An RTO as a Vigilant Organization: A Postscript

We have argued that benchmarking the organizational practices is helpful in enhancing the organizational effectiveness of RTOs. The process of enhancing organizational effectiveness, however, does not end there. Implementation of the best organizational practices replacing the existing inefficient practices is not an easy task. As it is evident from the benchmarking (BM) exercises in Chapter 7, implementation of best practices means restructuring the responsibility, accountability, reporting, tasks, opportunities, reward and redeployment of manpower. Briefly, it means transformation of power structure within an organization. Many of these exercises may go against the convention that is part of the history of the organization. An organization, which opts for benchmarking exercise for its organizational practices, has to be ready for many surprises that are likely to be discovered when practices are compared. It also has to be ready for breaking the inertia that an organization accumulates against changes of accustomed practices. For successful BM exercises an organization has to be non-complacent, change oriented, and open to learning from others. These are the symptoms of a vigilant organization, which we propose to define as an organization seeking excellence. A vigilant organization continuously seeks critical reviews of its practices and adopts the best that may ensure excellence.