| dc.description.abstract | Steve, Smith (1995) observes that there is an elite group of organizations that are outstanding
in their performance through distinctive practices. These world class companies have
common characteristics from which other companies can learn in order to enhance their
competitiveness. According to Steve, Smith (1995) a key factor in the success of these World
Class Companies (WCC) is their ability to integrate activities to telling effect in the three
areas of their marketplace, their operations and their culture.
The objective of this study was to identify through literature review the approaches adopted
by world class organizations (WCO) to ensure that they succeed in their operations. These
approaches are what distinguishes such organizations from others and are readily observable
as attributes of an organization. Steve, Smith (1995) further observes that there are up to a
hundred attributes which characterize great organizations but in isolation, each individual
attribute is not so significant. For instance dependable delivery is an attribute that may be
recognizable in an organization but delivery on time of a faulty product would hardly be
impressive. World class organizations therefore succeed by blending the various attributes
together to create definable practices which can be consistently applied.
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited was used as a case study to interrogate the concept
of World Class Organizations. The study sought to understand the extent to which the bank
had adopted world class practices and whether this was a contributing factor to their sustained
good performance. The study also established how organizations benefit from world class
practices and the challenges encountered in their quest for global supremacy. Data was collected from selected employees who were in a position to understand the state of business operations and the strategies in place to achieve corporate goals.
The research design was by case study as an in-depth understanding of the practices that have propelled Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited to world class status was required. Questionnaires were used to collect data with both open ended and closed ended questions being used. Content analysis method was used to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed certain practices that were repeatedly mentioned by the respondents as
being behind the success of the bank. Among the key practices mentioned included employee
focus, customer focus, leadership, process and profit.
Most companies already have improvement programmes, often stimulated by performance
gaps identified by surveys or internal project teams. However, management typically
responds conservatively to such programmes, changing its own practices modestly. Exposure
to world class practice is more challenging, for the real life evidence of what others have
done confronts management with the need to be radical and embrace fresh approaches.
Learning how managers of outstanding companies have adopted new practices and thereby
enhanced. their success is an effective way of injecting new energy into a total quality or
service initiative. This can also help in accelerating the learning curve on the journey to
world-class competitiveness and offers the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the
experienced pioneers. | en_US |
