The year 2000 problem of ISO 9000: will the quality standards survive the proposed year 2000 revision?

The ISO 9000 standards were first published in 1987. A first, more limited revision was completed in 1994. There is now a more thorough revision underway. A first draft of the suggested new standard has been published in July 1998 and a second draft, expected to be very close to the final version, in February 1999. The changes proposed in these drafts are described and discussed. Summing up, the standard is changing from a technical‐practical tool to a management tool. Four problems with this development are discussed: the sum of demands on management; the comparative strength of the ISO 9000 standard concept; the changed role of the certifying bodies that this change implies; and the implied paradigm of management. The consequences of this may be that the standard turns into a legitimacy seeking management concept alongside other popular “three‐letter acronyms” and thereby adds to the growing amount of hypocrisy in management. This is the year 2000 problem for the ISO 9000 standards.