Management systems and productive efficiency along the certification life-cycle

Abstract

Firms in the world today are pushed to demonstrate objectively that they are able to comply with increasingly stringent requirements to become part of sustainable supply chains. One of the most widely applied practice is the implementation of management systems' certifications that contribute to increase the efficiency and competitive advantage of firms. Relying in the resource-based view of the firm, the aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications on the productive efficiency of the firm. Specifically, the analysis considers three stages of the certification life-cycle: certification itself, withdrawal (decertification), and retrieval (recovery). Based on a longitudinal sample of 918 European and Asian firms from 2010 to 2019, and relying on a stochastic frontier analysis approach, this work presents empirical evidence on the effects of these certifications on firms' productive efficiency along the certification life-cycle. Differences in countries and industries have been also found. The main findings suggest that ISO 9001 is the main driver of productive efficiency, mainly when combined with ISO 14001 as well as in the triple certification. Withdrawals and retrievals are not found to increase productive efficiency in most of the cases, probably because of the internalization of these practices. However, productive efficiency is hindered by the simultaneous withdrawal of ISO 9001+ISO 14001, whereas it is increased with the withdrawal of OHSAS 18001. Finally, the retrieval of ISO 9001 hinders productive efficiency. The main contributions of this paper are three: to analyze the impact of different combinations of certifications on productive efficiency; to study this relationship along the certification lifecycle, and to contribute to the resource-based view theory because these practices are unique resources which management allow firms to gain competitive advantage.