EFQM Excellence Model
EFQM Excellence Model
(KIER GROUP)
Introduction
The aim of this study is to analyze and implement the elements and structure of the EFQM Excellence Model in an organization. In present world rivalry and flexible rules, quality has become one of the most vital factors for accomplishing aggressive target The EFQM Excellence Model is the most widely used organizational tools widely used in European countries. The EFQM Excellence Model is planned to build a framework to assist the organization to execute the foundational notion and RADAR thinking into use. The present paper discusses the implementation of the EFQM model in Kier Group Plc. The nine concepts, which include enablers and results were modified in order to reveal the unique characteristics of Kier Group Plc.The implementation of this framework is in general successful. It is used by the organization to identify the strength and improvement areas of the management system. The EFQM Excellence Model helps in making an organization more competitive.
Background
Kier Group plc is one the most prominent name in the construction sector in the United Kingdom have their headquarters in Tempsford Hall and Sandy Bedfordshire. It is a leading infrastructure, buildings, developments, and housing group. Jorgen Lotz and Olaf Kier, Danish Engineers established it in the year of 1928 under the name Lotz & Kier in Stoke-on-Trent. Philip Cox and Andrew are the key people of the organization. In its initial phase, they focus on concrete engineering and then expanded their services into general contracting and house building. The company divides into four divisions, Kier Services, Kier Residential, and Kier Property.
Partnerships & Resources
Building Sustainable Relationships with the Partners & Suppliers
EFQM provides the company with the criteria to understand the root cause and influences that link to the accomplishment of the achievements. To ensure a supportive partnership, the company needs proper planning and strategies. Strengthening the relationship with the partners and the suppliers over the long term period is a very crucial aspect for the development of the organization. It takes a immense quantity of energy and time to build good, powerful and deep-rooted business relationships. It is an essential part of any organization. The lasting business bond just does not happen over time, it needs consistent work (Clamp, 2003). For maintaining a long lasting relationship the organization needs to be authentic (Vaccaro, Jansen, Van & Volberda,2012). It means a false persona should be avoided. Beside the EFQM requires the organization to initiate a sustainable bonding with the partners and the suppliers based on correlative understanding, respect and honesty is the key to sustainable partnership (Al-Qutop,& Harrim,2014). The EFQM model also requires companies to construct required networks to enable them to recognize prospective opportunities to improve their potential and abilities to produce auxiliary stakeholder value (Wongrassamee, Simmons& Gardiner, 2003). Maintaining the buyer-supplier relationships is the key to aiming the long term financial benefits of the company, which is the part of the EFQM model (Zybell, 2013). The EFQM model enables the Kier group to understand the scope of improvement in the relationship area between their partners (Rigby, Dewick, Courtney & Gee, 2014). It helps in evaluating their capabilities and scope for betterment in the development of the relationship(Matthews,2011). While planning and listing the managing partnerships and resources they stabilize the present and future requirement of a company, environment and the community (Mi, 2008). Kier Group plc respects the aim and vision of their partner and helps them grow, by providing the space. They believe in long-term partnership and set a standard for all the organization based in the UK. The Kier Group plc is at the top position in the housing and construction sector not just by itself, but also with the consistent efforts from its partners and suppliers. Kier Group plc engages with the skill subcontractors and suppliers. It is a squad that company confidently count on to bring day-in, day-out, covering the breadth of operations. The organization does not only work popular companies. In fact, a lot of the longest and most productive relationships are with Small and Medium Enterprise, who blend excellent local knowledge with a readiness to provide desired results for the clients. They share a good bonding with their business partners. The partnership should not be just limited to benefiting each other in terms of technology or customer base. Sharing of knowledge and helping each other grow is the key to creating a strong bond.
Managing Their Buildings, Equipment and Resources in A Sustainable Way
Managing the buildings, equipment, and resources is a big challenge for any organization. The managerial aspect is the backbone of an organization, which helps the company to thrive (Beer, 2013). The effective communication must be present between the managerial structures of the company; otherwise, a gap would lead in confusion. The most basic elements of an organizational structure are of two types, long chain of command, and a short chain of command (Kaplan et al., 2011). The long chain command is far better as compared with the shorter one. As in the short chain of command major of the managerial portion is skipped, fails in forming effective communication. The long chain clarifies the role of every individual. The stability of a structure continues if the decision-making power is concentrated to a single point rather than spread out (Mullins, 2017). In a decentralized structure, the decision-making power is spread out which promotes more individual decisions, which slow down the decision-making process (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2014). This individual democracy in a company leads to reducing the efficiency of the organization. Structuring an organization also enables the team members to work towards single goals.
The equipment is an important part of an organization and it needs to look after properly for the easy running of an organization (Evelina et al.,2010, November). If the organization has multiple working locations, then it becomes necessary to plan the strategy for the proper maintenance of the equipment. It should be noted that the proper maintenance of all equipment should be carried out daily to avoid failure. As it is used all the time, so extra precaution is carried out for the smooth running of equipment. Failure of any of the equipment due to fatigue would result in a loss of time and money. Kier Group plc is known for its safety and maintenance ethics. They follow the rigorous checkups routine of the equipment after starting and completion of the work.
Resource Management is the process by which an organization controls its various resources effectively and efficiently. Managing resources involves schedules and budget for people, projects, supplies, and equipment. Kier Group plc focuses on resource leveling, which fails to notice resource allocation and rectify possible dispute arising from over-allocation. It is specially build to avoid shortages or excess inventory by keeping stock at a level that avoids both issues..
Key processes to deliver its strategy
The Kier group plc provides construction and property facilities, along with support services and residential offers. It applies useful processes in its organization, for the task of delivering elaborate strategies. These help the company to gain competitiveness and fostering continuous progress. They are a leading group in this field and have also been awarded a contract by Highways England for repair, maintenance services for 15 years. They have a well-defined series of processes to deliver their strategy. Through several community engagement and investment promotion, Kier has worked to nurture coherence of several communities. Before deciding its final project plan, it performs some preparatory task, which includes several steps like advice on expertise, assessing the client requirements and clear evaluation regarding the project is done. Some processes pertained by Kier are establishing a swift channel of communication, both within and outside its organization, including workers, contractors, investors, suppliers and clients. It creates proper transmission of needs and requirements to every head. It has an effective project management forte and it continually plans the project, to keep it flawless and the best-suited for its clients. To execute its work properly and maintain its profitability, the Kier group plc plans its budget in a very constructive way, keeping the interests of both the company and its organization. It plans raw materials, cost of the project, job division, quality of work and timeframes systematically and with logical understanding. The adaptability of strategies according to the environment and vision power of Kier group plc is magnificent. That is the reason why, Kier group is standing at a profitable and supreme position in this area.
Kier adopted a strategic approach known as the “Shaping Our Communities” approach. It aims at moulding the communities in which they operate, so as to bring a positive development in the communities and contracts, they perform. The objectives of this approach are to minimize the negative impacts and maximize investment by utilizing resources efficiently. It sets the ethical codes and standards, to be followed within its organizational building and maintains a safe environment at workplace, for its employees (Alshuwaikhat & Abubakar, 2018). It makes sufficient utilization of local talent and boosts the local economy in this way. It seeks the methods of both off-site as well as modern construction. It undertakes around 400 plus projects each year and is progressing in the private sector, rapidly Its Social Impact policy has led to achievement of long-term positive outcomes in its community sectors (Bovaird, & Löffler,2012). It commits at raising awareness in the society and increase employment in its organization.
Innovative products and services
They create diverse range of innovative projects and provide beneficial services to its clients and also the society as a whole. The major business of Kier Group plc is its Construction sector, which provides development and building services. It also provides services like management, health, education, housing maintenance, pharmaceutical utilities, and so on to its clients. It also furnishes the society with some environmental services such as maintenance of streets, waterways, recycling and also deals with energy and waste. It plays its part well in social blooming. It employs over 11,000 employees. It also provides residential services to people. It arranges for the availability of adequate raw materials in hand, to ensure hurdle free functioning in its projects and complete the targets before the timeline. It has completed the project of UK Supreme Court, in 2009. In the sectors of aviation, defence, government, culture and environment, Kier plays a huge contribution.
It collaborates with its clients to provide amazing constructional results, taking care of all their requirements and creating something useful as well as unique. It makes the best utilization of the area under construction and uplifts productivity. All the projects of Kier, be it small or major tasks, go through expertise, fresh thinking, and critical analysis before coming to any final planning decision. Some innovative projects done by the Kier Group plc are the 25 Wilton roads at London, United Kingdom’s cancer centre of immunology, renovation, and art building of Aberdeen Music Hall, rebuilding of the Elland Bridge, Baker Barracks, restoring of one of the many iconic buildings, that is, the Oldham Town Hall and many such projects of constructional excellence.
Supply Chain Management Strategy That the Kier Group Could Pursue To Drive Business Excellence
The supply chain management strategies that the Kier Group could pursue are:
- Product Development
- Suppliers and logistics
The Kier Group have created their name in the field of civil engineering and housing successfully by accomplishing the targets in the required time and maintaining the quality and safety at the work site. They have achieved most of the difficult and largest project all over the UK with ease. This achievement of Kier group is not only due the great working team at site but also with the applications of better Suppliers and logistics which have provide them a greater strength and support for creating success for their organization . The organization need to incline towards the Product Development strategy to build an adaptable and rapid supply chain with quick planning and integrated implementation and regularly evaluate actions to ensure flexible quickness to encounter the changing requirements (Zybell, 2013). The organization’s authority initially needs to define strongly the sustainability as a main strategic component and potentially of their supply chain approach. The RADAR elements are further used to define and analyse the supply chain management strategies.
Result
The EFQM model enables the organization to measure its capabilities in terms of quality and management. It supports managers and directors in training, sharing concepts and innovating ideas. The EFQM business excellence model is the most widely used quality management tool Europe. It is made up of a universal framework of ideas, thus helping business to share information in an effective and efficient way irrespective of the distinct sectors and cultures. The EFQM Model is composed of nine criteria that further split into five enablers and four results (Bou, Escrig, Roca & Beltrán, 2019). To build an adaptable and nimble supply chain with quick planning and integrated implementation, organization must estalish dynamic planning capabilities and regularly fine-tunes actions to ensure flexible quickness to encounter dynamic requirement (Siddiqui, Haleem, & Wadhwa, 2019). The previous model was to wait until the completion of the month to move manufacturing and supply based shipments. The current model is more apt for the new changing market. It adjusts quickly to the demand of the market change. This can lessen or even remove disturbance across the supply network. The result includes enhanced collaboration across the value chain, better visibility, transportation, warehousing, and distribution. The strategy leads in increasing the speed of decision making with better evaluation and assistance. Agility is a key to cope with the dynamic demand of an organization.
Approach
EFQM strategy believes the regularity of gradual changes in an organization and does not believe in long jumps and high tempos to carrying out an organization growth strategy.The large scale effective decisions cannot be made on the basis of gradual changes. It is a decision making process and suits best in the stability market, not in fluctuating market situations (Ishtiaque., Siddiqui, & Ahmed)It is important to dominate the spirit of creativity and innovation in decision making, and innovative based approaches in the competitive market. The success is due to the high -strength and innovative steps that have taken on critical occasions. As far as the approaches are concerned, each claimed to be able to provide the right way for the organization to identify, formulate and execute their strategy in order to achieve their organizational goals. It is to be noted, that differences among the strategy approaches tend to get influenced by not only the way in which organization strategy is defined but also in terms of their strategic focus as well.
Deployment
It is important to find out what an organization has to work with before it can start developing the strategy.To find out where the strategy aligns with company objectives budgets and timeframe, a proper analysis of the current structure is needed. It is vital to evaluate the effectiveness of the function before proceeding. The details of all the objects such as initiatives, assigned responsibilities, completion dates, and expected outcomes. Effective communication should be through the process of implementations of strategy. Company’s leaders first require fixing firmly the sustainability as a central strategic component and potentially of their supply chain approach. (Dale,Van & Van, 2007). This means integrating it as a main requirement across all supply chain processes. Secondly, professionals initially must focus on the basics to accomplish swift wins through instantly visibility, analyses to energy and the material movement or consumption of resources. This enables in reducing the inefficiencies, minimized energy consumption, less waste and optimized transportation and travel. The organization can gain momentum by confirming uninterrupted development between proper measurement and audit. Best practices, compliance reviews, and standard specification provide a governing framework for sustainable supply chain operations and confirm proper knowledge of the environmental effect of certain activity.
Assessment & Refinement
The putrefaction and assessment are not meant to change the decision makers rather it supply a proper and systematic approach to aid, supplement and confirms the internal consistency of their judgments through series of analytically sound techniques. Generation of alternative strategy by a series of possible means, a desired goal can be accomplished. There should be a minimum of two mutually exclusive alternatives in the set to allow a choice to be made (Yang, Dale, & Siow, 2011). Identifying the related opportunities and risks and categorises them into the internal, task and general groups of environmental factors. The subjective probabilities for each alternative are to develop. For the opportunities and threats, an analysis of decision maker's risk-aversion constant is done. The refinement of strategy helps in sustaining the growth of the organizational structure. It becomes essential to check the performance of the strategy which is implemented and make changes if it does meet the organizational purpose. The intention of any organization is to accomplish goals and need changing the things which do align with a company long term targets. The effectiveness of any changes is measured. It is an ongoing process. Making changes helps in meeting the desired goals. To meet goals and keep the business going the organization must follow flexible strategy rather stiff ones.
Conclusion
Every business project requires proper and appropriate resources, relationships and budget towards successful completion. The assessment of internal structure is very important as it enables the organization about its strengths, weakness, and method of implementing the strategies. The evaluation of an integral part of an organization improves the efficiency and quality of work. The business structure defines, that what each other would accomplish for each other in terms of economic growth EFQM. An excellence model is a great tool in evaluating the capabilities of the organization. Kier has worked to nurture coherence of several communities with their focus on quality and consistency of work can be achieved by following strategies as stated.
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