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way. Out of the total, 8 agreed that they were. Among others, the most common ways of
using this status included printing the ISO logo on the firm’s letterhead and brochures, and
in the firm’s presentations.
The ISO series of standards can have an impact on several areas of a firm’s everyday
activities. Because of this, the respondents were asked to rank the impact of ISO certification
on the overall performance of the firm. They were given a scale from 1 (very bad) to 6 (very
good). The average score given by the respondents was 4.5 with no response lower than 3.
This suggests that there is a reasonably high level of satisfaction with ISO certification
among these agribusiness firms. In this way any costs accrued during the ISO 9000
certification process and its maintenance seem to be offset by the benefits.
4.4. ISO certification and its effects on trade
The international marketing aspects of ISO 9000 certification have been regarded as one
of the most important reasons to seek certification. This fact is demonstrated by the export
focus of the agribusiness firms with 10 selling their goods abroad. Because an ’encourage-
ment’ to attain, and sometimes even a requirement of, ISO 9000 certification of their
suppliers is stronger among European customers (e.g., wholesale importers), as compared to
their North American counterparts, it was anticipated that such an export orientation would
be common in the subsample. Indeed, the main destination for these exported goods was
Europe with 7 of the firms trading with that continent. Asian and Latin American countries
were also mentioned. When asked about exports after certification, 5 of the respondents
stated their export levels remained the same whereas 3 said they increased. These figures
could be indicative of the necessity of some firms to obtain certification simply to maintain
their European customers.
The respondents were asked if they thought that more European importers were going to
demand their suppliers abroad be ISO 9000 certified in the future. All of the respondents
agreed. Furthermore, the survey asked if the ISO 9000 series was likely to become common
practice to access the European market, and 9 thought this to be the case. It is clear from
these results that the European trade bloc and its adherence to the ISO 9000 series has had
an influence on its adoption by U.S. agribusiness firms.
4.5. Perceptions of the certificate
The perceptions of agribusiness firms regarding the future of the ISO 9000 series were
also surveyed. 7 of the participants felt that there was a trend among the agribusiness industry
towards becoming certified. Interestingly, 7 stated that ISO certification was going to loose
its competitive advantage in the future due to general compliance, whereas 8 stated that the
ISO series was going to become a minimal standard for the industry in the future. However,
only 4 thought that ISO certification was going to become obsolete due to the emergence of
other QMS. From these results it can be inferred that most of the competitive advantage gains
that encourage many firms to seek certification will diminish as time passes. Early adopters
therefore have much to gain. Further, to maintain a competitive advantage, innovators in the