The origins, evolution and outcomes of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

(1) "International Historical Antecedents to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Developments in Germany and Japan from 1945 to 1982." This paper is an interdisciplinary multi-country analysis of the factors that contributed to the rise in national competitiveness of Germany and Japan and the decline in the national competitiveness of the United States from 1945 to 1982, which led, in 1982, to the United States posting its first trade deficit since the Second World War (WWII). The paper analyzes historical, social, and cultural factors in Germany and Japan that resulted in government, financial managerial, and educational policies and practices; which influenced national competitiveness in Germany, Japan, and the United States.;(2) "The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act: An Examination and Analysis of the Immediate Antecedents, the Congressional Hearings, and the Passage of the Legislation (1982-1987)." This paper examines the response by the Congress to the United States posting its first trade deficit since WWII (in 1982). It details the legislative origins of the idea for a national quality award, the Congressional hearings, and other events that led to the shift in emphasis from productivity improvement to quality improvement, and to the passage of The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act (MBNQIA).;(3) "The Performance of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award: An Analysis of the MBNQA Against the Objectives and Criteria Contained in the Legislation (1987-1996)." This paper presents an analysis of the performance of the MBNQA using two sets of primary data: (1) the MBNQIA legislation and related congressional testimony; and (2) the original documents that were provided by the winning companies, which include documents that the legislation requires each winning company to produce and make available to other United States organizations.;This paper is premised on the strict constructionist proposition that the success of any legislation can be determined by comparing the objectives stated in the legislation (as informed by the congressional testimony) with the observable results of the implementation of the legislation. Consistent with this premise, this paper analyzes the performance of the MBNQA by comparing the objectives and criteria contained in the MBNQIA of 1987, with the measures taken by the twenty-eight companies that won the Award, from 1988 through 1996.