National Quality Award Research Articles

Healthcare Performance Excellence: A Comparison of Baldrige Award Recipients and Competitors

Hospitals today face pressures from a variety of stakeholders to improve performance across a comprehensive scorecard, which has become the basis for value-based purchasing and reimbursement. This study investigates relationships between the effective application of the Malcolm Baldrige Health Care version of the Criteria for Performance Excellence (HCPE) and healthcare organizational performance. There have been many studies on the value of implementing the Criteria for Performance Excellence, but due to the lack of comparable contexts and common performance measures, analysis of the differences in performance between Baldrige Award recipients and nonrecipients has been limited. This study focuses on the common context of healthcare organizations in the same geographic region along with common metrics to analyze the impact of effective HCPE application. This study compares 34 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Health Care recipients (2002–2011) to 153 competitors in their geographic markets using standard Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) performance measures to determine if there is a relationship between the effective use of the HCPE as an organizational excellence framework and the performance of healthcare organizations. Three categories of performance were explored including the process of care (23 measures), patient experience using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey (10 measures), and outcome of care (six measures). Process of care and patient experience data included performance from October 2009 through September 2010, and the outcomes of care measures covered performance from July 2007 through June 2010. While there was no significant difference in process of care results or outcomes between Baldrige recipients and their competitors, there was a significant difference in patient experience results. The most important finding in this study was that Baldrige recipients provided care equal to or better than competitors while at the same time providing a better patient experience. These results add to the growing evidence that the HCPE are a valid framework to align organizational design, strategy, systems, and human capital to create long-term effectiveness in an institutionalized high-performance culture.

Sharing Leadership Insights on Our Baldrige Journey to Excellence

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE feature article authors and their teams for their pursuit of excellence, the perseverance to achieve it, and the well-earned recognition from the Baldrige Performance Program.The driving forces for the Baldrige Award recipients on their journey to excellence are twofold:1. Healthcare is a dynamic industry that requires leadership focus.2. Using a systematic and proven leadership framework to deliver highquality care and remain competitive is a worthwhile pursuit.Both Hill Country Memorial Hospital and Schneck Medical Center experienced the joys, enlightenments, and professional fulfillment in rising to world-class status by the best care to the communities they serve. In winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, both organizations earned the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence.Like athletes, leaders who pursue this level of excellence realize that both mental and physical preparation are needed to pursue an organization's goals, improve results, and become more competitive. An athlete depends on his or her coaches for training and inspiration. The same is true for management teams pursuing excellence. Organizations on the Baldrige journey seek feedback from coaches, high performers, their workforce, and key internal and external stakeholders. The leaders at Hill Country Memorial and Schneck realized that their journeys would take years to complete. Pope, Padula, and Wallace-Dooley wanted to take their organization from average to the national top io percent of performance. Forgey and Dye knew that maintaining the status quo was not an option for the future of Schneck.The leaders in these organizations exemplify role modeling that begins with commitment to a goal and follow-through on the vital few objectives in an industry with many distractions. Perseverance is necessary to stay the course and dare to achieve what few have accomplished. To date, only 103 organizations in all industries have received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. At speaking engagements about the Baldrige journey of Sutter Davis Hospital in Davis, California, I am frequently asked, How do you sustain the journey, year after year? The answer lies in leadership and the strength of the commitment to be the best and to earn the recognition.LEADERSHIPOrganizations that receive the Baldrige Award are led by seasoned, tenacious, highperforming leaders who have a vision and a passion to fulfill that vision. The Baldrige journey cannot be delegated. As Jack Welch has been quoted as saying, Excellence is not a spectator sport. Everyone's involved. The CEOs at Hill Country Memorial and Schneck had a vision about how they would set their care delivery systems apart from those of average hospitals. For Hill Country Memorial, this meant providing remarkable care and service, and for Schneck, being a healthcare organization of excellence-every person, every time. My experience at Sutter Davis was the same; after years of dialogue with the team, we defined our unique position in healthcare as a culture of caring.At both Hill Country Memorial and Schneck, the leaders set the strategic direction and the expectation that everyone in the workforce execute the vision through their behaviors and choices to achieve success. Therein lies a key quality of senior leaders-direction. They also must be able to communicate that direction to their team and follow up by holding everyone accountable for the direction they have set. This is how the journey begins. Forgey and Dye note that each employee must maintain the values set forth by the organization. Pope, Padula, and Wallace-Dooley explain that members of the workforce must understand their roles in achieving the organization's goals.The vision, mission, and values of an organization are translated into expectations that lead to sustained results. Achieving sustained results over time is one of the more difficult outcomes to achieve and probably the key reason most organizations do not achieve a high level of success. …

Criteria for Excellence in Business

Abstract In this paper we address business excellence, the significant elements of this term, and the criteria by which companies are analysed to obtain the status of “Excellence in Business”. Concerns for approaching the business excellence in both academic and practical manner began to be developed in the 60s. Business excellence for a company were presented and analysed in close connection with: decisions and strategic management, customer care, quality, ethics in management and organizational culture, social responsibility and environmental actions. In theoretical and practical terms, business excellence is treated in several ways, and to achieve this level it requires a plurality of values achieved and maintained on long term. Business excellence does not mean a maximum profit or lower priced products, excellence in business is a complex approach from an economically, technically and socially point of view. Thus, in this paper will be presented the most important contributions in defining and studying business excellence by a number of experts and organizations in the field, such as Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, Robert Heller, Jim Collins, European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA).

Descriptive analysis of present quality management practices of Indian micro, small and medium enterprises

This paper is based on an empirical study of quality management practices in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of India. The main focus of the study was to identify current quality readiness of Indian MSMEs and how much they are prepared to handle the challenge in world market. This study was taken place on leather, plastics and chemical industries, in and around of Kanpur (India), where the main focus was to collect the primary data mainly from export oriented MSME based on the well–known quality management criterions drawn from Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), European Federation for Quality Management (EFQM). It also examines possible connections between MSME's growth, and the implementation of quality–related practices. Descriptive statistical analysis will try to reveal whether any significant difference exists in the implementation and use of quality–related practices, across the low, moderate and high growth MSME development pathways. The outcomes of this research may help the owner of these MSME to take initiative as well as implement quality management in their organisation so as to improve the quality of their product/services.

품질경영 활동이 기업의 경영성과에 미치는 영향 : 국가품질상 수상 제조기업을 중심으로

ABSTRACT Purpose: This paper study the effect of the quality management on the performance among the manufacturing companies awarding the Korean National Quality Award(NQA). Methods: The data for 34 manufacturing companies are surveyed by the 7-point Likert scale and empirically tested. Results: Even among the companies awarding NQA for their excellent quality management level there are significant differences in their performance by their quality management levels. In particular, leadership and human resources categories have greater impacts on the performance. Conclusion: Even though the company awarded NQA(KQMA: Korean Quality Management Award) for its ex-cellent quality management level, it is necessary to improve the quality management level continuously. This result supports the necessity of KQGA(Korean Quality Grand Award) which is awarded for the companies which improve quality management levels significantly after awarding KQMA. Key Words: National Quality Award(NQA), Malcolm Baldrige, TQM

Evolutionary analysis of the collaboration networks within National Quality Award Projects of China

Construction organizations are increasingly cooperating in what are often referred to as “collaboration network” that enabled them to share risks, pool resources and explore opportunities to jointly participate in managing large-scale projects. In this study, we construct the so-called inter-contractors' collaboration networks by mapping the electronic database of NQAPC for an 8-year period (2003–2010). In these networks, nodes represent contractors; two contractors are connected by an edge if they have cooperated at least one project. By using a variety of network measures, i.e., giant component, degree distribution, average path length, and clustering coefficient, we aim to descriptively investigate the structural evolution of the collaborations between contractors in the construction industry of China. As network size increases, we find a structural transition in the collaboration community size, the degree follows power-law distribution with an exponential cutoff, the average path length tends to decrease, and the clustering coefficient slightly decreases. Some explanations and a series of construction insights are discussed. The results and methodologies not only would help governors understand the social mechanisms underlie processes of construction industry, but could help contractors choose competent partners by identifying network properties.

Assessment and cultivation of total quality management organisational culture – an empirical investigation

The objective of this paper is to conduct an empirical study on the role of total quality management organisational culture (TQM OC) in enabling Taiwanese companies to achieve a high level of business excellence. TQM OC is defined by TQM artefacts (also called practices), TQM core values (which indicate management commitment, customer focus, focus on fact, total participation and continuous improvement), and TQM underlying assumptions (which assume TQM benefits individual, organisation and society) that organisational members share about the appropriate behaviours prevailing in an organisation. In this study, seven Taiwanese companies, who are either National Quality Award winners or finalists, are investigated by using the approach developed by Chen, Ponce, and Jang [(2013) An approach on the cultivation of organizational culture toward TQM culture. The 16th QMOD conference, Portoroz, Slovenia]. It is intended to make an assessment of TQM organisational culture and come up with the necessary actions followed by the assessment to improve TQM OC. The result reveals that the performance of business outcome in the seven companies is positively correlated to their TQM OC. The implications of research findings in this empirical study are further discussed in the text.

Quality management practices and their relationship to organizational performance

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of total quality management (TQM) practices implemented in Palestinian hospitals and their relationship to organizational performance using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria.Design/methodology/approach– A survey of 51 hospitals operating in the West Bank of Palestine was conducted in order to test the validity and reliability of TQM constructs and their relationship to organizational performance.Findings– The results showed that TQM constructs used in this study are positively related to hospital performance and for the most part the relationship was significant; they were capable of explaining a significant portion of variance in performance. Three elements were found to be strongly significant predictors of performance- people management, process management, and information and analysis.Research limitations/implications– Although hospitals operating in the Gaza Strip were excluded from the study, this research promotes critical management practices that help channeling organization resources into areas aimed at improving quality and performance.Practical implications– The study showed that there are certain areas where administrators or managers need to focus on should they aspire for better performance. The constructs used in this study can be used to assess the implementation of quality practices and highlight areas for movement.Originality/value– This paper provided practitioners, administrators, and academics with a fresh perspective on quality management practices and their impact on organizational performance. It also served as a foundation for future initiatives and programs aimed at improving quality in hospitals.

Alignment of University Information Technology Resources With the Malcolm Baldrige Results Criteria for Performance Excellence in Education: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

The authors suggest using a balanced scorecard (BSC) approach to evaluate information technology (IT) resources in higher education institutions. The BSC approach illustrated is based on the performance criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in Education. This article suggests areas of potential impact of IT on BSC measures in each of the Baldrige Results Categories of the performance criteria. Many of the identified areas of measurement and expected improvement are unique to educational institutions. The multiple-faceted evaluation approach should provide improved assessment of an institution's IT resources and offer a broadened perspective of IT usage in the academic setting.

Relative effectiveness of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award categories

This study fills a critical research gap by assessing the effectiveness of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) model within a government organisation and by comparing the effectiveness of the categories within the MBNQA model in government to the effectiveness of the categories of the MBNQA model in different industries. This study examines the relative effectiveness of each Baldrige category in the MBNQA 2013–2014 framework to results using data from a municipal government. We tested the hypothesised research model employing partial least squares (structural equation modelling). The results validate the effectiveness of the Baldrige categories and quantitatively support the theoretical foundations of the Baldrige model. Drawing on contingency theory, we explore the commonalities and differences of the effectiveness of Baldrige categories across different industries. The comparisons provide evidence that the Baldrige model has experienced the appropriate adaptations over years. This work discusses theoretical and managerial implications, and suggests future research directions.

A IMPORTÂNCIA DOS PROCESSOS GERENCIAIS NOS RESULTADOS DE PRODUÇÃO MAIS LIMPA: UM ESTUDO NA INDÚSTRIA DO PLÁSTICO

The paper reports a study on the implementation of cleaner production in the plastic industry. The study aimed to develop a model for assessingthe quality of environmental management to prove the proposition that permanent cleaner production outcome has a positive relationshipwith the existence of structured and standardized management processes in the company. A literature review allowed the development ofa model to evaluate the degree of structuring and standardization of management processes, using as reference the existing literature onbusiness models and process management, as well as excellence models adopted by national quality awards from different countries andcontinents. The proposition of a positive relationship between the structured management processes and environmental performance of thecompanies was confirmed by quantitative survey with 32 companies’ members of the Sao Paulo plastic industry association - SINDIPLAST.These findings on significant environmental results from the incorporation of principles and concepts of cleaner production in managementprocesses will allow to do further studies in other locations and other industry sectors.

Applying the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria: an approach to strengthen organisational memory and process innovation

The paper aims to establish a theoretical framework to investigate the relationships between total quality management (TQM) practices, organisational memory (OM) and process innovation (PI). To construct the model, the theory of TQM and of both OM and PI are established as starting points. Through the extensive review of past literature, the integrated conceptual model linking TQM with both OM and PI was constructed. Six TQM practices based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria formed the independent construct for this study. The model based on the MBNQA criteria with respect to OM and PI provides a basis for assessing the effectiveness of such a framework on both OM and PI. Given that OM and PI are essential for a firm's survival, it is essential for managers to devote their time and effort to identifying the most effective TQM framework, so that both OM and PI can be enhanced. As such, this model proved to be both beneficial and valuable. The proposed theoretical model provides greater insights into analysing the tridimensional relationships between TQM, OM and PI, in which TQM acts as an independent variable on both OM and PI. The design stands in contrast to other research as OM is investigated as the mediating factor between TQM and PI.

Is It a Good Investment Strategy to Invest in Malcolm Baldrige Award Winners? An Update

In a world of uncertain returns, investors consider risk. Lower risk is often ascribed to investments with higher quality. Firm quality, however, is difficult to quantify. One of the most exclusive management quality distinctions is the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). Since 1988, only thirty-one MBNQAs have been awarded to publicly-held corporations, and frequently to small fractions of an entire firm. This report explains the MBNQA and reports on the share price performance of MBNQA winners.

TQM practices and knowledge management: a multi-group analysis of constructs and structural invariance between the manufacturing and service sectors

The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in terms of the effectiveness of total quality management (TQM) practices between the Malaysian manufacturing and service firms in influencing knowledge management (KM) behaviours. A survey questionnaire was distributed to both manufacturing and service firms with 37.4% coming from the service sector and the rest from the manufacturing sector. Multi-group analysis of structural invariance was employed in this study to investigate the differences. The results obtained from the analysis did not show any significant difference between the two sectors in terms of: (i) construct validity, and (ii) the relationship between TQM practices and KM. Hence, the results obtained from this study confirmed that the chosen TQM dimensions are appropriate and relevant to manufacturing and service industries. This research was carried out based on self-reported questionnaires, and may have the limitations of response biases. Nevertheless, the analysis and findings warrant some attention from both practitioners and scholars as this study proposes that the six dimensions within the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award framework could contribute to KM. In terms of originality, this paper is considered as one of the pioneer empirical studies that present a comparative analysis by concurrently testing the TQM practices and its relationship with KM in the two sectors, which practitioners and scholars from other developing nations can emulate and examine. The construct validity and criterion validity are further confirmed in this research, which will add value to the TQM literature.

Strategic planning and benchmarking organizational routines of universities in the Western Balkans

Purpose – There is currently limited knowledge of the strategic organizational routines such as strategic planning and benchmarking of universities in the Western Balkans (WB). Thus the purpose of this paper is to map perceptions and concerns of institutional leadership about these routines within the public and private universities in the region. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey targeting all public and private universities in the WB was sent to the rector's and president's office. The survey data were analyzed with descriptive statistical methods, calculating frequencies, and means. Findings – Data revealed that the majority of both public and private universities have implemented strategic planning. Analysis of strategic planning between private and public universities indicated that averages scores were slightly higher in the private rather than the public universities. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis was among the statements that received higher scores (perceptions about implementation) from both types of universities. The relatively low scores from both types of institutions concerning perceived implementation and importance of benchmarking might imply that WB universities achieve their goals in a less competitive environment. Originality/value – The significance of the paper lies in the fact that no existing studies have investigated strategic planning and benchmarking in the WB universities. To be able to build a potential baseline for further research, including the possibility for more comparative research both within and beyond the region, the selection of routines was taken from the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in Education. This study contributes to the body of research for literature about strategic organizational routines and strategy-as-practice.

Slovenian national excellence award and total quality management deployment in Slovenian companies

This paper aims to study the deployment and use of total quality management (TQM) approaches and tools for the systematic implementation of TQM, especially within companies that have been applicants for the National Quality Award – Slovenian Business Excellence Prize (SBEP), and its relation to tools and approaches regarding people involvement, external recognition, benchmarking and financial results. The survey was based on the analysis of a sample of companies composed of the three subgroups: ‘top companies’ (based on their financial performance), a randomly chosen control group, and a group consisting of SBEP applicants. The questionnaire was distributed to 500 companies. The research was done on the basis of 110 respondents. Factor analysis was used to narrow the initial number of items, ANOVA to obtain statistically significant differences between the three group means and discriminant analysis to classify the sample according their use of TQM tools and approaches. The results showed that the main differences between the three groups of companies in favour of the SBEP group were related to the importance of benchmarking, peer assessment, collaborating in national quality awards (NQA) and partly in financial results. Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the companies that took part in the NQA have higher mean scores of observed variables as compared to the other two groups of companies.

TQM: A facilitator to enhance knowledge management? A structural analysis

This study aims to examine the multi-dimensional relationship of total quality management (TQM) and knowledge management (KM) in both service and manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Six key practices of TQM originated from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) were chosen; whereas the KM elements were made up of knowledge acquisition, distribution and application. Data were gathered from small, medium and large firms from both manufacturing and service sectors. Structural analysis was carried out for the hypotheses and the theoretical model testing. Findings show that strategic planning and human resource management have a positive and significant relationship with the dimensions of KM; whereas process management has significant effects on knowledge acquisition and knowledge distribution. Practically, the findings provide a useful direction for the management team in the manufacturing and service sectors by adopting the relevant TQM practices to further improve the firms’ knowledge management processes. Through a deeper comprehension on the association between TQM practices and the KM dimensions, the management team of these firms can focus their attention, efforts and resources on the specific TQM practices that can ensure successful KM process.

Determinants of Quality Engineering Education in Northeastern Mindanao, Philippines

This paper reports the state of quality of engineering education in Caraga Region, Northeastern Mindanao, Philippines. The study determined the relationship between the engineering faculty’s competence and implementation of the teaching and learning functions and the quality of engineering education. Competence was measured based on the 2008 criteria of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Extent of implementation of the teaching and learning functions was measured based on the principles of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. The 2008 Malcolm Balridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) Education Criteria was used to determine the quality of engineering education. Results reveal that the competence of the faculty and the degree to which the faculty perform their teaching and learning functions determined the quality of engineering education. The quality of engineering education in the region was significantly determined by the significance of results of the teaching and learning processes and the adequacy of preparation of the engineering faculty. The faculty’s clear goal setting, degree of participation in professional societies, and appropriateness of methods used in the teaching and learning processes fairly contributed to the quality of engineering education in the region. Moreover, it was found that the engineering faculty cannot significantly contribute to the quality of engineering education if they are not well-trained and not adequately exposed.  Keywords - Competence, performance of teaching and learning functions, quality of engineering education Â

Benchmarking the critical success factors of TQM implementation: A review of 21 national quality awards

TQM has assumed a great importance in today's highly competitive education industry. TQM has been widely implemented throughout the world. Many institutes have arrived at the conclusion that effective TQM implementation can improve their competitive abilities and provide strategic advantages in the marketplace. There are many approaches used for implementation of TQM in education sector. These approaches are based on number of National Quality Awards (NQA's) developed by governments of various countries. Further each National Quality Award has its own different set of critical success factors (CSFs). It therefore creates a lot of confusion for the educational institutes, as to, which critical success factors to choose and which not, so as to implement the concept of TQM for achieving excellence. This paper aims to develop a new framework for TQM implementation by doing a comparative study of 21 major National Quality Awards. The comparative study will be beneficial for the institutes to find out comprehensive list of CSFs for TQM implementation and thus helps in achieving excellence in the educational field.

An Information Processing Perspective of Process Management: Evidence From Baldrige Award Recipients

This study employs an information processing perspective to advance the understanding of the relationship between process management and performance. Process management is viewed as a means for coping with information processing requirements under conditions of uncertainty. The central proposition is that as the amount of uncertainty surrounding an organization's task environment increases, performance evolves from managing processes to progressively higher degrees of maturity. The authors explore the validity of their conceptual framework using data from feedback reports of 11 past recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award that included each of the award categories except manufacturing. Their analysis found that the processes of Baldrige recipients generally fell short of full integration and alignment sought by Baldrige and other frameworks. Because the sample organizations generally operate in stable contexts, these findings are consistent with the notion that high-performing organizations limit process management efforts to a degree that meets their information processing needs. Because this study constitutes one of the first to use primary data from the Baldrige Award process, a secondary contribution demonstrates how Baldrige data can be employed to advance both scholarship and practice.