not offered continuously; rather the training consisted of many workshops of 1 to 2 days, lasting over the implementation period. The bad news is that only few companies reported having trained employees, except for few, which conducted one short 1 to 2 hours awareness session. N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Top managers 79 .1 30.0 2.581 5.5469 Middle managers 79 .0 12.0 1.109 2.6897 Low level managers 79 .0 24.0 1.457 3.6696 Table 10. Training time for each management level (in months) Reasons for ISO 9000 certification Table 11 shows the mean and standard deviation values associated with the reasons for seeking ISO 900 certification in descending order of their means. The mean values ranged from 1 to 4.65. Satisfying the customer needs, improving performance, installing a formal quality management system and, increasing market shares had an average score higher than 4 (out of a maximum of 5). This indicates that those were the main reasons for these firms to seek ISO certification. This result is in line with results obtained in other surveys reported in the literature. There were other les important reasons. The main reasons cited together with their importance score (Mean) are presented in the table below. Reasons N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Satisfy customers’ needs 87 1 5 4.61 .881 Improve performance 87 1 5 4.45 .899 Install a quality management system in the firm to 87 1 5 4.36 1.131 insure the quality of products and services Increase market shares 87 1 5 4.05 1.077 Improve work environment 87 1 5 3.60 1.271 Competitors have it 87 1 5 3.52 1.493 Remain operational in the activity 87 1 5 3.31 1.441 Improve relationships with suppliers 87 1 5 3.16 1.354 To be able to export 87 1 5 2.80 1.477 Personal initiative 87 1 5 2.63 1.533 Other 87 0 5 1.00 1.817 Valid N (listwise) 87 Table 11. Reasons for deciding to adopt ISO 9000 certification (One-Sample Statistics) 131 International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 1 No. 3; November 2011 A t-test was performed to find out which reasons for seeking ISO 9000 certification are statistically more important for the firms. A mean score of 3 (the center of the Likert scale) was used as a cut off point. The results in table 12 below show that the first five reasons (as listed in table 11 above) are significantly important at a 95% level confidence, whereas “improving relationships suppliers”, “being able to export”, “and personal initiative” are not the main significant reasons why the firms sought ISO 9000 certification. This clearly indicates, looking at the seven significant reasons that the Algerian managers are primarily looking inwards and want to use the ISO certification to first improve their internal processes and procedures. The non significant reasons “Improve relationships with suppliers” and “To be able to export” deal with external entities and they seem to be put on the back burner for now. Test Value = 3 Sig. Mean 95% Confidence t df (2-tailed) Difference Interval Lower Upper Install a quality management system in the firm to insure the quality of 11.188 86 .000 1.356 1.12 1.60 products and services Remain operational in the activity 2.009 86 .048 .310 .00 .62 Personal initiative -2.237 86 .280 -.368 -.69 -.04 Satisfy customers’ needs 17.042 86 .000 1.609 1.42 1.80 Improve performance 15.025 86 .000 1.448 1.26 1.64 Improve relationships with suppliers 1.108 86 .271 .161 -.13 .45 Competitors have it 3.231 86 .002 .517 .20 .84 Increase market shares 9.056 86 .000 1.046 .82 1.28 To be able to export -1.234 86 .221 -.195 -.51 .12 Improve work environment 4.386 86 .000 .598 .33 .87 Other -10.265 86 .000 -2.000 -2.39 -1.61 Table 12. t-Test results Sources of information and assistance To gather information and learn about ISO 9000 standards and certification procedures before the implementation process, most firms (61%) searched and obtained the information themselves and 47% of the firms were provided the information by a local consultant, although some of the firms used both sources of information jointly. About 30% of the firms relied on a foreign consultant and 25% depended on government agencies (mainly the ministry of industry) to provide them with the needed information. However, some firms used a combination of these sources. Source Frequency Percent Personal 53 60.9 Government 22 25.3 Local Consultant 41 47.1 Foreign Consultant 26 29.9 Table 13. Primary information sources about ISO 9000 before implementation For assistance during the implementation process, firms relied equally on themselves (57.5%) and on local consultants (56.3%). While 32.2 % obtained assistance from foreign consultants and only 13.6 % from government agencies. Frequency Percent Personal 50 57.5 Governmental 12 13.6 Local Consultant 49 56.3 Foreign Consultant 28 32.2 Table 14 Primary sources of assistance during implementation Table 15 shows the mean and standard deviation values of the perceived level of achievement of ISO 9000 benefits by the firms. 132 © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijbhtnet.com Eighty-three out of eighty seven respondents indicated that their firms benefited from adopting ISO 9000 procedures and standards. The four other firms pointed out that they needed more time to assess the benefits of ISO 9000. The main benefits, in descending order of the mean value, are reported in table 15below. Among theses benefits, “improving overall efficiency” had the highest mean value while “reducing the number of employees “(and “others”) had the lowest score. N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Improving efficiency 83 1 5 3.51 1.097 Improving communication with staff 83 1 5 3.48 1.052 Using modern management techniques 83 1 5 3.46 1.192 Reducing defects in products 83 1 5 3.35 1.087 Increasing market share with existing customers 83 1 5 3.25 1.360 Reducing waste and recalls 83 1 5 3.22 1.048 Improving relationships with suppliers 83 1 5 3.20 1.276 Reducing the number of complaints from customers 83 1 5 3.18 1.507 Reducing conflicts in the firm 83 1 22 2.99 2.559 Increasing Motivation 83 1 5 2.96 1.098 Attract new customers 83 1 5 2.98 1.440 Reducing costs 83 1 5 2.84 1.357 Reducing the number of employees 83 1 5 1.83 1.091 Other 83 0 5 .78 1.675 Table 15. Benefits of ISO 9000 certification A t-test was performed to check the statistical significance of the results obtained. As done earlier a test value of 3 (cut off point) is used. As indicated in table 16 below, “Using modern management techniques”, “Reducing defects in products”, “Improving efficiency”, “Improving communication with staff”, and “Improving communication with staff” all had a mean score significantly higher than 3 at a 95% confidence level, which means that the firms feel that believe these benefits are concretely achieved. Moreover “Reducing the number of employees” had a score significantly lower than 3 at a 95% confidence level, which means that ISO 9000 certification has not resulted in huge layoffs as was probably expected by employees and managers alike. However, the results show that “Increasing Motivation “, “Reducing waste and recalls”, “Increasing market share with existing customers”, “Attract new customers”, “Reducing the number of complaints from customers”, “Improving relationships with suppliers”, “Reducing conflicts in the firm” and “Reducing costs” are not significant. This indicates that the managers of the firms have not achieved all the expected benefits from ISO 9000 certification. This can be explained in part by the fact that, as mentioned in the introduction, the certification was obtained very recently (1 or 2 yeas for most firms), which indicates that not enough time has passed for the firms to successfully achieve most of the expected improvements yet. Test Value = 3 Sig. Mean 95% Confidence T Df (2-tailed) Difference Interval Lower Upper Increasing Motivation -.300 82 .765 -.036 -.28 .20 Using modern management techniques 3.498 82 .001 .458 .20 .72 Reducing defects in products 2.929 82 .004 .349 .11 .59 Reducing waste and recalls 1.885 82 .063 .217 -.01 .45 Improving efficiency 4.201 82 .000 .506 .27 .75 Increasing market share with existing customers 1.695 82 .094 .253 -.04 .55 Attract new customers -.152 82 .879 -.024 -.34 .29 Reducing the number of complaints from 1.092 82 .278 .181 -.15 .51 customers Improving relationships with suppliers 1.462 82 .147 .205 -.07 .48 Improving communication with staff 4.174 82 .000 .482 .25 .71 Reducing conflicts in the firm -.043 82 .966 -.012 -.57 .55 Reducing the number of employees -9.757 82 .000 -1.169 -1.41 -.93 Reducing costs -1.052 82 .296 -.157 -.45 .14 Other -12.057 82 .000 -2.217 -2.58 -1.85 Table 16. t-Test results 133 International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology Vol. 1 No. 3; November 2011 Difficulties encountered during implementation The majority of the firms (87.4%) reported that they have encountered difficulties and obstacles during the implementation process, while 11.5% of the companies surveyed claim that the implementation went smoothly and that they did not encounter any difficulties. The main problems they faced during implementation are employees and staff resistance to change (mean = 2.91), changing traditions and culture of the firm (mean = 2.80), lack of knowledge about ISO 9000 in general (mean = 2.69), motivating personnel (mean = 2.52), preparation of documents and forms (mean = 2.47) and explaining ISO 9000 objectives (mean = 2.22). The rest of the lower rated problems (nonetheless important problems to address before implementation) are found in the table below. N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Resistance to change 85 0 5 2.91 1.586 Changing traditions and culture of the firm 85 0 5 2.80 1.502 Lack of knowledge about ISO 9000 86 0 5 2.69 1.566 Motivating Personnel 85 0 5 2.52 1.517 Preparation of Documents and forms 85 0 5 2.47 1.493 Explaining ISO 9000 objectives 85 0 5 2.22 1.276 Long implementation process 86 0 5 2.12 1.350 Low interest in quality 86 0 5 2.07 1.225 Identifying and describing processes 85 0 5 1.95 1.272 Training of top and middle managers 85 0 5 1.87 1.252 High implementation costs 86 0 5 1.81 1.288 Other 85 0 3 .04 .325 Table 17. Problems encountered during implementation A t-test was performed and the results show that all items except " Resistance to change” and “Lack of knowledge about ISO 9000”, had scores significantly lower than the cut off point of 3 (the center of the Likert scale from 1 to 5) at a confidence level of 95%. This clearly indicates that the firms did not find that these difficulties were that important or very difficult to overcome. However, they mentioned that they found their lack of knowledge about ISO 9000 and the resistance to change from employees constituted somewhat serious problems encountered during the implementation process. Test Value = 3 Sig. Mean 95% Confidence T df (2-tailed) Difference Interval Lower Upper Motivating Personnel -2.932 84 .004 -.482 -.81 -.16 Resistance to change -.547 84 .586 -.094 -.44 .25 Preparation of Documents and forms -3.270 84 .002 -.529 -.85 -.21 Changing traditions and culture of the firm -1.227 84 .223 -.200 -.52 .12 Identifying and describing processes -7.592 84 .000 -1.047 -1.32 -.77 Training of top and middle managers -8.320 84 .000 -1.129 -1.40 -.86 Explaining ISO 9000 objectives -5.611 84 .000 -.776 -1.05 -.50 Lack of knowledge about -1.859 85 .067 -.314 -.65 .02 ISO 9000 Low interest in quality -6.503 85 .000 -.930 -1.21 -.65 Long implementation process -6.072 85 .000 -.884 -1.17 -.59 High implementation costs -8.539 85 .000 -1.186 -1.46 -.91 Other -84.000 84 .000 -2.965 -3.03 -2.89 Table 18. t-Test results Future plans after certification An overwhelming majority of the firms (97.7 %) pointed out that they will continue with the quality journey started with ISO 9000. The table below presents the mean scores and standard deviations associated with the different future quality plans. “Continuous improvement” had a mean score of 4.36 out of a maximum of 5. 134 © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijbhtnet.com This clearly indicates that the Algerian managers are keen to establishing a “continuous improvement” culture in their companies. It is also indicated that most of them seriously think about moving on, in the quest for quality, to the next level of excellence and implement TQM in their firms. This is a good sign that shows a high level of awareness about the importance of quality management systems in organizations. All the items in descending order of their mean scores are shown in the following table: Future Plans N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Dev. Maintaining ISO 9000 certification only 86 1 5 2.97 1.669 Obtain ISO14000 certification 86 1 5 2.88 1.537 Continuous improvement 86 1 5 4.36 .893 Establishing and using quality circles 86 1 5 2.67 1.410 Using statistical quality control tools 86 1 5 2.99 1.530 Implement TQM 86 1 5 3.29 1.548 Other 86 0 5 .65 1.600 Table 19. Future Plans with quality management systems The t-test results in table 20 below show that the importance levels of “Continuous improvement” and establishing and using quality circles” were statistically significant at a confidence level of 95%. This confirms the importance of these future quality plans for the managers. Concerning the other items, even though they were not significant, their score are nonetheless very close to 3, the cut off point, which indicates that managers of the firms are interested in implementing these other programs in the future but their priority would be to start with continuous improvement and establishing quality circles in their companies. Test Value = 3 Sig. Mean 95% Confidence t Df (2-tailed) Difference Interval Lower Upper Maintaining ISO 9000 certification only -.194 85 .847 -.035 -.39 .32 Obtain ISO14000 certification -.702 85 .485 -.116 -.45 .21 Continuous improvement 14.124 85 .000 1.360 1.17 1.55 Establishing and using quality circles -2.142 85 .035 -.326 -.63 -.02 Using statistical quality control tools -.070 85 .944 -.012 -.34 .32 Implement TQM 1.741 85 .085 .291 -.04 .62 Other -13.616 85 .000 -2.349 -2.69 -2.01 Table 20. t-Test results Lessons learned from the implementation When asked if they would change anything in their implementation process if they had to be certified again, 27.9% of the respondents said that they would not, however 72.1% of the firms indicated that there are things they would have done differently. Table 21 below shows the main items in descending order of their mean value. The higher the mean the more emphasis the firm said it would put on if they had to do the implementation all over again. As indicated by the responses, firms said that, first and foremost, they would put more emphasis on training (mean = 3.08). Moreover, they find it to be also important to have more teamwork (mean = 2.87), to have a better involvement of staff from top to bottom (mean = 2.73) and to have more sharing of information (mean = 2.70). Finally, firms believe that they should have a better managerial process for the implementation (mean = 2.47) and a more appropriate documentation of the procedures (mean = 2.10). N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Dev. Putting more emphasis on training 86 0 5 3.08 2.116 Having more team work 86 0 5 2.87 2.074 Having a better involvement of staff from top to bottom 86 0 5 2.73 2.106 Having more sharing of information flow 86 0 5 2.70 2.075 Having a better Managerial process 86 0 5 2.47 2.016 Having the appropriate documentation of the 86 0 5 2.10 1.776 procedures Other 86 0 5 .21 .959 Valid N (listwise) 86 Table 21. Lessons learned from implementation 135