An investigation of designing, developing and modifying business excellence frameworks

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how business excellence (BE) custodians (BECs) design, develop and modify their BE frameworks (BEF’s) and to provide a general framework for reviewing BEFs. The design process is important to understand as these BEFs are used to help organisations understand the components of BE to guide them towards world-class performance. Design/methodology/approach The first step was to identify all the BE awards (BEAs) worldwide and their BEFs by conducting a review of publicly available sources. This research was then limited to only those BEAs that was held no more than two years ago. Of these, 29 BECs (with active BEAs) in 26 countries agreed to participate in the research. Data was collected with the help of a survey and 13 BECs also undertook optional follow-up interviews. Findings In total, 56 countries and regions have 65 active BEAs with another 17 countries having BE initiatives. The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model and the Baldrige excellence framework are used by 37.7% and 14.5% of BECs worldwide, respectively. In total, 58.3% of the BECs review their BEFs once every three years or sooner, 100% of the BECs are confident in their BEFs’ fundamental concepts and 96.5% in their categories. There are fewer active BEAs now and the use of BE is potentially decreasing which suggests that more effort is required by the BECs in promoting BE. Originality/value This research collects data directly from the BECs on how BECs design and develop BEFs and provides a general framework for reviewing BEFs.