Supply Chain: Business Excellence

Introduction

Business denotes a high level of excellence at all organizational levels. Truly excellent firms are those that have understood the notion of business dissertation help business excellence as a critical tool for future development and have integrated the quality concept across the whole organization. Commerce triumph is defined and judged by a variety of subjective and quantitative criteria. Business excellence refers to a subjective framework for assessing organizational success. Business excellence is a strategic way of helping businesses improve their management and organisation skills to help in improving productivity. With Business excellence, an organization can be sure to improve its profits and also be able to attract new shareholders. Business strategy is very important but without proper explanation and knowing the factors that can affect the development or the properties of a business all Brutish plans can go to waste. Due to the positive excellence of Business Excellence, the British Electronics company is eager to know what it takes to be on top of the business market to improve its business that has in recent times performed so poorly. That is why this report is going to explain the basic philosophy of business excellence referring to THREE key factors that affect business excellence.

Overview of the company

British electronics is an electronic company with about 200 employees at their headquarters in Leeds. The company also has three branches in Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton, with each branch being able to employ about 300 employees. The company expanded rapidly years back but currently is facing a lot of management and operation issues that are related to the current globalisation. Because of globalisation, their productivity and sales have reduced to about 4%. That is why the company is very pushed to know the basic philosophy that helps to contribute excellence to a company. To win back the trust of their clients and make sales with their new products that are about to be launched. Some of the factors that affects Business Excellence are but not limited to global issues, environmental issues, and legal issues.

Global issues

Anything can be said with confidence in the early decades of the twenty-first century; it is that the world is changing at an unprecedented rate. The kind of global forces at work have developed dramatically. Moore's Law — the prediction that inventive capability duplicates itself every two years – remains unbroken (Rahman et al., 2019). Common disasters have multiplied, hastened by global climate change and human intrusion into once-pristine environments (Paraschi, Georgopoulos, & Kaldis, 2019). Previously robust institutions, such as the European Union, were exhibiting indications of disintegration. Political stances that were formerly deemed peripheral now appear to have a centre arrangement.

These global variables influence enterprises worldwide. They can influence the British electronics industry too. Raw material availability, supply chain reliability, labour supply, pay, worker expectations, government rules, and consumer demand are all global variables at work (Jabnoun, 2019). Every aspect of British electronics and the services they provide is influenced by global issues affecting the UK economy. The company must be willing to learn how to navigate the market in order to deal with global impacts. Furthermore, there is the Covid -19 issue, which has brought most businesses to a standstill owing to its influence on the global supply chain and product sales.

Legal aspects

Governments do what's good for them and their people; they change laws now and then. These laws have introduced legal fees that are changed across all the borders of the European Union. Governments’ attitudes towards formulating laws are a factor that is very shaky as they make laws that affect and affect the follow of goods from one country to another. Another aspect is the introduction of Trade tariffs (Dima et al., 2019). These tariffs have also derailed most organisations from expanding and conducting fair trades internationally (Adámek et al., 2020). Additionally, there is the employment act of 1996 in the UK, this law strictly protects the rights of workers and also the wages workers are paid in the organization. Also, there is the equality act law that was passed in 2010, employers must strictly adhere to all the clauses in the acts if they want to do business in the country. Furthermore, with so much innovation in the legal field today, mergers are unavoidable; many big organizations have vanished in recent years. More mergers will occur in the UK during the next ten years, as they do everywhere in the world (Marković et al., 2020).

Environmental issues

To enjoy long-term growth and create competitive advantages in today's increasingly competitive environment, environmental change, and high international requirements is to address green environmental issues, businesses must consider the sustainability of society and the environment while pursuing economic efficiency. By merging the helpful viewpoints of professionals and researchers from the same area, this study generated a sustainable business excellence model suitable for corporate enterprises (Dima et al., 2019).

Running an environmentally friendly business can help British electronic company to reduce their environmental impact while also protecting natural resources. British electronics companies should consider environmentally friendly products (Zainal & Salloum, 2021). Today's government expects institutions to aid in environmental preservation; without sustainability, a company may find itself in legal difficulty in court. Promoting your environmentally friendly practices may differentiate your firm from the competition and attract new consumers who want to buy products and services from a company that cares about the environment. Similarly, today's shareholders are looking for firms that can manage and contribute to environmental preservation (Marković et al., 2020).

To secure British Electronics’ Success, because the competition never sleeps and customers are continually demanding better, stronger, faster, and cheaper, the company's environmental improvement initiatives must be ongoing. Lean Six Sigma is an excellent framework for ensuring a focus on waste reduction Lean, which results in lower costs, enhanced predictability (Six Sigma), and increased throughput Theory of Constraints to maximize profitability (Dima et al., 2019). Without regard to profits, the introduction of a new product will fail unless it is ecologically sustainable (Zainal & Salloum, 2021).

Reference

• Adámek, P., Bauerova, R., & Zapletalova, S. (2020). A research agenda of “EFQM recognized for excellence” recipients in the Czech Republic: The case study of application of business excellence model. Global Journal of Business, Economics and Management: Current Issues, 10(3), 161-175.
• Dima, A. M., Clodniţchi, R., Istudor, L., & Luchian, I. (2019). Business excellence models in higher education–innovative solutions for management performance. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence (Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 38-46).
• Marković, V., Stajić, L., Stević, Ž., Mitrović, G., Novarlić, B., & Radojičić, Z. (2020). A novel integrated subjective-objective mcdm model for alternative ranking in order to achieve business excellence and sustainability. Symmetry, 12(1), 164.
• Paraschi, E. P., Georgopoulos, A., & Kaldis, P. (2019). Airport Business Excellence Model: A holistic performance management system. Tourism Management, 72, 352-372.
• Rahman, M., Islam, R., Husain, W. R. W., & Ahmad, K. (2019). Developing a hierarchical model to enhance business excellence in hotel industry of Bangladesh. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
• Zainal, A. Y., & Salloum, S. A. (2021, March). Business excellence in enhancing global competitive advantage in healthcare sector of UAE. In International Conference on Advanced Machine Learning Technologies and Applications (pp. 260-274). Springer, Cham.

Structure and Core Organization Activities

The business organizations included in the report is British Electronics, an electronics company that manufactures and sells televisions, digital video recorders, as well as household electronics such as kettles and toasters. The organization structure includes four manufacturing factories with their headquarters in Leeds and currently employing about 1100 employees. The organizations core activities include manufacturing of different electronic parts, assembly and distribution of these products within the four UK cities of Leeds, Cardiff, Southampton and Birmingham and beyond.

Business Excellence model application

Within the company’s supply chain, the business excellence model can be adopted to impact the ultimate customer results. According to Mulder (2012) customer results is among the key results of the EFQM Excellence model that can be achieved through the combination of resources, people, strategy and partnerships under adequate leadership and management. In adequately converging available resources at British Electronics, the company can develop and sell adequate electronics that are satisfactory to their customers leading to the achievement of good customer results which subsequently speaks to the organizations excellence. One of the key areas in the company’s supply chain where the organization spends on is quality management and especially through the response to warranty claims. This is a key area which costs the company up to 70% of its quality management budget. Through focusing on enhancing quality of the products in the manufacturing and assembly phases, the organization can significantly minimize the cost of responses to warranties which subsequently speaks to the ultimate customer satisfaction with the products they buy. The minimization of the level and number of warranty claims as such adequately speaks of a significant enhancement to the levels of excellence within the company.

Understanding customer behavior

Within the contemporary business environment that is rife with technology, companies and organizations have a wide range of ways for reaching their customers and engaging them to ultimately understand their behavior. According to Fontanella (2021) customer behavior is mostly impacted by factors including their personality traits, psychological responses as well as social trends. All of these aspects can be observed by companies from their customers’ social media indulgences and their purchasing behavior. Through social media companies can find out what is trending and why it is trending and how that trend impacts their normal consumers’ behavior. Companies can also use their own social media to interact with customers for a closer understanding of their behavior. One of the ways that British Electronics could use to understand their consumers behavior is closely looking at the customer complaint/feedback forms that are accompanied back with warranty claims. In this way the company can better understand what the main problem with their products are and how this problem is affective their customers and impacting their subsequent purchasing behavior.

Product Development Strategy

New product development is one of the main strategies that British Electronics could use not only to remain operational but also to gain a significant competitive advantage and a portion of its market share back. New product development will satisfy a gap in the market and as such enhance the relevance of the company which can then stir it back to performance, productivity and excellence. However developing a new successful product is a challenging task and one that requires significant research and formulation of a good strategy. Among the ways that British electronics can adopt to formulate a new products development strategy includes the Quality Function Deployment framework. According to Kiran (2017) Quality Function Deployment describes a structured approach to new product development that relies on the definition of customer needs and requirements which are then translated into specific plans for the production of a product or service to meet those needs. Through understanding a gap in the electronics need of household, or an issue with the production of a common household electronic, British electronic can adequately translate the need into a new product design or redesign which grants them back competitive advantage and subsequent increase in the market share.

Financial Outcomes

The financial outcomes are one of the key ways of determining whether a company is on its way towards success and excellence. Positive financial outcomes depict growth in sales and returns which translate to success and excellence. However an organization has to maintain a constant surveillance of its financial outcomes and develop ways to influence them towards becoming more positive. British Electronics can formulate a key performance results strategy for its financial outcomes by developing a book keeping practice for all the organizations finances. The record keeping will ensure all expenditure and revenue are recorded adequately while all the assets are managed properly and any liabilities attended to in an effective and timely manner. Ultimately, adequate book keeping ensures the organization is well informed of the market performance of its products as well as which products require improvement for better sales.

Communicating the Plan

One of the most influential parts of organization change is the involvement of all personnel and effectively getting them to be on board with the proposed changes. Horlick (2020) advances that Employee involvement and contribution to organization change effectively enhances the chances of the organization changes success and as such it would be important to involve employees in the Business Excellence Plans for the ultimate success. Some of the major steps to be followed when communicating and involving employees in the Business Excellence plan include first ensuring all employees are aware and onboard with the plan. A business excellence plan’s success fully depends on all of the personnel buying into the plan and giving 100% towards its realization. The communication of the plan will further take a group setting for the laying out of all the necessary aspects of the plan’s success and then a singular more intimate session with each individual employee to fully describe and explain their involvement and role in the realization of the plan.

Conclusion

British Electronics not only suffers significant issues related with losing their market share, but also a looming phase out of their products and services. As such investing in and developing new products that are tailored towards a significant customers needs and adequately maintaining the design is a key aspect of reviving and propelling the company back towards success and excellence.

References

• Fontanella, C., 2021. A Beginner's Guide to Customer Behavior Analysis. [online] Blog.hubspot.com. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• Horlick, A., 2020. Involving Employees in Change: 5 Quick Tips. [online] Change Management Certification | Navigo Consulting. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• Kiran, D., 2017. Quality Function Deployment. Total Quality Management, pp.425-437.
• Mulder, P., 2012. EFQM Model. [online] toolshero. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].

Business Excellence Model

Businesses and organizations are complex endeavors that not only require adequate planning and incorporation of resources for success but also depend greatly on adequate control and quality management. Among the ways that businesses indulge in quality control includes the incorporation and implementation of a business excellence model. Ainapur Institute of Management (2021) defines a business excellence model as an operational framework whose implementation within an organization helps to coordinate and focus the personnel’s thought and action in a more structured and systematic way towards increased performance and productivity. Often a business excellence model is designed in a holistic way so that it focuses on all aspects and dimensions of an organization. Typically this is designed following a set of key performance indicators which can then be monitored overtime to determine how adequately the model is functioning. One example of a business excellence model and that is used widely across Europe include the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model.

EFQM Excellence Model

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model refers to a practical self assessment tool adopted by businesses and organizations to measure the strengths of an organization as well as the different aspects that the organization can improve on towards its pursuit of excellence (NEF Consulting, 2021). According to Harris (2021) it is a quality management model that helps organizations determine where they are in terms of delivering excellence to all involved stakeholders, understand the challenges and gap in the way of their achievement of success and identifying and implementing adequate solutions to set the organization back towards the path of excellence. It is focused on what an organization does and how it does it as well as how the different actions and tasks can be done better to enhance excellence.

The model premises that an organization is basically made up is a set of resources that are adequate enablers and depending on how adequately the resources and combined and coordinated then excellence can be achieved in the results. Customer, people and society results which also make up the key performance indicators with which an organizations level of excellence is measured are dependent on how resources including people, policies, strategies and partnerships are combined (Mulder, 2012). How these factors are combined is however dependent on the leadership of the organization which makes leadership a significant factor within the EFQM Excellence model. As such for ultimate excellence the organization has to have good leadership and adequately utilize all the available resources at its disposal to the maximum.

The EFQM Excellence model is however non-prescriptive and does not involve or rely on any stringent set of principles or rules but rather a broad and coherent set of assumptions regarding what is necessary for an adequately managed organization. As such each organization has a degree of flexibility when it comes to its implementation and application and its ultimate success in improving an organization is entirely dependent on those who use the method rather than an external evaluator (Mulder. 2012). However to achieve the best results out of a business excellence model, businesses have to incorporate different techniques into their otherwise normal daily tasks, activities or routines. Among these techniques and that are discussed herein include Milestone planning, Customer relations as well as innovations and continuous improvements

Milestone Planning

Planning is a vital aspect of ultimate success in whichever undertaking and especially in businesses and organizations which entail multiple complex parts. Milestone planning is especially important because it presupposes strategic choices and enables the individuals within an organization to explore different alternatives for a much more effective strategy for success. According to Andersen (2006) milestone planning focuses on milestones instead of activities and is as such goal directed and results oriented. The adoption of milestone planning within the EFQM Excellence framework drives an organization’s personnel to focus its thoughts and actions towards the achievement of a significant goal within a given time. The added focus and drive as a result of a set milestone which the whole organization is mentally invested in achieving for their own self-assessment ultimately improves performance and leads to excellence.

Customer relations

Customer results make up one of the key performance indicators for ultimate organization excellence. Most businesses and organizations are ultimately developed to deliver services and products that the masses require. And as such excellence can only be measured based on how adequately customers are satisfied by a business. According to Fontanella (2021) customer satisfaction is ultimately a product of customer relations and how adequately an organization relates with its customers provides a direct translation to how satisfied the customers will be. As such incorporating the enhancement of customer relations within a Business excellence model will without a doubt lead to enhanced customer results which means enhanced excellence.

Innovations and continuous improvements

The organizations’ products and services are its first line of business that will attract the rest of the world towards it. As such organizations have to ensure consistent innovation and improvement to maintain their competitive advantage and remain at the top of their industry. Continuous improvement and innovation also ensures the organization remains relevant and viable within the contemporary market and in so doing retains its market share and significant revenues. As such to gain excellence, a business excellence model has to include a dimension for enhancing organization creativity and innovation to help maintain viable products and services within its portfolio and inventory.

Conclusion

A business excellence model is an essential framework to enhance the coordination and combination of personnel thoughts and efforts towards achieving excellence. While it is a necessity for all management to ensure the continuous progress and development of organizations, its application is relative and flexible from one organization to the next. Different organizations can also focus on different aspects and techniques of the framework, however key among these are milestone planning, customer relations as well as innovation and continuous improvement of an organization. Through setting milestones, organizations have adequate measurable goals to work towards, and in maintaining adequate customer relations, organizations can make sure their clients remain satisfied while at the same time innovation and continuous improvement ensures an organization retains its competitive advantage. All these elements combine towards birthing success and excellence within the organization.

References

• Ainapur Institute of Management, 2021. Business Excellence Models (BEMs) – Best institute for management systems training and consultancy services. [online] Ainapur.com. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• Fontanella, C., 2021. What is Customer Relations? Everything You Need to Know. [online] Blog.hubspot.com. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• Harris, E., 2021. What Is the EFQM Excellence Model and How Useful is it For You?. [online] Blog.triaster.co.uk. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• Mulder, P., 2012. EFQM Model. [online] toolshero. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].
• NEF Consulting, 2021. EFQM Excellence Model - NEF Consulting. [online] NEF Consulting. Available at: [Accessed 29 November 2021].

Conclusion

This report is meant to address three important issues that affect business excellence. The report has figured out that Business Excellence is one of the pillars that helps companies to prosper in a business environment. However, there are some other important factors such as globalisation issues, that must be considered before an organisation does international business. Environmental sustainability is another important factor to consider when an organization wants to launch a new product because it helps an organization to get more clients. Therefore, the company should look into the issues addressed in this report before they launch their new product.

As a result of their products and services becoming fast obsolete overtime with the rise of technology and other competitor companies, British Electronics not only require a business excellence model but also a new product deployment strategy to help maintain their competitive advantage and continued operations. As such my main recommendation would be adequately investing in and developing new products that are tailored towards significant customers needs and adequately maintaining the design to help revive and propel the company back towards success and excellence. The company can also concurrently implement the business excellence model to help check their progress overtime and to ensure their progress is in the right direction towards success.

A business excellence model is an essential framework to enhance the coordination and combination of personnel thoughts and efforts towards achieving excellence. British Electronics can use and focus on different aspects and techniques of the EFQM Excellence model including milestone planning, customer relations as well as innovation and continuous improvement of the organization. Through setting milestones, they would have adequate and measurable goals to work towards, and in maintaining adequate customer relations, they can make sure their clients remain satisfied by adequately and completely responding to their complaints. The company should also indulge in innovation and continuous improvement to ensure they retain a competitive advantage. All these elements will ultimately combine towards birthing success and excellence within the organization.

Take a deeper dive into Supermarkets and Retail Sector in the UK with our additional resources.