About Excellence - Overview
The word 'excellence' has probably become just an advertising 'strapline' for many people. Organisations frequently use it to describe themselves or their products, and it is often not clear exactly what it stands for. It has become a piece of organisational jargon. What sane businessman would just use the word 'quality' nowadays - when everyone else talks about 'excellence'??
Even ignoring the promotional-driven uses of the word, there are still different definitions of 'excellence' when applied to overall organisational excellence - which is what we are concerned with. It is one of those things with many interpretations, some very 'hard' and quantitative, others adding some 'softer' elements. We think the softer element is appropriate as well. We see 'Excellence' as being
the relentless pursuit of continuous improvement in both an organisation's results and the way in which they are achieved.
For us it is very much about a state of mind, not simply reaching a certain level of quality. The EFQM Excellence Model can help. In the Downloads section, we have added a short pdf note about definitions of Excellence. (The note will open in a separate window.)
Fundamental Concepts of Excellence
The EFQM Excellence Model is built on some 'Fundamental Concepts of Excellence':
- Customer Focus
- Results Orientation
- Partnership Development
- Leadership & Constancy of Purpose
- People Development & Involvement
- Continuous Learning, Innovation & Improvement
- Management by Processes & Fact
- Corporate Social Responsibility
Unless you agree that these represent a good way to run an organisation for the longer term, then there is little point in thinking about using the Model. You may feel that they are not all fully embedded in the organisation, but as long as you personally believe they are right, then you have the basis for action. More details are in our booklet about the Concepts. (The note will open in a separate window.)
Quality frameworks around the world generally have similar principles. The wording may not be identical, but they usually come down to the same things.
Where to now?
This section of our site gives some basic information about Excellence - have a look around. We do not intend it to be encyclopaedic. It is after all a broad subject and there are other sources of information.
Our Downloads section has more information about excellence including a pdf copy of our booklet "Self-assessing for Excellence" which is an introduction to the Model and using it. It also has other articles and frequently requested diagrams.
