We do know that Quality or Excellence Awards for organisations around the world have a set of principles that, if put into practice, will assist us to achieve answers to the above. Effective organisations are plan driven rather than event driven. Organisations benefit from decisions and actions that are based on facts and data. All systems and processes exhibit variability, which impacts on predictability and costs. The most important resource of any organisation is people especially their creativity and knowledge.
Continual improvement relies on continuous learning.
Quality is determined by the customer. In order to improve the output, improve the process. Impact on the community and the environment are key influences of future sustainability. As indicated for a survey organisation, particularly a small or medium sized organisation, to achieve a national quality or excellence award is virtually impossible due to the resources required. However many organisations and I would like to think all survey organisations, would like to be able to assess their performance at various stages of their life cycle, particularly as they embrace the path to quality.