In today’s society we are surrounded by large amounts of information, quick decisions and high expectations to perform successfully in everything we do. As a statistical agency, Statistics Sweden is responsible for producing some of the information that is used for decision-making in society and is therefore under constant internal and external pressure to perform well. The responsibility to produce high-quality statistics to all customers and users is not simple. What is the quality of the statistics produced? How do we assure and control the quality of the statistics? Do we use our resources efficiently? These are important questions, which need to be addressed. One way of addressing these and other issues is to work with quality in a systematic fashion. Thus there is a need for a Quality Management System, i.e., a systematic way to handle quality issues of all kinds in all parts of the organization, and to continue the journey towards the vision of being a “world class statistical agency”. This Masters thesis is a description and discussion of the efforts to find a suitable Quality Management System. The thesis starts with a discussion about the vague quality concept, continues with a description of numerous frameworks, methods and systems related to quality management as well as their pros and cons and ends with a recommendation for Statistics Sweden. The recommendation is to use the EFQM Excellence Model as a quality framework, Six Sigma as a tool-box for improvement projects and modern internal auditing methods for evaluation and follow-up. Finally, issues related to the implementation of the system are discussed.

A l'image des grands groupes, les PME souhaitent, elles aussi, profiter des méthodes modernes de management pour améliorer leurs processus, leurs performances et leur compétitivité. L'intérêt du secteur des PME se porte sur les éléments du concept Lean Six Sigma qui leur semblent appropriés pour réaliser ces objectifs. Après avoir constaté une lacune dans les recherches sur ce sujet et une lacune méthodologique concernant l'implémentation du LSS dans les PME, nous proposons une méthodologie de conception, d'application et de contrôle du LSS pour ces PME, que nous avons appelée LSS Plutus. Elle est dédiée aux PME de la production et elle prend en compte leur spécificité. Dans ce but, nous avons restreint la boîte à outils traditionnelle du LSS utilisée dans les grands groupes. Nous avons également créé deux variantes pour mettre en œuvre notre méthodologie qui correspondent aux besoins, capacités et maturités différents des PME. Nous avons élaboré des indicateurs, des outils, ainsi qu'un guide d'application de la méthode LSS pour les PME de la production et sa version informatique en TIBCO. Nous avons décidé de renforcer l'efficience des améliorations, en déployant les actions de planification, de standardisation et de pérennisation des changements. Dans ce but, nous proposons de modifier les critères du Modèle d'Excellence E.F.Q.M. pour qu'elles puissent prendre en compte les conditions de fonctionnement de la méthode LSS dans les PME. La méthodologie proposée a été vérifiée dans deux PME de la production en Pologne et en France, ce qui a confirmé son utilité et son efficacité en termes d'amélioration des performances et de développement des organisations

The number of Fourth-Party Logistics providers (4PLs) is growing. Researchers have expressed the importance of measuring the performance of a business, but still there are only a few customised performance measurement frameworks developed for logistic service providers. This Master Thesis addresses this issue by performing a multiple case study at two 4PLs that are operating in separate industries, one in reverse logistics and the other in the construction industry. Previous research agrees that performance measurement frameworks have to be comprehensive and at the same time provide the right information in an understandable way. The Balanced Scorecard and the EFQM Business Excellence Model address this issue with different approaches and have been used in further developments of new frameworks. The empirical study found that none of the studied businesses had a well-developed framework for their performance measurement and therefore the alignment between their measurements and their business strategy was affected. Performance measurement frameworks, which have a wide application, do not have a flaw that make them unsuitable to use for a 4PL. Managers in the researched businesses therefore see a need for frameworks that are easily implemented and are customised to their specific situation. Moreover, the study found that no alignment had been developed yet between the customer and the 4PL. The businesses strive to align their KPIs among the partners they are cooperating with, down the supply chain, but are not interested in communicating them to their customers. Offering their customers full transparency might affect the businesses’ processes. Research connected to performance measurement specified to 4PLs and Logistic Service Providers (LSPs) in general is needed since the currently available research leaves space for uncertainties and further discussion.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether Swedish dental clinics apply parts of Business Excellence models in their business operations and whether or not they are aware of doing so. The framework for this survey will be based on the success factors that we identify in the Swiss dental clinic Frenkenklinik AG, which is known to effectively apply theories behind Business Excellence. Background: An extensive range of research has been carried out regarding Business Excellence and its effect on manufacturing, service companies and even healthcare. Still, there is a lack of studies on how Business Excellence can change and improve the dental care sector. However, there is a clinic in Switzerland that has not only implemented Business Excellence, but done it so well as to win the prestigious EFQM Excellence Award. Therefore, we want to investigate what Frenkenklinik AG does, that makes them so successful and if dental clinics in Sweden are applying Business Excellence and if they are aware of the fact that what they do could be considered Business Excellence. Method: In order to answer the purpose of our thesis we had to employ a mixed method approach. We required a qualitative approach, in the form of semi-structured interviews, in order to find the factors that make Frenkenklinik AG so successful in their application of Business Excellence. After this, we used a quantitative method when surveying whether Swedish dental clinics employ activities that are part of a Business Excellence approach. Conclusion: In conclusion, we have identified five factors that have made Frenkenklinik successful at using Business Excellence. We then have found that Swedish dental clinics are certainly using parts of Business Excellence; however, they are not aware of actually having a Business Excellence approach. And lastly, we found recommendations for Swedish dental clinics to improve their journey towards Excellence.

<p>In today’s society we are surrounded by large amounts of information, quick decisions and high expectations to perform successfully in everything we do. As a statistical agency, Statistics Sweden is responsible for producing some of the information that is used for decision-making in society and is therefore under constant internal and external pressure to perform well. The responsibility to produce high-quality statistics to all customers and users is not simple. What is the quality of the statistics produced? How do we assure and control the quality of the statistics? Do we use our resources efficiently? These are important questions, which need to be addressed.</p><p>One way of addressing these and other issues is to work with quality in a systematic fashion. Thus there is a need for a Quality Management System, i.e., a systematic way to handle quality issues of all kinds in all parts of the organization, and to continue the journey towards the vision of being a “world class statistical agency”.</p><p>This Masters thesis is a description and discussion of the efforts to find a suitable Quality Management System. The thesis starts with a discussion about the vague quality concept, continues with a description of numerous frameworks, methods and systems related to quality management as well as their pros and cons and ends with a recommendation for Statistics Sweden. The recommendation is to use the EFQM Excellence Model as a quality framework, Six Sigma as a tool-box for improvement projects and modern internal auditing methods for evaluation and follow-up. Finally, issues related to the implementation of the system are discussed.</p>

The construction industry has inherent problems due to its structure and fragmentation. Its poor performance has been challenged by its client base and it has been forced to seek ways to deliver improved performance. This project was initiated as a response to this challenge and represents one organisation's attempt to deliver improvements. This organisation provides both design and construction solutions, offering ‘total life of asset support' from business consultancy through to decommissioning, in a neutral contractual environment. Initial investigations of the integration of design and construction and of the use of the EFQM Excellence Model concluded that a holistic view of the organisation's performance was needed. Most organisations use traditional, easily quantifiable measures, such as time and cost, whilst neglecting the softer cultural issues, as a way of assessing overall business performance. This prompted further research into the use of performance measurement and also a review of the culture that existed within the organisation. It became clear that many performance initiatives failed because of the lack of ‘Change Action driven by Results (CAR)'. The failure to initiate change or implement action based on the results achieved, means that performance measures are not being integrated into the management systems of the organisations. Based on the conclusions of this work, this project has developed and implemented the Integrated Business Improvement System (IBIS) within the primary case study unit and also two other organisations, all of which are part of AMEC Plc. The project details the barriers that were experienced during the development and implementation of the system and concludes that it is the human component that is critical for the successful implementation and use of any improvement system. The findings of this work have been presented in five peer- reviewed papers.

In the thesis there is described increasing importance of quality and quality management. One of the conception of quality management is Total quality management. The european method of TQM is the Excelence model EFQM. It´s an instrument for complex control of quality. The thesis describes an aplication of the model in ČSÚ and compares the results, which has the organization reached till 2002.

The objective of this diploma thesis is to map the opinions of organisations and the public on the value and benefits of the National Quality Award of the Czech Republic based on the realised survey. The results of this survey are used to reason the suggestions to improve the importance of the prize and its perception in the society. Apart from the general quality conception, the theoretical part of the thesis also includes the presentation of the EFQM Excellence Model principle that represents a base for the National Quality Award of the Czech Republic. The particular programmes of this prize are also presented - the ones the organisations may apply for. The practical part contains the analyses and data evaluations from the questionnaires that were answered by organisations as well as the respondents from the public. The practical part also includes the review of the quality prizes awarded abroad.

The work describes the application of the EFQM Excellence Model and the implementation of these requirements in the organization. Part of this work is to analyze the performance criteria of evaluation, identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement.

The goal of this diploma thesis is to create a methodology for rapid assessment of Service Desk function. The thesis comprises three logical units. The introductory part describes a theoretical framework of methodologies used for general functions of IT services. As a part of this section, the case study of delivery of IT services in company Pražská energetika a.s. follows. In the second part, the diploma thesis describes a methodology based on introductory analysis for evaluation of Service Desk in certain aspects of its operation including related issues of lifecycle of providing IT services. The final part of the thesis provides a case study which is based on application of the proposed methodology on several selected companies.