The importance of internal aspects in quality improvement

The adoption of ISO 9000 has been justified in terms of the many benefits it generate, although problems may also arise. Such advantages and disadvantages lead to different reasons for seeking certification. Based on these reasons, this paper analyzed the influence of internal motivation for seeking certification with level of quality management and performance in order to determinate whether internal aspects are more important than external aspects. For this purpose, a factor analysis (to identify reasons) and a cluster analysis (to establish significant differences among the groups in order to study the relation between reasons for seeking certification and level of quality management and performance) have been performed on the answers supplied by 106 certified firms in the Alicante area (eastern Spain). It is part of a wider research process, aimed at analyzing quality practices in certified firms by using quality management elements.