How to measure the success of a company

There is no formula for measuring the success of a company. Most of the focus on measuring the success of a company deals with numbers related to the balance sheets, profits, shares and finances of a company. However, the impact of a company is often beyond these numbers. The measure of success is different for different companies, while for an early stage start-up, success is about survival. For an enterprise like Google, success is about changing the way people use information and make decisions. 

The true measure of success for any organisation depends on its goals. However, there are certain benchmarks that the most successful organisations have when it comes to success. The most remarkable companies on the planet are those that have transformed the world to be a better place. They have changed the way people do things and created a huge impact by their presence. Those companies have transformed the lives of people for the better. Google has changed the way information is consumed in the world. It has revolutionised how people search information. That is the true measure of success for a company. 

Company is an agent of change and transformation. A successful organisation creates employment, business opportunities, contributes to the growth of the country and makes a positive contribution to the society. The success of a company can be measured in terms of what it is giving back to the society.  Success of a company is the social impact it creates. Company is a responsible medium to change the lives of people around it. 

The evaluation criteria and benchmarking of a company needs a thorough study of various factors. These include the list of parameters that are taken to gauge the performance of the company. Some of the questions that need to be addressed while devising measures of success are as follows: 

What is the benchmark of success in the organisation? 

How is the success of a company measured? 

What are the parameters of measurement for measuring success?

What is the impact of the company?

Is the company doing well for its stakeholders? 

Has it been able to create employment? 

What are the timelines for measuring the goals? 

What are the targets for each of the parameters for measuring success?

CheckList

Below is a checklist that can be used as a reference by the board for taking actions to measure success of a company. While each company will have different yardsticks and timelines for gauging success, this list provides some factors that can be used for evaluating the results. The timelines used for measuring these parameters usually varies between 1-3 years and targets are set depending on the present situation and the projections by the board. 

Factor	Measures
Employee Satisfaction	Personal/Work Satisfaction, Salary, Surveys & interviews
Customer Satisfaction	Proactive communication, Surveys and accountability
Stake Holders	Performance against targets, surveys & stake holders reviews
Management Satisfaction	Corporate reputation, Profitable Investments, Surveys and questionnaires
Society	Milestones to gauge social impact & role in society
Number of Employees	Software tools for HRM
Total Assets	Tangible/Intangible  assets Products, Revenues etc.
IPR	Calculate & track the innovation in the company
Rate of Growth	Calculate sales, Revenues, product/services growth
Customer base	Use CRM tools to track customers

It is important for a company to set the goals and benchmarks to measure its progress. The most successful companies develop a process for tracking and reporting their business performance using software tools, researches and other methods. The review process examines the results for fine tuning & helps in the performance measurement for driving best organizational results. A truly successful company is the one that leaves an indelible footprint in the history of time, inspiring generations to strive for a better tomorrow with grand accomplishments.  

For any questions, please contact apoorvedubey@gmail.com

Genesis of a great company: What Every Entrepreneur must know

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart.  While every entrepreneur starts with a dream of making a dent in the universe, most end up discovering that it is more about survival. Skepticism looms large; the struggle is often tougher than expected. The challenge is to deal with the ups and downs. The initial euphoria of a new company subsides and eventually one has to face the real world, a place full of skeptics. An entrepreneur must learn to cope with all these things and still remain focused at work.

The equation is pretty simple; you need money to sustain the company but passion to start it. They say money is not the goal but a bye product of an excellent product or service. Most entrepreneurs quit when it gets tough, but those who are passionate about their work, seem to hang in longer and triumph against all odds. It is rare to find a successful entrepreneur who does not love his work. It is the joy of work that keeps one going in the turbulent times. It is about defying logic, building dreams and achieving the impossible. 
Entrepreneurship is a risky business. Things never go in the anticipated direction, almost never.But risks can be eliminated by proper planning and well measured approach. Here is a look at the things that every entrepreneur must know when he takes the plunge: 

1) A great teamA great team is a must for any company to start and sustain itself. The team should have like minded people with complimentary skill sets. Bottom line is to cover as many areas as possible. A great team also comprises people with deep knowledge and expertise in their domains. One must clearly assess himself as to what he brings to the table. A team of passionate individuals with the commitment to work and guts it out. It is important to have a cohesive team, especially when things are not going good. Passion for work is infectious, a lousy person will never move people.

2) Know your businessGreat entrepreneurs figure out the most important things that drive their business. They are as follows: Core values of the start-up.
The purpose of the company.
Envisioned future.
A detailed description of the work involved.
Team and their roles.
3) Assess Your Start-up

Ideas rule the world but only when they are executed properly.  The product or service must have sustainability, and not a me too approach. Work out the details of executing the plan. A start-up must find out its niche before venturing into the hostile world of fierce competition. Every start-up needs to answer the questions:What is your product or service? What will differentiate your product and services? Who are your customers? What they want? What is the size of the market for its product/service? Is it global or local?Is the start-up scalable? What is the investment involved in launching the product or the providing the services? 
4) Assess the competitionIt is all too easy to say that our product is unique with so many features and a great technical team etc. The acid test lies in careful analysis of the competition. Analyze the competition, before you begin execution of the idea. What differentiates your product/service? Is it feasible to compete with the existing players?  Everybody has something to promote. It is how creatively one can put his idea in the market that decides how much success it eventually gets. Be creative and promote your products/services to get maximum traction. 
5) Ego An entrepreneurs needs to ask for help, he needs to promote himself; he has to often do what is in the best interest of the company. The best entrepreneurs are driven by the best ideas not necessarily their own. Egoistic people are repulsive in nature, whereas entrepreneurs need to be magnetic. Entrepreneurship and ego do not go together. It does not matter who gets the credit, what matters is what is established.
6) Integrity Integrity is the foundation on which a company is built. If the foundation is weak, the company cannot sustain. Integrity is the consistency of actions and words; it is how a brand is built. The most influential brands are built with integrity in their actions and that is how the customers develop respect for the companies. 
7) Workforce diversity It is good to have a diversified group of people as opposed to people having the same culture or background. People from different backgrounds, culture and nationalities add to a rich team. Each individual with different background brings something different to the team and adds value.

8) Quality of the Board members

The kind of board members can directly influence the results of a company. The board members are important because of their inherent networks, experience, skills and mentorship they offer. Great companies are built around great mentors. This team includes directors, advisors, and people with technical ability to drive things. For a start-up it is a must to have a great board member team.

9) Test your Idea
It requires more than a business plan to validate your idea. Designing and developing the product is the easy part, selling is the tough one. Most entrepreneurs with a technology background often forget to ask the most important question, who cares? Is there someone who is interested in your idea? Is there a market for it? How are you going to sell it? Talk to people before you develop anything; figure out how many people are interested in your thing. The feasibility of an idea is important before taking it up. Analyze the idea, basic requirements for it and the factors needed to sustain the idea.
10) Source of Funding 
No matter how much petrol is there in the tank, the refueling will be needed at some point. Every entrepreneur must assess the funds at his disposal and figure out how much capital would be needed and when it would be needed. When a company scales it needs funds, choosing the best funding option is important to the growth of a company. It is important to know and be aware of the various ways for raising funds like Friends and Family, Self funding, VC, Banks, Angels Investors, Incubators, IPO going public. 
11) Create or cater a need
When dealing with products of services, there is no place for mediocrity. Excellence is the need of the hour. It is hard to sustain something that is not world class in the long run. Entrepreneurship needs conviction to try something new, something that does not exist. There are two ways to sustain a business either one has to cater to the need of the client or create the need. Ipod is a classic example of a product that created its need in the market, whereas eCommerce is an example of finding a new solution to an old problem. 
12) Work on the Exit Plan 
Most entrepreneurs neglect the exit option. They find it difficult to comprehend selling their business or other exit options. It is important to consider your exit strategy when starting-up. The most common selling option is to be acquired by another business, a private investor or management.  Some businesses also go for mergers and IPO as an exit option. 
13) Recruiting the right people 
A start-up is built around the initial people it recruit. Recruit people who are self-driven and are willing to go the extra mile. Hire the best talent to do the best jobs. Never compromise on the quality of people. Find experts and let them take control. Let them have the center stage and make decisions. Let the best people handle the jobs and drive things. Build a team; people tend to bring out their best when they are collaborating rather than competing with each other. 
14) Working Capital and Finances
How much working capital is required? How are the finances going to be managed? It is very important to streamline the accounts and finances from the beginning. Most entrepreneurs, especially those with a technical background do not understand finances. However, businesses cannot be run without the understanding of money. 

15) Equity of the company 
Decide beforehand about the stakes involved in the business. The start-up is a very early stage, but one needs to have a fair idea of how the equity will be distributed. Many of the start-ups fail when there is contention in distribution of the equity. The founders and the board must chalk out everything clearly before the team. A rough guideline that most successful start-ups follow for equity is as follows: 
Founder/Board/Mgmt     -33%
Venture fund                  -33%
Employees                     -34%

16) Uncertainty 
The route of a start-up is unpredictable to say the least. The people on board should be prepared mentally to go through this tough journey and deal with any sort of challenges. Whether it is a complete change in technology, financial crunch, product failure, internal conflicts, damage by nature, or dealing with people loss one cannot afford to let the situation dictate terms. 

17) Encourage failures/success alike 
Everyone is bound to fail; mistakes are part and parcel of the job. Never discourage a person for failing. Risks, experimentation and repeated efforts pave the way for success of a company. 

18) Sense of Urgency 
The clock is ticking ever second. For an entrepreneur it gets tougher to sustain with passing time. One can never take anything for granted. Each moment lost in a useless activity is a moment taken away from building the company. Everything adds up and matters in the long run.

19) Understand the Legal ramifications
Sort out the legal issues, the law etc in the planning phase itself, try and work around it. Know what is needed and when it is needed. 

20) It takes time
Even the genius of Edison took more than 25 years to make an electric bulb. It took 20 years to develop the Xerox machine. The greatest of ideas are not always magic. It takes time to build great stuff. It needs a real big effort to build something that can create an impact. Give sufficient time to try out things. However, sustaining a start-up becomes tougher with time; ultimately one must have a time out for trying things. 

21) Creating a Brand 
Even start-ups need to create brands. There are four stages included in the process namely brand awareness, which means people begin to recognize your existence. Brand quality is when they trust the quality. Brand association is the attitude or feeling towards a brand, call it affinity. Brand loyalty is when they begin to recommend your brand to family and friends. 

22) Power Distance 
Communication is the greatest asset of a start-up. When teams communicate and collaborate great things are possible, but when there is a communication gap things are messed up. How accessible is the senior management? The larger distance means that there are lot of people involved in the process and at times this may take a long time for decision making. The need is to enable communication between groups and allow the best ideas to find their way through the ranks into products and services. 

23) When to step back 
One needs a good structure to be in place to make people replaceable. It is important to have a system wherein others can take charge when the founder members step aside. A company is never scalable when it is heavily dependent on people. Co-founders leave, people quit and products fail all this is part and parcel of a start-up. The important thing is to have the system to deal with these failures without affecting the company. 

24) Pricing Strategy 
Deciding the cost for a product/service can be a tricky job. A lot of start-ups fail because they either put too much or too little cost for their products and services. A careful study of the resources spent for the job, market analysis and time spent on service needs to done before the correct price can be decided. An effective pricing strategy is paramount to the success of the product/service. 

25) Being Flexible
Life of an entrepreneur is about living on the edge. It is a very tough job. Most of them work hard, yet majority of the start-ups fail. All is not rosy. Be honest and assess hard before jumping into entrepreneurship.  One needs to have the commitment level to work tirelessly, even without results. 

Research shows that most business ideas fail. Most companies start with one idea but succeed with some other idea. They gradually find their way to a better idea or sometimes even refine the initial idea. They take a proactive approach, expect problems and find solutions in advance. Be open, be adaptive and don't hang on for too long when things are not working.

When you try long & hard for anything, eventually a moment comes when it happens. The important thing is to keep trying until that moment comes. 

For any queries, please write to apoorvedubey@gmail.com

PROCESS EXCELLENCE- A MUST FOR WINNING COMPANIES by RUPAK AGARWAL - www.rupakagarwal.com

Process Excellence for sustained outperformance 

Increasing competition, dealing with uncertainty and chaotic business cycles and an insane customer promiscuity are putting a never before pressure on business performance to reduce costs, improve revenues and enhance service. Very often, CEO's of Airlines say that their industry is no longer profitable. But what makes  South West Airlines deliver profits quarter after quarter for over 60 quarters now?

What makes such companies so different to stand out? Well, Process Excellence to say the least. Over time, approaches to business improvement has also undergone substantial evolution. In the 70's and 80's the buzzword was Total Quality Management and Business Process Improvement which focussed on  service. The 90's saw the growing popularity of Six Sigma and Lean based approaches which added a cost element to service. As we are now galloping in the 21st century, Business Process management came into being which added the third dimension of revenue. And the last 2 years, to embrace the current business challenges, we have seen the emergence of Customer Experience management. The current focus has clearly shifted from managing processes for outperformance to managing outcomes for the customer through use of technology as differentiators

	70's & 80's	90's	First 10 years of 21st Century	Last 2 yrs
Service	TQM & BPI	Six Sigma & Lean Methods	Business Excellence Management	Customer Experience Management
Cost
Revenue
Technology

Which of these is best for the business ?

Pressure to perform has never been greater at both personal and professional levels than it is today. Each of the approaches have clear merits and are a step more complex than the previous approach. Depending on the stage of the life cycle of the company and the challenge faced and complexity of operations, you can choose the right mix of tools for your business. The recent researches are however increasingly pointing to players who dominate their markets and industry and those achieving what I would say a hat trick plus in terms of Service, cost and revenue excellence are increasingly utilizing methods and approaches which fall into the Customer Experience management domain. It is for this very reason that when you look around at say the original pioneers of earlier successful approaches like Toyota and Lean, General Electric and Six Sigma, you find that they have been on a continuous process journey and are amongst the first to imbibe and internalize concepts of Customer Experience Management ( CEM) along with companies like Amazon, Best Buy, Flip kart, Virgin Group, FedEx, Citibank, Ryan Air etc.

As the economic storm battering confidence across the globe looks set to continue into 2013, business leaders who focused primarily on short-term exigencies can no longer afford to be disengaged from longer-term strategic issues and process excellence is therefore a must part of the survival kit

While there are unknown elements in the future, many of which will be challenging, the trick today lies in look at the exciting opportunities from factors such as: 'the Cloud'; new enabling technologies; new working patterns; new contact channels; capabilities being developed around "Big Data" all of which are enablers to laying strong foundations to business in the evolution towards Customer Experience management

How can I get on the Process Excellence Path ?

Process Excellence is a journey. A fine blend of certifications and best process methods need to be created to lay the foundations of process excellence in an organization. Process Excellence Governance Model is the backbone to align to strategic objectives. It starts with incremental innovations through methods impacting one of the business deliverables of service, cost or revenue and then adding to the list through methods like TQM, Kaizen, Six Sigma and then as the organization matures moves over to quantum leaps through business analytics, business excellence management to ultimately winning hearts through innovative and long lasting Customer Experience Delivery. Process Excellence is a journey. Loyalty is a destination.

CEM - What are the common themes and current challenges ?

The philosphy of CEM stresses on identifying parameters that are most valued by customers, emphasizes on implementing an approach that is customer centred and all processes developed around the core customer expectation. Employees play the biggest role in delivery and delivering experiences starts at home, focussing first with own employees. Common themes are an "outside in" perspective, alignment to exceeding employee and then customer expectations, knowledge management through best experience sharing and replication across employees, constant stretch to delivering innovative and successful customer experience outcomes and relentless focus on business success through reduced costs, enhanced revenue and enhanced service

The skills needed to successfully run a multi-channel, multi-site, multi-partner operation is becoming more and more challenging. With customers increasingly use intuitive technologies such as smart phones, tablets etc and getting more and more interactive and freely expressing views on social media like facebook and twitter, the challenges are becoming more and more complex with every passing day. Mixed-model operations are hugely important and are becoming increasing recognised by boards globally, particularly where mergers and acquisitions are becoming the norm. Big Data is the emerging new trend in Process Excellence implementation which has the potential to outstrip competition for sustained performance just like six sigma did a few years back for companies like Motorola and General Electric. Harvard Business Review reported that companies have collected more information from customers since 2007 than was ever collected prior to that date

Process Excellence is quite simply, a better way to do work and stay ahead in the minds for the 21st century's successful corporations!

Send in your comments to me at rupak.agarwal@gmail.com

PROCESS EXCELLENCE - QUALITY PERSPECTIVE..

KVV, Satyanarayana" <kvvsatyanarayana@tuv-nord.com>

Tel : Mob: Email :

+91 (040) 30431221 +91 98482 12916 satya@tuv-nord.com

www.tuvindia.co.in

The Golden   saying “Customer is King” is truer today than ever before. As the quality of life improves, demand   and    expectations all over the world for Consistent services & products is turning out to be the order of the day.

Quality plays a major role in the survival of any business today. Quality is given equal importance, irrespective of whether it is manufacturing set up, services or any other enterprise. Quality is an outcome of the organization’s understandings of the fundamental inter-connectedness of structure, processes and outcome.

An organization needs to design excellent   processes to achieve high quality of   product   or service.

Success in the 21^st Century is all about performing with passion & perfection, leading to excellence in all processes that we undertake.

Any business entity has three key functions, namely, Marketing, Operations and Finance. Managers & Leaders have   challenging goals particularly, in operations.

Operational excellence in terms of Productivity and Customer delight   are the   drivers to sustained outperformance.

To achieve excellence in operations, there are certain proven tools   techniques      methodologies and systems such   as

• Standardization and simplification
• Reliability and redundancy
• Value engineering
• Ergonomic considerations
• JIT,
• Group Technology
• Work measurement & Time study
• Work sampling,
•  learning curves
• total productive maintenance
• 5 S concept
• Quality circles
• Management  systems   (  ISO9001,  EMS 14001, ISMS 27001  CMMI, OHSAS18001)
•  Process  management  coupled   with   PDCA
• 7   QC  TOOLS
• FMEA

     Brief   note   on few   of the   above mentioned are:

5S-   This   is  the  basic  foundation   initiative   to   surface  out  abnormalities  either  in   Industries  or  in services  and  for   Better workplace management

5S is    Japanese   technique   comprising   the following   five steps

      Seiri. (sorting), Seiton (Straightening or orderly arrangement), Seiso (Shining &

      cleaning machines and work  place), Seiketsu (Standardising & personal upkeep)

      & Shitsuke. (Sustaining the practice).

     Seven Wastes- These  are  sometimes  are  called  as   7  deadly  disease which 

      an  organization must avoid.   

–        Overproduction: reduce by producing only what is needed as & when it is needed.

–        Waiting: synchronize the workflow.

–        Transportation: minimize transport with better layouts.

–        Processing: “Why do we need this process at all?”

–        Stock: reduce inventories.

–        Motion: reduce wasted employee motions

–        Product defect: Focus on doing it right first time.

 By    avoiding   the above, productivity  and  operational  excellence  would   certainly   improve on sustainable  basis.

       T P M (Total   productive   maintenance)- To prevent equipment related losses viz.,

•          Break down loss

•          Set up and adjustment loss

•          Speed loss

•          Defective work loss

      7QC  TOOLS  :The QC tools are techniques in QC activities for discovering problems, organizing information, generating ideas, analyzing causes, taking action, effecting improvements and establishing controls   to  improve  performance.

 The seven tools used for, Generation of ideas, Decision making, Data presentation, Data collection, Analysis are:

§  Cause-and-effect or Ishikawa diagrams

§  Check sheet

§  Control chart

§  Histogram

§  Pareto chart

§  Scatter diagram

§  Stratification (alternately, flow chart or run chart)

 

  Statistical Process Control (SPC)

•          A quantitative method for determining whether a particular process is in or out of control.

•          Application  of  this   tool   ensures  the  predictability  and   process  out   stability  and  avoid  inspection 

Kaizen: Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement by all the    employees in an organization, so that they perform their tasks a little better each day. It is a never ending journey centered on the concept of starting new each day with the principle that the methods can always be improved.

           FMEA: FEMA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) is a structured analysis for identifying ways & methods in which the product or processes can fail and then plan to prevent those failures. FMEA is a proactive tool for reducing defects and non-conformities.

      Quality circles: Quality circle is a small group of voluntary members under the

      leadership of their supervisor, trained to identify, analyze and solve work-related

      problems and present their solutions to management, to improve the

      performance of the organization,

Globally, there are a number of awards and recognitions provided by different programs and organizations to encourage the organizations to focus on quality and excellence in processes.

Some of them are:

·         Baldridge National Quality Program- USA

The award is given by the president  of  USA in areas of manufacturing, education,

and health care to recognize the quality and excellence in US firms based on the

following criteria:  leadership; strategic  planning; customer and market focus;

measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus;

 process management; and business results.  

·         European Foundation of Quality Management- Europe

The European Foundation of Quality Management is an organization that provides businesses in Europe a model wherein they could gain efficiency, effectiveness and competitive advantage. (2007) The excellence award is given to organizations who have effectively implemented the EFQM Excellence Model on their operations
 

·         Japan Quality Award

Japan Quality Award  is provided by the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic

Development (JPC-SED) to encourage innovation and the transformation

of management systems in Japan into customer-oriented structures.

·         Asia-Pacific Quality Organization (APQO)

APQO Awards is for the  businesses and companies in Asia and the surrounding

 countries in the  Pacific Rim to promote the development in the quality of the goods

services as well as the quality of life of people on an international scale.

·         Australian Organization for Quality

           The Gold Award is given by the Australian Organization for Quality by assessing the

          quality management principles of the nominees on the dimensions of  learning; positivity;

          achievement; leadership; sustainability.

          In India we have many National awards for quality excellence sponsored by pioneering

          organizations. Some of the popular National Quality Awards are:

·                             Golden Peacock Awards:

Golden Peacock Awards, instituted by Institute of Directors in 1992, are now regarded as holy grail of Corporate Excellence worldwide. The Award applications are assessed at 3 three levels by independent assessors and finally by a grand Jury. The Global Awards are finalized by a Jury headed by Dr. Ola Ullsten, former Prime Minister of Sweden. The Awards are bestowed annually and are designed to encourage total improvement in each sector of our business.All institutions whether public, private, non-profit, government, business, manufacturing and service sector are eligible to apply. Leadership Awards are determined through nomination. They provide not only worldwide recognition and prestige but also a competitive advantage in driving business in this tumultuous world under Golden Peacock Award models.

·         The Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award;

Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award was instituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards in 1991, with a view to encouraging Indian manufacturing and service organizations to strive for excellence and giving special recognition to those who are considered to be the leaders of quality movement in India.   This award is intended to generate interest and involvement of Indian Industry in quality programmes, drive our products and services to higher levels of quality and equip our Industry to meet the challenges of domestic and International markets.

• IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award.

The IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards was instituted in 1996 to give special recognition to excellence in organizations.  The Award Criteria emphasize : openness and transparency in governance and ethics: the need to create value for customers and the business: and the challenges of rapid innovation and capitalizing on your knowledge assets. Whether a business is small or large, is involved in service, manufacturing, health care, education,  or has one office or multiple sites across the globe, the Criteria provide a valuable framework that can help the organization, plan in an  uncertain environment.  The Criteria can also help in aligning resources and approaches such as ISO 9000, Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise System and International Quality Maturity Model, improve communication, productivity, quality, effectiveness and customer satisfaction ; and achieve strategic goals on the journey to the vision.

   CII-EXIM   Model for Business Excellence

CII and Export Import Bank of India have, in 1994, jointly established the CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence, with the aim of enhancing the Competitiveness of India Inc. The Award is based on the internationally recognized EFQM Excellence Model.

Essentially the model tells us that,  “Excellent results with respect to performance, customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy, people, partnerships resources, and processes.”

Organizations are assessed on their standing with respect to the above model and the best organization in the respective category wins this prestigious award.

These Quality Awards go a long way in encouraging the organizations in aiming for excellence in their processes and deliverables and stay ahead of their competition.

Apart from their urge to provide the best to their customers in a standardized manner, these awards when achieved, improve the image of the organizations dramatically. Even otherwise, trying for these awards sincerely throws up the weakness areas to be rectified and improved upon thus resulting in long term benefits to the organizations.

There are many approaches to achieving excellence in organizations.  However the top management on their journey to achieving excellence needs criteria of framework that would enable them to measure their performance.  This framework should be universally acceptable, objectively measure performance, be easily understandable and indicate the quality of management so that the gaps in the achievements can be identified and suitable actions initiated.  But, whatever be the framework or model, some elements remain fundamental in relation to performance to excellence in organizations.

Process excellence comes by way of:

--Challenging the status quo and effecting change by using learning to create innovation and improvement opportunities

-- Maximizing the contribution of employees through their development and involvement

-- managing the organization through a set of interdependent and interrelated systems, processes and facts   &

- a  leadership  that is focused on  pursuit of excellence as a  strategy.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE- A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO CUSTOMER DELIGHT..

 THERE IS PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR ANY BUSINESS THAT TAKES CARE OF ITS CUSTOMERS – AFTER THE SALE. – Harvey MacKay
Successful Companies understand the importance of delivering unparalleled service to their customers, without any compromise, as this will lead to an excellent experience. A delighted customer spreads a positive word of mouth to other potential customers leading to more business for the company.
A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. ..Mahatma Gandhi
Customers can afford to do without their vendor, but a company cannot survive without a satisfied customer. The linchpin of any business is the customer. Customers lay the foundation of businesses today. In this consumer driven age, what sets apart great companies is the service they provide to their customers. Great companies invest in customers because, that is where the business lies. The business decisions of the leading brands across the globe today, are driven to satisfy and exceed the expectations of their customers, that will create impregnable entry barriers for any competitor to overcome.
The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary.
...Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
Customer is the King Maker.Several studies have shown that it costs six nearly six times more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one. Customers are powerful marketing agents; a satisfied customer can help win more deals than the best marketing personnel. They become more important in the digital age, where people can give feedback and influence the buyers at the click of a mouse.
IF WE DON’T TAKE CARE OF OUR CUSTOMERS, SOMEONE ELSE WILL-UNKNOWN 
The customers today are bombarded with options, sometimes more than what they can handle. So, what differentiates a business is the service it provides to its customers. The best agents for marketing the products and services are the customers. A reputation is built on what people talk about their experience. How a company is perceived in the market determines its brand image. The best brands are built by their customers. Fascinatingly a great number of companies like facebook, twitter and pinterest are prime examples of companies that have sky rocketed due to their customers and the empowerment they have provided to their customers to express their opinions. This has led to the customer's voice becoming very potent enough to make or break any businesses.
“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com
Excellent service is the best marketing strategy for a business. The world is a place where the speed of communication keeps increasing. Things propagate and travel faster than ever before. Whether it is good or bad reviews, it can affect the performance of a brand in the competitive market place.
Amazon, founded in 1994 is the world's largest online retailer today. The story of Amazon is a story of excellence in service that propelled it to great heights. The business model makes them one of the most successful modern companies and a technological giant. Amazon has transformed the industry in its own ways. It has done it through remarkable customer service. They made shopping possible at a click. They empowered users to give ratings, review and provide feedback on all products and services. It enables the users to pick and choose the best products.
Google, Apple, GE, and Toyota motors, etc are other companies to have emerged as global leaders due to their excellent Services. The core essence of these top companies is in providing great services to their customers. These companies have focused on customer delight and enhanced customer experience making them truly world class. When the customer feels good it promotes your brand and organisation. This is how great companies are built.
Customer service is imperative for the success of a company. Most successful companies who focus on customer delight, advocate the following, that leads them to achieving service excellence:
1. Know your customers. Build a customer profile. Each and every customer is special and they must feel it. 
2. Look at your business from the customer’s perspective and then communicate.
3. Make a great first impression. Whether it is the logo, salesman or the business cards of company, all this speaks about your company.
4. Build trust by giving the best quality. Be reliable and do what you say.
5. Each genuine complaint is a great chance to improve upon the products/services that you are offering. Develop a system where customer complaints can be gathered easily.
6. Have an excellent complaint handling system that is transparent to the customers. Intimate the customers about the action plan for the complaints and communicate regularly.
7. Be proactive and responsible in solving the pain points of the customers. it easy for the
8. Do something pleasantly surprising that leaves a wow effect on your customer.
9. The key to customer satisfaction is to exceed expectations of your customers.
10. Be honest with your customers; never lie, over promise or under deliver.
11. Make it easy for the customers to give their feedback and register complaints. Be accessible via internet, phone calls and customer service centers.
12. Differentiate yourself from the market, offer something unique.
13. Develop means to get the customer satisfaction and feedback. Measure customer service level & ask your customers about their expectations.
14. Create a compelling customer experience, one that urges them to recommend your products or services to others.
15. Leverage the power of online monitoring tools to know more about your brand. See what people are saying about your products and services. Do something exceptionally good to get their attention. Create your presence, help your customers and be noticed.
16. Bring in experts and a trained staff that deals with customers. Share relevant information about your products and services with your customers. Help them use it better.
17. Create a customer interaction plan. The idea is to communicate effectively with your customers. Too much or too little communication can hinder your business, it is important to get the balance right. When creating a customer plan, address the following questions:
How do you communicate with your customers?
How often do you communicate with them?
What do you need to tell your customers?
When you need to talk to them?
18. Thank your customers for the business. A hand written or pre-written note can do wonders & make the customer feel great. When you care, it shows in your attitude.
19. When you cannot fix the customer’s problem, apologize sincerely. If possible,offer them some discounts, refunds or credit accounts for future.
20. Innovate, experiment and execute with customer at the heart of your organisation.
Nothing promotes a business more than a satisfied customer. The best advertisement media in the digital age is the word of mouth. Great service invariably builds and boosts your brand. Be exceptional and be talked about. The most successful companies are not only known by their results, but also the confidence and satisfaction they produce for their customers.
There is a strong correlation between the customer satisfaction level and the brand equity of a company. Studies from American Customer Satisfaction Index and other agencies seem to corroborate the same.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index has shown that the stock prices of companies ranking higher for customer service tend to do better than those with lower value. According to Forbes magazine, between 1994 and 2007, companies ranking in the top 25% of the index created $420 billion in wealth for shareholders versus $111 billion for those in the bottom 25% -in other words, companies that please their customers are shown to create four times the wealth.
ONE CUSTOMER WELL TAKEN CARE OF COULD BE MORE VALUABLE THAN
 $10,000 WORTH  OF ADVERTISING  –  JIM ROHN
Customer service is the best advertisement for any business. It is imperative to make sure that it is as impressive as it can be. Great services produce the best returns on investment. Service excellence builds the foundation on which great organizations are operated. Successful Organizations know that that their entire stakes are dependent on their services excellence and hence the need to be never compromising in investing to achieve the best service levels they can offer to their customers, which in turn will not only let their business survive, but also multiply.
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