Research shows that businesses that adopt and certify to best practice, as outlined in internationally-recognized standards, reap substantial benefits:

• 75% experienced improved customer service
• 77% boosted their performance
• 74% acquired new customers and retained existing clients
• 44% achieved cost savings

Harvard studies underscore these findings and identified ISO 9001 adopters, for example, having faster sales growth, increased employment and fewer workplace injuries.

Every business has three basic challenges that threaten their success: 

• Comply with customer requirements and government regulations and standards
• Protect the organization through embedding quality and instituting best practices
• Grow the organization, extending the customer reach and satisfaction, thereby increasing revenue 

Management systems allow organizations to meet these challenges by instilling best practices and validating, through certification, that they are properly established in the company.

Not all certification services are the same. Organizations need to look for providers which: 

• Are independently certified by a recognized accreditation body, like ANAB (ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board)
• Employ auditors with proven expertise, extensive experience and industry-specific knowledge
• Have strong local capacity
• Understand the industry, the territory and the challenges to effectively assess an organization’s conformance to the spirit and the letter of management system standards