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RésuméSince its first version published in 1987 the ISO-9001 standard has been in force in various fields, not only in industry. More generally, introducing standards of the “ISO” type into organizations, regardless of their size, has been much discussed and criticized as shown by the specialized literature. More prosaically, this article shuns the never-ending manichean debate over how quality control is implemented in any organization. Rather, we look into how a standard, namely ISO-9001 v 2000, was put into practice within an institution of higher education, as the certification was being applied for, while contemplating the standard’s long-term benefits as well as the difficulties to be met, both from budgetary and human standpoints. As we study organizational constructs, we shall try to see how some originally reluctant key deciders have come to support this approach to change, whose quality has been essential in its success.