Abstract: A business tool is disclosed to assess the operational capability of an organization. A framework is provided for a user to provide information from various sources, including a particular industry, a particular function, competition and research. An assessment of actual and desired scores defining the competitive essence is made, within each capability of a function, to come up with a collective number per function based on intra-function weight. This is followed by allocation of inter-function weight. Calculations of desired and actual scores are performed for the organization. The variance is reverse scaled to calculate the number for operational excellence. Where the actual number lacks the desired number, business insights and improvement opportunities are identified along with key tools. Where the desired number trails the actual number, optimization opportunities are identified.