In the past few years, and in a number of countries, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of organizations withdrawing from the Quality Management System standard iso 9001. Hence the need to analyze this phenomenon of decertification and to explain not only the extent to which it is taking place but also why companies are taking such decision. This study analyzes the reasons for withdrawing from ISO 9001 using data obtained from quality managers at 130 Polish organizations which opted out of certification in 2012 and 2013. The data shows that the most important reasons for withdrawal were related to internal factors, such as financial problems within the organizations, a perceived lack of added value from certification, and organizational changes (such as internal restructuring). There were also external factors: customer-driven reasons for the decision to withdraw were also given. Using this data we provide a classification of the reasons for decertification, which can shed light on the effectiveness of activities related to qms implementation, certification and cancellation. We believe this will be of interest to managers of organizations and certification bodies, as well as researchers. The paper provides the potential basis for a quality management strategy directed towards identifying and dealing with the costs and problems that ISO 9001 can generate for companies.

The circular economy (CE) has become an important issue within the European Union due to the Green Deal regulations. A CE makes sustainable development feasible by creating value in the economy and by closing the energy and materials loops. The aim of the study is to predict the most effective functioning of CEs at the macro-level by the selection of the best possible requirements addressed for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as an extension supplement of a voluntary environmental management system—ISO 14001. For such aim, researchers developed a two-stage Delphi study. According to the performed Delphi study, the main conclusion is that a more circular management system is possible and needed in SME organizations. Two ISO 14001 sub-requirements were considered as definitely contributing to the implementation of the CE concept at the macro- and meso-levels. Those were: The scope of the CE system and communication. The most discussed requirements that should be further studied in that context were internal audits and managerial reviews. The most difficult goals to implement by SMEs were: limiting the use of primary raw materials, striving for the implementation of climate neutrality and sustainable development as well as closing the material loop.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the financial performance of organizations that give up their QMS (Quality Management System) according to ISO 9001 certification. Different reasons found for the cancellation of ISO 9001 certification were taken into consideration. The decrease in certification of ISO 9001 standard is, during the past few years, noticeable in many countries. Therefore, there is a need to analyze the phenomena.Methodology/Approach: The study analyses financial performance of organizations and reasons of ISO 9001 certificates cancellation based on 99 Polish organizations, which gave up certification in years 2012 and 2013. The reasons of certificate cancelation were obtained from the quality managers of studied organizations. Financial performance was estimated on the basis of the ROA indicator value.Findings: The results show that in the studied organizations, there is a big group of companies that had financial problems. There were 28.8% of organizations that did not have profits at all, and 32.9% with a financial performance, calculated according to ROA indicator value, lower than the average for the industry in which studied organizations were operating. Surprisingly, there is no evident correlation between the reasons of ISO 9001 decertification and financial performance of these organizations.Research Limitation/implication: The data cover Polish organizations that give up ISO 9001 certification, and they were obtained only from one certification body. Survey data concerning the decision of decertification cover only a two-year period of time.Originality/Value of paper: The findings of our study might be helpful for the managers of organizations and certification bodies as well as for the researchers to describe the effectiveness of activities related to QMS implementation, certification and cancellation.

This article presents the issue of the level of maturity of management systems according to the ISO 9004:2009 self-assessment model in Polish companies and its influence on financial performance. The paper presents the results of research conducted on a group of 29 polish organisations operating in the food industry. The analysis showed that the level of maturity within a group of companies with at least one certified management system (no matter what kind of management system it was) is higher than within a group of companies without any system. Companies with an International Food Standard/British Retail Consortium certificate have a higher management maturity level in comparison to companies with ISO 9001. The link between maturity level and financial performance is not obvious. Performance measured by indicators such as: assets, revenue, and net profit is correlated with the maturity level or with key elements of maturity level according to the ISO 9004 model. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant correlation between the maturity level of a company and its financial efficiency measured by indicators such as: return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS). Moreover, in the case of companies where key elements of the ISO 9004 model such as managing and processes rank higher, lower financial efficiency is achieved as measured by ROA, ROE and ROS. Generally, according to the results of the research, there is no evidence that small and medium enterprises with higher maturity levels achieve higher financial efficiency.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate the scope of digitalization in the EMAS-registered organizations for better understanding its extent in environmental committed firms' activities.Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis was employed to examine the environmental statements of the EMAS-registered organizations. About 60 Italian and Polish entities were selected from the EMAS database using simple random sampling method.Findings: The article fills the gap in the theory of managing change in an environmental context, suggesting that the action plan for sustainable development does not meet the objectives of digitalization. Organizations registered in EMAS do not express a strong tendency to introduce ICT in the pursuit of environmental goals, which is contrary to the assumptions about the benefits of digitalization for sustainable development.Research limitations/implications: The first limitation refers to the small size of the sample. Since environmental statements are always published in national languages, only two countries – Italy and Poland – were chosen for investigation. The use of national language hinders comparison, but the inclusion of more registered organizations could give additional explanations. Secondly, the content analysis would have benefited from the collection of additional source of information (webpages and company documentations), since many firms do not refer to digitalization in the environmental statements. Gathering primary data from managers explaining the motives behind their strategic environmental decisions could be also useful.Practical implications: Giving the agreement about the environmental advantages of digitalization, this study offers to the practitioners the chance to catch new opportunities within the field of environmental sustainability by the employment of more integrated approach to digitalization.Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine two dynamically developing areas, namely digitalization and environmental sustainability. This study enriches current knowledge about both areas, examining the level of digitalization of European high-environmental performing firms. In doing this, it reports lack of important use of digitalization in the action plans for environmental commitments in Polish and Italian EMAS-registered organizations.