Definition and Approaches
The concept of business excellence first emerged in the 1980s, based on total quality management (TQM) principles (Adebanjo, 2001), and developed as a concept for three main reasons. The first was that managers adopting TQM wanted to see improvements and tangible results in a shorter time. The second was that small companies found it difficult to allocate the required budget and resources for TQM projects, and the third was the difficulties in implementing TQM in small and medium organizations (Adebanjo, 2001). Some researchers have argued that management theory served as the theoretical foundation for business excellence (Lu, Betts, & Croom, 2011). However, the most common definition of business excellence describes excellent organizations as those that attain and keep exceptional levels of performance that meet or go beyond the expectations of different groups of stakeholders (EFQM, 2013).
Alongside the rise of business excellence, models have been developed to operationalize this concept and provide a structured implementation process that can be used by different organizations (Ringrose, 2013). These business excellence models were established by different bodies that have also helped companies with implementation and developed excellence awards programs to celebrate their accomplishments (Ringrose, 2013). Companies that have adopted business excellence models have usually done so by using initiatives, tools, and techniques to achieve the desired results (Adebanjo, 2001).
A new concept associated with adopting excellence models is “self-assessment” as a tool to help organizations to identify their strengths and areas for improvement (EFQM, 2013). Effective self-assessment requires appropriate training for employees, and the commitment of the leadership, including top and middle managers (Hillman, 1994; Wiele & Brown, 1999).