The aim of this study was to examine the nature of challenges faced by organisations which had reached high levels of performance against the business excellence framework and how they were managing these challenges. A sample of recipients of Australian Business Excellence Awards (bronze to gold), were approached to participate in this study. It was assumed that these organisations had a high level of experience with the excellence framework (see appendix) and would therefore be in a position to provide insights into challenges from a mature perspective rather than simply those which might be encountered at a start-up phase. Information was gathered from interviews with current quality/excellence/business improvement managers who had primary responsibility for driving and coordinating the excellence focus and, in some cases, from people who were previously responsible for business excellence in the respective organisations. The senior management team was also interviewed in some cases. Additional information was sourced from company websites, published materials and study tour visits and company presentations.