Quest for Business Excellence: Formalism with Flexibility

Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Apr-Sep 2002 by Ramnan, S V

Two defining characteristics of Business Excellence are, an organization's appreciation of its own imperfections and its dedication to achive perfection, which enables the organization to do exactly that and put it on a trajectory for achieving world-class through continuous improvement.

The Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) is a framework for business performance.

What is the Framework's Potential Value to the Company?

We can build on our existing strengths by drawing on the collective intellectual capital and business wisdom embodied in The Framework.

We can build on our existing strengths by drawing on the collective intellectual capital and business wisdom embodied in the Framework. Evidence has shown that organizations that have implemented the Framework, achieve enduring success. There are many success stories and case studies that prove "It does work!"

The Framework also helps you make sense of a myriad of different systems, cutting through a diverse range of management theories, and forms one holistic model for organizational excellence. The Framework links to a number of systems including:

- ISO 9000: 2000

- SEI CMM

- Balanced Scorecard

- Business Process Re-Engineering

- Organizational Performance Measurement

These links provide an umbrella under which all of these programs can be brought together to form one coherent, cohesive organizational system. The Framework is the proven vehicle to drive measurable improvement.

Why is it Recognised as Being Among the Best in the World?

It has been proved over the last six years that companies that won the Malcolm Baldrige Award have outperformed other Fortune 500 companies in terms of returns to stakeholders.

The Malcolm Baldrige model is a universally accepted one. It has been proved over the last six years that companies that won the Malcolm Baldrige Award have outperformed other Fortune 500 companies in terms of returns to stakeholders. The value of stocks had appreciated almost 5:1 in Baldrige winning companies when compared with non-Baldrige winning companies. So the TATAs have adopted a proven model, which will enable them to benchmark themselves against other group companies as well as other organizations across the world.

The Real Value can be Found only in the Implementation

The journey to organizational excellence starts with embracing the principles upon which the Framework is based, visualizing the road map and then turning the "ignition key on". Real value is achieved by modifying the business processes and the performance measurement systems as per the Framework. The business has to align itself with the TBEM framework.

The quest for quality, backed by methods and actions, distinguish great people, organizations and societies.

The quest for quality, backed by methods and actions, distinguish great people, organizations and societies. While the people can pursue quality individually and achieve excellence (not entirely or always), organizations and societies have to do a lot more to achieve any thing of value. Recognition of common good and willingness to work for it cooperatively are two essentials among others.

Contrary to simple expectation, mere aggregation of resources and people, even excellent people, does not automatically create organizational excellence.

Contrary to simple expectation, mere aggregation of resources and people, even excellent people, does not automatically create organizational excellence. A summary of that wisdom is Total Quality Management. Its principles, methodologies and tools spawned many management systems such as ISO 9000, Capability Maturity Model, Business Process Engineering, Six Sigma etc. with their own value additions. Over the years, they improved and evolved into comprehensive and robust systems for implementation and evaluation.

So, where does TBEM fit in and how does it relate to various management systems in operation? The answer is elaborate and it is essential for all of us in CMC to understand TBEM and apply it to our professional work with an organizational outlook. The description follows.

Tata Business Excellence Model

Core Values

The Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) is an organizational framework based on a set of interrelated core values and concepts. These core values are embedded beliefs and behaviours found with varying degrees of intensity in all "world class" organizations.

The eleven core values are:

* Visionary Leadership

* Customer Driven Excellence

* Organizational and Personal Learning

* Valuing Employees and Partners

* Agility

* Focus on the Future

* Managing for Innovation

* Management by Fact

* Social Responsibility and Citizenship

* Focus on Results and Creating Value

* Systems Perspective

Categories

TBEM has selected a set of seven categories of Business Items with different weights to assess the "degree of excellence".

TBEM has selected a set of seven categories of Business Items with different weights to assess the "degree of excellence". The interrelationship of the categories are shown in Figure 1. The three categories of leadership, strategic planning and customer and market focus shown in the figure are known as the "Driver Triad". It emphasizes the central impact of leadership on strategy and customers which drives the "work core" consisting of HR and Processes in the organization. These then yield business results. All actions point towards Business Results, which is a composite of the six categories within the overall framework of the environment and its impact on the organization.