Insights from the baldrige award item-level blinded applicant scoring data

This paper examines the item-level applicant scoring data of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from 1991 to 2006, which were released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2011. Because the criteria have changed significantly over time, this study required a detailed analysis, definition, and reconciliation of concepts and terminology. This study offers several contributions to the quality management literature. First, the authors' study provides both a longitudinal and a cross-sectional view of the applicant data. They make observations on how award applicants' scores have evolved over time and investigate trends and interindustry differences. Through data visualization and ANOVA, they are able to gain insights on the progress in quality improvement and performance excellence made in these sectors. The authors found support for the declining performance of manufacturing industry and the steady improvement of nonprofit sectors in Baldrige evaluation scores. Moreover, using these national data, the authors provide further evidence for the validity of the theoretical Baldrige framework using confirmatory factor analysis.