Tibor Dőry

Innovation and excellence

Management methods for innovation transformation

From corporate success research to the EFQM excellence model

The international success of Peters and Waterman's book inspired several researchers and organisations to thoroughly examine and define the factors that contribute to corporate success. These analyses typically describe the key corporate characteristics that distinguish organisations with excellent results from those with average or poor performance. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, research repeated a few years later found that the companies Peters and Waterman had rated as excellent were no longer so excellent. In the years following the study, their return on assets and capital, or their stock market value and sales growth, were no longer among the best. In line with the authors and the McKinsey 7-S model, critical analysts also drew attention to the role of soft factors, particularly organisational culture, which has a significant impact on corporate excellence and success (Aupperle et al., 1986).

We cannot ignore the role of corporate management in achieving and maintaining excellence. After all, goals that are not set cannot be achieved at either the organisational or individual level. This statement may seem like a cliché, but according to corporate competitiveness research, the majority of companies do not have a formal strategy or an inspiring vision or mission that can be communicated to partners and employees. The use of strategic planning and controlling tools is particularly limited in small and medium-sized enterprises. Domestic companies do not really make use of strategic planning tools, even though one of the important findings of many years of comprehensive competitiveness studies is that the performance of individual companies fundamentally depends on the strategy they choose (Chikán–Czakó, 2009).

From a competitiveness perspective, the role of strategic planning and continuous monitoring of excellence criteria has been proven, which goes beyond the operational tasks that occupy the attention of most company managers. It is therefore no coincidence that various national quality associations have established different guidelines, frameworks and numerous criteria for corporate excellence for companies striving for success and excellence. Of these, we will briefly review the model of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), which most company managers are likely to be familiar with or have heard of. We highlight it in particular for its usefulness in innovation, as the EFQM is a globally recognised framework that helps companies manage change and improve their performance, as well as develop a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

The EFQM framework has been revised several times in recent decades, providing guidance not only for companies but also for various institutions. Before presenting the elements of the model, it is important to emphasise that the EFQM model's principles of excellence can be applied to any organisation, regardless of its size, sector, industry or area of operation. The model is based on the following principles, which are also reflected in the model's requirements:

achieving balanced results;
creating value for the customer;
lead in a future-oriented, inspired and fair manner;
lead by building on processes;
be successful through people;
nurture creativity and innovation;
build partnerships;
take responsibility for a sustainable future.

The basic model (until 2010) was divided into nine parts: five "Input" and four "Output" criteria. The "Input" criteria included what the organisation does to achieve its goals. The "Results" criteria show what the organisation has achieved. The "Results" are caused by the "Capabilities", and the "Capabilities" can be improved and developed through feedback from the "Results". The model is based on the following fundamental idea: customer and employee satisfaction and positive social impact are achieved through management, sound business policy and strategy, building on employees, and managing partnerships, resources and processes, which leads to excellent results. According to the EFQM model, innovation and learning help to improve and further develop "Capabilities", which in turn lead to even better results and contribute to continuous improvement (Sugár, 2011).

Following its further development in 2010, the EFQM Model combines operational performance and results orientation to provide an appropriate strategic management approach and management framework for an organisation to review the coherence of its future goals and aspirations. It also provides information on the current status of implementation, the response to challenges, and the weaknesses of the organisation (EFQM, 2019).

The structure of the EFQM model is based on the principle of asking three simple but logical questions:

Why does the organisation exist? What goal is it trying to achieve? Why is this its strategy? (Guidance)
How does it achieve this? How does it intend to achieve its goal and strategy? (Implementation)
What has it achieved so far? What does it want to achieve in the future? (Results)

The EFQM model also has an innovation focus, which aims to enhance innovation performance within any organisation, regardless of size, sector or maturity. Organisations striving for excellence are increasingly recognising that innovation means more than just developing new products, services or solutions. This dimension of the model is about initiating and maintaining a continuous flow of new ideas, sharing knowledge and responding to new trends or changing market conditions, as well as further developing existing products, services and solutions.

Innovation requires the involvement of the entire organisation in the creative process, and the aim of the innovation dimension of the EFQM model is as follows:

to help the organisation understand what innovation means for it and what challenges it faces in focusing on the development of new products, services, solutions and working methods;
to support any organisation in developing processes that enable sustainable innovation;
to provide a set of indicators that any organisation can use to measure its innovation maturity.

The EFQM model considers the following factors to be essential components of a successful innovation programme:

representing values that encourage and enable innovation;
innovation driven by a deep understanding of customer needs in order to meet or exceed customer expectations;
humility in working with internal and external stakeholders to collaborate with them immediately;
ambition and willingness to identify and implement innovative new ways of working, a willingness to take risks and the patience necessary for successful innovation;
embedded innovation processes that support sustainability;
clearly defined innovation measures and the allocation of sufficient time and resources to implement innovation.

The above list clearly shows that a fairly complex system needs to be put in place in order to create the right climate for innovation in a business. Many corporate professionals, especially those working in production or process development, may not be able to see beyond their job description and therefore typically only propose solutions to minor problems. This is because suppliers and industrial companies devote most of their creative energy to optimising their production and value creation processes. These are also very important for increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses, but there are further opportunities for progress in the field of process development methods.

Tartalomjegyzék

Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2026

ISBN: 978 963 664 182 5

Menedzsment

The aim of the book "Innovation and Excellence" is to inspire and encourage company leaders, managers, and experts to initiate and implement innovation transformations with the help of professional literature and corporate case studies. Another important goal is to help develop the innovation capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular by sharing simple, proven management methods that can be tested in practice.

The first part of the volume reviews the factors of corporate excellence and success, then highlights the possible sources of innovation, with a focus on the role of users and employees. The empirical section presents a detailed description of the supportive role of the workplace environment and creative working conditions based on corporate case studies (AUDI, BOSCH, MELECS). The volume concludes with a description of selected tested practical methods and management techniques that readers can try out in their own businesses.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/dory-innovation-and-excellence//

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