In a quest to seek excellence, organizations have transitioned from the late 19 th century strategies that encouraged and measure performance such as the Taylor system (Link & Scott, n.d) . As discussed by Blazey, (2013), excellence involves excellent management of change. He further explains that organizations need an effective management system with the capacity to steer performance improvement to attain excellence, In the long run, effective management system equips them resilience to overcome the challenges presented by the relationship between management, labor, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and partners. According to Link, and Scott (n.d), the Malcolm Baldridge quality award is one such initiative developed to encourage performance excellence. The initiative creates awareness for quality management and recognizes various categories of successful implementers of a quality management system among The United States companies. This paper discusses the history of the Award, categories that are recognized, selection criteria and some of the notable winners over the year.
According to (Tan, 2002), t he main reason for developing the award was recognition and creation of awareness for quality management consequently, encouraging competitive excellence. Inspired by the secretary of commerce and a strong proponent of quality management Malcolm Baldridge and an increased need to improve quality necessary to conquer the then increasingly dynamic business environment, the award was developed in 1987: The year he died marking the end of his service since 1981. A Jack Grayson founded nonprofit organization was actively involved in its formation through its organization of the first white house conference on productivity. The conference resulted in the enactment of the Malcolm Baldridge Quality improvement act of 1987. The law saw the formation of the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Program under the directorship of Doctor Curt Reimann. As noted by Link, and Scott (n.d), during its development, the products and services of The United States were increasingly losing competitiveness. The first framework of the award as developed by Doctor Curt Reimann and his staff at the National Institute of Standards specifies the implementation and evaluation processes. However, it has seen improvement over the years. The first award was given out in November 1988 recognizing three categories; manufacturing, small business, and service. Over the years the program has maintained prestige through its selection process.
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The award program has grown immensely; from the first award of three organizational categories benefiting four companies, the categories have increased to seven. However, not all the seven categories have been awarded in the same year because of the stringent selection procedure. In fact, since the start of the program, it is only in 2003 and 2005 that more than companies were awarded; one year after the increase of categories to incorporate nonprofit and healthcare organizations. Still, on both occasions, not all the six categories were represented. Many awards over the years have seen more than one company from the same company category being awarded. The program has awarded 109 and companies with 7 of them receiving the awards twice. In any given year, the least number of awarded companies is two with the highest being seven. Analysis of the represented categories puts manufacturing companies at the top of promoting management. Pioneered with double representation at the debut award of 1988, the category received a fairly consistent representation until 2010. Motorola Inc. and Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division of Westinghouse electric corporation were the two manufacturing companies to bag the prestigious award. The trend has however changed having healthcare category demonstrating consistent representation since 2002. The strong appearance of healthcare is attributed to its late inclusion as a category in the program. On the other hand, non-profit organizations have maintained a low presence among the winner despite having double representation in 2007 despite having been include the same year with healthcare organizations. Nevertheless, the two categories have proved resilient in the selection process (Link & Scott, n.d) .
The selection process of award winners follows the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence. Interested companies make an application to the joined governance of American society for quality and national institute of standards and technology. As noted by Wilson and Collier, (2000), the selection process involves judgment from an independent board of examiners. Companies are evaluated on achievement and improvement attained in seven areas. The areas are leadership, strategy, customers, measurement analysis and knowledge management, workforce, operation, and result. The companies’ leadership is analyzed regarding the effect of the organization's top management to the organization and how the organization affects the community regarding providing leadership. The strategy focuses on the organization's ability to establish, plan and implement strategic directions. Customers focus on the organization's ability to develop and maintain a strong customer relationship. The company's ability to utilize data in support of vital process and process management determines its measuring, analysis and knowledge management level. On the other hand workforce analyses how the organization engages and empowers its workers. The organization's design, management, and improvement of key processes determine it score for operation. Lastly, result evaluation is based on the organizations level of customer satisfaction, financial performance, quality of human resources, suppliers and partners performance, its governance and social responsibility and its general performance as compared to its competitors. The categorical selection process has had a significant impact on the world (Link & Scott, n.d) .
The most significant impact of the Malcolm Baldridge quality award is its immense success among organization around the world (Lee, Rho & Lee, 2003) . For one, it has translated into an assessment tool. Indeed, the program had a metamorphosis from a recognition program of exemplary management implementers into a renowned assessment tool around the world. It is considered by management experts as a model that champions exemplary management performance among American companies while making know best organizational management practices. Blazey, (2013) affirms that one of the major successes of the program is its ability to promote the belief that quality enhances competitiveness successfully. Indeed, it was one of the driving forces of the program’s development, and it has stood to be proven true. Secondly, the award has greatly enhanced the understanding of the need for excellence. Lastly, through the implementation of quality strategies, organizations have a role in the effect that improves its quality of products and services. On the other hand, the selection process is recognized worldwide and used as a channel of Total quality management. Therefore, it has been applied by organizations and institutions in the implementation of Total quality management and attainment of performance excellence. The organizations and institutions focus on the seven selections criteria earlier discussed. The great success, however, is attributed to great coordination of the stakeholders.
Successful role-playing and coordination have been observed in the various stakeholders from both the public and the private sector. Fund mobilization is the responsibility of the Foundation for Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. The national institute of standards and technology is the overall manager of the program. Administration of the award program has been endowed to the American Society for Quality. The selection process is tasked to a team of independent examiners drawn from various sectors. In addition to the selection, the team prepares feedback reports to all applicants. It is worth noting that the examiners work on a voluntary basis. The alliance for performance Excellence is mandated with maintenance and provision of examiners, constant pool of applicants and creation of awareness about the program. Secondly, it works with the Information systems security Association in evaluating cybersecurity of the program. A board of overseers plays an oversight role in advising the department of commerce on the Baldrige award program. Lastly, the award winner is tasked with empowering other organizations in the united stated through sharing information on their successful quality and performance strategies (Link & Scott, n.d) .
Some of the notable winners of the program include the two-time winners such as The Federal Express Corp being recognized twice in 1988 and 1990 representing the service category. The Motorola Inc. representing the manufacturing category is also outstanding on two occasions in the debut 1988 and later in 2002. Other excellent performers include the small business Midway USA being awarded in 2009 and 2015. Before 2015, it was one of the fastest growing companies experiencing a 43.8 percent in annual growth. Among the small businesses, MESA Products Inc. has been notably awarded in 2006 and 2012. It experiences immense growth over a five year period doubling its capacity. Among the manufacturing industry, MERAD Inc. has been awarded twice in 2003 and 2010. The award was attributed to its consistency in its products leadership in the USA market and Europe, and a steady 10 percent increase in gross margin over three years ("Baldrige FAQs: Baldrige Award Recipients," n.d) .
In conclusion, for 29 years now the Malcolm Baldridge quality award has dramatically transformed. As discussed above, it is clear that it was meant to encourage competitiveness among United States companies through encouraging improved quality. Nevertheless, its benefit has been immensely surpassing the initial intent by far. For one it has influenced organizations in the whole world. Notably is the usage and recognition of its selection criteria as a total management tool. However, the great success cannot be attributed to the program alone since it is managed by a combination of a strongly coordinated public and private entity. Even the award winners are responsible for sharing information about their successful management performance. The Award program has also demonstrated the willingness of United States citizens to volunteer on an economically beneficial course. Evidently, if such programs can be developed in not management but also all aspects of government organizations have great hope of sufficiently meeting their purpose regarding man's need.
References
Baldrige FAQs: Baldrige Award Recipients . (n.d). NIST . Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-faqs-baldrige-award-recipients
Blazey, M. L. (2013). Insights to performance excellence, 2013-2014: Understanding the integrated management system and the Baldridge criteria . Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press.
Lee, S., Rho, B., & Lee, S. (2003). Impact of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria on organizational quality performance. International Journal Of Production Research , 41 (9), 2003-2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0020754031000077329
Link, A., & Scott, J.(n.d). Economic Evaluation of the Baldrige National Quality Program . Retrieved from https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/director/planning/report01-3.pdf
Tan, K. (2002). A comparative study of 16 national quality awards. The TQM Magazine , 14 (3), 165-171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09544780210425874
Wilson, D., & Collier, D. (2000). An Empirical Investigation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Causal Model. Decision Sciences , 31 (2), 361-383. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.2000.tb01627.x
