SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE EXCELLENCE: COHESION OF TQM/BE MODELS, ISO STANDARDS AND SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

There is increased attention in sustainability and sustainable development practices in business industry since last decade. Organizations are under immense pressure to do business that substantially imparts value not only in economical dimension but also satisfy two other important dimensions of sustainability; social and environmental dimensions. In pursuance to excellence organizations have been adopting various strategies and models among which Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Excellence (BE) models stand up most. However these TQM/ BE models are focused to Excellence more in economical terms and less in social and environmental terms. This study attempts to examine the coherence of TQM/BE models with sustainability practices and evaluates the extent to which these models match sustainability criteria. The study proposes to develop a Sustainable Enterprise Excellence (SEE) framework based on TQM/BE models with desired cohesion of ISO standards, guidelines and sustainability reporting indices.