Study of the critical factors for TQM implementation throughout the years, and longitudinal analysis of secondary quality winners of prestigious awards such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), is important. The longitudinal analysis in this research will enable verification that there are generic critical factors (CFs) for TQM implementation and generic critical areas of measurement (CAM) that if implemented fully and successfully will deliver excellence. Also, it will enable verification that these generic CFs help to ensure sustainable performance and this could help in answering how excellent organisations sustain their performance constantly. By studying what excellent organisations measure and what they place emphasis on throughout the year, the study will document measurements that have been used to sustain excellence and will consider empirically how these have led to tangible results over a period of twenty years; the study will examine MBNQA winners from 1988 until 2008. Finally, an excellence maturity assessment tool ¿assessment software¿ was developed as result of examining winning case studies over a long period of time, lists of critical factors of implementation (CFI) and critical areas of measurement (CAM) were extracted and used accompanied by the EFQM Excellence Model, and Zairi¿s two model ¿Index of Excellence¿ and ¿Ladder of Excellence¿. This formed the basis of the assessment tool developed; companies through this will be able to understand their level of excellence implementation and their position compared to world class organisations. / Government of Saudi Arabia represented by the Ministry of Higher Education

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Traditionally, organisational performance and efficiency measurements have been focused on cost containment. Today, however, performance measurement systems of world-class organisations are tailored to drive manufacturing and service business excellence. Quality is crucial for gaining a competitive advantage internationally. Quality award programmes promote quality awareness, recognise the quality achievements of companies and provide a platform for sharing successful quality management initiatives. Quality award frameworks form the foundation for developing business excellence models. Business excellence models are based on the premise that customer satisfaction, people (employee) satisfaction and impact on society are all achieved through leadership driving the policy and strategy, the people management, resources and processes, leading ultimately to excellence in business results. In this paper five of the most prominent international business excellence models are discussed. The success stories of companies that have implemented these models are looked at and the South African Excellence Model is compared with these five international models. The aim of the study is to analyse the South African Business Excellence Model as compared to international models such as the Deming Prize, the MBNQA, the EFQM, the AQA and the SQA. Case studies of two companies, Combine Cargo and Daimler Chrysler, are analysed with the aim of determining the shortcomings of the SAEM and the effects of the SAEM on business practices. Conclusions are drawn based on the experiences of these businesses, in order to verify the shortcomings and the effects of the SAEM. Lastly, the reasons for the failure of the SAEF and the SAEM are investigated and recommendations and guidelines are given for the revival of the SAEM and the promotion of quality in South Africa.

Au carrefour de l'éthique, du politique, de la noétique et de la métaphysique, la notion de kamāl (perfection, excellence) est fortement présente dans la philosophie arabe médiévale : elle est présente dans les écrits d'un al-Fārābī (870-950) ou d'un Miskawayh (932-1030), comme condition de bonne gouvernance et de bonheur. Elle constitue un sujet de prédilection dans les salons littéraires ou dans les lieux de rencontres entre intellectuels dans le Bagdad du Xe siècle, comme l'atteste l'ouvrage d'al-Tawḥīdī (932-1030) intitulé « Du plaisir et de la bonne compagnie ». C'est à la fois cette réflexion commune sur la notion d'excellence et l'apport propre de chacun des auteurs de ce siècle spécial qu'est le Xe siècle que ce travail de thèse se propose de développer. Sur le plan historique, il cherchera à apporter des éclairages sur les milieux intellectuels de l'époque, et à faire ressortir les affinités qui existaient entre des auteurs très connus comme al-Fārābī, et d'autres moins connus et moins étudiés comme Ibn 'Adiyy, philosophe chrétien, élève de Fârâbî et auteur d'un livre intitulé la réforme de l'éthique, ou comme al-'Amīrī, auteur d'un livre fondamental sur le bonheur. sur le plan théorique, il cherchera à dégager l'articulation entre la notion d'excellence et des notions aussi présentes chez les penseurs de cette époque telles que les notions de bonheur, de bien, de justice… cette réflexion se déploiera suivant trois axes extrêmement solidaires, mais dont la distinction permettra d'étudier, à chaque fois, la notion d'excellence, à partir d'un angle différent et selon des critères singuliers : un axe éthique, un axe politique et un axe noétique. / The concept of kamāl– perfection, excellence- is deeply ingrained in the medieval arabic philosophy, it is a concept at the crossroads of ethics, politics, noetics and metaphysics. This concept is present in the writings of someone like Al-Fārābī-870-950 or someone as Miskawayh -932-1030 and it appears as a prerequisite for good governance and happiness. It is also the most favoured theme of talks in the literary saloons or in places gathering intellectuals in Baghdad in the Xth century. This is revealed by the book of al-Tawḥīdī -932-1030- named Charming and Delightful company (pleasure of speaking in the court society).This work is at the same time a reflection on the concept of excellence and on what all the authors of this unique century have brought of interesting in this field.It is this matter that this PHD is exploring.On a historical plan, the purpose is to shed light on the intellectual milieu in this century and on the bonds between very famous authors like al-Fārābī and others less reknowned and less studied like Ibn Adiyy who was a Christian philosopher (student of al-Fārābī) and who wrote a book named “the reform of ethics” or other authors like al-Amīrī who wrote a very important book on happiness.On a theoretical plan, this work will try to unravel the links between the concept of excellence and other very important concepts which were the objects of work for thinkers of that century like happiness, goodness, justice…This reflection is built on three very important axes close one to another and at the same time distinct, the study of which will enable to shed light on the concept of excellence from different perspectives and on basis of particular criteria.The axes directing the present work are therefore the following: Ethics, politics,noetics.

L’objectif principal de cette recherche était d’étudier les effets du surinvestissement parental vis-à-vis de la santé psychique et de la réussite des enfants et des adolescents inscrits au sein d’un contexte de performance tout en explorant l’effet d’autres facteurs personnels et parentaux. Méthode : Les participants ont été recrutés en population sportive et scolaire. Au total, l’échantillon en population sportive était composé de 636 participants (201 enfants, 93 adolescents, 342 parents). L’échantillon en population scolaire était composé de 611 participants (127 enfants, 174 adolescents, 310 parents). Les enfants ont répondu à des questionnaires qui évaluaient l’anxiété, la personnalité, les pratiques parentales et le surinvestissement parental perçu. Les adolescents ont répondu à des questionnaires centrés sur l’évaluation de la santé psychique, la personnalité, les pratiques parentales et le surinvestissement parental perçu. Les parents ont répondu à des questionnaires portant sur les troubles de la personnalité et le surinvestissement parental. Résultats : Les études ont souligné: 1) l’intérêt d’un outil évaluant le surinvestissement parental chez l’enfant et l’adolescent, 2) l’influence délétère du surinvestissement parental perçu sur la santé psychique des enfants et des adolescents en population sportive et scolaire, 3) la vulnérabilité individuelle associée au perfectionnisme négatif parmi les enfants et les adolescents en population sportive et scolaire, 4) le rôle préjudiciable du surinvestissement parental perçu sur la réussite sportive et scolaire, 5) l’existence d’un profil de personnalité commun à la population sportive et scolaire associé au surinvestissement parental, 6) un modèle explicatif du surinvestissement parental fondé sur la conjonction de facteurs propres aux enfants/adolescents et aux parents, 7) des liens entre surinvestissement parental et syndrome de réussite par procuration. Conclusion : Les résultats soulignent les enjeux associés au surinvestissement parental vis-à-vis de la santé psychique et de la réussite des enfants et des adolescents, que ceux-ci soient inscrits au sein d’un contexte de performance sportive ou scolaire. Des actions de prévention pourraient être réalisées dans une perspective d’éducation à la santé afin de prévenir les effets associés à une pression de réussite pathogène. / The main objective of this research was to study the effects of parental overinvolvement regarding the mental health and achievement of children and adolescents enrolled in a context of excellence while exploring the effect other personal and parental factors. Method: Participants were recruited in sports and school population. In total, the sample population consisted of 636 sports participants (201 children, 93 adolescents, 342 parents). The school population sample consisted of 611 participants (127 children, 174 teenagers, 310 parents). The children responded to questionnaires that assessed anxiety, personality, parenting and parental overinvolvement perceived. Adolescents completed questionnaires focused on the assessment of mental health, personality, parenting and parental overinvolvement perceived. Parents responded to questionnaires on personality disorders and parental overinvolvement. Results: The studies have highlighted : 1) the interest of a scale assessing parental overinvolvement in children and adolescents, 2 ) the deleterious influence of perceived parental overinvolvement on the mental health of children and adolescents in sports and school population, 3 ) individual vulnerability associated with negative perfectionism among children and young people in sport and school, 4) the adverse role of perceived parental overinvolvement on athletic and academic success, 5) the existence of a common personality profile among sport and school population associated with parental overinvolvement 6) an explanatory model of parental overinvolvement based on the combination of personality factors and personal parental, 7) links between parental overinvolvement and achievement by proxy Spectrum. Conclusion: The results highlight the issues associated with parental overinvolvement regarding mental health and success of children and adolescents, as they are enrolled in a context of sports or academic excellence. Preventive actions could be carried out in an educational perspective in order to prevent the effects associated with disease pressure success

Public Relations-fältet (PR) har utvecklats enormt sen Grunig, Grunig och Dozier med flera lade fram paradigmet för fältet. Genom deras teorier kring Excellence PR har organisation efter organisation följt efter. Parallellt med PR-fältets framfart har sporten blivit än mer professionaliserad, något som borde innebära att sportorganisationer använder de PR-teorier som finns. Några som forskat på hur PR-arbetet ser ut i sportorganisationer är Bruce & Tini (2008) samt Xifra (2008). Dock inte på svenska sportklubbar. Modo Hockey åkte 1 april 2016 ned till den svenska andradivisionen, Hockeyallsvenskan. Det stod omedelbart klart att Modo skulle få problem med att klara den ekonomiska situationen. Klubben gick då ut med att annonsera en hårdare ekonomisk linje med uppsägningar och sänkta spelarlöner. Det skulle inte räcka utan man satte då hoppet till Örnsköldsviks kommun, som sedan tidigare gått in med mångmiljonbelopp i klubben. En politisk debatt blossade upp kring ifall kommunen skulle acceptera Modos ansökan om utökat stöd eller inte. Studiens kritiska diskursanalys visar att det aldrig riktigt var en fråga huruvida kommunen skulle gå med på stödavtalet, utan hur stort stödet skulle bli. Modo har en stark position i regionen och via sin ideologi påverkar de den allmänna opinionen såväl som kommunfullmäktige och deras beslut. Den kvantitativa innehållsanalysen visar att sportredaktioner i hög grad är positivt inställda till Modo Hockey jämfört med nyhetsredaktioner. Den kvantitativa innehållsanalysen visar även att Modo i 70,3 procent av sina artiklar riktar sig till sina intressenter. Tillsammans ger trianguleringen av de två metoderna en redogörelse över hur Modo Hockey sköter sin PR. Det sker dels genom relationen till journalister och lokala beslutsfattare samt den allmänna opinionen, men också genom att rikta sig till sina supportrar som då fungerar som Modoambassadörer. Studien visar att gemenskapen kring Modo är viktig, stark och samlar ett starkt “vi”, samtidigt som det förutsätter ett “dem” enligt Hinchman & Hinchmans (1997) teorier om gemenskap. Studien visar samtidigt på att Modo Hockey tillämpar teorier som finns inom PR-fältets teoretiska ramverk. Bland annat genom att Modo Hockey själva skapar relevant innehåll på sin webbsida och sedan använder sociala mediekanaler där användare själva kan bidra med material till diskursen. Genom sin kommunikation har Modo till stor del lyckats knyta klubben till regionen, där ideologin stöpts till att skapa ett beroendeband mellan klubben, kommunen och invånarna, symboliskt som ekonomiskt. De har i och med det tagit en maktposition och stärkt sin ställning i, och gjort sig oumbärlig för, regionen. / The field of Public Relations (PR) has seen big leaps forward since Grunig, Grunig and Dozier among others laid out the paradigm for the field. A lot of organizations have used their theories regarding Excellence PR. Parallelly with the evolution of the PR field, there has been a professionalization within the field of sports. This should also mean that sports organizations are interested in using the relevant PR theories available. Bruce & Tini (2008) as well as Xifra (2008) have researched what the PR work looks like in sports organizations. This research however, has not been conducted on Swedish clubs. On April 1st 2016, Modo Hockey were defeated and sent down from the top league to the Swedish second division. Already then they knew that their economic situation would be more difficult. They had to downsize the salaries budget and let people working for the organization go. These measures weren’t enough. In August, Modo Hockey had to request for extra financial support from the municipality, even though they already have received economic support before. A discussion whether or not the politicians should allow the new, more generous, economic support package deal took place online in the community of Örnsköldsvik. The critical discourse analysis in this study shows that there never really was a doubt whether or not politicians should grant Modo economic aid or not, but rather how big the economic package should be. Modo have a strong position in the region and by using their ideology to influence the public opinion as well as the city council they have an impact on the political decisions in the region. On the other hand, the quantitative content analysis showed that the sport editorials are to a greater extent publishing positive articles compared to the news editorials. Together this triangulation of the two methods give an accounting of how Modo Hockey conducts its PR, partly through the relation to journalists, politicians and public opinion. Another important stakeholder is the supporters of the club that can act as ambassadeurs of Modo Hockey. The study shows that the Modo community is important, strong and unifies a strong “we”. At the same time this “we” also creates a “them”, according to Hinchman & Hinchman’s (1997) theories regarding community. The study also shows that Modo Hockey practice theories within the PR field. One example is that Modo Hockey create their own relevant content on their website and then use social media where users themselves can contribute with information to the discourse. With the communication Modo have succeeded associating the club to the region, where the ideology has created a dependency between the club, municipality and the residents. A dependency that is symbolical as well as economical. Due to that fact Modo have taken a power position within the region, a Örnsköldsvik without Modo would have dire consequences.

This Master's thesis deals management of excellence problems in the company ORKÁN plus, s.r.o., which offers accounting, tax consultancy and related counselling services. Based on the facts from critical analysis is there a solution suggested – management of excellence system based on the EFQM Excellence Model.

In today's society, the linear economy dominates. As a result of the earth’s limited resources, an ever-increasing focus is on the need for companies to become sustainable. One concept that has become more prevalent in this context is the Triple Bottom Line, which emphasizes the importance of a balance between people, profit, and planet. In manufacturing industries, circular economy can be a way to reach sustainability and the Triple Bottom Line. However, many companies prioritize quality and profitability. The Business Excellence Model is a business model that focuses on quality and achieving business excellence. However, many consider that quality and business excellence do not go hand in hand with sustainability and circular economy. The purpose of the study was to understand how the manufacturing industry, through its Business Excellence Model, can contribute to a more sustainable future by using circular economy in its business development. This was done by expanding existing theories of Business Excellence Model and exploring how manufacturing companies can integrate a Triple Bottom Line perspective with the help of circular economy. A qualitative method was used to conduct the study and data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with researchers and professionals in relevant areas. Based on the theory, a conceptual model was developed that links the theoretical framework. The empirical results of the interviews were then compared against existing theories to answer the research questions. The study resulted in seven factors that can be important to keep in mind for a Triple Bottom Line Business Excellence Model. These factors are clear and committed leadership, committed and loyal employees, customers and stakeholders, collaboration, long-term perspective, a holistic perspective, and sustainable business. Some of these factors already existed in the excellence models, while others were added. There were also three strategies that should be considered to make a successful shift from Single Bottom Line to Triple Bottom Line. These strategies were: changing management strategy, expanding the perspective, and finding a way to do business of sustainability. The conclusion that could be drawn from this is that manufacturing companies may be facing a paradigm shift where they must realize that they can make money and do business on sustainability. / I dagens samhälle dominerar den linjära ekonomin och till följd av jordens begränsade resurser riktas ett allt större fokus mot att företag måste bli hållbara. Ett koncept som har blivit alltmer förekommande i detta sammanhang är Triple Bottom Line som betonar vikten av en balans mellan ekonomisk, miljömässig och social hållbarhet. Inom tillverkande industrier kan cirkulär ekonomi vara en väg för att nå hållbarhet och specifikt Triple Bottom Line. Många företag prioriterar dock kvalitet och lönsamhet. Business Excellence Model är en affärsmodell som fokuserar mycket på kvalitet och att uppnå så kallad business excellence. Många anser emellertid att kvalitet och business excellence inte går ihop med hållbarhet och cirkulär ekonomi. Syftet med studien var att förstå hur tillverkningsindustrin, genom sin Business Excellence Model, kan bidra till en mer hållbar framtid med hjälp av cirkulär ekonomi i sin verksamhetsutveckling. Det genom att expandera existerande teorier om Business Excellence Model och undersöka hur tillverkande företag kan integrera ett Triple Bottom Line-perspektiv med hjälp av cirkulär ekonomi. En kvalitativ metod användes för att genomföra studien och datainsamling skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med forskare och yrkesverksamma inom relevanta områden. Utifrån teorin togs det fram en konceptuell modell som kopplar samman det teoretiska ramverket. Det empiriska resultatet från intervjuerna jämfördes därefter mot existerande teorier för att svara på de formulerade forskningsfrågorna. Studien resulterade i sju faktorer som kan vara viktiga att ha i åtanke för en Triple Bottom Line Business Excellence Model. Dessa faktorer är tydligt och engagerat ledarskap, engagerade och lojala medarbetare, kunder och intressenter, samarbete, långsiktighet, helhetsperspektiv och hållbara affärer. Vissa av dessa faktorer existerade redan i excellence-modellerna, medan andra tillkom som nya. Det uppkom även tre strategier som bör beaktas för att göra ett lyckat skifte från Single Bottom Line till Triple Bottom Line. Strategierna är: ändra ledningsstrategi, vidga perspektivet och hitta ett sätt att göra business av hållbarhet. Slutsatsen som kunde dras utifrån detta är att tillverkande verksamheter står inför ett eventuellt paradigmskifte där de måste inse att man kan tjäna pengar på och göra business av hållbarhet.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / W. Franklin Spikes / The purpose of this basic interpretative qualitative study was to discover and understand graduates’ perceptions of customer service from their chosen college or university. How graduates perceive customer service of institutions of higher learning may induce some educational institutions to pursue continuous improvement and performance excellence. Graduates from the master’s level or higher have spent more than the average time in the educational setting compared to undergraduates or bachelor’s level students and are more likely to have greater awareness concerning the customer service attributes. These perceptions could give rise to process improvement techniques and programs that would be useful for a variety of institutions. The method used to acquire the data was interviewing individuals who had completed at least their master’s degree. The results of these interviews were analyzed by consolidating, reducing, and interpreting what the interviewees had to say and what the researcher discovered. Triangulation through reflection and field notes was utilized to ensure credibility of findings.

Sustainable organisational performance imperatives that generate shareholder value are strategy, execution, culture, structure, talent, innovation, leadership and growth. These superannuated management practices are still valid. Today it is even more vital to contrive and rethink these imperatives to renew business excellence in an undefined market space, the circular economy, and to reverse engineer product offerings. At the root of performance remain team members, team leaders and managers with their neurological representations, states of consciousness, abstract levels of awareness and the higher levels of thought. These thoughts create their reality and the way they create meaning of and contributing to this world. It also provides choice and generates excellence, performance and the success of the organisation. The principal purpose of this research has been to develop an Integrated Meta-model of Team Excellence by aligning the life-cycle of an employee, management-leadership, team culture, diversity and climate in view of the pressures of the business environment in order to execute an excellent performance outcome at the operational level to provide customer service and drive shareholder value. The first objective of the research was to model team excellence to enable performance so that the current performance level in a team can be determined, developmental opportunities can be identified and excellent performance parameters can be deliberated on for emulation, recruitment team fit and placement. Two instruments were applied for profiling. The thinking preferences were profiled with the Inventory of Work and Attitude Motivation Instrument (iWAM®) and the Values System Questionnaire (VSQ®) was used to profile and analyse the complexity of value structures as drivers of organisational performance. Contrastive analyses were conducted for the managers, team leaders and teams with the conclusion that a manager, a team leader and team members can create the fundamental conditions for emotionally and socially intelligent ability and capacity to facilitate performance. The capacity to model thinking preferences of outliers and poor performers and engineer a contextual Model of Excellence for a specific team in a specific environment distinguishes the work of Merlevede in that it has at its core a more accurate approach to identify areas of development, selection, team fit, design of appropriate coaching and mentoring interventions to improve and sustain team performance. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Sustainable organisational performance imperatives that generate shareholder value are strategy, execution, culture, structure, talent, innovation, leadership and growth. These superannuated management practices are still valid. Today it is even more vital to contrive and rethink these imperatives to renew business excellence in an undefined market space, the circular economy, and to reverse engineer product offerings. At the root of performance remain team members, team leaders and managers with their neurological representations, states of consciousness, abstract levels of awareness and the higher levels of thought. These thoughts create their reality and the way they create meaning of and contributing to this world. It also provides choice and generates excellence, performance and the success of the organisation. The principal purpose of this research has been to develop an Integrated Meta-model of Team Excellence by aligning the life-cycle of an employee, management-leadership, team culture, diversity and climate in view of the pressures of the business environment in order to execute an excellent performance outcome at the operational level to provide customer service and drive shareholder value. The first objective of the research was to model team excellence to enable performance so that the current performance level in a team can be determined, developmental opportunities can be identified and excellent performance parameters can be deliberated on for emulation, recruitment team fit and placement. Two instruments were applied for profiling. The thinking preferences were profiled with the Inventory of Work and Attitude Motivation Instrument (iWAM®) and the Values System Questionnaire (VSQ®) was used to profile and analyse the complexity of value structures as drivers of organisational performance. Contrastive analyses were conducted for the managers, team leaders and teams with the conclusion that a manager, a team leader and team members can create the fundamental conditions for emotionally and socially intelligent ability and capacity to facilitate performance. The capacity to model thinking preferences of outliers and poor performers and engineer a contextual Model of Excellence for a specific team in a specific environment distinguishes the work of Merlevede in that it has at its core a more accurate approach to identify areas of development, selection, team fit, design of appropriate coaching and mentoring interventions to improve and sustain team performance. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015