Introduction to Business Excellence

Abstract

Aristotle stated that it is not enough to know about excellence, we must try to have and use it. In the twenty-first century, it is impossible to rely exclusively on financial parameters to measure, monitor, and sustain an organisation’s success. Up to 75% of a company’s value can no longer be measured by standard accounting techniques (Zdrilić and Dulčić 2016). A standard accounting technique, for example, will describe how a firm prepares and presents its business income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. Further, due to competition at a global level in all spheres of business activity, organisations that want to survive and lead in an industry today must continuously improve their processes, services, and products to achieve a competitive advantage, or, in other words, its business excellence (BE). Thus, in these increasingly competitive business environments, BE allows organisations to assess their competitive strengths, understand and manage their performance, develop and implement strategic plans, and, above all, find opportunities to learn (Ahmed 2015).