Business Excellence is often described as outstanding practices in managing the organisation and achieving results, all based on a set of fundamental concepts or values. These practices have evolved into models for how a world class organisation should operate. These models have been developed and continue to evolve through extensive study of the practice and values of the world’s highest performing organisations. Many countries have developed their own models and use these as frameworks to assess and recognise the performance of organisations through awards programmes.

Various Business Excellence Framework & Models

The models used to categorise the information in the BPIR.com members' area are shown below. The models are underpinned by the latest research in total quality management (TQM), business excellence, best practices and benchmarking. These models are used by 100,000’s of organisations worldwide as a basis for organisational improvement. Categorising BPIR information in this way enables you to quickly identify relevant benchmarks, best practices, expert opinion, and find benchmarking partners and contacts.
Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence
EFQM Excellence Model
Singapore Quality Award Framework
Canadian Framework for Business Excellence (coming soon within the BPIR)
Australian Business Excellence Framework (coming soon within the BPIR)
Business Performance Improvement Resource Model

Baldrige Model

The most popular and influential model in the western world is the one launched by the US government called the Malcolm Baldrige Award Model (also commonly known as the Baldrige model, the Baldrige criteria, or The Criteria for Performance Excellence). More than 25 countries base their frameworks upon the Baldrige criteria.

The Baldrige model consists of practices that are incorporated into six Approach categories plus a Results category consisting of – Leadership
Strategic Planning
Customer and Market Focus
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
Workforce focus
Process Management
Business Results
The Baldrige Values include:

Visionary Leadership
Customer-Driven Excellence
Organisational and Personal Learning
Valuing Employees and Partners
Agility
Focus on the Future
Managing for Innovation
Management by Fact
Social Responsibility
Focus on Results and Creating Value
Systems Perspective

EFQM model

The EFQM model consists of six process enablers and one results category: Leadership
Policy and Strategy
People
Partnerships and Resources
Processes
Customer Results
People Results
Society Results
Key Performance Results
The fundamental concepts include:

Results orientation
Customer focus
Leadership and constancy of purpose
Management by processes and facts
People development and involvement
Continuous learning, innovation and improvement
Partnership development
Public responsibility
Who uses business excellence / models? Organisations across the world are using these business excellence models as a basis for continuous performance improvement.

In the US nearly two million copies of the Malcolm Baldrige Model have been distributed since the award’s launch in 1988, and this does not include copies that are available in books, state and local award programs, or those downloaded from the web.

In Europe alone the European Foundation for Quality Management believes that at least 30,000 organisations are using the EFQM model. The EFQM’s figure was based on the number of EFQM members, the members of its national partners, and those organisations that they know are using the model in their business.