Revisiting Two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners
Revisiting two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners:
Organizational Focus: Eastman Chemical Company Pal’s Sudden Service by Forrest B. Green Israel Long Jason Suddarth Luke Taylor Woon Yang Corresponding Author: Forrest B. Green Department of Management and Marketing Box 6954, Radford University, Radford, VA 24142 Phone: (540) 831-5080 Fax: (540) 831-6261 Email: fgreen@radford.edu
International Journal of Quality and Productivity Management Vol.5, No.1, December 15, 2005
Green, Long, Suddarth, Taylor and Yang
Revisiting two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners
By Forrest B. Green, Israel Long, Jason Suddarth, Luke Taylor, and Woon Yang Radford University, Radford, VA 24142
ABSTRACT
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program has been in operation since 1988. During this period, a variety of firms and organizations have received the honor of winning the award. In this study, two prior winners, one large fortune 500 chemical company and the other, a small fast food restaurant chain are revisited. The contrast between these two companies is striking, yet both of them are benefited from the Baldrige experience in different ways. Moreover, the award itself has changed over the years with the addition of two categories and a stronger emphasis on results, to such extent that some wonder if the Malcolm Baldrige Award is still about excellence in quality. KEY WORDS: MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARD, QUALITY
INTRODUCTION
Winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has become a goal that many businesses strive to obtain. The award demands instant respect and admiration from others in the industry. There have been relatively few winners since its inception in 1987 (Jones, 2004). Organizations that have been able to achieve this honor often find themselves turned into miniature tourist attractions for those interested in business. Individuals from around the world flock to these companies in order to obtain valuable knowledge
Organizational Focus: Eastman Chemical Company Pal’s Sudden Service by Forrest B. Green Israel Long Jason Suddarth Luke Taylor Woon Yang Corresponding Author: Forrest B. Green Department of Management and Marketing Box 6954, Radford University, Radford, VA 24142 Phone: (540) 831-5080 Fax: (540) 831-6261 Email: fgreen@radford.edu
International Journal of Quality and Productivity Management Vol.5, No.1, December 15, 2005
Green, Long, Suddarth, Taylor and Yang
Revisiting two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Winners
By Forrest B. Green, Israel Long, Jason Suddarth, Luke Taylor, and Woon Yang Radford University, Radford, VA 24142
ABSTRACT
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program has been in operation since 1988. During this period, a variety of firms and organizations have received the honor of winning the award. In this study, two prior winners, one large fortune 500 chemical company and the other, a small fast food restaurant chain are revisited. The contrast between these two companies is striking, yet both of them are benefited from the Baldrige experience in different ways. Moreover, the award itself has changed over the years with the addition of two categories and a stronger emphasis on results, to such extent that some wonder if the Malcolm Baldrige Award is still about excellence in quality. KEY WORDS: MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARD, QUALITY
INTRODUCTION
Winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has become a goal that many businesses strive to obtain. The award demands instant respect and admiration from others in the industry. There have been relatively few winners since its inception in 1987 (Jones, 2004). Organizations that have been able to achieve this honor often find themselves turned into miniature tourist attractions for those interested in business. Individuals from around the world flock to these companies in order to obtain valuable knowledge
References: Baldridge award application. (1995). Retrieved May 2005 from http://www.cunixinfotech.com/articlesite/balridge.pdf Baldrige national quality program. Retrieved May 2005 from Biography of Malcolm Baldrige Web site: http://www.quality.nist.gov/Biography.htm. Deavenport, E. (1994, June). Winning the baldrige award. Chief Executive, (95) pp. 36-39. Eastman Chemical Company, (2005). Retrieved April 2005 from Eastman.com Web site: http://www.eastman.com/. IV-8 International Journal of Quality and Productivity Management Vol.5, No.1, December 15, 2005 Green, Long, Suddarth, Taylor and Yang Jones, D. (2004, Nov. 25). Malcolm baldrige winners set and met goals. USA Today, pp. c9. Link, A.N., and J.T. Scott (2001, Oct). Economic evaluation of the baldrige national quality program. Final report to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Program Office. Retrieved September 2005 from http://www.nist.gov/director/prog-ofc/report013.doc Milliken, W. (1996, Oct). The eastman way. Quality Progress. 29(10) pp. 57-62. National Institute of Standards and Technology, (2005). Baldrige national quality program. Retrieved April 2005 from Baldrige National Quality Program Web site: http://www.quality.nist.gov/. Pal’s Sudden Service, (2003). Retrieved April 2005 from Pal’s 2003 Web site: http://www.palsweb.com/2001index.html. Schonberger, R.J. (2001, Dec). Is the Baldrige award still about quality? Quality Digest. Retrieved October 2005 from http://www.qualitydigest.com/dec01/html/baldrige.html. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Forrest W. Green, CFPIM, is a Professor of Operations Management at Radford University, Radford, Virginia. His areas of expertise include quality management, Six Sigma methodologies, and organizational assessment. He has published in numerous Operations management related journals and served as a consultant to various firms including AT&T, and Alliance Tech. Israel Long, Jason Suddarth, Luke Taylor and Woon Yang are graduate students worked under the supervision of Dr. Forrest Green conducting this project as a part of the MBA program at Radford University. IV-9