The path to institutional excellence

With the world entering a new era of scientific, knowledge and technological development and artificial intelligence technologies with unlimited horizons, here we are today turning the page on the gradual progress of humanity to race with rapid, successive and sudden changes and developments in a changing and volatile world in which we find ourselves forced to confront them without warning, hence the growing interest By achieving quality and institutional excellence, which has become an urgent and necessary requirement for institutions, the era of the knowledge and technological revolution with its accelerating pace has become an era that recognizes only the distinguished, whether they are individuals or institutions, especially in light of competitiveness and changes in the requirements of the labor market. Competitiveness and adopt the principle of modern management thought, and this requires it to direct and harness its human and material capabilities in order to achieve total quality management practices and applications to reach institutional excellence. What is institutional excellence? And what is its importance? How can institutions achieve industry excellence? What is the secret behind the success of one institution without the other in achieving excellence?

Excellence is one of the modern concepts in the science of management, and the European Foundation for Quality EFQM has defined excellence as "distinguished facilities that achieve superior and sustainable levels of performance and that meet or exceed the expectations of all stakeholders." It can also be defined as "continuing to achieve the best results compared to others in the same field through the application of methodologies and work systems that ensure continuous improvement in all aspects of individual, collective and institutional performance."

Excellence is an integrated and indivisible system and the key to progress, growth and development due to its importance in improving performance, productivity, efficiency, organizational effectiveness and flexibility in addition to its contribution to achieving job satisfaction and organizational affiliation and increasing customer satisfaction and thus the success of organizations and improving their reputation and achieving a leading position and its contribution also to achieving sustainable development and increasing their appreciation and respect, which helps in attracting more customers.

The beginning of the application of the system of institutional excellence and the transition to this stage is achieved in light of positive thinking and begins first by adopting administrative leaders and holders of senior positions and their belief in consolidating the culture and concepts of quality, excellence and institutional development, then starting to form a work team within the institution that is concerned with spreading this culture and optimal management of knowledge, whether explicit or implicit. .

Distinguished institutions that have a solid and strong administrative structure have been keen to achieve institutional excellence, leaving the fingerprints of their success, contributions and outstanding work to society through:

1. Building and developing an integrated, long-term strategy centered on creating sustainable value.
2. Designing an organizational structure consistent with the strategic direction of the institution.
3. Building integrated and effective information systems that ensure providing the organization and its employees with information and tools that help in decision-making and support its activities and functions.
4. Building a modern human resources management system, as excellence depends to a large extent on how human resources are managed.
5. Periodic evaluation of the performance of the organization and its employees.
6. Monitoring successes and analyzing the reasons for failure.
7. Effective leadership that is committed to applying work standards, procedures, policies and requirements.
8. Establishing a department of research and development. Distinguished institutions are not devoid of R&D activities, future foresight and scenario management.
9. Establishing a public relations unit and building an effective communication policy between the institution and all relevant parties.
10. Building and implementing a quality management system in accordance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001 and adopting the guidelines of the international standard ISO 9004 that are concerned with managing continuous success.
11. Institutions' interest in social responsibility through the implementation of the guidelines of the international standard ISO 26000
12. Applying the requirements of the international standard ISO 22301, which is concerned with the business continuity management system.
13. Building a system of internal control that ensures enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization's operations and keeping risks within the limits that the organization is willing to accept.
14. Institutional Risk Management The international standard ISO 31000 and the international standard ISO 31010, which are concerned with risk assessment techniques, can be used as guidance.
15. Building a system of governance through which the organization's activities are directed, managed and monitored in order to achieve its objectives.
16. Launching pioneering development programs, initiatives and projects to achieve the aspirations of the Foundation and its various sectors.
17. Stimulating creative thinking and innovation, which is considered one of the important things that organizations seek to achieve prosperity in light of the changing and volatile business environment through the application of the international standard ISO 56001, which is concerned with the requirements of the innovation management system.
18. Management of transformation and change, which revolves around the transition of the organization from its current status to another that ensures increasing its effectiveness and achieving its goals.
19. Applying the requirements of the international standard ISO 30401, which is concerned with the knowledge management system. Increasing access to knowledge creates opportunities for professional development for individuals within the organization, as knowledge is an authentic asset that is no less important than material and human assets.
20. Building partnerships with local and international community institutions, which is one of the standards of excellence.
21. Taking care of the ECOSYSTEM ecosystem in which the organization operates "the internal environment, the surrounding environment, the external environment and the global environment" and the ability to analyze opportunities and threats and take advantage of opportunities for learning and growth within this system.

Last but not least, creativity and innovation in the nature of work is what distinguishes institutions and gives them the right of preference over their counterparts. Designing and implementing training and development programs and building institutional capacities in all fields is one of the best practices to achieve quality and excellence, and this depends on the management philosophy and prevailing culture within the organization that It determines its behavior and direction and affects the way it operates. It is not important where we are now, but what is more important is where we are heading.