The article, ‘Human and Social implications of excellence models: are they really accepted by the business community?’ by Tito Conti was written in 2002. The author is a partner at Organizational Assessment Management based in Italy. The broad area of this article is using the models to regain lost competitiveness through products and services that can satisfy customer expectations better than those of the competitors. It is related to the course on ‘Business Excellence’ in that it gives businesses ideas on how to be efficient, reduce costs and regain customers.
The aim of this article is to discuss the human and social implications of excellence models. Secondly, it shows the impact that will be there in years some years to come. This paper also shows the application of excellence model concepts to social and political organizations. I like this article because the author shows the relationship between shareholders, stakeholders and how they can use the excellence model to have a fair share of benefits.
Key learning points in the read and analyze assigned activity
The key learning points in the assigned activity are derived from the keywords. These are; Total Quality Management (TQM) which claims to set the organizational excellence and secondly corporate culture which is the relationship between stakeholders and the organization. The organization’s stakeholders are also a key learning point since they influence the organization’s actions. The satisfaction of stakeholders mostly results in excellence in the organization.
Customer satisfaction and process efficiency is also another key learning point to note. This is because the model helps in getting back lost competition through products and services. The effectiveness and efficiency of organizations take advantage of the effects generated by a strong corporate culture through leadership. This article has pointed out the EOQ European proposal for a European quality vision as a learning point. It is used as an example of the application of excellence models. It shows how the models can be applied in any organization at any level.
Relevant statements to the session
The main aim of using the models has been to regain lost competitiveness through products and services that can satisfy customer expectations better than competitors, as well as through process efficiency in reducing costs. This statement shows the aims of the excellence models. Excellence models promote those partners to the level of stakeholders who should share their benefits in a fairway. This is a condition for excellence. This statement connects stakeholders, customers, and the organization. Customers can become stakeholders when a partnership agreement is signed or if the behavior of the two parts is such that a strong, long-lasting relationship has been created.
Even if one shares the basic concept of the best-known excellence model, the author’s view of the performance improvement model shows significant differences. This block leads to the discussion of differences between the various excellence models, that is, EFQM, Malcolm Baldrige, and Deming Application Prize. In the article, the most important groups of stakeholders are; shareholders, board management, employees, business partners, and society. According to the human and social perspective, a community of stakeholders is formed by people. In this article, the statement shows how people’s commitment and sense of belonging are fundamental to achieving the mission goals of any organization. It shows people as a company’s most valuable asset, how this asset is nurtured by excellent companies, and how each group of people is of importance. These include business partners, the society, managers, employees, and shareholders.
Corporate governance is a key issue today. How to distribute power and assign responsibilities so that the company has the correct balance is a statement that has been covered widely in this article. What organizations should look at and what they should do to become excellent is another statement that has been widely covered. In this article, some questions have been asked such as, “Are excellence models changing management culture to executive behavior?” Secondly, “Is traditional management behavior going to change the models in the long run?”
Critical Analysis
Pros
This article is satisfactory. It has critically analyzed how organizations can use the models to be of benefit, to regain lost competitiveness through products and services that can satisfy customers’ expectations better than their competitors. There is a balance in this article in that it discusses the importance of everyone in an organization. The stakeholders, customers, competitors, and administrators have each been addressed with no biases. Their roles to the organization and the organization’s role to each one of them have been addressed in the article. How the organization rewards its stakeholders is a strategic issue.
These models have given organizations a solution of balancing returns on investments made by different stakeholders as a critical corporate policy. Effectiveness and efficiency of an organization take advantage of synergy effects of a strong and rich corporate culture, an effect of leadership. The most important group of stakeholders has been addressed to.
Cons
This article has left out the importance of excellence models to the government, the media and suppliers who are also important for the company to run smoothly. The model should have shown how various departments of a company are affected by use of the model. The society could also be affected in terms of employment and resources. This model benefits mostly the large scale businesses and companies. It does not care much about small scale businesses such as retail businesses.
The article has not shown any results after a company has used this model. It only states how a company can benefit from the model. This model could have shortcomings such as; it requires a dedicated department to work on it, which might be demanding in terms of time and resources.
The ideas in this article apply in a real business case. Take for example a clothing business in Dubai. It has five employees, one manager and the director. It is important for the owner to know that the employees are not only workers but also investors. They invest their time, knowledge and resources in the business.
In practice and real life, excellence models work. In case an organization has lost its customers, it can apply the model to regain lost competitiveness through products that can satisfy customer expectations better than their competitors. A business can also apply the models in the aspect of relations between customers, stakeholders (employees) and the business.
This article has been an eye opener in that one of the things learnt is that employees are not only a workforce but also investors. They invest their personal assets, that is, skills, knowledge and their dedication. Today, these assets are more valuable as compared to money. This article opened up my horizon of new things such as corporate governance. It is important to distribute and assign power wisely because the people in leadership are a strong influence in an organization’s performance. It is important to have a balanced and strong leadership in all organizations.
After studying this article, practicing executive benefits from the ideas and evidence presented in the article will help organizations change their corporate culture and executive behavior. Management and leadership will be for organizations’ gain and not personal benefits.
Conclusion
Business communities should accept and adopt excellence models. Management should always consider customer satisfaction and process efficiency. Organizations should ensure stakeholders too are well taken care of. It is important to have stakeholders’ satisfaction because they are also investors in the company. The goal in every organization should create a win-win relation.