Culture-based design and implementation of business excellence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach for implementing business excellence (BE) based on prevailing corporate culture and to propose relevant gates to monitor the corporate culture in the way to excellence. Design/methodology/approach – This research demonstrates a culture-based perspective of implementing BE. After an exhaustive review of literature, the relation between BE and corporate culture was clarified and a methodology was developed, which describes how BE projects can be performed successfully in the context of an existing culture instead of adapting the culture. Findings – The outcome of this research is the main concept for culture-based implementation of BE. Furthermore, five culture gates were designed to control the effect of BE measures on the corporate culture in long period of time. The findings indicate how BE can be implemented without considerable efforts to change the culture. Practical implications – The findings of this study are relevant to all different sized organizations in different sectors and industries for achieving outstanding results and maintain this capability permanently in the organization. Originality/value – This paper presents a unique approach for implementing BE in the light of prevailing corporate culture; such an approach has not been addressed in previous publications.