The implications of the new ISO 9000:2000 standards for certified organizations : A review of anticipated benefits and implementation pitfalls

Purpose – To exploit the main implications of the revised series of quality assurance standards ISO 9000:2000 for the certified organisations. The paper aims to identify the anticipated benefits of the changes in the series, as well as the main barriers and pitfalls that may deprive organisations of these benefits. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines the ideas and views of different authors and studies in this subject and organises them accordingly, based on the author's previous experience and empirical studies on ISO 9000 implementation, in order to fully describe the subject for the reader. Findings – The paper finds that although the revised series of standards may offer important benefits to the certified organisations in areas which were previously considered to be the weak areas of the standards, there are still important dilemmas regarding the degree to which companies will be able to overcome a number of barriers and implementation pitfalls. Research limitations/implications – The paper is not based on official empirical research, since it is still too early to empirically test the results of the new standard to the certified organisations. However, this would be the focus of a future survey. Practical implications – The paper offers important information to certified organisations, regarding the main benefits of the new ISO 9000:2000 series and the barriers that they will have to overcome in order to realise them. Originality/value – The paper is the first one to bring all these ideas regarding the new standard's implementation together, offering a complete, comprehensive review of the new standard, and raising important questions that will have to be answered through further research.