Benchmarking the South African Excellence Model against worldclass best practice business Excellence Models

This study benchmarks South African Excellence Model (SAEM) against selected similar models in developed economies. The primary research question is: Why are South African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) not performing well in comparison to similar businesses in developed economies? The objectives of the study are to compare SAEM against worldclass best practice business excellence models, measure and rate SMEs management performance criteria.
Random sampling was used to select SMEs in the construction industry. The findings revealed SAEM as equally a good model as worldclass best practice models. Empirical results revealed low management performance scores in comparison with those of worldclass best practice. Recommendations included aggressive marketing of SAEM and introducing continuous performance management improvement strategies on poorly rated criteria.

Keywords: benchmarking, business excellence models, developed economies, management performance, small and medium enterprises.
JEL Classification: L26, O1, L25