Michaela Stanton, Michaela Odorisio, Nick Burns, John Meyer
This document contains information on The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Specific details
will include a history of Malcolm Baldrige the person, how the award came into existence, the criteria for
winning this award and the benefits from applying and winning the award.
The History of Malcolm Baldrige
Born in 1922, Baldrige served as Secretary of Commerce from 1981 to 1987 when his life was tragically
ended in a rodeo accident. Some would argue that Malcolm Baldrige was not only the most colorful
Secretary of Commerce, but the most beloved as well. His many accomplishments while working for the
government, not only as Secretary of Commerce, are what led to the naming of The Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award.
After graduating from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in 1944, Baldrige’s manufacturing career
started in 1947 as a foundry hand in an iron company. He later rose to presidency of that company in
1960 (www.quality.nist.gov). Baldrige also served in combat during World War II as the Captain in the
27th Infantry Division. By 1962, Baldrige was chairman and chief executive officer of Scovill Inc. He
led this brass mill company from financial shambles to a successful manufacturer of industrial goods
(www.quality.nist.gov).
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan named Baldrige the 26th Secretary of
Commerce. While Secretary of Commerce, Baldrige conquered many challenging tasks. He played a
major role in creating the Administration trade policy, which helped pave the way for good relations with
the Soviet Union.
This allowed for United States firms in the Soviet market, something of great
importance at the time. He also played a major role in getting the Export Trading Company Act of 1982
passed. While leading this effort he was named President to chair a Cabinet-level Trade Strike Force to
exploit unfair trading practices and recommend ways to cease them (www.quality.nist.gov). Baldrige is
attributed with the long-term improvement in economy efficiency and overall effectiveness of
government. As previously mentioned, Baldrige had a very colorful career serving our country to the best
of his ability. Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying this of Baldrige, “The economic liberty and strong
competition that are indispensable to economic progress were principles that “Mac” Baldrige stressed…”
He was survived by his wife Margaret and his two children.
How The Malcolm Baldrige Award Came About
In 1982, it was decided that the government should define criteria to reward quality, productivity, and
competitiveness. It was hoped that this would not only stimulate organizations to make quality products
at affordable prices, but also help to establish goals and guidance for those organizations that wished to
improve overall quality and performance. Although it was private organizations that took the first steps,
the government soon became more involved. According to a 1983 transcript from the White House
Conference, America was the most productive nation in the world but there was no progress being made
when it came to making improvements.
Baldrige was one of the delegates in attendance at this
conference, making him a key component from the start.
Baldrige, along with the other delegates,
strongly believed that the issue of quality should be addressed (Bogan and Hart 13-14). They decided that
they wanted something similar to Japan’s Deming Prize, but more unique to the United States. They then
came up with the National Quality Award. This was an idea of what they wanted. It was now up to
Congress to work out the details. It was presented in 1987 as The National Quality Improvement Act.
This award would spotlight performance by American Corporations (Bogan and Hart 13-14). It would
have seven categories of criteria that could be used to help any organization improve performance. These
categories include: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis,
human resource focus, process management, and business results (www.quality.nist.gov). It was around
this time that Malcolm Baldrige was killed. There was then a motion to rename the award after him. On
August 20, 1987, The Malcolm Baldrige Quality Improvement Act was signed into law by president
Ronald Reagan.
Criteria for Winning The Malcolm Baldrige Award
There are a series of steps to complete in order to win The Malcolm Baldrige Award. First, the Eligibility
Certification Package must be completed and sent along with a $150 eligibility fee. Once informed that
they are eligible, the organization must prepare and submit 25 copies of the application report with the
application fee.
Following the submittal of these papers, there is a four-stage process. Stage 1 is an independent review in
which “the application package is reviewed by members of the Board of Examiners. At the conclusion of
this review, the Panel of Judges determine which applications advance to Stage 2: Consensus Review”
(www.quality.nist.gov). During the Consensus Review a Senior Examiner leads a team in reviewing the
applications. In Stage 3, six to eight examiners will conduct on-site interviews and review records. The
examiners then submit their findings to a Panel of Judges. During Stage 4, a Panel of Judges conduct
final reviews and recommend award recipients to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). This information is then passed onto the Secretary of Commerce who determines the
award recipients. Before receiving The Malcolm Baldrige Award, various records are checked to insure
the organization under review would make a good role model. These records include information from the
IRS and FBI.
The following ten-step approach is a self-assessment that a given organization should perform upon
applying for The Malcolm Baldrige Award:
•
Identify the boundaries of the organization to be assessed
•
Select seven champions, one for each Criterion for Performance Excellence Category.
•
Decide on the format for and scope of your self-assessment and action plan
•
Senior leaders and champions prepare the Organizational Profile
•
Practice self-assessment techniques with you seven Category champions, using Item 1.1
in the Criteria for Performance Excellence as a guide.
•
Champions select Category teams. Champions and teams prepare a response for their
assigned Items.
•
Share responses among teams and finalize the findings. Identify key strengths and gaps
in Category responses.
•
Prioritize your organization’s key strengths and opportunities for improvement.
•
Develop and implement an action plan for improvement.
•
Evaluate and improve your self-assessment and action process.
(www.quality.nist.gov)
The Benefits of Applying and Winning The Malcolm Baldrige Award
For any organization, applying for The Malcolm Baldrige Award carries an uncountable amount of
benefits. The ultimate benefit, which is inline with any businessperson’s goals, is to increase profitability
by improving every quality aspect of the organization. Each category in The Baldrige Award provides
insight to a company on how to improve quality in every part of the organization. These insights are the
reason why applying for The Baldrige Award is so beneficial.
The seven categories of criteria enable any organization to improve. The first category, “Leadership,”
helps in analyzing the structure and effectiveness of the management within the organization. It helps to
guide the upper management to be high goal setters, and to be “accessible to customers, suppliers, and
employees”. With the feedback from The Baldrige Award program, an organization can get ideas on how
to run smoother and how to give employees, suppliers, and customers a vision for the future (George 62).
Being judged in the second and third categories, “Information and Analysis” and “Strategic Quality
Planning”, also provide benefits to organizations. The Baldrige Award program is able to determine the
effectiveness of an organization’s goal setting and help them to strive towards larger and more farreaching goals. These goals can include anything from employee morale to customer satisfaction. Also
from the feedback, an organization can learn to plan for short and long-term quality instead of planning to
produce profits. The Baldrige Award program emphasizes the importance of comparing strengths and
weaknesses along with many other aspects of the organization to other organizations in the same industry
and other industries (George 95).
The fourth category is “Human Resource Development and Management”. An organization can learn
how to work with employees better, align human resource goals with the organization’s goals, improve
employee training and involvement, and improve the general work environment (George 95). Feedback
from the next category, “Management of Process Quality and Quality and Operational Results”, can help
an organization see how the quality of their design, production, and suppliers add up. The feedback can
help improve all of these qualities.
The final category in The Baldrige Award from which an organization can benefit is “Customer Focus
and Satisfaction”. An organization can learn how to better measure their customer satisfaction and also
how to become more committed to the customers. After getting the feedback from The Baldrige Award
program, an organization can then take steps in improving in each of the categories described.
The whole process of applying for The Baldrige Award has proven to be valuable to many organizations.
The direct goal for any organization that applies is most likely improving the organization so that it can be
more competitive and profitable. A probable secondary goal for any organization that applies is to win
the award. Winning the award provides more than just the prestige and respect of having a world-class
quality system.
Winning the award proves that an organization has taken the necessary steps to
significantly improve quality, profitability, and most importantly, customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
The Malcolm Baldrige Award has played an important part in the history of quality assurance. Not only
does this award provide a quality structure for American business, it provides continuing guidance and
feedback that aids in the overall improvement towards success. Whether winning this prestigious award
or not, an organization can only benefit from their efforts.
Sources:
Bogan, Christopher E., Hart, Christopher W. L. (1992). The Baldrige. New York: McGrawHill, Inc.
George, S. (1992). The Baldrige Quality System. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
www.baldrige.com
www.quality.nist.gov
www.wqc.org/IRPE%20cover.html