The Business Excellence Model
CII has been promoting the Excellence Framework over two decades towards building organizational
excellence. The Excellence Model encompasses all aspects of managing the business viz., People,
Partnerships, Processes and Performance and provides an integrated management framework for self-
assessment for the top management. The Excellence Model is based on universally accepted standards
and practices that are found in the European Quality Award, the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, Japan Quality Award and Australian Quality Award. The Business Excellence Model has several
organizations who successfully implement the Model. This recognition is based on International
benchmarks and is a rigorous and transparent procedure, creating opportunities to benchmark against
other organisations. The Assessment is done by a team of highly qualified and trained business
professionals. CII and Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) jointly instituted the CII- EXIM Bank Award for
Business Excellence, to recognize the organisations that have demonstrated outstanding performance
supported by excellent practices, and present them as role models for others to emulate.
The CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence is based on the EFQM Excellence Model. The
Fundamental Concepts of Excellence build on the foundation of these basic human rights, assuming they
are universally applied.
This initiative encourages organizations to actively apply these values, set out as 10 Principles for
sustainable and socially responsible business, across their global operations.
Regardless of sector, size, structure or maturity, organizations need to establish an appropriate
management framework to be successful. The Excellence Model is a practical, non-prescriptive
framework that enables organizations to:
Assess where they are on the path to excellence; helping them to understand their key strengths
and potential gaps in relation to their stated Vision and Mission.
Provide a common vocabulary and way of thinking about the organization that facilitates the
effective communication of ideas, both within and outside the organization.
Integrate existing and planned initiatives, removing duplication and identifying gaps,
Provide a basis structure for the organization’s management system.
Whilst there are numerous management tools and techniques commonly used, the Excellence Model
provides a holistic view of the organization and it can be used to determine how these different
methods fit together and complement each other. The Model can therefore be used in conjunction with
any number of these tools, based on the needs and function of the organization, as an overarching
framework for developing sustainable excellence.
EXCELLENT ORGANIZATIONS ACHIEVE AND SUSTAIN OUTSTANDING LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE THAT
MEET OR EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALL THEIR STAKEHOLDERS.
All organizations strive to be successful, some fail, some achieve periods of success but ultimately fade
from view, and a few achieve sustainable success, gaining deserved respect and admiration.
The EFQM Foundation was formed to recognize and promote sustainable success and to provide
guidance to those seeking to achieve it. This is realized through a set of three integrated components
which comprise the Excellence Model:
The Fundamental Concepts of Excellence: The underlying principles which are the essential
foundation of achieving sustainable excellence for any organization.
The Excellence Model: A framework to help organizations convert the Fundamental Concepts
and RADAR logic into practice.
RADAR logic: A dynamic assessment framework and powerful management tool that provides
the backbone to support an organization as it addresses the challenges it must overcome if it is
to realize its aspiration to achieve sustainable excellence.
Using these three integrated components has helped organizations of all sizes and from all sectors to
compare themselves with the attributes, qualities and achievements of sustainable organizations. They
can use them to develop a culture of excellence, bring consistency to their management style, access
good practices, drive innovation and improve their results.
Used appropriately, the Excellence Model, with the associated RADAR logic and Fundamental Concepts,
ensures that all the management practices used by an organization form a coherent system that is
continually improved and delivers the intended strategy for the organization.
The 2013 version of the Model, RADAR logic and Fundamental Concepts builds on years of experience
and takes into account the current and future challenges of an organization.
The Fundamental Concepts of Excellence outline the essential foundation for achieving sustainable
excellence for any organization. They can be used as the basis to describe the attributes of an excellence
organizational culture. They also serve as a common language for senior management.
The Excellence Model allows Managers/ Leaders to understand the cause and effect relationships
between what their organization does and the results it achieves. With the support of the RADAR logic,
it is possible to make a robust assessment of the degree of excellence of any organization.
The RADAR logic provides a structured approach to question the performance of an organization. It also
supports the scoring mechanism behind the Excellence Award and other recognition or assessment
schemes and can help to lead change and manage improvement projects in an organization.
