The Path towards Excellence : Business Excellence in Swedish Dental Clinics

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether Swedish dental clinics apply parts of Business Excellence models in their business operations and whether or not they are aware of doing so. The framework for this survey will be based on the success factors that we identify in the Swiss dental clinic Frenkenklinik AG, which is known to effectively apply theories behind Business Excellence. Background: An extensive range of research has been carried out regarding Business Excellence and its effect on manufacturing, service companies and even healthcare. Still, there is a lack of studies on how Business Excellence can change and improve the dental care sector. However, there is a clinic in Switzerland that has not only implemented Business Excellence, but done it so well as to win the prestigious EFQM Excellence Award. Therefore, we want to investigate what Frenkenklinik AG does, that makes them so successful and if dental clinics in Sweden are applying Business Excellence and if they are aware of the fact that what they do could be considered Business Excellence. Method: In order to answer the purpose of our thesis we had to employ a mixed method approach. We required a qualitative approach, in the form of semi-structured interviews, in order to find the factors that make Frenkenklinik AG so successful in their application of Business Excellence. After this, we used a quantitative method when surveying whether Swedish dental clinics employ activities that are part of a Business Excellence approach. Conclusion: In conclusion, we have identified five factors that have made Frenkenklinik successful at using Business Excellence. We then have found that Swedish dental clinics are certainly using parts of Business Excellence; however, they are not aware of actually having a Business Excellence approach. And lastly, we found recommendations for Swedish dental clinics to improve their journey towards Excellence.