THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TQM AND BUSINESS EXCELLENCE IN NEW (KNOWLEDGE-BASED) ECONOMY

The global economy is marked by changes that we are not just witnesses but participants. Such changes generate new challenges both at macroeconomic and enterprise, who are obliged to make the necessary strategies and methods at the level of management processes and the performance evaluation models. In the context of these changes, implementation of models of quality management systems to internationally recognized, has become one of the important factors for achieving competitive advantage, of these models is that detaching the importance of excellence in business models. This paper aims to clarify the relationship between Business Excellence and Total Quality Management, considering current approaches for defining excellence in business and business models for performance evaluation. To achieve this, it was made a comparative analysis of the most important criteria of business excellence models. The results of analysis approach can help businesses seeking a competitive advantage due to meet these criteria.