This paper summarizes the research on ISO 9001 certification impact on operational performance done in year 2000 up to the present year and will group the results based on variables affecting it. Sources from case studies, statistical reports and empirical studies have been analyzed to see if ISO 9001 has an effect in organization’s operational performance. An analysis on the most cited ISO 9001 sources was performed. Hypotheses are extracted and the outcome of it was used to define variables affecting operational performance of ISO certified companies. After implementing the ISO 9001 standard companies have more satisfied customers, better process and improved decision making which resulted in higher profit. For many of those companies, higher profit was the main goal. The targeted goal for implementing the standard plays a key role in the outcome of the certification. According to the resultsemployee involvement and customer satisfaction affects ISO 9001 implementation and operational performance. Testing other researches analysis brings some limitations. The methods, data and approach taken differ from one research to another. The sample data is from different business area, region, period and years. These aspect variations may result in statistical error. On the other hand this study used limited number of research papers, which does not grasp all possible findings in the area. The paper identified the most common variables affecting operational performance. It summarized findings from year 2000 up to the presentyear to provide a nice overview of the current state of the art in respect to ISO 9001.
