ISO Certificates as Organizational Degrees? : beyond the rational myths of the certification process
Authors: | Boiral, Olivier |
Abstract: | This paper explores both the concrete and symbolic aspects of how ISO 9000 certification audits are prepared for and passed. Based on interviews with 60 respondents employed in certified organizations, this study analyzes the process of preparing for and passing an ISO certification audit through the lens of the degree-purchasing syndrome (DPS) in education, which refers to the disconnect between the acquisition of academic degrees and the learning process they should entail. This perspective makes it possible to go beyond the neo-institutional approach to shed light on the scholastic, ethical and contradictory aspects of the ISO certification process, which remain largely unexplored in the literature. The findings debunk the rhetoric of impartiality, objectivity and rigor surrounding the ISO certification process. They also reveal the tendency to acquire ISO certification as a sort of “organizational degree” after passing a quite predictable exam, with all the pitfalls that entails, such as rote preparation, procrastination, short-term focus and cheating |
Document Type: | Article de recherche |
Issue Date: | 22 June 2012 |
Open Access Date: | 13 April 2017 |
Document version: | AM |
Permalink: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/13643 |
This document was published in: | Organization studies, Vol. 33 (5/6), 633-654 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840612443622 De Gruyter |
Alternative version: | 10.1177/0170840612443622 |
Collection: | Articles publiés dans des revues avec comité de lecture |
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