The Malcolm Baldrige Award is the highest most recognized quality award inthe United States of America. In 1987 the U. S. Congress established the MalcolmBaldrige award program to recognize U. S.
organizations for their achievements inthe quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge. Its recipients,that are well known, are held on a plateau over other companies competing forthe same market share. Not only does it recognize excelled companies for theirexcellent commitments, it also is used as a selling point. This can be evidentif you look at the recipient’s profits from one year to the next.
Later on, youwill see how Motorola, the very first recipient was changed by the awarding ofthe Baldrige to them and what the award did for the company. The U. S. Congress saw a need for American companies to focus on quality andwhat is stood for. In the early and mid-1980’s, many industry and governmentleaders saw that a renewed emphasis on quality was no longer an option forAmerican companies which were falling behind in the global economy.
However,many American companies didn’t feel that quality was important or that itwouldn’t take them anywhere, well they were wrong. The Baldrige Award stood as astandard of excellence that would help U. S. organizations achieve world-classquality programs and products.
Now in 1999, not only can U. S. companies partakein the Award process, so can education and health care providers as well. The criteria for the Baldrige Award, which has changed over the years, hasplayed a major role in achieving the goals established Congress. The standardsset is recognized not only nation wide but universally as the standards forperformance excellence.
Two major criteria which the Malcolm Baldrige Awardwhat’s companies to focus on are, delivering ever improving value to customersand improving overall performance in the organization. Who are the companies who have won the Malcolm Baldrige Award? Well, in thepast 12 years a total of 37 companies have won the award, and the list keepsgrowing. Ranging from Motorola Inc. , to Boeing, from 3M Dental products, toXerox Corp. , from Cadillac Motor Car, to Ames Rubber Corp, and from Ritz-CarltonHotel to AT;T.
These are just some of the elite corporations in the UnitedStates, which have won this prestigious award. Who will be next now one knows,maybe the company you work for. Born in 1922 in Omaha, Nebraska, Malcolm Baldrige was an American dreamerfrom the get go. Graduating from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree, in1944, he headed down his path of life. Before moving into the working world,Baldrige served in the Pacific as a Captain during WWII.
Beginning his career in1947 as a foundry hand in an iron company, he rose to become the companiesPresident in 1960. On December 11, 1980, President Ronald Reagan nominatedMalcolm to be Secretary of Commerce. He was a leader among many businessmen anda friend to many of the world’s most powerful leaders. He opens the gates to theeast and even into the Soviet Union. Not only was he a skillful man with overseaaffairs, he also had the upper hand in the Commerce Department, buy reducing thebudget by 30% and man power by 25%.
“The economic liberty and strongcompetition that are indispensable to economic progress were principles that”Mac” Baldrige stressed. ” President Ronald Reagan. In 1987Baldrige died in a rodeo accident in the state of California. The Malcolm Baldrige Award Foundation is a public and private partnership,which creates the backbone for the award itself. Signed into Law on August 20,1987 by President Ronald Reagan, Public Law 100-107 states that it is in thecountries best interest to produce quality products in order to compete in theglobal economy.
Based off of seven basic categories, which are: Leadership,Strategic planning, Customer and market focus, Information and analysis, Humanresource focus, Process management, and Business results, today’s corporationstrive to be the best in there market and create a competitive edge above therest. This joint public and private program generates approximately $100 milliondollars privately and 4. 9 million from the federal government. Who will win the next Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Award, noone knows.
But all across America companies will be striving to provide the bestservice to their customers, employees, and suppliers because they know in orderto survive, “Quality must be job one.” So even though the process isdifficult, companies of today and companies of tomorrow will strive to be thebest at what they do no matter what the cost.Category: Business
