The Kenya Institute of Management’s (KIM) vision in introducing the Organisational Performance Index is to give organisations an innovative excellence model to enable the development of world class processes and innovation capability, which will sharpen their competitive edge and enable them to compete and win at a global level.

The OPI model is rooted in the Company of the Year Awards (COYA) assessment process, which underwent a major re-engineering exercise in 2008. The participating organisations are now assessed using a model which emphasises the relationship between instilling smart business processes and generating strong business results. This way, organisations are now assessed on their ability not only to deliver results today but also to build on them year on year by creating a culture which values continuous improvement. The Company of the Year Awards (COYA) are now judged on the basis of the results generated by organisations that have completed the OPI process

The new approach was driven by a rigorous and consultative process. Anchored in the concept of Existence, Implementation, Results (EIR), the review process was enriched by practical feedback from participating companies. Finally, it was benchmarked against world class excellence models such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, European Foundation for Quality Management and the Japan Quality Award.