Is ISO 9004 a path to business excellence? Opinion of Canadian standards experts

Abstract

ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 were created as a “consistent pair” of standards so that businesses that wanted to exceed the requirements of 9001 could use the principles of 9004 to move towards business excellence. In this paper, opinions from Canadian quality standardization experts were used to explore the needs of business against what is offered by ISO 9004 and to assist in the comparison of ISO 9004 with common business excellence models. The ISO 9004 (2000) document was perceived as needed, and as holding great potential. Suggestions for realizing that potential ranged from the inclusion of more guidance on specific business processes (for example complaints handling) to the incorporation of material that links ISO 9004 with industry‐specific standards, awards and/or general business programs. With modification, the document was seen as being able to make a valuable contribution to an organization's business excellence strategy. Without some form of recognition and/or award as offered by other business excellence models, however, the amount of usage ISO 9004 will receive is questionable.

Citation

Boys, K., Karapetrovic, S. and Wilcock, A. (2004), "Is ISO 9004 a path to business excellence? Opinion of Canadian standards experts", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 21 No. 8, pp. 841-860. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656710410551737