TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Quality assurance in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical evidence on organisational resilience of conformity assessment bodies N2 - Global supply chains rely on the compliance and safety of their products, processes, and facilities. These vital services (often referred to as ‘quality assurance’ or ‘conformity assessment’ services) are provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). This empirical study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CABs as well as their response to the resulting challenges. Data was gathered through an online survey among all accredited CABs in Germany, which resulted in 555 valid responses. Taking a resilience perspective, we reveal that CABs were hit hard by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, albeit to different degrees, in part due to their type of services, size, and sectors served. Furthermore, we find that contingency plans do not directly cushion order declines (as the main indicator of the economic impact of the pandemic) but rather indirectly through helping CABs respond more quickly, which in turn mitigates their order declines. However, our results show that contingency plans can also have adverse effects if they hinder flexible reaction to the crisis. The findings of our study help managers and policymakers learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the resilience of the conformity assessment sector and quality assurance in the event of future crises. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Organizational resilience KW - COVID-19 KW - Conformity assessment PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2022.2078189 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Taylor & Francis AN - OPUS4-55066 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in Mexico - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in Mexico. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563645 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56364 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in the United Kingdom - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in the United Kingdom. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-565346 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56534 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in West Africa - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in West Africa. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563631 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 45 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56363 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in Peru - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in Peru. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-563417 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56341 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in the Netherlands - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in the Netherlands. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. The study on Dutch CABs is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-555852 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-55585 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in Colombia - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in Colombia. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. The study on Colombian CABs is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-558484 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-55848 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Technology adoption and digital maturity in the conformity assessment industry: Empirical evidence from an international study N2 - Technological innovation and digitalization are transforming industries and organizations worldwide. Digital Maturity Models often serve as a reference point to monitor the digitalization progression through prescribed stages. Yet, little is still understood about (i) how a digital maturity model should be designed and deployed in a specific industry setting and (ii) the association between digital maturity and technology adoption. Building on extant literature and extensive interviews with industry experts, we first develop a digital maturity model in the context of the conformity assessment industry (a globally regulated industry responsible for assessing compliance of organizations with standards and regulations). Second, we implement the model and conduct a survey across 1447 organizations in 15 countries. Our findings reveal that the digital transformation journey of the industry progresses along five stages of maturity (with most organizations in the early/ intermediate stages of digital maturity) with distinctive patterns of technical and managerial practices across all stages. Adoption of technologies is (unsurprisingly) associated with higher digital maturity levels - albeit that association does not hold for complex technologies (such as Blockchain) and is impacted by country specifics (measured by the Digital Skills Gap Index). Our study provides insights into digital maturity and the adoption of technologies in an institutional environment that is highly regulated and conservative, in which high integrity of service provision is primary, and digitalization is a secondary focus of organizations. KW - Digital Maturity KW - Standardisation KW - Digital Maturity Scores KW - Technology Adoption KW - Digital Technologies PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601930 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102564 VL - 77 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-60193 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in Croatia - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in Croatia. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-565380 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56538 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Ladu, Luana A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Digitalization in conformity assessment in New Zealand - A QI-FoKuS study N2 - This report summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment in New Zealand. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) conducted in 2022. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. This study is part of a global project that covers various other countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). KW - COVID-19 KW - Calibration KW - Certification KW - Conformity Assessment KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Digital transformation KW - Digitalization KW - Laboratory KW - Quality infrastructure KW - TIC KW - Testing PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-564038 UR - https://www.qi-fokus.de SP - 1 EP - 44 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-56403 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -