The Role of International Organization for Standardization Certification 9001:2000 In Competitive Production In Kenya's Sugar Industry: A Case of Mumias Sugar Company Limited

Abstract

The ever quickening pace of technological evolution is now more than ever affecting the way new standards are proposed, developed and implemented in Kenya's sugar industry. The International Standards Organization (ISO) is among the organization that ensures that there is standardization of goods and services worldwide so that the goods and services are accepted worldwide by the different consumers. Due to the high demand and changes in consumer tastes, many organizations and industries globally and locally have devised various ways of coping with the ever increasing demands of their customers by ensuring that they standardize their products and services using ISO certification as a means of standardization. However the actual role of IS0900 1:2000 has not been fully established especially here in Kenya despite the fact that it is used as a measure of the quality of production hence this study sought to find out its actual role in the company. This study therefore sought to examine the role of IS0900 1:2000 certification in competitive production in Kenya's sugar industry using Mumias Sugar Company as a case study. The study addressed the following objectives: to examine the principle ofIS09001:2000 and assess how MSC has implemented the requirements, to evaluate the effect of IS0900 1:2000 on production, to assess the challenges the company faced in implementing IS0900 1:2000 requirements and to suggest the appropriate ways of enhancing effective production through IS09001 :2000 certification. This study was guided by the Kaizen Philosophy of continuous improvement. The study used a case study design and the target population was all the employees of the company however a sample of 186 respondents was selected for the purposes of this study. Stratified random sampling technique and purposive sampling were used to proportionally select respondents from the seven company departments. These respondents formed the sample of the study population. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and documentary review. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and presented in tables, figures, percentages and discussions. A chi square test was used to determine if the acquisition of ISO 9001:2000 certification and production are significantly associated or not. It is expected that the findings and recommendations of the study will be relevant to other organizations especially those that are not yet ISO 9001 :2000 certified.