In order to enhance their ability to drive economic growth, businesses need to be assessed on the soundness of their processes and the sustainability of their results.

 According to the country manager Kenya Institute of Management, Njeri Mwangi, the appraisal can be achieved by embracing Organisational Performance Index (OPI), a platform that measures the organization’s soundness against the top performing global organisations.

"OPI can upgrade the overall situation for business in Rwanda, companies can be compared by applying a standardized index,” she told Business Times on Monday.

The platform, which helps in measuring continuous improvement that builds sustainable institutions, uses globally respected standards.

She added that: "Professional Management practices are necessary for economic and social development of a country and for the improvement of a people’s welfare.”

Mwangi noted that OPI enables leadership teams to "hold up a mirror reflecting the real state of their organisation.”

 "We need to empower decision-makers to develop strategies based on accurate and comprehensive understanding of current performance and to prioritise critical areas of intervention to boost future performance,” she said

This, Mwangi said, was a result of research that found out there is need for a performance index that is suitable for African enterprises.

He also stressed that for businesses to attain best practices in professional management, managers of public and private resources require proper education and continuous training in various management aspects. 

"They (managers) will also need a forum where they can interact with others and exchange their views and share experiences,” she added.

Arun Vassudevan, in-charge of Training and Development at Akagera Business Group and Organization Performance Index Assessor, noted there was need for constant training   to improve skills and knowledge for business enterprises to perform better.

"People who practice in a system for long turn into experts in that system; even if they encounter a better system they normally resist change,” he said

Speciose Mamie, the proprietor, Ingabo Cheese, underscored the need to strengthen the capacity for enterprises, saying that it would help promote competition.

undergo OPI appraisal

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