POPY UMBRELLA MART-A CASE OF ORGANISATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN SMEs

Popy Umbrella Mart, a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), is a success story for creativity and innovation and organizational excellence. By bringing hundreds of innovative products in Indian umbrella market it stands first to bag ISO 9001:2000 in umbrella manufacturing. Popy bagged the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award in the year 1999 for its efforts for bringing out quality products and for excellence of operations in the field of umbrella manufacturing. Popy’s quality standard became the benchmark for ISI specifications for umbrellas in India. Popy is a well said answer to those who question the suitability of Kerala, which is ruled alternatively by left and right Governments, for doing business. Popy is an inspiration to those who are reluctant to start business in Kerala, for fear of organizational culture and industrial climate, and an example of correct blending of experience with modern management techniques for bringing excellence in performance. Organisational excellence of Popy is analised using Peters and Waterman’s 1982) principles, EFQM model and the new excellence frame work, developed by the author;