US and Canadian national quality awards: increased emphasis on business results Available to Purchase

Starting with 1997 applications, both the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards and the Canada Awards for Excellence have undergone changes to the evaluation categories as well as to the point systems in order to increase the emphasis on business results. Over the past several years there has been an increasingly perceived need to emphasize organizational successes owing to an overall quality management approach as opposed to celebrating specific quality improvement initiatives within establishments. The enthusiasm of management to highlight gains made in certain portions of their organization in the name of quality requires tempering by due consideration within the general context of the impact on business results. The emphasis has been shifted to ensure further that an overall balance in applying TQM throughout the organization will be required to achieve national award status.