Motivations of Firms Being ISO 9001 Certified and Benefits they Received after the Certification: A Case Study in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

The purpose of the current paper was to elaborate on the main motivations that ISO 9001 certified companies in Kurdistan Region of
Iraq when they applied for the certification. Secondly, the benefits they obtained after being certified were elucidated. The data was
collected from the 96 ISO 9001 certified companies in the region. Initially, we conducted a descriptive statistic to understand the
main motivations of the companies. Secondly, with the same methodology, benefits they obtained were identified. Lastly, correlation
analysis was conducted in order to understand the relations between motivations and benefits. The results show that companies
which had initial motivation of winning tender, because tender required the certification, making good relations with government, and
getting tenders from the government departments failed to have strong benefits from the certification. Besides, the organizations
which obtained certification for marketing strategies became successful in their sales and market shares. It shows that ISO 9001
certification attracts the attention of customers positively in the region.