Standardised Innovation Management Systems: Modelling the Antecedents of Certification and Maintenance Benefits

Abstract

The literature lacks a comprehensive model examining the performance impact of certifying and maintaining standardised innovation management systems (SIMS) or clarifying the advantages of standardisation. This study addresses that gap by analysing the key determinants of the benefits associated with SIMS certification and maintenance. Drawing on the literature and data collected from 103 Portuguese organisations holding certified SIMS, a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) is developed that encompasses two critical stages of the certification life cycle: initial certification and maintenance. The results reveal that SIMS maintenance significantly influences maintenance benefits, underscoring its pivotal role in sustaining organisational performance. Certification motivations strongly affect certification benefits but do not directly enhance maintenance benefits, exerting only a moderate indirect impact mediated by maintenance motivations. Maintenance motivations, critical success factors (CSFs), and certification benefits emerge as the principal predictors of maintenance benefits. Although certification barriers do not directly influence performance, they exert a persistent indirect negative effect, highlighting the importance of effectively managing maintenance CSFs. In addition, two subsets of organisations display contrasting relationships between barriers and benefits (one negative and the other positive) reflecting differences in strategic alignment with SIMS and in the perceived importance of resource availability. This study is the first to examine the antecedents of SIMS maintenance benefits and to propose an empirical model explaining their determinants; it is also the first to integrate two main stages of the SIMS certification life cycle within a single framework. The findings contribute to the SIMS, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 literature, where such frameworks are currently lacking, and offer valuable theoretical and practical insights for optimising the certification and maintenance of management systems so as to enhance organisational performance. Notably, the study demonstrates that the impact of barriers on performance is nuanced and reveals the importance of nurturing maintenance motivations, given that initial certification motivations lose their direct effect over time. Overall, the study clarifies not only that standardisation is beneficial but also how these benefits can be effectively realised and sustained.