Introduction
Business excellence refers to use of exceptional practices that are guided by certain fundamental models to achieve remarkable outcomes. Typically, world’s top performing firms implement various business excellence models that are modified to enhance their performances. Business excellence models refer to holistic frameworks that incorporate all aspects of an organisation to enhance performance and production by enabling application of the most relevant excelling business skills.
Different countries have developed unique business excellence models to suit their business parameters by assessment of performance based on apposite criteria such as award-winning programmes. This essay compares and contrasts three main business excellence models, which include MBNQ, EFQM, and Dubai Quality Award Framework, by providing an insight into their similarities, differences, and benefits of using such models to various organisations.
Similarities of the MBNQ, EFQM, and DQA Business Excellence Models
Business excellence models share a variety of similarities. They are characterised by advocacy for award programmes. At the outset, the models have been designed for use in award winning competitions in diverse business environments. Awards are meant for motivation to inculcate a culture of hard work. Ultimately, this situation leads to improvement of performance (Westerveld 2003).
Secondly, business excellence models are used for facilitating upgrading and betterment of businesses. Many companies use business excellence models to initiate various improvements in their operations. These improvements include gaining of competitive advantage over other companies, enhancement of performance and productivity, drawing of operational procedures that are clear and easy to comprehend, increment of customer satisfaction, and promotion of company reputation. Porter and Tanner (2004) posit that the business excellence models embrace delivery measures that work against set standards and objectives to enhance management coherency.
Furthermore, the business models use similar criteria. The criteria are based on both enablers and results. However, DQA combines the criteria into one unit. The nine criteria include result orientation, customer focus, leadership and constancy of purpose, management through processes and facts, staff development and involvement, progressive learning, improvement and innovation, partnership development, and public responsibility (Westerveld 2003).
Differences of the Models
At the outset, the Dubai Quality Award Model (DQA) model combines all the nine criteria into a single system of analysing business excellence while EFQM and MBNQA business excellence models categorise the criteria in to enablers and results. As a result, the EFQM and MBNQA models provide assessment criteria that are not sufficient to encompass diverse business factors. Contrary to the other models, the EFQM business excellence model uses RADAR to implement improvement of organisational sectors.
However, the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Model consists of six process enablers and one result category. This situation makes it different from MBNQA and DQA business excellence models. These processes cover business areas such as leadership, policies and strategies, partnerships and resources, processes, customer results, society results, and business performance results (Ahmed, Yang, & Dale 2003).
A company should be assessed by use fundamental concepts that entail result orientation, customer focus, leadership, constancy of purpose, and management through processes and facts, staff development, involvement, progressive learning, improvement, innovation, partnership development, and public responsibility. Enablers ensure that sufficient procedures are put in place in an attempt to achieve good results. Westerveld (2003) reveals that results criteria are concerned with objectives that have been achieved.
However, DQA borrows concepts from EFQM to assess an organisation. It ensures the combination of processes in mass production. This situation results in top-down hierarchical management, specialisation, set targets, and standards among processes. Emphasis on quality only enables managers to seek better ways instead of using top-down management. Since many companies have adopted top-down hierarchy management systems, the models take into consideration functional factors that drive an organisation into accomplishment of goals. Many companies only rely on demands and flows of productivity. Therefore, there is a need for better measurement methods that allow variation and flexibility of business objectives (Westerveld 2003).
Benefits of the Business Excellence Models to Organisations
Business excellence models have various benefits to organisations. At the outset, they provide a visionary leadership concept that enables creation of customer focus and clear values. For instance, MBNQA business excellence model encompasses organisation of values, expectations, and directions in a way that promotes achievement of stakeholder needs. Customers are able to judge the performance; hence, they enable realisation of high quality products (Wilson & Collier 2000).
Furthermore, the use of this model enables stakeholders to share information and concepts through systematic procedures. The model provides a learning process that follows continuous improvement of the existing techniques and innovation of new approaches, products, services, and objectives (Wilson & Collier 2000).
Furthermore, the business excellence models, especially the MBNQA, propel agility in a competitive environment that demands rapid change. Therefore, these frameworks enable forecasting of both short-term and long-term sustainability factors that influence markets. They also rely on performance analysis of facts about the needs and strategies of an organisation to provide relevant information about feasible output processes (Wilson & Collier 2000). Moreover, the frameworks enable company leaders to assume public responsibility in a bid to enhance ethical behavioural standards that boost societal co-existence. Therefore, organisations are able to focus on outcome and value creation (Porter & Tanner 2004).
In addition, the Dubai Quality Award model is a business framework that recognises role model organisations through individuals who receive awards because of their exceptional ability to provide a roadmap of achieving quality performance. The framework borrows its concepts from the EFQM (Porter & Tanner 2004). The DQA model does not only focus on award winning but also emphasizes on improvement of the existing quality of processes and products (Caudron 1993).
Implementation of the DQA model enables managers to a conduct a gap analysis to determine existing quality conditions and possibility of implementing new concepts in the company. Existing practices and policies are studied and a report that reflects conduct gaps is submitted to the organisation (Caudron 1993). As a result, the management is trained on two levels. One level entails personnel who are required to understand overview of the model. The second level comprises personnel who have to seek deep understanding of the model since they are directly involved in application of the model’s strategies. They monitor and supervise documentation procedures and development of measurement methodologies (Ahmed, Yang, & Dale 2003).
Conclusion
Despite the above-mentioned challenges, excellence business models have significantly influenced business operations by providing holistic approaches towards achievement of business excellence in organisations. Furthermore, the models ensure a flow of work and performance in many business aspects. This situation presents businesses with an opportunity for flexibility. Ability of the models to assess organisational performances through award-winning programmes has enhanced production in many companies.
References
Ahmed, A, Yang, J & Dale, B 2003, ‘Self-assessment methodology: The route to business excellence’, Quality Management Journal, vol. 10 no. 1, pp. 43-57.
Caudron, S 1993, ‘Change keeps TQM programmes thriving’, Personal Journal, vol. 72 no. 10, pp. 104-07.
Porter, L & Tanner, S 2004, Assessing Business Excellence: A Guide to Business Excellence and Self-assessment, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
Westerveld, E 2003, ‘The Project Excellence Model: linking success criteria and critical success factors’, International Journal of Project Management, vol. 21 no. 6, pp. 411-18.
Wilson, D & Collier, D 2000, ‘An empirical investigation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award casual model’, Decision Sciences, vol. 31 no. 2, pp. 361-90.