| Resumo: | In a global and competitive market, a company’s ISO 9001 Quality Management System certification could represent an important element for leadership, competition and continuous improvement of organizations. However, the ISO 9001 industry is facing a market with decreasing demand, from mainly SMEs, and increasing supply. This study aims to identify the current trends of the ISO 9001 market in Portugal and help EIC define its future strategy in order to ensure business sustainability against the observable challenges: the need for Portuguese certification companies to be internationally recognized, SMEs’ lack of interest in getting certified and the decline of ISO 9001 certification prices. To understand how EIC can ensure sustainability, an analysis of EIC’s functioning business was conducted as well as an understanding of the factors leading to the current trends. Given these, the case analysis recommends possible new strategies for EIC to consider, such as strategic partnerships, awareness of the importance of an ISO 9001 certification among companies, the state and regulatory bodies, and changes in some business processes within EIC in order to better manage time, effort and resources.
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