Product / Service Quality to Business Excellence

The focus of the organization during its formative years, is on establishing itself in the business segment with a sustainable business model. Using the CMM analogy, it aims at the transformation from initial, repeatable, defined, managed and into an optimized business entity.

Quality Management Systems such as ISO 9001 define the requirements for an organization to understand its context, establish leadership, carry out planning at business, strategic and operational levels, provide support functions, manage operational aspects, conduct performance evaluation and, strive for improvement.

Conventionally, quality management systems appears to encourage a compliance based structure within the organization. Processes are meant to be established, sustained, managed and improved organizationally – however, many entities fall short of realizing the true benefits of a QMS, that of striving for and achieving business excellence.

A number of organizations remain in the trap of setting up good systems and processes, improve their overall performance but do not go beyond that. Moving on from initial level towards compliance to the requirements is a great achievement however, compliance cannot be seen as an end in itself.

Compliance to the requirements of standards will help sustain the organizations – whereas evolution into an excellent business requires the business organization to comprehend and internalize:

  • Compliance level to Continuous Improvement in processes / system
  • Management approach through strategizing for the longer term
  • Designing Integrated Management Systems: bring together diverse management systems – Quality, Environment, OH&S, Information security etc. onto an integrated platform
  • Strategic Planning, Alignment, and Metrics for long term (3-5 years), medium term (1-3 years), short term (up to 1 year)
  • Integrated Process Improvement Approach – across the various management systems, aligning with the organizational causes
  • The Role of Information Technology- data based decisions for management
  • Other Enablers and Constraints – based on strategic planning, enterprise risk management, SWOT etc.
  • Integration & Deployment - Putting it All Together
  • Anticipating the dynamics and forever changing with the times

The shift from compliance level of organizational evolution towards business excellence, can be managed using change management principles. These are embedded within the initiatives such as, strategic planning / enterprise risk management.

The organization benefits from the shift from a narrow, compliance-orientation to Quality Management to a high-impact, continuous improvement orientation that drives business results. This involves building the capability to absorb new techniques / methods / strategies as they emerge.

The shift takes the organization through:

  • Process excellence
    • Efficiency and effectiveness in processes
    • Main goal is to deliver consistent, positive outcomes with minimal variations and waste
  • Operational excellence
    • End to End process flows in core and support processes, including HR
    • Deals with how people, technology, tools and other resources combine and interact with each other
  • Business excellence
    • Whole organization including strategy and delivery of results to all stakeholders
    • Includes both process & operational excellence and generates direction towards overall business excellence

Different models of business excellence such as the Malcolm Baldridge Quality awards, Deming prize, Tata Business Excellence model etc. apply such criteria across the organizations.

Common to all such awards, organizations are expected to display business excellence core values and concepts:

  • Visionary Leadership
  • Customer Driven Experience
  • Organization and Personal learning
  • Valuing workforce members and partners
  • Society and Responsibility
  • Focus on future
  • Focus on results and creating value
  • The evolution from a quality and compliance driven organization, to a business excellence driven organization, would be the most fulfilling business actualization motive.