The impact of ISO 9000 and EFQM on the use of flexible work practices

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the differences between the two most frequently used quality management approaches implemented by firms, ISO 9000 and EFQM, in terms of their impact on the adoption of innovative work organization practices. In order to accomplish this objective, we have selected a sample of 665 establishments with at least 20 employees, from the manufacturing, building and service sectors. Results show that, as expected, EFQM involves an advance over ISO 9000 regarding the use of innovative work practices.