Analysis of Business Excellence Criteria Emirates Group - Essay Example

? Analysis of Business Excellence Criteria: Emirates Group of Introduction Despite the slump in theglobal economy in 2007, that hit companies all across the world, the company posted a delivery of 34 A380 aircrafts, opened the first ever A380 dedicated facility, which is the Concourse A and a stunning $622 million worth of profits. Even after the 9/11 hit back, two consecutive gulf wars and rising fuel prices, the company has not witnessed a loss since the past 25 years. The company under the purview of this paper is Emirates Group, one of the largest global carriers in the aviation industry (Arabian Aerospace, 2013). This formula for such unflinching success has come through none of what management books could preach. The story behind the rise of Emirates Group lies in being an opportunist and seeking the opportunity at the right time and solving all their problems as and when they came through. This can be highlighted as one of company’s key strengths. Emirates has been working in a multicultural environment where the company seeks to address whatever shall keep the company motivated and ensure team functions to perform well. The key business practice is to keep things running as they are if they appear good, defying the conventional wisdom of not having any functional fit in the organization. Emirates group is run like a family rather than a management driven organization. It is a fully owned government organization based in Dubai. As a part of business strategy, the company has a policy of not entertaining any alliance and believes in making strategic partnerships with its competitors to move forward on the path of success. Its range of services includes commercial airlines offering all of passenger, postal and cargo services. It also sells consumer goods in airlines as both wholesale and retail. It also operates in hotels and resorts and engineering products is leisure and destination management (The Emirates group, 2013C). As a part of company strategy, Emirates group does not believe in a fixed organizational structure and has built its company structure based on people strengths. Also, the company does not have a board of directors that comprises of executive and non-executive directors. They have a group of 30 people who discuss an agenda openly. The senior management and HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum act as the sole decision making body. This senior management believes in focussing on details, rather than the bigger picture. Emirates also follow a strategy of hiring people from all across the world. Staff salaries are pegged to their home country bases but recruitment from across the globe has its own economic advantages. Employees get attracted to the company despite its comparatively lower salary because of lack of tax implications in Dubai. This allows the company to have a competitive advantage over its staff costs. The paper is a survey that is based on the EFQM model. It analyses the Emirates Group on nine parameters of the model through survey results. The results are analysed and helps in determining key strengths and weaknesses of the company. Based on the analysis, the paper concludes with recommendations of suggested practices. Methodology In this section, the research methodology has been discussed. It is to be noted that the research was carried out by means of a questionnaire based on the EFQM excellence model. The questionnaire was answered based on the secondary data obtained from various print and online sources. Based on self assessment study, the answers to the questions were formulated, wherein each answer is based on information obtained through secondary source of data. No outside person, group of persons or body corporate was approached for seeking answers to the questionnaire. The question response format was based on a Likert scale of 1 to 6. However, each one of these numbers was defined in terms of attributes as Zero Base, Very Weak, Weak, Acceptable, Strong and Extremely Strong. The scores were assigned as 1 for very weak and 6 for extremely strong. The scores assigned to each question, within each one of the nine parameters, were based on personal judgement and knowledge. Difficulties were observed in terms of making a judgement between closely related attributes like Very Weak and Weak or Zero Base and Weak, Acceptable and Strong and Strong and Extremely Strong. Another difficulty experienced in answering the question was gaining relevant data for each of the sub-features. Analyses and Recommendations Leadership Emirates Group functions under the strong leadership of Sheikh Ahmed. It has been stated that all major decisions need to be approved by Sheikh Ahmed before it is implemented into action. There is no board of directors in the company. All major decision are taken by senior management and come into action only when they are approved by them and Sheikh Ahmed in priority. Leadership style at Emirates is inspired by that of family leadership style which means that each member is encouraged to connect to the other member and also, other groups of stakeholders within the conglomerate. It is a democratic form of leadership in the sense that even shareholders are encouraged to take part in the decision making process and help the company to arrive at a final decision after due shareholder engagement (IATA, 2012). The leadership has always encouraged innovation which is why the company takes pride in being the first mover in many popular customer-centric innovations, including the audio video on-demand feature, in-flight showers, on-board spa and in-flight calling (The Emirates group, 2013G). Cooperation between the leadership and management has allowed Emirates to grow to the position where it stands today. In 2002, the leaders realised the need of education, development and training of individuals to become future leaders and thus, introduced the Leadership development function within the company. The leadership parameter obtains a score of 44. This score indicates that the company has an extremely strong top order. Its decisions are taken by a group, with sound business knowledge and maintain good relations with its stakeholders. The success of its binding agreements reflects the strength of supplier relationships of the company. Also, customer satisfaction levels are a good representation of customer-leader relationship. As a part of its staff policy, the company finds its employees to be the strength of their functioning. One major drawback of the leadership is their accessibility to the mass. All decisions, issues and complains have to be routed through the channel of management and there is no means to address the top-level executives directly for both employees and the consumers. A system wherein people can reach out to the leaders for serious issues could be brought in place for managing stakeholder issues. Policy and strategy The company’s weakness lies in the policies and strategies. It operates and caters to high income and class of traveller group. There is no option yet for budget and middle class travellers. With its wide geographical base, the company has tremendous scope to develop this segment of airline services. It might face stiff competition from competitors like, Etihad and Gulf Air. In Asia, low cost carriers like, Air Asia and Jetstar Asia, might eat up Emirate’s entire market share. Existence of these low cost carriers makes Emirates less competitive. The company also lacks strongly on the innovation front. The company has been putting concentrated efforts on its expansion plans by increasing fleet size and geographical base, but on the innovation front, there has not really been any significant earmarking change. In the competitive landscape within which the company functions today, making more room for innovation is urgently required to keep competition at bay. The company has to recognise and create demand through innovations in order to thrive in the industry (Sull, Ghoshal and Monteiro, 2005). Emirates also need to review its strategy of not undertaking any alliances and making the path forward only through alliances. The era today is of consolidations. Airline companies are in the mode of expansion via acquisition. In such a scenario, it is a matter of time when some large airline company might wash away the business of Emirates by acquiring smaller airlines and expanding its market share. In the U.S., American Airlines and U.S. Airways have merged to form the largest airline company in the world. Similarly, United Airlines merged with Continental Airline to grow larger in the airline industry. The Emirates code of agreements needs a review and urgent attention needs to be paid to strategic acquisitions (Traveller, 2012). The company scores a 40 on the policy and strategy front on the EFQM analysis indicating strong business strategies and sound business policies. The company has been objective in deciphering needs of the organizations and that of its agreement partners. The binding agreements that are signed between them are strong and working well in most of the regions. On the stakeholder front, the company has been consistently providing profits and dividend, thereby reflecting a very good stakeholder policy. The company has sound strategies but is yet to recognise the potential in the low cost airline group. It shall stray away from company policy of delivering luxury and comfort, but has great untapped profit potential at given geographical base of company operations. It is strongly suggested that this segment is explored. People Emirates group makes itself dedicated to the task of being responsible to its various stakeholder groups. It believes that employees are the key strength to its functioning and completely engages employees in their daily decision making routine. The company employs over 62000 employees from all over the world. Each employee contributes towards the group goals and is free to assist the overall competitiveness of the organization. Employees are not discriminated on the basis of caste, creed, race or religion. The company has huge numbers of women staff as well, that lead the crew area of the airline company. It also employs people from all across the globe which is evident from the fact the less than 5% of the people are of UAE origin in the staff list. Employee compensation is standardised for all country operation of the concern and is based on UAE base rates. As a part of employee benefit, the company has designed a profit sharing scheme which provides impetus to staff to learn and grow within the organization (Pavlove, 2013). The company websites shares its vision mission and responsibility with each one. It is evident from the number of awards, that air hostesses from Emirates win, that employees are being allowed full opportunity to realise the best in them. Emirates air hostesses has received as many as 400 award in the travel industry, thereby bringing laurels to the company’s employee and people practices (Tradearabia, 2013). The company has a detailed outline of cash and non-cash benefits that it provides to its employees. Apart from these, there are several additional benefits like, Emirates membership and travel allowances. The health and safety standards are of top notch because the company is engaged in the airlines business, where safety is a priority for business sustenance (The Emirates group, 2013D). Emirate Airlines obtains a score of 61 on the people perspective. This high score reflects the strength of company’s employee policies and strategies. The company has recruitments aligned with strategy needs. An example of this is local recruitments for country-specific flights. Also, the organization has been successful in designing core employee policies that assure employee engagement and opportunities for growth. There are several on-the-job trainings that align employees’ performance with the requirements of Emirates standards. As a part of sharing information including the vision and mission of the company, financial information and other such data necessary for employee’s knowledge are made publicly available for all to use (The Emirates group, 2013B). Partnerships and Resources Emirates airlines are dedicated to the task of making strategic alliances and partnerships in business with other airline companies. It has signed the code of agreements with Indian Airlines, Thai Airways, Oman Air, Korean Airlines and many other Asian and international airlines for its operations in these countries. In October 2012, the airline has also entered into a marketing partnership with Australia, which promotes joint marketing activities in the country. The agreement states that Australian tourism board and Emirates are to jointly spend $14.3 million in promotional activities over a period of 3 years in Australia. In another agreement, the company agrees to work towards increasing company’s awareness and visibility across over 100 destinations with the Ministry of Mauritius. Such partnerships allow greater operational scope for the airline (Emirates, 2013). It is to be noted that such agreements hold valid even if the companies get acquired during the consolidation process of any competitive airline. On the financial management front, Emirates has had a really impressive history. However, post the global financial crisis, the company has seen a slump and owes huge debt obligations. Emirates thus have a huge borrowing figure. As of the annual report of 2013, the company reported AED 35,483 million of long-term borrowings and lease liabilities as compared to AED 26,843 million in 2012. The net cash margin of the company fell to 17.5% from 20.3% in 2012. This implies that the company is operating with huge debt obligations and it might face difficulty to pay off its debt and interest obligations if the cash flow position continues to lower. The group needs to use a large portion of its cash flow to repay its debt obligations. Current cash position restricts the company’s ability to use funds towards working capital requirements and general corporate needs. A decline observed in the cash margin also reflects that Emirates has less flexibility in planning and making appropriate responses and reactions in the business (The Emirates group, 2013F). In management of its physical assets, Emirates group has its own engineering division to handle aircrafts. It has sound environmental standard practices and the company has been accredited to be environmentally responsible. It also engages in continuous acquisition of fleet and takes pride in owning one of the youngest fleet of airlines in the world (GE Aviation, 2001). The company obtains a score of 57 on the partnership and resources parameter. Such high score indicates a very good understanding and existence of partnership between Emirates and its partners and alliances. The analysis also stresses on sound financial, social and legal as well as management practices within the company. As a part of recommendations, it is suggested that risk management is enhanced and focused concerning company’s financials. Processes The core theme behind the company’s management is customer focus and driven by the same theme comes the idea of putting a process in place, which is customer-centric and addresses their needs and wants in a speedy manner. Emirates agree that such a process is an expensive one but they believe that the company can extract huge profits and a strong competitive position by adopting this approach. Emirates airlines have one of the strongest online presences and allow air ticket booking through one of the simplest processes. Ownership at airport terminals makes boarding and disembarking management easier. They also have a special self-check in-system at airports. However, in terms of baggage management, conflict with cabin crew and overall quality of services, the company seems to be losing out on brand image (Sambridge, 2010). The company has a well-designed flight schedule and operates 132 destinations across the globe. It has a relatively stronger market presence in Europe and Asia, than in America and Africa. It has dedicated itself to the task of becoming a customer-centric organization by making flying experience easier and more rewarding with its frequent flyer programs, business rewards, online check-in and skywards for individual flyers. It has excellent in-flight entertainment and meals service. There are three main categories of travel namely business class, economy class and first class. There is no doubt in determining that passenger comfort and convenience is one of the best in class for Emirates Airlines (Skytrax, n.d.). Emirates Group gets a score of 54 on the process perspective. The company has been instrumental in designing comfort for its passengers. It has been allowing luxury wherever it can and also, innovating needs of customers or creating needs for its innovative products. The company has a sound mechanism of handling customer movement and its data division is dedicated towards smooth management of airport services. However, it is suggested that Emirates should pay more attention towards the needs of low income group customers and innovates on low cost airlines. Customer Results Emirates offer more than just transportation through its airline. It offers a unique flying experience where people experience luxury while travelling. The airline targets passengers, who do not fall in the middle income and below category and has been successful in maintaining its name as an airline for those seeking luxury. Flights are more expensive as compared to industry standards and so are their services. It is the best in class for in-flight comfort and convenience. In delivering convenience, Emirates developed the strongest online presence in the airlines industry. It has made booking process much easier and also, introduced self-check in counters at airports. It has also been reported that cabin crew is generally friendly and address customer needs swiftly. The company observed that over 80% of the people made their bookings online. Also, people who used services of Emirates were happy to return over and over again, as reported in company’s internal data (The Points Guy, 2013). The company score a fair 37 in the customer results on the EFQM model. The score is an indicator of high customer focus of the company. It has been consistently innovating on improving customer service via successful implementation of various in-flight benefits and services. From the subjective data obtained, it was assured that the company is managing the level of customer satisfaction very well. It has been successful in delivering and maintaining its status of serving the elite. People Results There exists a positive relationship between the cabin crew and leadership at Emirates airline. The fact that the company employs more than 45000 employees, without many supervisors to monitor their work, implies that employees themselves have great decision making power on-board. Such power also allows for better decision making. Such independence of decision making also reflects greater confidence and more association with job related tasks. Researchers report that employee engagement was seen as a measure of employee satisfaction, wherein more of employee engagement implied higher level of job satisfaction. This also meant that people were proud of their work and liked to be in the job. Emirates takes pride in its concern and care for its employees and it is reflected in the level of job satisfaction of staff member who have stuck to their jobs, despite irregular work schedules (Middleeastevents, 2013). Emirates Group has obtained a score of 44 on the people’s parameter on the EFQM analysis. This is an indicator of how well the company treats its employees. As a part of their global strategy, worldwide acquisition has added to the cultural diversity in their recruits and also, has contributed towards better management of cultural diversity in company operations. Its employees are highly engaged towards their work and work well towards company’s objective of delivering comfort and convenience to its clients. Flight schedules and job routines are managed keeping the employees’ benefits in mind. There is a need of a sound performance management system in place for allowing fair appraisals (The Emirates Group career Centre, 2013). Society Results From the society’s point of view, Emirates Airline has engaged itself in a number of activities that form a part of its corporate social responsibility. It has a dedicated program towards environment management that also overlooks compliances of the airline in emission standards. Also, a part of this program is dedicated towards recycling of waste products, including paper and clothes. The company is dedicated to the task of managing emissions from ground vehicles, equipment and flights. They have a focussed approach towards carbon emissions (The Emirates group, 2013A). Along with this, they participate in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve in UAE and Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa, a green project in Australia. Emirates also runs a Friendship Hospital Ship to provide relief to those affected by floods, a CHES Home for HIV-affected children and a Seva Student Home for girls in India, a school for slum children in Bangladesh, a computer-learning centre for students in Ethiopia and a program to renovate ramshackle classrooms in poor schools in Kenya (The Emirates group, 2013E). The score obtained on the society is 35, which is fairly good. This indicates that the company is well-aware of its social obligations and is active in participation towards social welfare needs. People are happy about the company’s attempts towards management of its social responsibility. The company is also not restricted to the home country in serving people. It has spread out its corporate social responsibility across various regions in the world. However, the company lags behind its competitors in terms of social responsibility attempts towards women care and health care divisions. Key Performance Results Emirates Airline has had 25 years of unhindered profit making history. It has again recorded profits to the tune of AED 2,839 million, which is roughly a 56% increase over previous year’s profits. However, operating margin stood at 3.9%, a low figure which is being attributed to high fuel prices and yield pressures. Despite so, high amount of borrowings taken by the company is becoming a growing concern. This is also impacting operating cash flow usage in the business. Such cash flow is being used in payments of principal and interest of huge debt obligation rather than as working capital requirements (The Emirates group, 2013F). Revenues and passenger yields have also contributed positively towards the company’s growth and have consistently been showing a positive performance. The company has an established brand name in excellent customer service and luxury travel experience. However, a concern arises in terms of competition suffered from low cost airlines, primarily in the Asian subcontinent (The Emirates group, 2013F). The company’s score on key performance results is 30. The financial indicators represent a low score primarily because of weak perception of company’s debt position. Profit making and revenue share is significantly high and persistent records in profit making reflect a positive company image. As for recommendations, it is suggested that the company improves upon its debt position to enhance the company’s financials and ensure sustainability in growth. References Arabian Aerospace. (2013). Emirates and Air Mauritius link as first A380 opens Indian Ocean route. Retrieved from http://www.arabianaerospace.aero/emirates-and-air-mauritius-link-as-first-a380-opens-indian-ocean-route.html Emirates. (2013). Our Partners. Retrieved from http://www.emirates.com/in/english/skywards/about/partners/our-partners.aspx GE Aviation. (2001). Emirates to Establish an Engine Repair and Overhaul Facility in Dubai over 300 engines to be serviced annually. Retrieved from http://www.geaviation.com/press/services/services_20110621.html IATA. (2012). CEO Interview: Emirates Airline Make it Happen Attitude. Retrieved from http://www.iata.org/publications/airlines-international/june-2012/Pages/ceo-interview-emirates.aspx Middleeastevents. (2013). Conde Nast Traveller Readers Proclaim Emirates Best Airline in 2013 for Business and Leisure Travel. Retrieved from http://www.middleeastevents.com/site/pres_dtls.asp?pid=19207 Pavlove, E. (2013). Predicting employee engagement and job satisfaction among cabin crew. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/4476141/employee_engagement_and_job_satisfaction_among_cabin_crew Sambridge, A. (2010). Emirates tops airline service quality survey. Retrieved from http://www.arabianbusiness.com/emirates-tops-airline-service-quality-survey-9090.html Skytrax. (n.d.). Emirates First Class and Business Class Lounge customer reviews. Retrieved from http://www.airlinequality.com/Product/Lounge-EK.htm Sull, D. N., Ghoshal, S., and Monteiro, F. (2005). The Hub of the World. Retrieved from http://www.donsull.com/downloads/hub_of_the_world.pdf The Emirates Group career Centre. (2013). Performance Development. Retrieved from https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/Careers_Overview/corp_services/Performance.aspx The Emirates group. (2013A). Community Initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/our-vision-values/community_initiatives/community_initiatives.aspx The Emirates group. (2013B). Vision and Values. Retrieved from http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/our-vision-values/our-vision-values.aspx The Emirates group. (2013C). News. Retrieved from https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/news/default.aspx The Emirates group. (2013D). Safety. Retrieved from https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/why/safety.aspx The Emirates group. (2013E). Media Kit. Retrieved from http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/media-kit/media-kit.aspx?tab=3 The Emirates group. (2013F). Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/facts-figures/annual-report.aspx The Emirates group. (2013G). Innovation. Retrieved from https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/why/innovation.aspx The Points Guy. (2013). Emirates. Retrieved from http://thepointsguy.com/category/emirates/ Tradearabia. (2013). Emirates SkyCargo wins excellence award. Retrieved from http://www.tradearabia.com/news/IND_247155.html Traveller. (2012). We're not interested in joining airline alliances: Emirates. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/were-not-interested-in-joining-airline-alliances-emirates-20121219-2bm6f.html Appendix Questionnaire SECTION 1 LEADERSHIP This criterion examines the extent to which your leadership develops and enables the realization of the organization's vision and mission; whether the leadership develops and nurtures value systems and behaviours required to achieve sustainable success, and finally, whether the leadership is responsive to customer needs and market dynamics. In this context, how effective is your leadership in... 1a. Developing and Modelling the Way Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 1 Leaders' commitment to organization goals. 5 2 Leaders obtain feedback on their personal performance. 0 3 Leaders display ethical behaviour. 5 1b. Leaders involvement in improving management systems 4 Leaders' use of performance information. 4 5 Leaders practice good governance. 4 6 Leaders provide resources for improvement. 4 1c. Leaders personal involvement with customers, partners and community 7 Leaders' relationship with customers. 3 8 Leaders' relationship with suppliers. 5 9 Leaders' relationship with community. 4 1d. Leaders reinforce culture of excellence with people 10 Leaders' empowerment of employees. 4 11 Leaders' support for excellence. 5 12 Accessibility of leaders. 1 1e. Leaders Champion Organizational Change 13 Leaders' promotion of innovation 14 Leader's promotion of customer focus. 15 Leader's support for employee improvement efforts. 3 SECTION 2 POLICY AND S TRATEGY This criterion examines how your organization sets about achieving its goals vision and mission; through the use of stakeholder focused strategy and planning, policies, target setting and appropriate management processes. In this context, how effective is your organization in........ 2a. Consideration of Stakeholder Needs. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 16 Consideration of stakeholder needs. 3 17 Analysis of customer, competitor and market dynamics. 2 18 Collation and analysis of supplier and partner needs data and information. 5 2b. Collation and use of performance information and research and learning. 19 Consideration of political, economic, social and legislative factors. 3 20 Inclusion of benchmarking. 3 21 Collation and analysis of quantitative data. 3 2c. Methodology for developing, measuring and reviewing policy and strategy. 22 The process and approach to setting long and short-term goals 2 23 Consideration of the organization's strengths and weaknesses. 2 24 Inclusion of principles of quality and continuous improvement. 5 2d. Ensuring policy and strategy are translated into action. 25 Integration and alignment of team plans with strategic objectives. 4 26 Deployment of action plans which include targets, measures and monitoring processes. 4 27 Communication of strategy to employees and key stakeholders. 4 SECTION 3 PEOPLE This criterion examines how effectively your organization releases the full potential of its people, through empowerment, communication, fair treatment, recognition and rewards, which motivate staff and build capability. In this context, how effective is your organization in..... 3a. People resources planned, managed and improved and sustained. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 28 Alignment of HR plans and policies with organization strategy. 4 29 Succession planning and career development opportunities. 3 30 Alignment of recruitment policies and strategies with organization strategy. 5 3b. Identification and development of people's knowledge and competencies. 31 Appraisal of employee performance. 3 32 Assessment of skills and capability development needs. 4 33 On-the-job training, non-formal training and education opportunities. 5 3c. Empowerment and involvement of people. 34 Enabling employees to realize their full potential. 5 35 Design of jobs and work teams for innovation and improvement. 4 36 Collection of employee feedback on expectations and needs. 0 3d. Dialogue between people and the organization. 37 Sharing of vision and mission with employees. 5 38 Availability of business performance data across organization. 5 39 Identification and sharing best practice with employees. 5 3e. People are rewarded, recognized and cared for. 40 Compensation, recognition and reward of employees. 4 41 Monitoring and maintaining of workplace health and safety. 5 42 Benefits that meet employee needs. 4 SECTION 4 PARTNERSHIP AND RESOURCES This criterion examines how your organization plans for and manages its external suppliers and partnerships; its internal resources including technologies, physical assets, information, etc... to achieve its vision and mission, and ensure community and environmental compliance requirements are met. In this context, how effective is the organization in... 4a. Management of external partnerships. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 43 Identifying and managing supplier relationships. 5 44 Identifying and developing (non-supplier) partnership opportunities 5 45 Identifying and working with partners. 5 4b. Management of finances. 46 Alignment of financial strategy and policies with organization strategy. 2 47 Availability of financial information to support decision making. 4 48 Management of investment decisions and financial risk. 2 4c. Management of physical assets (buildings, equipment and materials). 49 Monitoring and management of environmental impact. 4 50 Monitoring and management of legislative compliance requirements. 4 51 Alignment of purchasing and supplier strategies with business needs ... 5 4d. Management of information and knowledge. 52 Relevance and utility of information systems. 3 52 Mechanisms for obtaining, sharing, and using information (including e-commerce and intranet). 3 53 Data accuracy, utility, security and availability to people who need it, 3 4e. Processes are systematically designed and managed. 54 Relevance and utility of information systems. 4 55 Mechanisms for obtaining, sharing, and using information (including e-commerce and intranet). 4 56 Data accuracy, utility, security and availability to people who need it, 4 SECTION 5 PROCESSES This criterion examines how your organization designs, manages and improves its processes to achieve its vision, mission and goals. This includes processes for the design, production, delivering and servicing of your products and services, as well as managing and improving customer relationships. In this context, how effective is the organization in... 5a. Processes are systematically designed and managed. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 57 Identification and definition (detailing) of key processes. 3 58 Availability of data and information to measure process performance. 3 59 Assignment of responsibility for managing processes. 3 5b. Processes are improved using innovation to meet customer needs 60 System for prioritizing improvement projects. 4 61 Continuous improvement of process performance. 4 62 Communicating changes to stakeholders, and reviewing impact of changes. 4 5c. Customer feedback is used in the design of products and services. 63 Identification of customer needs. 3 64 Design or re-design of products or services ... 4 65 Translation of customer requirements to service / product features. 4 5d. Products and services are produced delivered and serviced to standards. 66 Production of products and services. 4 67 Marketing / communicating the value proposition of products and services. 5 68 Delivery and servicing of products and services. 5 5e. Customer relationships are managed and enhanced. 69 Processes for building customer loyalty. 5 70 Mechanisms for acquiring customer feedback 0 71 Processes for complaint monitoring and resolution. 3 SECTION 6 CUSTOMER RESULTS This criterion examines the levels of performance your business is achieving in terms of customer satisfaction, and performance. It considers both the approach you use to determine the perceptions of customers, and the actual results you are achieving in terms of customer satisfaction and meeting customer performance targets. In this context, how effective is your organization in... 6a. Customer perception measures of the organization - their use and the results. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 72 Acquisition of data for the measurement of customer experiences and needs. 4 73 Improving trends and levels of customer satisfaction/ performance. 4 74 Appropriacy of targets for customer satisfaction/ performance. 4 75 Comparison of customer perceptions with other units and organizations (best in class?). 3 76 Cause and effect analysis to explain customer perceptions. 4 6b. Customer perception measures of the organization - their use and the results. 77 Use of internal performance indicators to measure performance against customer targets. 3 78 Improving trends and levels of internal performance against customer targets. 4 79 Appropriacy of targets for internal performance against customer targets. 3 80 Comparison of internal performance against customer targets with other units and organizations (best in class?). 4 81 Cause and effect analysis to explain customer results. 4 SECTION 7 PEOPLE RESULTS This criterion examines the levels of performance your business is achieving in terms of employee satisfaction, and performance. It considers both the approach you use to determine the perceptions of employees, and the actual results you are achieving in terms of employee satisfaction and meeting employee performance targets. In this context, how effective is your organization in... 7a. People perception measures of the organization - their use and the results. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 82 Acquisition of data for the measurement of employee experiences and needs. 4 83 Improving trends and levels of employee satisfaction/ performance. 5 84 Appropriacy of targets for employee satisfaction/ performance. 5 85 Comparison of employee perceptions with other units and organizations (best in class?). 4 86 Cause and effect analysis to explain employee perceptions. 4 7b. Internal measures used to monitor performance and predict people satisfaction 87 Use of internal performance indicators to measure performance against employee targets. 4 88 Improving trends and levels of internal performance against employee targets. 5 89 Appropriacy of targets for internal performance against employee targets. 5 90 Comparison of internal performance against employee targets with other units and organizations (best in class?). 4 91 Cause and effect analysis to explain employee results. 4 SECTION 8 SOCIETY RESULTS This criterion examines the levels of performance your business is achieving in terms of society/community, and performance. It considers both the approach you use to determine the perceptions of the society/community, and the actual results you are achieving in terms of society/community satisfaction and meeting society/community compliance and performance targets. In this context, how effective is your organization in... 8a. Community perception measures of the organization - their use and the results. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 92 Acquisition of data for the measurement of society/community experiences and needs. 4 93 Improving trends and levels of society/community satisfaction/ performance. 4 94 Appropriacy of targets for society/community satisfaction/ performance. 4 95 Comparison of society/community perceptions with other units and organizations (best in class?). 3 96 Cause and effect analysis to explain society/community perceptions. 4 8b. Internal measures used to monitor performance and predict community satisfaction 97 Use of internal performance indicators to measure performance against society/community targets. 3 98 Improving trends and levels of internal performance against society/community targets. 4 99 Appropriacy of targets for internal performance against society/community targets. 3 100 Comparison of internal performance against society/community targets with other units and organizations (best in class?). 3 101 Cause and effect analysis to explain society/community results. 3 SECTION 9 KEY PERFORMANCE RESULTS This criterion examines the levels of performance your business is achieving in terms of its planned goals and targets. This will include financial and other key performance results. It will include both the approach you use to measure results, and the actual results you are achieving in terms business performance targets. In this context, how effective is your organization in... 9a. The measures of key performance outcomes (lagging) planned by the organization. Zero Base Very Weak Weak Acceptable Strong Extremely Strong 102 Acquisition of data for the measurement of key business performance results. 4 103 Improving trends and levels of key performance results. 3 104 Appropriacy of targets for key performance results. 3 105 Comparison of key performance results with other units and organizations (best in class?). 3 106 Cause and effect analysis to explain key performance results. 2 9b. The measure of key performance drivers (leading) indicators. 107 Acquisition and Use of key performance driver (leading indicators) measurement. 4 108 Improving trends and levels of key performance drivers against targets. 3 109 Appropriacy of targets for key performance targets. 3 110 Comparison of key performance drivers against targets with other units and organizations (best in class?). 2 111 Cause and effect analysis to explain key driver results. 3 Read More