The Effect of Iso 9001 Certification on Non-financial Performance in the Local Authorities Provident Fund as Perceived by the External Customers

Abstract

Public institutions in Kenya are increasingly adopting ISO 9001 certification. This certification has been credited for the improving service delivery standards in the public sector. Research has shown that this certification contributes to significant improvement of the general performance of organizations. Most researches have focused on the effect of ISO 9001 Certification on financial performance; however very few researches in the in developing countries have focused on the certification’s effect on non-financial performance as perceived by the external customers. This study sought to: (i) establish the level of adoption of ISO 9001 certification; (ii) show the effect of ISO 9001 certification on non-financial performance in LAPFUND according to the external customers. This study was informed by: resource based theory, contingency theory and balanced score card theory. These theories advance knowledge on the general performance of organizations. The research was a census study involving the 71 sponsor organizations which are LAPFUND external customers. Data collection was conducted using structured questionnaires; which were sent to all the sponsor organizations. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20. The findings show that all the ISO 9001 principles: customer focus, leadership, engagement, process approach, improvement, evidence based decision making and the relations management principles had been fully adopted. The study concluded that ISO 9001 certification positively affected non-financial performance of LAPFUND; since the achievement of all the non-financial performance indicators was attributed to the implementation of ISO 9001 certification. The study recommended that further research should be conducted in other sectors of the economy such as: agricultural, construction, tourism, education, telecommunications and education sectors, to verify whether the findings of such studies would be consistent with the findings of this study. Finally the study recommended further study on the perceptions of the general public on the effects of the implementation of ISO 9001 certification.