A field study of the impact of ISO 9001 on software development in the United States

James Alan Griesemer, Pace University

Abstract

The ISO 9000 Series of Standards are international quality standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization. They were developed with the intent of creating a set of common standards for quality management and quality assurance to ensure a process is capable of consistently producing products that meet the expectations of customers. Since their publication in 1987, nearly sixty countries have adopted the ISO 9000 series of Standards including the United States, Canada, Japan, and members of the European Community. Since 1992, the ISO 9001 Standard, Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation, and Servicing, has been applied to the development of software. In the United States, ISO 9001 certification was originally viewed as a requirement for selling products in Europe. Today, however, organizations are seeing the need to invest in the improvement of quality to improve profitability. This study explores the impact of ISO 9001 certification on United States software development organizations. By studying the ISO 9001 Standard, and how it is applied to software development, insight can be gained concerning its impact on software quality, customer satisfaction, development productivity and software process improvement. Therefore, this research serves as an exploration of the ISO 9001 Standard as a quality management system for the process of software development. Further, because of the infancy of application of the ISO 9001 Standard to software development, an exploratory investigation into its nature and use is a prerequisite for continued and in-depth research. The research was carried out within the context of a field study of United States software developing organizations, comparing those without ISO 9001 certification to those who obtained ISO 9001 certification between 1992 and 1995, and those who obtained certification in 1996. Data gathering was carried out by a mail survey with telephone follow-up interviews where necessary. The results of this research are presented as descriptive statistics and in discussion form. Implications of the results are presented through discussion of the research issues and the development of a set of contentions concerning the impact of ISO 9001 certification on United States software development organizations.

Subject Area

Management|Computer science

Recommended Citation

Griesemer, James Alan, "A field study of the impact of ISO 9001 on software development in the United States" (1999). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI9937490.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI9937490

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