CAT Model for Complex Evaluation of Organisational Maturity in Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper deals with the need to complexly evaluate maturity, management, stakeholder relationship and resources utilisation of an organisation. It searches for an assessment tool independent on time and industry contexts. The research was conducted in two phases. The literature review on a set of existing performance models did not find any suitable tool. Based on that, a new performance model was created to assess the maturity of an organisation, focusing on soft factors like its leadership, processes and culture. It had been tested using structured interviews with managers in Czech, Slovak, German and Chinese companies. The model is based on a set of 17 non-financial criteria, divided into categories Management, Stakeholders and Resources. The results are given for each criterion, category and as an overall score. This article briefly describes the developed CAT model, methodology of its creation and validation and explains how it can be applied as an assessment tool. Its results can be benchmarked among different organisations/overtime to track development progress. Implications for Central European audience: This model gives both practitioners and researchers a lean, yet powerful tool to evaluate the maturity of an organisation with structured and measurable results. The new possibilities for quantitative research using the CAT model are now available for researchers to assess even larger samples of organisations with reasonable effort. For practitioners, the value is in a quick discovery of own weaknesses/strengths with structured results and recommendations. Model structure and selection of respondents ensures that the results are measurable and cover views of both management and employees.