The primary objective of this research was to investigate the use of business excellence (BE) in Asian organisations. The study examines the drivers of implementation of BE, levels of awareness of BE in Asian organisations as well as the impact of its adoption. A questionnaire survey of 74 organisations in five Asian countries was carried out and, furthermore, qualitative data were collected from 21 discussion groups held in all five countries and from 13 interviews held with senior executives of organisations that had won BE awards. The study indicated that the drivers of adoption were primarily linked to their competitive priorities. In addition, while organisations that have implemented BE had found it to be beneficial, more needs to be done to improve awareness, particularly among small-to-medium enterprises. The implications for more mature BE organisations is to play a more active role in promoting BE in their supply chain while BE custodians need to facilitate more sharing of best practices.