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e-Business (e-B) organization is an integrated synergy of internet and supply chain. It is an organizational environment which consists of associations among suppliers, customers, work force and information technology. An important issue for an e-B organization is the comprehension of the critical factors that affect its success, in order to realize its full advantages and how it results in efficiency improvements of the organizations. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that determine the successful implementation of e-B and second to develop an integrated e-B model based on the CSFs.

By following a quantitative approach, primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 174 Greek e-B firms. An initial exploratory factor analysis was conducted, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings have shown that there was a direct association of the Resource Based View (RBV) on the supply chain view (SCV) of a firm, which in turn influenced the performance/results of an e-B organization. It is concluded that e-B performance results and value creation are linked to customers’ and partners’ orientation (SCV) and human resources and information technology (RBV).

The proposed framework contributes to the understanding of the successful implementation of e-B, by proposing a fifthfold framework. The proposed framework portrayed a very fundamental result, that the resourced based view and the SCV of the organization are the critical priorities and have a direct and positive affect on the performance and efficiency of the successful implementation of e-B.

Recognizing the fundamental role of quality as a means to differentiate service organizations, the purpose of this paper is to propose a strategic decision making framework for service organizations, which prioritizes performance improvement strategies that are rooted to customer requirements, organizational goals and constrained by organizational resources.

The proposed framework is realized through the implementation of two stages and four distinct phases mirroring the combination of enhanced quality function deployment (first stage), and zero-one goal programming (second stage). It proposes the utilization of a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, and the collection of data from multiple sources including customers, middle, and top management.

The application and validation of the proposed framework utilizes information from both customers and employees in the bank services sector. Overall, results from the specific study revealed that a combination of “reengineering” and “expansion” strategies was more appropriate corresponding to customer priorities, organizational goals and effective utilization of available resources.

The paper presents a novel two stage strategic framework for service organizations. It utilizes a balanced mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods in an effort to capture and delineate elusive customer requirements and design characteristics of services, allowing the assessment of different combinations of quality improvement strategies in response to management objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to identify ISO 9001's contribution to the five enablers of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model.

Empirical research was conducted in Cypriot ISO 9001 certified organizations to evaluate the motives that lead them to certification, the difficulties they faced during the standards' implementation and their performance improvement in the five enablers of the EFQM excellence model. Companies were asked to evaluate their performance in 85 issues related to these Enablers both before and after certification.

The results of the survey indicate the “most” and the “least” important improvements from ISO 9001 certification in the five enablers of the EFQM excellence model. The results also prove that performance improvement is statistically significant in all enablers and it is also significantly related to the companies' motives for certification.

Future research should focus on the least important improvement areas of certification and the appropriate methods and techniques to boost performance in these areas towards excellence, either during the implementation of the standard or after certification.

Shows the average improvement from ISO 9001 certification in key excellence areas. It also highlights the areas on which companies should focus after certification in order to improve their performance towards excellence.

Examines the performance improvement of certified organizations in relation to the five enablers of the EFQM excellence model.

This paper tests and proves empirically the dramatic effect that an organisation’s true motives towards ISO 9000 certification may have on its future effectiveness and value to the certified companies. The paper reveals the true motives behind ISO 9000 certification for 85 large Greek companies and statistically tests their relationship with: after‐ISO performance and performance improvement in eight basic TQM categories; and the overall benefits gained from certification. The paper also reveals the real quantitative and qualitative “results” that these companies had from the standards implementation, addressing one main deficiency of the standards, which is the absence of requirements related to real “results” in the organisations. Finally, factor analysis is applied in both certification motives and benefits, revealing the main factors/categories of both, and their in‐between relationship.

This paper presents the results of an empirical study on the contribution of ISO 9000 standards towards total quality management (TQM). The paper is a continuation of the authors’ research on the ISO 9000 standards effectiveness and capability as an entry key to TQM. The literature review of the above issue revealed the need for a formal empirical study to resolve the existing debate about the standards’ long‐term contribution and true value to ISO 9000‐certified companies. For the purposes of this study, a TQM measurement instrument was developed and tested for its reliability and validity to measure TQM performance improvement in certified companies in Greek industry. This performance improvement was then used to test the basic research hypothesis: “Can ISO 9000 standards provide a good first step towards TQM?”. The results of the study are presented in eight basic TQM categories, showing the certified companies’ performance improvement in the basic elements of each category, and revealing their strengths and weaknesses on their way to TQM.

The purpose of this paper is to provide additional evidence of the impact of ISO 9001 effectiveness on three dimensions of a firm’s performance, namely product quality, operational performance and business performance.

The analysis includes an initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), in order to investigate the relations between the constructs of the proposed model. A sample of 287 ISO 9001 certified Greek manufacturing firms is used for this purpose.

According to the study findings, ISO 9001 effectiveness directly contributes to product quality and operational performance. Although it has no direct impact on manufacturing firms’ business performance, it has an indirect impact through the moderator of operational performance.

The sample of the responding manufacturing companies is limited to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from one country (Greece). In addition, the effects of the internal business environment and endogenous business factors have not been assessed through the present study.

The study offers clear implications for managers who focus on elements that will increase the ISO 9001 effectiveness and desire to choose strategies, allocate resources and improve their firm’s performance.

The present study contributes to the literature gap aiming at examining the degree to which ISO 9001 effectiveness influences the performance of certified firms. The concept of “ISO 9001 effectiveness” is introduced as the extent to which its prescribed quality objectives are met.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of time on ISO 9000's contribution to total quality management and performance improvement.

Initial empirical research was conducted in Greek certified companies to evaluate their motives for certification and the benefits gained from it across eight basic total quality management (TQM) categories. The results of the survey verify the hypothesis that ISO 9000 certification can serve as a good first step towards TQM, since performance improvement is statistically significant in all TQM‐related issues. However, in order for ISO 9000 certification to serve as a good first step towards TQM, performance improvement should continue to grow even after certification. For this reason, a second survey was carried out in the same companies after a three‐year period.

The results prove that although the standard's implementation helps companies to achieve an initial improvement in their quality performance, it cannot guarantee that this improvement will continue after certification.

Future research should focus on the contribution of the new ISO 9000:2000 series and its ability to re‐boost performance improvement in certified organisations.

The paper shows that ISO 9000 certification can be used as the “first” but not the “last” step towards quality improvement. Although the standard's implementation helps companies to achieve an initial improvement in their quality performance, it cannot guarantee that this improvement continues after certification.

The paper provides a longitudinal study of ISO 9000's contribution to TQM and operational performance improvement.

To theoretically investigate and empirically test the current status of best practices in selected Greek industrial organizations on the road to business excellence through the European Quality Award (EQA). Also to examine the extent to which Greek organizations link their efforts towards business excellence with the existing quality assurance systems and particularly with the new ISO 9000:2000 series of standards.

Data were collected from ten selected Greek organizations that were judged as representative. They are all recipients of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) award for commitment to excellence and they are all either certified, or under certification, by the new ISO 9001:2000 quality standard. The data gathering was carried out through extensive and in‐depth interviews with multiple informants.

Besides the “good stories” of the EQA model implementation, the study also revealed a number of problematic areas such as: increased bureaucracy; lack of flexibility in the design and implementation of the model; low utilization of employees’ skills and knowledge; and low utilization of the award as a marketing tool and as a means of penetrating new markets.

This is the first step towards an understanding of the current status of best practices in selected Greek industrial organizations on the road to business excellence through the EQA. There is a need to evaluate these organizations by measuring their business performance and the degree of EQA implementation in the future.

The approach used by Greek organizations to EQA poses a great challenge to the authors since, in recent years, the move towards a more strategic approach to total quality through the EFQM model has been questioned in the literature.

Provides a reliable and objective depiction of the current level of best practices in Greece, through examination and analysis of other relevant studies, and includes the various approaches, practices and perceptions recorded so far in the literature – some of them based on empirical data and some deriving from rhetoric and a “good stories” or “how things ought to be” perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the importance of specific, quality-related employees’ attributes to the enhancement of product quality in food companies. The main goal is to examine the synergistic relationships between specific employees’ attributes, which have been related in literature to ISO 9000 successful implementation, to continuous improvement, operational performance and product quality.

The analysis includes an initial exploratory factor analysis, followed by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, in order to investigate the relations between the constructs of the proposed model.

The findings reveal that although the examined quality-related “employees’ attributes” do not directly contribute to “product quality”, they influence both “continuous improvement” and “operational performance” of food firms. The results also confirm the impact of both “continuous improvement” and “operational performance” on “product quality” and also that “continuous improvement” helps explain “operational performance”.

The domain in which the model has been validated, the restricted use of moderators in the model and lack of empirical validation of the model in non-food sector companies, based on various respondents from each company, are a number of limitations associated with this study which suggest future research proposals.

The findings of this study can motivate managers of food companies to focus on certain quality-related employees’ attributes in order to boost continuous improvement of ISO 9001 systems and operational performance of their companies, leading to product quality enhancement.

This study finds particular relevance in emphasizing that although specific quality-related employees’ attributes, as these are detected in literature, have a significant contribution towards continuous improvement and operational performance, they are not the only critical factor leading to product quality. More complex relationships need to be considered by integrating other constructs as major antecedents of food product quality.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.