An exploratory review of the 2015 revision of ISO 9001 quality assurance systems based on manager's perceptions

In an intensely competitive environment that has gained a global character, businesses has stragled to maintain the quality of goods and services they offer to world markets in order to survive and grow at the same time. With its specific rules, limitations and requirements to cope with this problem, the ISO 9001 standard remains a very successful tool. However, one of the main reasons why ISO 9001 maintains this feature is that it is regularly revised over the years, depending on radical developments within and outside the enterprise. In the first part of this study, the concept of quality assurance system is discussed conceptually and historically. In the second part, the general changes in ISO 9001 standards over the years and especially the revision of ISO 9001: 2015 are examined in detail. In the last section, based on the perceptions of production managers, a focus group study was conducted as an exploratory examination method in the revision of the 2015 revision in ISO 9001 Quality Assurance System. Hile it revealed a negative view on the implementation difficulties of the managers regarding the revisions in the organization, it was seen that the positive evaluations regarding the business performance emerged strongly.