Panos T. Chountalas and Athanasios G. Lagodimos
Significant interest in Integrated Management Systems (IMS), as a key area within ISO-related Management System Standards (MSS) literature, has been evident from both academia and…
Abstract
Purpose
Significant interest in Integrated Management Systems (IMS), as a key area within ISO-related Management System Standards (MSS) literature, has been evident from both academia and industry over the past three decades. This study aims to map the evolution and current state of IMS research and propose possible directions for future studies.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive content and bibliometric analysis of 846 documents from the Scopus database across the period 1995 to 2023 was conducted. This included performance analysis to track publication trends and identify key contributors, and content analysis to specify dominant research methodologies and the MSS most commonly integrated. Furthermore, science mapping techniques—such as co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and bibliographic coupling—were utilized to outline the collaborative networks and the conceptual and intellectual structure of the field.
Findings
The study identifies three principal IMS research themes: the practical implementation of IMS, their role in promoting sustainability and social responsibility, and their impact on continuous performance improvement. It also highlights the field’s evolution and key research constituents—including influential works, prolific authors, leading academic institutions and countries, and top publishing journals. It further reveals that IMS research exhibits strong collaboration across authors and countries, and a rich methodological plurality, notably with a marked increase in empirical surveys in recent years. Additionally, it identifies the most frequently referenced MSS for integration, prominently featuring ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001/OHSAS 18001.
Originality/value
This study is original in its application of a dual analytical approach—bibliometric and content analysis—to provide a holistic overview of IMS research. It offers new insights into the integration of diverse MSS and proposes several promising paths for future research. Among the most prominent are standardizing IMS fundamental specifications, conducting more empirical research with advanced methods to evaluate the effects of MSS integration, providing practical support for organizations in IMS implementation through tailored methodologies and tools, and exploring the potential of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies to advance IMS practices.
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Cristina Chinea Montesdeoca, Ernesto Suárez, Bernardo Hernández and Gladys Rolo-González
The paper aims to determine whether people with different eating patterns, specifically meat-free diets, engage in other types of eco-friendly behaviours and whether the meanings…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to determine whether people with different eating patterns, specifically meat-free diets, engage in other types of eco-friendly behaviours and whether the meanings attributed to food allow for a better understanding of this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected between 2019 and 2020, on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Different instruments were used: The meaning of food in life questionnaire (MFLQ; Arbit et al., 2017); the dietarian identity questionnaire (DIQ; Rosenfeld and Burrow, 2018) and the frugal behaviour scale (Muiños et al., 2015) and two items were used to identify the frequency with which participants purchased ecological or second-hand products. The final sample consisted of 202 participants who ate a vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous diet. Spearman's Correlations were performed and the Kruskal–Wallis statistical test was used.
Findings
People with a vegan or vegetarian diet purchased ecological (p ≤ 0.001) and second-hand products (p = 0.006) more frequently compared to omnivores. Furthermore, the meanings attributed to food, specifically the moral, sacred and health meanings, were related to differences in eating patterns (p ≤ 0.001), while also being related to some eco-friendly purchase and consumption behaviours. Lastly, frugal behaviour was only found to be related to the health factor of meaning in food (rs = 0.27).
Research limitations/implications
The measurement used to evaluate the purchase of ecological and second-hand products is very simple/the role of the meaning of food in guiding more eco-friendly behaviours and promoting less ecologically impactful eating patterns.
Originality/value
The study provides valuable information on how vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous diets relate to eco-friendly behaviours.
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Cristina Chinea, Ernesto Suárez and Bernardo Hernández
The purpose of this study is to conceptually and empirically verify the meaning of the food construct, while adapting and validating the Meaning of Food in Life Questionnaire…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to conceptually and empirically verify the meaning of the food construct, while adapting and validating the Meaning of Food in Life Questionnaire proposed by Arbit et al. (2017) into Spanish and comparing groups with specific and non-specific eating patterns in relation to the meaning of food.
Design/methodology/approach
Confirmatory factor analysis and multivariate analysis involving groups with specific and non-specific eating patterns.
Findings
Results show that the adapted version of the scale retained the five food meaning factors, although four items from the original version had to be removed. Multivariate analyses of variance show that there are significant differences in the moral and sacred factors of food meaning when comparing people with specific and non-specific eating patterns. Significant differences in the moral, sacred and social factors were found when comparing between people with a specific diet, vegans/vegetarians and people who do not consume gluten/lactose or are on a diet.
Research limitations/implications
Differences in the meanings attributed to food can be observed among the different ways people eat. This could have implications on ethics, sustainability and well-being by considering the characteristics of the five factors of food meaning.
Originality/value
This study suggests that food meaning is a complex and rational process, where eating patterns play a key role in the attribution of meaning.
Jiangang Wang and Fanghong Liu
This study attempts to examine the performance differences between firms with and without integrated management systems (IMSs), and the impact of three integration strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to examine the performance differences between firms with and without integrated management systems (IMSs), and the impact of three integration strategies (i.e. implementing quality management system (QMS) first, then environmental management system (EMS) (QMS + EMS); implementing EMS first, then QMS (EMS + QMS); implementing QMS and EMS simultaneously (QMS − EMS)) on firm performance to reveal the IMS–performance relationship and provide empirical evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
Two panel datasets were collected during 2009–2019. This study used the Mann–Whitney non-parametric test and a sample of 33,155 observations from 4,316 Chinese listed firms to compare the performance differences between the IMS and non-IMS groups through performance indicators. This study also examined the effects of three integration strategies on firm performance using a cross-sectional time-series feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regression model and a sample of 11,289 observations from 2,037 firms.
Findings
The results show that significant performance differences exist between IMS and non-IMS firms; however, the performance of firms with an IMS is not always better than that of firms without IMS. Furthermore, the simultaneous integration strategy has a positive impact, whereas sequential integration strategies (QMS + EMS and EMS + QMS) negatively affect firm performance. Compared with the EMS + QMS strategies, the QMS + EMS strategies have a more prominent effect on firm performance. Simultaneous strategies are more effective than sequential strategies.
Practical implications
Firms should fully consider the potential benefits and costs associated with the difficulties of IMS implementation and the implementation order of different management systems and the potential effects of the management systems in different conditions. Firms also should try to develop internal capabilities through implementing different integration strategies.
Originality/value
By comparing performance differences between firms with and without IMS, this study enriches the understanding of the performance benefits of IMS implementation in the Chinese context. By examining the impact of integration strategies that follow different sequences on firm performance, this study promotes an in-depth understanding of the integration strategies and their performance implications beyond simple descriptions and also provides new insights into operations strategy models.
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Mónica Cabecinhas, Pedro Domingues, Paulo Sampaio, Merce Bernardo, Fiorenzo Franceschini, Maurizio Galetto, Maria Gianni, Katerina Gotzamani, Luca Mastrogiacomo and Alfonso Hernandez-Vivanco
The purpose of this paper is to dissect the diffusion of the number of organizations that implemented multiple management systems (MSs), considering the International Organization…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to dissect the diffusion of the number of organizations that implemented multiple management systems (MSs), considering the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards (quality, environment and safety) in the South European countries: Italy, Portugal and Spain. In addition, based on the data collected, forecasting models were developed to assess at which extent the multiple certifications are expected to occur in each studied country.
Design/methodology/approach
Data concerning the evolution of the amount of multiple MSs in Italy, Portugal and Spain were collected for the period between 1999 and 2015. The behavior of the evolution of the number of MSs over the years was studied adopting both the Gompertz and the Logistic models. The results obtained with these two models were compared and analyzed to provide a forecast for the next years.
Findings
The diffusion throughout the years of the number of MSs presents an S-shaped behavior. The evolution of the amount of MSs in countries with a lower saturation level are properly fitted by the Gompertz model whereas the Logistic model fits more accurately when considering countries with a larger saturation level.
Research limitations/implications
The data related to the early years are not available in some of the countries. To overcome this shortcoming missing data were extrapolated from the data set provided by the annual ISO survey. Additionally, the integration level attained by each company was not assessed and, on this regard and in the scope of this paper, an integrated management system is understood as implemented when organizations have multiple MSs implemented.
Practical implications
The results provide a cross-sectional portrayal of the diffusion of MSs certifications in the South European countries and enable a forecast for the trend in the next years.
Originality/value
This study aims for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to analyze the diffusion of multiple MSs throughout the years.
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Alfonso Hernandez-Vivanco, Merce Bernardo and Claudio Cruz-Cázares
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the level of integration of management systems (IMS) over product and process innovation capabilities (IC), by considering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the level of integration of management systems (IMS) over product and process innovation capabilities (IC), by considering the role of open innovation (OI) activities as a moderating effect of those relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal empirical study was performed on an existing Spanish panel database that contains information related to innovation, where 9,765 companies were selected for the panel analysis. A logit approach with random effects was considered.
Findings
The level of IMS positively influences process and product IC. Moreover, external cooperation, and using it to a high extent not only positively moderates the effects of the level of IMS over process IC, but also of process over product IC, where it becomes indispensable for its effect to be positive. Finally, investing in external knowledge is a positive moderator of the effects of the level of IMS over both: process and product IC.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies on empirically finding evidence of the impact of the level of IMS on process and product IC, and of the moderating effect of performing OI activities in order to achieve higher process and product IC through the IMS.
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María Ascensión Molina Huertas, Francisco J. Del Campo Gomis, David Bernardo López Lluch and Asunción María Agulló Torres
The aim of this article is to analyse the opinions (and the differences among them) of golf players, golf courses managers and the general population about the economic and social…
Abstract
The aim of this article is to analyse the opinions (and the differences among them) of golf players, golf courses managers and the general population about the economic and social impact of golf courses in a tourist destination (Alicante province, in Spain) from the data collected in three surveys. Golf players and golf courses managers have a more positive opinion about this economic and social impact than the population in the province. This is due to the knowledge of the first group about golf industry benefits. Therefore, communication about these social and economic benefits of golf courses has to be increased with the population in the area in order to improve their opinion about them.
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Marc Llonch, Merce Bernardo and Pilar Presas
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the simultaneous implementation of an integrated management system (IMS) in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and its impact on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the simultaneous implementation of an integrated management system (IMS) in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and its impact on costs.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a case study, the paper presents and analyzes the implementation of the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management system (MS) standards. The organization analyzed is an SME of the heating and air conditioning sector that had no MSs implemented (common in the sector) and decided to implement an IMS based on both function-specific MS standards (MSSs) and also achieving the separated certification. The analysis of expected and real costs is also presented.
Findings
The results show that a simultaneous integration is possible and the cost analysis evidences the improvement of the organization’s efficiency. The certificates for both MSSs were also achieved. These findings help in confirming theoretical statement posed in the literature of the integration of MSs: integration strategy, methodology and level. The organization values this integrated implementation as very positive internally and externally, as this is one of the first organizations of the sector implementing and integrating the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
Originality/value
Although studies analyzing empirically the integration of MSs have been widely published in recent years, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers analyzing the implementation of an IMS directly and analyzing its costs. In addition, this paper provides evidence that those organizations implementing integration later than others, can learn from the beginners’ experience.
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Antonio Campo, Bernardo Hernández‐Morales and Ulises Lacoa
To provide a suitable linkage of a computational fluid dynamics code and a shape optimization code for the augmentation of local heat transfer coefficients in forced convection…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a suitable linkage of a computational fluid dynamics code and a shape optimization code for the augmentation of local heat transfer coefficients in forced convection channels normally used in the cooling of electronic equipment.
Design/methodology/approach
A parallel‐plate channel with a discrete array of heat sources embedded in one wall, while the other wall is insulated, constitutes the starting model. Using water as coolant, the objective is to optimize the shape of the channel employing a computerized design loop. The two‐part optimization problem is constrained to allow only the unheated wall to deform, while keeping the same inlet shape and observing a maximum pressure drop constraint.
Findings
First, the results for the linearly deformed unheated wall show significant decrease compared with the wall temperatures of the heated wall, with the maximum wall temperature occurring slightly upstream of the outlet. Second, when the unheated wall is allowed to deform nonlinearly, a parabolic‐like shaped wall is achieved where the maximum wall temperature is further reduced, with a corresponding intensification in the local heat transfer coefficient. The effectiveness of the computerized design loop is demonstrated in complete detail.
Originality/value
This paper offers a simple technique for optimizing the shapes of forced convection channels subjected to pre‐set design constraints.
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Certified and non-certified organisations must make strategic decisions regarding ISO 9001 adoption, maintenance, renewal and abandonment. However, the ISO 9001 literature lacks a…
Abstract
Purpose
Certified and non-certified organisations must make strategic decisions regarding ISO 9001 adoption, maintenance, renewal and abandonment. However, the ISO 9001 literature lacks a typology of the strategic options available to these organisations. The purpose of this conceptual study is to develop a framework of the alternative strategies for the stages of the ISO 9001 life cycle (implementation/certification, certification maintenance and recertification/decertification stages).
Design/methodology/approach
The research method is based on literature review, selection of relevant variables and synthesis of coherent alternative strategies.
Findings
Results include the main variables of relevance for the definition of the ISO 9001 strategies (e.g. life cycle stage, organisational motivations, barriers, benefits, internalisation degree and quality of the certification body), the main situations in which organisations can find themselves (in terms of ISO 9001 certification, maintenance and decertification), the strategic options for each situation (e.g.: certify, maintain certification, try harder, change certification body, intensify learning and experimentation with ISO 9001) and the implications and consequences of such options. Research results are integrated into a strategy framework, composed of three strategy matrices, one for each stage of the life cycle. The matrices present the strategic situations, available strategic alternatives and benefits of the strategies.
Originality/value
This study combines the results of previous research to develop an original strategy framework, which constitutes the main research contribution. As far as the author is aware, there is no such strategy framework in the literature. The framework has relevant implications for theory and practice and helps to identify future research directions.