ISO 9000 effect on return on investment, market share, sales growth, better sales margins and competitive advantage," "taking a quality approach is unrelated to ISO 9000 registration." In fact, ISO itself advises that ISO 9001 can be implemented without certification, simply for the quality benefits that can be achieved. Abrahamson argues that fashionable management discourse such as Quality Circles tends to follow a lifecycle in the form of a bell curve, possibly indicating a management fad. Pickrell argues that ISO systems merely gauge whether the processes are being followed. It does not gauge how good the processes are or whether the correct
ISO 14000 processes, and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, and maintaining the environmental policy." The ISO 14000 family includes most notably the ISO 14001 standard, which represents the core set of standards used by organizations for designing and implementing an effective environmental management system (EMS). Other standards in this series include ISO 14004, which gives additional guidelines for a good EMS, and more specialized standards dealing with specific aspects of environmental management. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series of norms is to provide "practical tools for companies and organizations of all kinds looking to manage their environmental responsibilities." The ISO