• What are the objectives of King Abdullah II Center for Excellence?

A. Promoting the culture of excellence through promoting awareness about concepts of distinguished performance, innovation and quality in line with international excellence models.

B.Providing a reference guide and setting a criteria benchmarked with international best practices for the participating organizations in the King Abdullah II Awards for Excellence in all sectors.

C.Measuring the progress and improvement in public sector institutions' performance and enrich the positive competition among them

• How can I get the updated information and latest news about King Abdullah II Center for Excellence and the Awards?

The King Abdullah II Center for Excellence updates its website, and the Awards websites regularly. It also publishes the latest news in the daily newspapers, in addition to sending letter to the participating organizations to inform them about any updates.

• How can I send any inquiries, suggestions or complains to the Center?

  You can contact the Center by sending email to info@kace.jo, or Telephone           06-5828 564, or fax 06 5828 694. Also, there is a suggestions box in the Center's premises in Swefieh.

• What are the Awards Managed by the Center?

 1. “King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency” - Public  Sector / www.kaa.jo

 2. “King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Private Sector” / www.kaaps.jo

3. “King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Business Associations Sector” / www.kaabas.jo   

• What is the mechanism of choosing the participating organizations?

Regarding the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency:

·         Participating in the Award is mandatory for all ministries and public institutions, this happens gradually as mentioned in the royal decree of establishing the Award.

·         Participating ministries / institutions in each cycle are determined by the Board of Trustees according to the type of services delivered to the customers either citizens or investors or other institutions.  

Regarding the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Private Sector:

The organizations willing to participate in the Award must fill out the participation eligibility form and fulfill the following requirements:

·   Legally registered non-governmental Jordanian entity.

·   Sustained activities over at least the two previous years (with evidence).

·   Sustained good financial performance.

• What is the assessment process that KACE applies?

1)  The participating organization answers the Award’s criteria and submits the participation report, along with the supporting documents, to the Center.

2) Members of the Assessors Panel are appointed by the Center’s Board of Trustees after they have completed a specialized training course conducted by the Center.

3) The assessment process of each organization is conducted by a team from members of the Assessors Panel formed by the Center.

4) Each member of the assessment team studies the organization’s report separately.  Each member then submits an independent report about each organization, which includes strengths, areas for improvement, and issues to be addressed  during the site visit.  The outcomes of the independent  report are then placed in the points calculating schedule specifically designed for this purpose.

5) The assessment team gets together to reach a common understanding about the status of the organization.  A consensus report is then prepared indicating the strengths, areas for improvement, and issues to be addressed during the site visit.  The assessment team subsequently places the outcomes of the consensus report in the points calculating schedule specifically designed for this purpose.

6) The team conducts a site visit to the organization in order to verify what was stated in the participation report, as well as to formulate a clearer and more comprehensive view about the organization.

7) Following the field visit, the team prepares the final report about the organization, basically determining the strengths and areas for improvement and highlighting the assessment results and scores, which were calculated after the outcomes of the final report are placed in the points calculating schedule designed specifically for this purpose.

8) The Center forms a specialized committee to discuss the reports of the finalists of the assessment process, the mystery shopper, the customer satisfaction and the employee satisfaction, for the organizations competing to win the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency

9) The Steering Committee recommends to the Board of Trustees the organizations to win the Award

10) The Board of Trustees decides on the names of the winning organizations of the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency

11) Following the announcement of the results, each participating organization receives an assessment report based on the Award’s criteria clarifying its strengths and areas for improvement in order to continue improving its performance.

• Can the individuals participate in the King Abdullah II Awards for Excellence?

The Awards managed by KACE are established for the organizations not individuals, although there is an Award for the distinguished government employee within the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency. The government employees can be nominated for this Award through their ministries or institutions.

• What are the benefits of participating in the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency?

·   Winning the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency is considered a major achievement for the winning organization, and a recognition of its effective and efficient performance, in addition to considering the winning organization as a role model.

·   The winning organizations receive the trophy of the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency and a certificate of appreciation, which is considered a motivation for the winning organization for being the excellent and most efficient organization in its category. The results are announced at a big ceremony held under the Royal Patronage.

·  The winning ministry/organization may use the Award’s logo – set by the Center – on its publications and website for a period of one cycle from receiving the Award.  The organization may also announce and promote its achievement.

·   After announcing the results, each participating ministry/organization receives an assessment report based on the Award’s criteria clarifying its strengths and areas for improvement, to help it achieve continuous improvement on its performance.

·   The Employee who wins the Distinguished Government Employee Award, is considered a role model among public sector employees and receives the Award in recognition of his excellent performance and efficiency.

·   The Employee who wins the Distinguished Government Employee Award receives the trophy of the Award and a certificate of appreciation and a financial reward.

·   After announcing the results, each employee who was eligible for the personal interview receives an assessment report clarifying the strengths and areas for improvement, to help him achieve continuous improvement on his performance.

• What are the benefits of participating in the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Private Sector?

1.     Winning the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Private Sector is considered a major achievement for the winning organization, and recognition of its effective and efficient performance, in addition to considering the winning organization as a role model.

2.     The winning organizations receive the trophy of the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence for Private Sector and a certificate of appreciation, which is considered an incentive and an honor for the winning organization for being the excellent and most efficient organization in its sector. The results are announced during a big ceremony held under the Royal Patronage.

3.     The winning organization may use the Award’s logo – set by the Center – on its publications for a period of one cycle from receiving the Award.  The organization may also announce and promote its achievement.

4.     After announcing the results, each organization participating in the Award receives an assessment report based on the Award’s criteria clarifying its strengths and areas for improvement, to help it achieve continuous improvement on its performance.

5.     The winning organization receives differential treatment from the Jordan Institution of Standards and Metrology, Jordan Customs Department, Jordan Enterprise (JEDCO) and Government Tenders Directorate summarized as follows:

A. Jordan Institution of Standards and Metrology

• Shortening the process of granting the Jordanian Quality Mark to the winning organization’s products, so that a product is checked only against the Quality Mark requirements for products and shortening the auditing process of quality systems.

• Speeding the process of granting compliance certificates to the winning organization’s products to be exported.

• Placing the winning organization on the Golden List of Jordanian companies, consequently lessening the number of inspections conducted on sites as part of the regular inspection process carried out on factories.

• Placing the winning organization on the list of suppliers approved by the Jordan Institution of Standards and Metrology (services and products) and granting it differential treatment by the Institutions’ tenders and purchases committees when their products are compliant with the required standards.

• Considering the winning organization a main partner of the Jordan Institution of Standards and Metrology and granting it the advantage of participating in all its activities and technical committees, as well as involving it in policy-making and procedures pertinent to the Institution’s work.

• Awarding the winning industrial organization the advantage of participating in international technical standards committees under the umbrella of the Institution.

• Giving the winning organization priority when requesting calibrations for measurement equipment in their sites and speeding these processes.

• Directly informing the winning organization of developments and amendments that occur to instructions, standards, technical principles and procedures related to the nature of its products and services.

• Communicating with similar organizations in Arab and foreign countries, with which the Institution of Standards and Metrology had signed cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding, to grant the winning organization differential treatment as its products enter those countries.

• Considering the winning organization’s imports as Green Line items within the risk based inspection instructions.

B.Jordan Customs Department

•  Adding the winning organization to the Golden List provided that the organization complies with standards adopted by the Jordan Customs Department.

•  Increasing the winning organization chances of securing the Green Line or Yellow Line at all Customs centers provided that the organization complies with standards adopted by the Jordan Customs Department.

 C.Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO)

• Exempting winning organizations of participation fees in the Jordan Virtual Exhibition (JOVEX).

• Giving an additional 35% discount of participation fees in exhibitions and promotional activities organized by JEDCO outside Jordan, given that these exhibitions are 70% supported by JEDCO.

• Giving a 25% discount of participation fees in seminars and workshops.

• Giving a 50% discount of the cost of compliance certificates awarded by Jordan Upgrading and Modernization Program (JUMP).

D.Government Tenders Department

• Granting engineering offices the winning organization (5) additional points to the technical assessment of tenders they participate in valid for one cycle.

6.     The King Abdullah II Center for Excellence publishes the success stories of the winning organization on the websites of both the Center and the Award with the aim of sharing the winning organizations' knowledge, promoting the Award’s benefits and publicizing their achievement.

7.     The winning organizations present their success stories and share them with other organizations through the Award related training courses, awareness sessions, and relevant conferences. The winning organization may also preserve the confidentiality of information they do not want to publicize.

8.     By adopting the excellence criteria and international best practices, organizations participating in Award benefit in developing their internal systems which ultimately has a positive impact on their performance.  They also benefit from these criteria in the self-assessment process which aims to determine the organization’s strengths and areas for improvement.

9.  In each Award category, there is only one winning organization that receives the Award, while the second in place receives the “Seal of Excellence” certificate, and the third in place receives the Mark of “Best Practice” certificate.