Implementing business excellence

The need for better development and investigation of linkages between TQM and management theory has frequently been cited in recent literature. In this paper, the authors investigate the implementation of business excellence using ideas from the broader field of management theory. The aim of the research described here was to examine whether the successful implementation of business excellence is influenced by the organizational context within which the implementation takes place. The organizational context was defined by issues of leadership, strategy, structure and technology. Business excellence implementation success was defined by organizationally referenced indicators of outcome improvement and process difficulty. The study concluded that organizations that have simple and informal organizational structures will encounter fewer problems when implementing business excellence than organisations with complex and formal organizational structures.