The relationship between Business Excellence and Performance – An empirical study using Kanji's Leadership Excellence Model

Abstract

The principle that a ‘quality’ organisation will outperform its competitors is at the heart of the quality awards that may be found all around the globe. Empirical evidence supporting theory is remarkably scarce however, and this is particularly the case in Europe. This paper describes the results of a positivist study examining the relationship between Business Excellence and organisational Performance using Kanji and Sá's Leadership Excellence Model as a measure of business excellence maturity. The inclusion of both private and public sector organisations in the sample was a particular feature of the study. The results show a positive relationship for both types of organisation, although some differences were observed for different stakeholder groups.

Keywords:

• Business Excellence
• leadership excellence
• organisational performance
• public and private sector
• resource-based view