1. Mauritius Excellence Awards for Cooperatives 2013 Criteria and Model designed By International Business Excellence Mauritius

2. About the Awards The Model is based on international benchmarks. It has been exclusively designed in line with Cooperative Principles and Values. It is meant to be a long term benchmark for the Mauritian cooperative societies and is geared towards performance excellence, using international norms, standards and quality management systems.

3. Objectives To be a model for Mauritius Excellence Awards for Cooperatives. To be a national benchmark for cooperatives to use it as a management tool for continual improvement on their journey towards excellence. To recognize cooperative societies for implementing programs and practices geared towards Excellence.

4. The Model is unique and adapted for Cooperatives The evolution and future of cooperatives have been taken into consideration; Innovation and Learning constitute the cycle of continual improvement; Principles and Values of Cooperatives are the foundation upon which the Excellence Awards have been designed and initiated.

5. Award Criteria : Innovative and Futuristic Approach towards Sustainability The Mauritius Excellence Awards for Cooperatives are presented to any Cooperative Society achieving the standard of excellence across the following seven (7).

6. Award Criteria 1: Leadership HOW your organization’s SENIOR LEADERS ’ personal actions guide and sustain your organization through the implementation of Mission, Vision, Cooperative Values and Principles, thus creating an efficient organisational culture conducive to performance excellence. Also examined are your organization’s GOVERNANCE system and HOW your organization fulfills its legal, ethical, environmental and societal responsibilities.

7. Award Criteria 2: Policy Development and Deployment HOW the organization develops STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES and ACTION PLANS. Also examined are HOW your chosen STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES and ACTION PLANS are implemented and changed if circumstances require.

8. Award Criteria 3: People and Resources HOW the cooperative society engages, manages, and develops its WORKFORCE AND RESOURCES to utilize its full potential in ALIGNMENT with the organization’s overall MISSION, strategy, and ACTION PLANS.

9. Award Criteria 4:Information and Communication How the cooperative society avails of information and how it communicates to others. How it analyses, manages the information and uses it for decision making.

10. Award Criteria 5: Operations HOW the cooperative society designs, manages, and improves its WORK SYSTEMS and WORK PROCESSES to deliver CUSTOMER VALUE and achieve organizational success and SUSTAINABILITY. Also examined is its readiness for emergencies.

11. Award Criteria 6: Customers and Service Excellence HOW the Cooperative Society listens to the VOICE OF ITS CUSTOMERS, builds CUSTOMER relationships, and uses CUSTOMER information to improve and identify opportunities for INNOVATION.

12. Award Criteria 7: Results The results, financial and operational, of all strategies, processes and actions from Criteria 1-6.