Business results

There are five level of recognitions (Evans et al, 2002): 1. Finalist – They show the joint approach all the categories of the framework. They show how the approaches have been deployed in the future to get results. Their evaluation score ranges from 400 to 500 points. 2. Bronze – They will demonstrate approach and deployment that are well planned, defined and reviewed regularly for continuous improvement. Their evaluation score ranges from 501 to 600 points.
3. Silver – They should be able to demonstrate high level of performance and use of the principles of the framework against management and leadership. Their evaluation score ranges from 601 to 650 points. 4. Gold – They should meet expectation of all other levels of the framework and be able to demonstrate best practice in at least 5 categories of the framework. Their evaluation score should exceed 650 points.
5. Excellence – The excellence award is only given to one organization annually. It is given to the organization which has highest evaluation points according to the jurors and has shown vast improvement and efficiency. Figure 1 Source: Australian Quality Council, (2002), The Australian Business Excellence Framework 2002, St Leonards: Australian Quality Council The EFQM Business Excellence Model What is it? A framework designed to assist organization achieve business excellence through continuous improvement in the management and deployment of processes to create wider use of best practice activities. It enables the calculation of scores against a number of criteria that can be used for either internal or external “benchmark” comparisons (EFQM, 1999). It is hoped that the results of these relative comparisons will lead to increased focus on improving key process performance, and so generate “business excellence”

Typical Applications Driving continuous improvements in processes within an organization. Providing information on external “benchmark” levels of performance of key processes. Provisions of “best practice” checklists for use within Business Planning and Review activities. Typical Outputs Assessment of the quality of the organizational processes relative to prior years and to competitors/benchmark organizations. Identify areas of poor or low performance against prior years and competitors
Key Success Factors Sponsorship and commitment of entire management team and introduction of “embedded” management processes to use outputs to drive continuous improvement (EFQM, 1999). Origins The “business Excellence Model” was originated by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) which aims to “assist management in adopting and applying the principles of TQM and to improve the competitiveness of European industry”: the criteria developed to evaluate performance in the Excellence Model are similar to those used to evaluate contestants for the “Quality Awards”.
All aspects of criteria are tied together because it is difficult to place a priority on one area and neglect other areas. All criteria are tied together and will show up one way or another in the final criteria, the “Business results”. Comparisons with other awards In comparison with other awards such as the ISO 9000, the MBNQA stands out, for example, the ISO 9000 covers less than 10% of the MBNQA criteria for judging quality (Dockings and Dowen, 1999). When applying for an award, the organization cannot be doing just to win, but should instead obtain the entire philosophy of quality improvement. It is in this way that the organization will get the most benefit. Total quality improvement will show in all aspects of the organization including increased productivity, employee morale, customer satisfaction, and improved profitability.
 
The Australian Business Excellence Framework and other internationally accepted frameworks such as the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria (MBNQA) and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) criteria provide organizations with a comprehensive list of criteria and descriptors against which to evaluate their organizations. An organization can use self assessment activities as a diagnostic exercise to evaluate the health and vitality of its internal processes and practices (Oakland, 1999). It is an activity that encourages critical introspection aimed at identifying performance gaps and opportunities which will facilitate continuous improvement and continual learning. One could hypothesis that self assessment allows an organization to examine how well it mobilizes all of its resources and integrates and directs all of its activities towards achieving its stated goals.
By looking at the points table below, one may point out that even though these quality awards have same criteria on judging but had developed unique style in measuring them. For instance MBNQA gives higher importance to Business results by 450 points which can be argued as highly result oriented approach, whereas EFQM are more customer oriented with 200 points. One could propose that ABEF excellence award focuses more on innovative thinking and leadership values of an organization in Australia by awarding 180 points.