To achieve such a Quality Award or Prize is usually a long journey and can be a costly one from that initial commitment to quality. Even though the journey and the end result is usually well worthwhile for the organisation and its customers. An organisation on such a journey whether its ultimate aim is for an award or not, needs to be able to assess its performance along the way. We must consider today the capabilities organisations and people will need for tomorrow. 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.