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The Czech Republic has a long history of product excellence recognizable in such diverse areas as beer, weapons and shoe manufacture. Moreover, many of the ideas regarded as central to contemporary expression of TQM such as empowerment and primacy of the organization’s human resource are to be found in the 1920s and 1930s speeches and essays of Czech industrialist and organizational behaviorist Tomas Bata. Nevertheless, the Czech Republic faces distinct challenges brought about by the Velvet Revolution ‐ challenges common to many Central and Eastern European nations. Challenges, practices, trends and the future promise of quality in the Czech Republic are discussed.

Presents the “BEST” model for sustainability built on the pillars of biophysical/environmental, economic, societal and technological principles. Attempts to relate this model to the principles and criteria of representative business excellence models with the goal of achieving business excellence with a social and environmental conscience. Looks at some core considerations of BEST sustainability as well as some commonly agreed upon business excellence principles. Concludes by discussing areas where sustainable development and business excellence may converge.

Six sigma programs are raging through corporations worldwide, with some corporations citing savings in the $US billions resulting from six sigma implementation. Six sigma has both proponents and detractors with some arguing that nothing new is involved and others identifying it as revolutionary. The view espoused herein argues for six sigma as a methodology within the larger framework of total quality management – a blend of old and new in the sense that the tools of six sigma are often familiar ones, but are applied with an eye that is more strategically focused than historic use of those tools ordinarily indicates.

BEST business excellence addresses the issue of excellence and sustainability from four perspectives: bio/physical, economic, social, and technological. The concept of BEST business excellence seeks to address the balance of objectives that many academics and practitioners alike believe are necessary, perhaps not sufficient, to secure the long‐term survival, prosperity, and thriving of humankind and its institutions. Somewhat allied with triple bottom line, this concept is in its infancy and little work has been completed in the formation of the concept intuitively or formally. This paper begins a discourse to develop an optimization model for the concept of BEST business excellence. The models presented herein are graphical and descriptive and offer a basis for further development. These models represent the transformation from maximizing economic outcomes as the organizational objective constrained by B‐sustainability (bio/physical) largely through regulation, S‐sustainability (social) largely through a sense of obligation or by consumer action, and T‐sustainability (technology) largely through the limitations of current technology available. The new model offers the different perspective of the objective function containing variables representing B‐, E‐, and S‐sustainability, wherein those objectives are jointly optimised using technology (T‐sustainability) where cost becomes the constraint. The resultant descriptive model shows how technology forms the centerpiece of optimization and provides direction for technological development resulting in simultaneous optimization of bio/physical, economic, and social objectives.

Outlines the origin, vision, guiding principles and strategic intents of the Multinational Alliance for the Advancement of Organizational Excellence (MAAOE). Describes how MAAOE brings together leaders from many disciplines who are bonded together by a shared desire to investigate, create, disseminate and apply the multidisciplinary and multicultural knowledge necessary to assist organizations in their quest for excellence.

We are at perilous points in the histories of humanity and of planet Earth. Plant and animal species are disappearing at an alarming rate in parallel with ecosystem distress and destruction – with responsibility for and consequences of set firmly upon the furrowed brow of humanity. On one hand there is urgent need to abate global environmental degradation and on the other there is concern for humankind – alleviation of suffering and poverty through economic development. It appears increasingly likely that only great resolve with rapid and appropriate action born out of radical change in our worldview may forestall disaster. Too often, however, “the right‐hand doesn’t know what the left‐hand is doing”. Sustainable development is an area that considers these dual imperatives; examined herein are contributions that can be made to sustainable development by businesses applying organizational excellence principles to activities with environmental and societal implications.

Acceptance sampling can be both time‐consuming and destructive so that it is desirable to arrive at a sound lot disposition decision in a timely manner. Sequential sampling plans are attractive since they offer a lower average sample number than do matched single, double, or multiple sampling plans. Analogously, cumulative sum control charts offer the ability to detect moderate process shifts more rapidly than do Shewhart control charts applied to the same process. The inverse Gaussian distribution is flexible and is often the model of choice in accelerated life testing applications where early failure times predominate. Based on sequential probability ratio tests (SPRT), sequential sampling/ cumulative sum (CUSUM) plans provide timely, statistically based decisions. Presents SPRT and CUSUM results for the inverse Gaussian process mean. Also presents a simple goodness‐of‐fit test for the inverse Gaussian distribution which allows for model adequacy checking.

Enterprise activities are often harmful to the natural environment or societal fabric, yet approaches that are environmentally constructive or socially responsible can be challenging and may not be rewarded by the marketplace. Enterprises that are not sufficiently financially successful perish. The purpose of this paper is to present a model and methodology referred to as sustainable enterprise excellence, resilience and robustness (SEER2) that provides enterprises with a means of balancing financial, social, and environmental considerations. These considerations form the classic elements of the triple bottom line and are central formation of enterprise responses to climate change and social strain.

A model referred to as the Springboard to SEER2 is introduced. SEER2 explicitly considers societal and environmental performance and impacts that are driven by strategy and implemented through processes. As such criteria associated with the Springboard that address strategy, processes, performance, and impact are also introduced.

Humanity is at individual, enterprise, and societal levels partially or wholly responsible for many critical and time-sensitive social and environmental challenges. Due to their vast collective resource consumption and resource base, enterprises should also contribute to solving such challenges. The presented Springboard to SEER2 model and associated criteria provide a rigorous, yet defined path for enterprises that have the determination to confront such challenges.

This is among the first explorations of enterprise self-assessment in general and SEER2 in particular that explicitly consider strategies, processes and activities important to mitigation of climate change and social strain.