Award Categories

The Award has six eligibility categories:

	Manufacturing/Service/Education/Health
	Large
	Medium
	Small
	Large : More than 250 full-time employees
	Medium : From 50 up to 250 full-time employees
	Small : Less than 50 full-time employees

Award may be given in each category each year. Award recipients may publicize and advertise their Awards. In addition to publicizing the receipt of the Award, recipients are expected to share information about their successful quality strategies with other Sri Lankan organizations.

Quest for Excellence Conference

Quest for Excellence, the official conference of the National Quality Award, provides a forum for SLNQA Award recipients to share their exceptional performance practices with other organizations. Quest for Excellence will showcase the sublime features of the award recipients and will provide a learning curve for the future aspirants.

Over the years executives, managers, and quality leaders alike have attended and benefited immensely learning how these role model organizations have achieved performance excellence. Highest-Ranking officials and the main Architects who are instrumental in the transformation of their organizations will give presentations covering all seven Categories of the Sri Lanka National Quality Award Criteria, their journey to performance excellence, and their lessons learned.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions from the Award recipients. This one-day conference is designed to maximize learning and networking opportunities.

The date of the Quest for Excellence Conference will be notified in due course

ELIGIBILITY CATEGORIES AND RESTRICTIONS Award Eligibility Requirements

Basic Eligibility

There are six eligibility categories of the Award. Any business located in Sri Lanka for a minimum period of 3 years prior to the application date may apply for the Award. Eligibility for the Award is intended to be as open as possible to all companies. Eligibility restrictions and conditions ensure fairness and consistency in definition. For example, publicly or privately owned, domestic or foreign-owned, joint ventures, incorporated firms, sole proprietorships, partnerships, and holding companies may apply.

Subsidiaries

For purposes of the Sri Lanka National Quality Award application, a subsidiary will be taken to mean an actual subsidiary, business unit, division, or like organization. In the Manufacturing and Service categories, subsidiaries of a company are eligible for the Award. Small businesses must apply as a whole.

The following application conditions apply for subsidiary units.

The subsidiary must have existed three years prior to the Award application date
The subsidiary must have a clear definition of organization as reflected in corporate literature, e.g. Organization charts, administrative manuals, and annual reports. That is the unit must function as a business entity, not as a collection of activities aggregated for purpose of writing an Award application.

1. Manufacturing Sector

Companies or subsidiaries that produce and sell manufactured products or manufacturing processes, and those companies that produce agricultural or construction products.


2. Service Sector

Companies or subsidiaries that sell services.

Organizations involved in the service process of academic and related activities are eligible. Eligibility is open to public, private and foreign organizations – that located and provide education (teaching and instructional) services to students in Sri Lanka. Eligibility is intended to be as open as possible. For example: eligible organizations include elementary and secondary schools, district schools, and cluster schools, colleges, professional schools, technical colleges and universities.

Note: Departments within schools or colleges are ineligible.

2.2 Health Care (Service)

Organizations involved in the service process of health care and related activities are eligible. Eligibility is open to public, private and foreign organizations – that located in Sri Lanka. These organizations must be engaged primarily in providing medical, surgical, or other health care services directly to people. For example, eligible organizations include hospitals, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, health care practitioners’ offices, home health agencies and dialysis and ambulatory surgery centers.

	Asubsidiary and its parent company not both apply for Awards in the same year.
	Only one subsidiary of a company apply for an Award in the same year in the same Award category
	Subsidiaries are eligible if they primarily serve either the public or businesses other than the parent Organization
	Winners of the award are not eligible for 05 years for any consideration of a second award.

Future Eligibility Restrictions

If an organization receives an Award, the organization and all its subsidiaries are ineligible to apply for another Award for a period of Five years. If a subsidiary receives an award, it is ineligible for that subsidiary to apply for another award for the ensuing five-year period, however other subsidiaries of the parent organization may apply for the award provided the award winning entity does not constitute for more than 50% of the total employees of the parent organization.

Application Fee

Manufacturing / Service (including Education and Health Care)
Fee for the award cycle 2004: Application Fee LKR 100


Application Fee

In addition to the above fees 15% VAT should be paid This fee is nonrefundable. Cheques should be made payable to “Sri Lanka Standards Institution”.

The Award Examination

The Award Examination is based upon performance excellence criteria. In responding to these criteria, each applicant is expected to provide information and data on the company’s improvement processes and results. Information and data submitted must be adequate to demonstrate that the applicant’s approaches could be replicated or adapted by other companies. The Award Examination is designed not only to serve as a reliable basis for making Awards but also to permit a diagnosis of each

Feedback to Applicants

All applicants receive feedback reports at the conclusion of the review process. The feedback is based upon the applicant’s responses to the Performance Excellence Criteria. Feedback reports are prepared by members of the Board of Examiners. Many applicants use the feedback reports as a guidance document in company planning.

Feedback Reports All applicants will receive feedback reports commenting on their strengths and areas for improvement