Organisational value of participating in a quality award process: a Swedish study

One way for organisations to support total quality management, and hence try to increase customer satisfaction is to participate in a quality award process. The purpose of this study is to explore the organisational value of participating in a quality award process. The study is based on interviews at 29 organisations that have participated in the process of the Swedish Quality Award. The main conclusion is that most of the organisations consider the process orientation, customer orientation and improvement work to have been improved as a result of the participation in the quality award process. However, there are also obstacles to surmount in order to benefit fully from the process: difficulties in finding resources within the organisation to perform mandatory work and implement identified improvements, and difficulties in applying the circumstantial model used in the quality award process.