Definition: "Excellent organisations design, manage and improve processes in order to satisfy, and generate increasing value for, customers and other stake-holders."
Copyright EFQM 1999. The EFQM Model is a Registered Trademark.

There are FIVE sub criterion parts (5a to 5e), associated with the Processes criterion.

Examples of Sub Criterion Parts are:

5a. Processes are systematically designed and managed
5e. Customer relationships are managed and enhanced

The associated guidance points can again be used to expand upon the criterion part statement. For example, criterion part 5a would prompt the organisation to ensure that its internal processes are planned according to the policy and strategy of the organisation, and that appropriate process indicators are put in place.

Criterion 5e may for example include the need to ensure that a process exists for maintaining meaningful customer feedback mechanisms.

Processes are of course fundamental to any business, though this has tended in the past to be more evident in manufacturing or production line industries. However, even modern service sector businesses should recognise that they carry out all of their activities via some form of process even though this is not so obvious in some cases.

The Excellence Model does have notional linkages to other quality methodologies where some of its criteria are concerned, and in the case of the processes criterion the main link is seen as being with ISO9000. This quality management system standard has always been seen as about process, although that is arguably a rather narrow view now, especially since it has been recently revised and has now itself moved closer to the concepts that underpin the Excellence Model.