Measuring effectiveness and suitability of a quality system

The very premises on which ISO 9000 certification was marketed seem to have fallen by the wayside during the past 8 years. Thousands of companies acro ss India and also the world embraced the ISO route. After a few years of to getherness with the ISO 9001/9002 system, the companies' chief executive of ficers are very disillusioned. Apparently, the anticipated result, 'quality improvement', has not materialized Instead they see only costs being accru ed, and documents and records piling up. In some extreme cases, a parallel system has even materialized! The authors try to see the reasons for this s orry state and recommend a methodology for quantifying effectiveness of ISO 9000 system implementation.