More than ever, businesses need ways to improve their operations to better gain, serve, and retain customers while reducing costs and improving margins. Implementing management systems and attaining third-party accredited certification can help businesses achieve success on all of these fronts. For many years, various media have discussed anecdotal information concerning the value of third-party accredited certification to management systems. Sound, documented evidence from academic studies now confirms the value of third-party accredited certification of management systems. In part one of this two-part article, we will summarize the history of management systems. In part two, we'll take a closer look at the evidence supporting their value.

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