Routinizing peak performance and impacts via virtuous cycles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve the ability of enterprises to routinely realize peak performance and produce positive social and environmental impact. Design/methodology/approach An acknowledged operational excellence model – the one behind the globally recognized Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence – is examined in relation to positive reciprocal behavior and the value of creating and reinforcing processes that “pile good upon good” in form of virtuous improvement cycles. Findings Embedding virtuous reciprocity cycles in enterprise culture and routines can help to routinize peak performance. Research limitations/implications Only the Shingo Operational Excellence Model is examined so that other well-known alternatives such as the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Model and EFQM Excellence Model are not examined. That said, the general structure and content of most excellence models is sufficiently similar that the approach taken herein would likely yield analogous conclusions. Practical implications Inherent in “practices” is that enterprises seek to routinize successful approaches to performance and impact, usually via contextualized implementation of excellence models or “programs” such as lean enterprise. Social implications Offered is one means of creating more positive enterprise cultures. Enterprises with more positive cultures have been shown to also be more productive and to contribute more positively to the fabric of society so that the “piling of good upon good” can extend beyond the borders of the enterprise. Originality/value The contribution herein is one of demonstrating why and how virtuous cycles can be implemented to more routinely yield improved or peak performance.