German Arana

Adoption of ISO 9000 management standard in EU's transition economies: the case of the Baltic states

This article analyzes the dissemination of the main global management standards, the ISO 9000, within the transition economies of the European Union (EU). In the article, the specific case of the Baltic States is analyzed in depth. The work refers to the diffusion of the ISO 9000 standard in the Baltic States in terms of its certification intensity and sectorial distribution. Likewise, the work refers to the huge increase of certifications achieved by the countries and the other transition economies in the previous years of their adhesion to the European Union in years 2004 and 2007. The conclusions drawn in the article may be of interest both for academic and professional spheres of activity but, overall, for public-decisors.

El estándar ISO14006: Una herramienta que ayuda a mejorar la competitividad de los estudios de arquitectura

In this article, the process of adopting the eco-design standard ISO14006 and its influence on the results in the architecture firms sector have been analyzed. With these aims, following an introduction and a description of the eco-design standard ISO14006, its dissemination has been presented. About this aspect, it should be remarked the strong impact that this standards has among the architecture firms. Subsequently, the research methodology based on the study of nine cases is shown. The results have been crossed with the data obtained from interviews with consultants, auditors, organizations that act as driving forces and a member of the technical committee ISO/TC207 at different times in the course of the investigation. Motivations, challenges and results of the process of adoption and certification of ISO14006 by architec - ture firms are then analyzed. Among the major findings, it was found that the adoption of the standard ISO14006 can be a helpful tool in order to improve the competi - tiveness of the architecture firms. Finally, in the last chapter of the article, some interesting conclusions both for architecture firms and institutions, in general, are shown.

Adopting ISO/TS 16949 and IATF 16949 Standards: An Exploratory and Preliminary Study

ISO/TS 16949 was launched in 1999 by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) with the aim of harmonizing the diverse assessment and certification systems worldwide in the supply chain for the automotive sector. ISO/TS 16949 aimed to eliminate the need of the automotive suppliers for multiple sectoral certifications such as QS9000, VDA6 and EAQF. The fourth version of the standard—published in October 2016—has been renamed IATF 16949. Despite the relative success of this standard for a very relevant industry such as the automotive sector, in the scholarly literature the adoption of the ISO/TS 16949 standard has been under-researched. In order to fill this gap, the aim of this Chapter is to analyze the critical points of working with a management system based on the ISO/TS 16964 or the IATF 16949 from a scholarly perspective, considering the strengths and flaws of the adoption of the standard. For that purpose, a qualitative exploratory study was designed—which is still in progress because of the transitionary nature of the standards. The research focuses on four case studies, one Original Equipment Manufacturer of the automotive sector and one manufacturer from each of Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 of the automotive sector. The perspectives of other main stakeholders, such as auditors and consultants directly involved in the implementation and certification of ISO/TS 16949 and IATF 16949 were also considered.