8. Assessment for an External Award

Awards assessment provides a ‘third person’ or an independent view of an organization. Hence, it is the most powerful tool that an organization can use to understand its performance level. This chapter provides insights regarding how to prepare an effective assessment report that would help an organization understand its status and draw a roadmap, based on this assessment, for future excellence or a new drive for excellence. In fact, the efforts for achieving excellence must begin with an understanding of the organization’s status, followed by determining what it wants to achieve. This chapter highlights the key points and processes followed in the Dubai Quality Award (DQA) assessment procedure based on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) practices.