| EN ROUTE TO EXCELLENCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF TQM APPLICATIONS AND MATURITY IN 'AVERAGE ORGANIZATIONS' A,M. Ahmed & Mohamed Zairi Issue 26 (Vol. 13, No. 2), December 2003, pp. 139-157 TQM maturity and sustainability are equated with the principle of excellence, which is gaining wider acceptance in the business community. The problem with finding a common and acceptable definition of the excellence and sustainability is the real purpose behind this paper. Excellence as a concept has always been associated with successful organisations competitively and commercially. This paper will deliberately focus on the experience of what has been termed �average� organisations, which is demonstrated by using Zairi�s framework called �The Ladder of Excellence� and an Intelligent Computer Based System (ICBS) to support the self-assessment process. Against various principles and criteria of excellence, various benchmarking data and practices are examined to identify common traits, patterns of performance and to identify gaps against median standards and practices exhibited by successful organisations. The paper concludes by providing useful guidelines that assist average organisations in their pursuit to excellence. |