In Search of Excellence - Past, Present and Future Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park Institute of Service Management Lund University

In Search of Excellence - Past, Present and Future
Su Mi Dahlgaard-Park
Institute of Service Management
Lund University

&

Jens J. Dahlgaard

Division of Quality Technology and Management
Linköping University
Sweden

ABSTRACT
Some of the leading models and frameworks about Excellence from the last 25 years are presented and discussed: Peters and Waterman’s eight excellence attributes (1982), Peters and Austin’s simplified excellence model (1985), Lists of Best Practices, Xerox Excellence Models (1990, 2002), the European Excellence Model (1992) and two different but overlapping “4P Models” (1999,
2004). At the end of the paper past, present and future of TQM and Excellence is discussed.
1

INTRODUCTION

Today, many organizations are “searching” for Excellence but not many organizations have been able to achieve this goal, seemingly because management does not have a profound understanding what it really means to be excellent. Since 1982, where Peters and Waterman published their famous book In Search of Excellence - Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, there have been many suggestions for a definition of Excellence, and for the success criteria behind excellence.
The starting analysis model or framework used by Peters and Waterman was McKINSEY’s 7-S
Framework. The models comprised the following seven success criteria for excellence:
Hardware:
1. Structure and 2. Strategy.
Software:
3. Systems, 4. Shared Values, 5. Skills, 6. Staff and 7. Style.
During their study Peters and Waterman observed that managers are getting more done if they pay attention with seven S’s instead of just two (the hardware criteria), and real change in large institutions is a function of how management understand and handle the complexities of the 7-S
Model. Peters and Waterman also reminded the world of professional managers that soft is hard meaning that it is the software criteria of the model which often are overlooked and which should
have

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