ISO 20252 – Market, opinion and social research

In December we were audited for ISO compliance. After a week of staff interviews, project reviews and records inspections we were certified to the 20252 standard. Good for us!

Now I recognize that there are more than few people in the industry who think ISO certification is some kind of retro thing that does not reflect how much the industry is changing. More on that in a bit. But first let me say that when it's all said and done ISO 20252 comes down to four pretty basic things:

1. Making sure that people know how to do their jobs and can succeed in the assignments we give them.
2. Ensuring that everyone on a project team understands their individual roles, the roles of their colleagues and how to work as a team to produce great work for their client.
3. Being completely transparent with clients about what was done and how it was done so that they can make whatever business decisions they need to make with confidence.
4. Minimizing the mistakes that generate rework and disappoint clients while maximizing the chances of learning from those mistakes.

Now back to those folks who say that ISO is for the dinosaurs and out of place in the fast-moving world of contemporary market research. Or that all that process ISO insists on works against the innovation that is the supposed life blood of boutiques and startups. I think that's nonsense. A well-defined infrastructure of process and procedures need not be a barrier to change. In fact, it can make it easier. In Good to Great Jim Collins observes that in great companies people work within the framework of a highly developed system that fosters what he calls "a culture of discipline." When you have a culture of discipline you spend less time managing people and more time managing the system. And when change is called for you change the system, not the people. That's also what ISO brings you. I recommend it to you one and all.

Comments

[Reg]

To Dan's point above, there is a separate standard for access panels, ISO 26362. If I ruled the world, that's where all panel companies would certify.

[Dan Kvistbo]

Congratulations Reg.

I'd agree with all points above, but I have to add that it leaves me slightly concerned when I see companies that are essentially outside the scope of ISO 20252 (at least, as I interpret it) being certified by that same standard. Take Cint as an example - essentially a software vendor that offers panel hosting and DIY sampling technology. In my view, such a "flexible" interpretation of the standard undermines the very credibility and quality assurance that certification would otherwise instill. How are clients supposed to tell the difference between market research companies that have been certified by the full standard - and e.g. software vendors that fulfill a fraction of the requirements, but can market their certification on equal footing?

[Peter Milla]

Reg, you cite some very important benefits to certification that can help organizations grow and execute well. Companies that have been certified have seen excellent ROIs on their certification efforts. Beyond the benefits you cite, I've seen benefits in cost reduction, cycle time and client retention.

[Michael Conklin - Chief Methodologist - MarketTools]

Amen. When I was at CRI when we were working on winning the Baldrige Award the emphasis on systems versus people (when it comes to blame) was by far the best thing to come from it. When you have a bad system churning new people through it won't help in the least.