Programme overview
Technical depth: Conceptual · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Many organisations entering Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Quality Award (KAQA) submit a polished document with thin evidence, so assessors find approaches that are not deployed and results without trends, targets or comparisons. Leadership time goes into the submission rather than into the improvements it should reveal. This course equips executives to sponsor an institutional excellence programme, judge readiness against the KAQA Excellence Model alongside EFQM and Baldrige, and govern a credible KAQA submission. Participants analyse submissions and feedback reports from several sectors and leave with a KAQA Readiness Assessment and Submission Roadmap for their own organisation.
Course Objectives
- Evaluate the organisation's excellence maturity against the KAQA Excellence Model, the EFQM Model 2025 and the Baldrige Excellence Framework using structured self-assessment evidence
- Interpret KAQA criteria, sector categories, award levels and assessor conventions to decide whether, when and at which level to apply
- Direct the preparation of a KAQA submission, from the organisation overview to enabler narratives and results evidence
- Challenge results data for trends, targets, comparisons and segmentation before it reaches assessors
- Prepare the executive team for KAQA site visits and convert assessor feedback into owned improvement priorities
- Approve a KAQA Readiness Assessment and Submission Roadmap with clear ownership and timelines
Target Audience
- Chief executives and deputies who sponsor institutional excellence programmes
- Executive directors of strategy, performance and institutional excellence
- Executive heads of quality accountable for award applications and self-assessment cycles
- Executive committee members who own criteria areas or are interviewed during site visits
- Board and governance committee members who oversee organisational performance
Course Outline
Day 1: Institutional Excellence and the King Abdulaziz Quality Award
- KAQA Landscape: Government, Private and Non-Profit Sectors with Gold, Silver and Bronze Levels
- KAQA Participation Business Case: Cost, Benefit and Cycle Timing Analysis
- ISO 9004:2018 Self-Assessment of Organisational Maturity
- Leadership Commitment Assessment Using a Key Factors and Strategic Challenges Profile
- Comparable Awards Built on EFQM and Baldrige: Recognition Levels and Prize Categories
Day 2: Excellence Models and Scoring Logic
- KAQA Excellence Model: Core Principles, Enabler Criteria and Results Criteria
- EFQM Model 2025 Criteria with RADAR Logic and the 2025 Scoring Tables
- Baldrige Excellence Framework Categories with ADLI and LeTCI Scoring Guidelines
- ISO 10014:2021 Guidance on Realising Financial and Economic Benefits from Quality
- KAQA Criteria Mapping to Strategy, the Balanced Scorecard and the ISO 9001:2026 Management System
Day 3: Governing the KAQA Submission
- KAQA Submission Governance: Steering Committee, Criterion Owners and Writing Team Charter
- Organisation Overview and Key Challenges Chapter Standards
- Enabler Narrative Structure: Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Refinement Evidence
- Results Chapter Design: Trends, Targets, Comparisons and Segmentation
- Evidence Library and Document Control for Assessor Requests
Day 4: Assessment Risks, Site Visits and Feedback
- Common Submission Weaknesses Drawn from KAQA and EFQM Assessor Feedback
- Results Credibility Review: Data Integrity, Benchmark Selection and Cause-Effect Links
- KAQA Site Visit Preparation: Executive Interview Briefing and Evidence Walkthrough Plan
- Feedback Report Analysis: Strengths, Areas for Improvement and Score Profile
- Areas-for-Improvement Portfolio Prioritisation and Ownership Matrix
Day 5: Case Work and the KAQA Readiness Roadmap
- Public Utility Case Study: Scoring a KAQA Leadership Enabler Narrative
- Healthcare Provider Case Study: Challenging a Results Chapter Before Submission
- Readiness Scoring of the Participant's Organisation Against the KAQA Model
- KAQA Readiness Assessment and Submission Roadmap Drafting
- Executive Panel Review and Roadmap Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Excellence Model Interpretation
- Organisational Maturity Assessment
- Executive Sponsorship of Excellence Programmes
- Performance Results Benchmarking
- Evidence Governance
- Site Visit Leadership
- Improvement Portfolio Prioritisation
Why Attend This Course
- Return with a KAQA Readiness Assessment and Submission Roadmap that states whether to apply, when, at which level and on what evidence
- Question a draft KAQA submission with the same logic assessors apply, before it leaves the organisation
- Brief fellow executives on their part in writing, evidence and site-visit interviews
- Compare excellence journeys with leaders from government, private and non-profit organisations
Conclusion
The King Abdulaziz Quality Award rewards organisations that can demonstrate deployed approaches and sustained results, not those with the most polished document. This Core Concept course moves from the KAQA landscape and the business case for applying, through the KAQA, EFQM and Baldrige scoring logic, to the governance of submissions, site visits and feedback. The final day turns that material into a KAQA Readiness Assessment and Submission Roadmap, giving executives a defensible basis for deciding when to apply and what must improve first.