ISO 9001 maintenance, decertification and recertification: a systematic literature review

Previous research on ISO 9001 certification maintenance, decertification and recertification is fragmented and lacks an integrated theoretical framework. Thus, the aims of this study are to provide an overview of current research, develop an integrated framework and identify research gaps. The research methodology consists of a systematic literature review (SLR) which starts with the definition of a research protocol, proceeds with searches in Web of Science and Scopus, and selects a final sample of 32 articles for analysis. Results show that the research interest in certification maintenance, decertification and recertification is growing, but is still scarce. Extant research focuses on certification maintenance factors, benefits and frameworks; decertification reasons and consequences, and recertification impact on efficiency. There is a lack of consensus on these topics, but the data extracted from the literature is used to develop a theoretical framework of what companies do in the post-certification period. The framework identifies the main variables involved in certification maintenance, decertification and recertification, and establishes the main relationships between them. This is the first SLR conducted on these topics, which provides the first integrated framework of the research phenomena, a comprehensive list of research gaps to guide future studies, and relevant management recommendations.