Substandard output refers to production of goods or provision of services that do not meet national or international quality standards. Substandard output can be highly costly to a business. For example, reworking occurs when staff have to re-do a task or job due to errors or faults with the output. This is time consuming and can seriously damage the reputation of the business.

By contrast, national and international quality standards provide certification or recognisable mark of quality assurance that the product has met certain minimum standards to meet the needs of customers. These quality standards provide a framework or benchmark for organizations. For example, all IB World Schools are subject to a 5-year evaluation visit from the IBO, to ensure that their quality standards and practices are met. Schools must meet the IBO’s set of predetermined criteria for standards and practices, in order to be awarded certification.

The most internationally recognised quality awards are from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). For example, ISO 9000 is awarded to organizations that maintain an efficient quality system to ensure their customers receive goods and services that satisfy statutory and regulatory requirements. This helps to ensure that quality standards meet the needs of customers and other stakeholder groups, such as suppliers, the government or regulatory authorities.

An important point to note is that quality standards can vary between different countries. Even if an organization meets the national quality standards, it could fail these in overseas markets.

The advantages and disadvantages of meeting quality standards are the same as the benefits and drawbacks of producing or providing quality products. For example, gaining certification for nationally and internationally recognised quality standards can provide the organization with major marketing advantages. It can help to appeal to new customers, retain existing customers, and attract new recruits to the organization.

However, the costs of complying with national and/or international quality standards can be extremely high. These include the costs of on-going staff training and development, as well as the costs of obtaining certification and licenses for quality management. For example, the IBO's annual fee to authorized Diploma Programme schools is US$11,650, with May session schools billed in September and November session schools billed in March (source: IBO Fees for authorized schools).

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