ISO 9001 Standard: Developing and Validating a Survey Instrument

Organizations are in the constant pursuit of reliable strategies for increasing customer satisfaction. One of these strategies refers to the implementation of the ISO 9001 standard as a quality management system to ensure that products and services meet or surpass customer expectations. However, successful ISO 9001-based systems are possible only if companies count on a series of critical success factors that guarantee successful ISO 9001 implementation. This research aims at developing and validating a survey instrument to evaluate the degree of compliance with ISO 9001 critical success factors among manufacturing organizations. The research is conducted in Mexican manufacturing companies. The survey is designed by considering the quality management principles of the ISO 9001:2015 standard as critical success factors. We conducted an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis to identify the structure of the survey and confirm its validity. Our findings confirm that the survey instrument comprises four constructs, three of them associated with the quality principles of the ISO 9001 standard, and one associated with the benefits of said standard. In conclusion, the proposed survey is a valid, useful tool to assess ISO 9001 implementation in manufacturing companies and similar organizations.