Economic Benefits of Standards

Economic Benefits of Standards – Application of ISO Methodology on Baron Foods (St. Lucia) Ltd.

The Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) in conjunction with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) is conducting a study to determine the economic benefits of standardization and/or the use of standards.This initiative to quantify the benefits of standards is extremely important for monitoring and prioritizing standardization activities, as well as for raising awareness and improving communication, promoting the use of standards and encouraging stakeholder participation.

In that regard ISO is assisting Saint Lucia to apply of the ISO Methodology to assess the economic benefits of standards with a pilot organization which has successfully implemented standards.This ISO Methodology address the a key question,“What is the contribution of standards to corporate value creation?”

Baron Foods (St. Lucia) Ltd. was selected to conduct the pilot study in St. Lucia which will quantify the impact of standards used in Organisations.This was done on the backdrop of the number of standards utilized by the company,the certifications attained,the relationship with the SLBS,the willingness of the organization and evidence of benefits accrued through use of standards.

This pilot study forms part of an international initiative to determine the impact of standards in companies of all sizes from different regions.We anticipate that the data compiled will be useful not only to Baron Foods(St. Lucia)Ltd but to other companies in St.Lucia and the rest of the world.

As reference above, the study will help the SLBS to address systematically the issue of economic benefits of standards,with a view to: enable stakeholders in both private and public sectors, to better appreciate the economic and social impact of voluntary consensus standards,and to raise the awareness of policy makers and business leaders as to the importance of standardization.

The development of case studies applying the ISO methodology is also an excellent means for: reaching out to and strengthening the interaction with national stakeholders,focusing on their business needs and on the understanding of how standards can contribute to the performance of organizations,and developing cooperation with academic institutions building a collection of case studies, to be maintained by ISO/CS,which can be used to promote the value of standards to a broad variety of stakeholders.

Back