The liberalization initiatives of the Government of India has resulted in a phenomenal rise in the number of organizations implementing TQM which is partly reflected from the recent upsurge in the interest towards ISO 9000 certification. It is realized that ISO 9000-based certification of quality management system has been the most pronounced and viable initiative in terms of quality management in the industries of Assam, even though its growth is seen as quite a recent phenomenon. In this paper, an evaluation is undertaken on the motivators behind the pursuit of ISO 9000 certification of industries in Assam. The literature suggests many reasons as to why industries seek certification, based on which 11 likely motivators have been condensed to assist the survey process. The sample comprises of 76 industrial units located in Assam. This research identifies the most important motivators behind certification and carries out a pertinent comparative analysis between the manufacturing and service sectors. Further, across ten industry groups, the impact of motivators has been evaluated in the paper. The study also investigates the inter-industry differences in terms of degree of importance of the motivators. The data on the motivators suggest that there are several important driving forces for ISO 9000 certification. Factor analysis of these reason variables has been made to identify the latent constructs in them, after establishing the suitability of the data for factor analysis. The paper identifies three dominant constructs, in terms of the reasons behind ISO 9000-based certification of QMS amongst the industries of Assam.

Over the last two decades, managerial concern for quality has reached unprecedented level and the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) initiatives is considered as a competitive force capable of exerting positive influence on an organization's operational and financial results. In India, many of the organizations/companies have started adopting TQM approach for continuous improvement in pursuit of excellence and to attain competitive advantage. The realization of Indian industries about the need of Quality Management System is reflected from the recent upsurge in the interest towards obtaining ISO 9000 based certifications. Subsequent upon liberalization initiatives of the Government of India, there has been phenomenal increase in the number of organizations implementing TQM efforts, which is partly reflected in the recent upsurge in the interest towards ISO 9000 certification. With ISO 9000 certification taking roots in India only in 1993 with only 8 certificates awarded till January 1993, the number has gone up to more than 8000 by December 2002. In terms of growth in the number of certificates, India came all the way up to occupy the seventh position in the world, during December 2001 to December 2002.

Identification of Factors for ISO 9000 Certification: A Study of Industries in Assam, liberalization, Government of India, phenomenal rise, organizations, implementing TQM, qualitymanagement system, quality management,motivators, industrial units, research identifies, comparative analysis, manufacturing service sectors, industry groups, Factor analysis, dominant constructs, customer service, suppliers, industry rates, engineering industries, manufacturing segment, internal forces.