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Dubai’s top 35 performers honoured

Top 35 performers honoured; free zones, transport and logistics are new sectors

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai with Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai awarding the Dubai Quality Award to Mahmoud Sakr, General Manager and Nicholas Clayton Chief Executive Officer – Group Operations, of Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Dubai’s top 35 performers were honoured on Monday in the three categories for their outstanding pursuit of excellence during the year 2013, with free zones, transport and logistics joining as new sectors in the awards.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with award winners of Dubai Quality Award and Dubai Service Excellence Scheme held on Monday. — KT photo by Leslie Pableo

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the 20th anniversary of the Business Excellence Awards hosted by the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai and honoured the winners of the Dubai Quality Award (DQA) – Dubai Airport Free Zone, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Arabian Automobiles.

Shaikh Mohammed also honoured Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties; and Essa Kazim, Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre for their outstanding contributions towards the success of the Business Excellence Awards during the last 20 years.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, were also present on the occasion.

The Business Excellence Awards, which completes two successful decades, also includes the Dubai Human Development Award (DHDA) and the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme (DSES) in addition to DQA.

“The Business Excellence Awards reflect DED’s keenness to achieve the Dubai Government’s aspiration to support the journey of quality and excellence, and promote sharing of best practices,” Sami Al Qamzi, director General of DED said at the Awards ceremony.

Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed and Al Qamzi honoured the ten Dubai Quality Appreciation Award winners. While eight winners of the Dubai Human Development Appreciation Award honoured by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed and Al Gergawi.

Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed and Essa Kazim honoured the 12 winners under the Best Service Performance Outlet and Best Service Performance Brand categories of DSES.

Al Qamzi said that the Business Excellence Department in DED will launch a special award for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2015 and a customer satisfaction index as part of an extended excellence drive to cover key business activities and organisations in Dubai. “The Department is also set to launch the region’s first-ever Benchmarking Partners programme for businesses and organisations in partnership with EBM International. The programme is meant to assist organisations in benchmarking Excellence practices with focus on Customers, Employees, Society and Business Results,” Al Qamzi added.

Mohammed Bushanain, executive director, Corporate Quality & Management Excellence, DED, said: “The Business Excellence Awards provide a reliable and transparent framework for public and private sector firms to benchmark their best practices and advance to higher levels of competitiveness and customer satisfaction in the true spirit of healthy competition. Applicants and their best practices are measured against internationally recognised criteria such as the EFQM quality management model and Radar methodology.”

The winners of the Business Excellence Award are shortlisted after various stages of evaluation, which involves independent assessments, Mystery Shopping, site visits, trainings and workshops. Over the last 20 years the Business Excellence Department has trained over 3,500 companies on the criteria of DQA and DHDA and over 2,500 assessors on the EFQM model. Likewise, 1,700 retailers are now members of DSES and more than 300 Mystery Shoppers are part of shortlisting DSES winners.

— abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com