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The
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public
Law 100-107
PDF
version
A paper copy of this document will be mailed if requested from nqp@nist.gov
or by calling (301) 975-2036.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was created by Public
Law 100-107, signed into law on August 20, 1987. The Award Program,
responsive to the purposes of Public Law 100-107, led to the creation
of a new public-private partnership. Principal support for the program
comes from the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award, established in 1988.
The Award is named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as Secretary of
Commerce from 1981 until his tragic death in a rodeo accident in 1987.
His managerial excellence contributed to long-term improvement in
efficiency and effectiveness of government. The Findings and Purposes
Section of Public Law 100-107 states that:"
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1.
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the
leadership of the United States in product and process quality
has been challenged strongly (and sometimes successfully) by
foreign competition, and our Nation's productivity growth has
improved less than our competitors' over the last two decades. |
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| 2. |
American
business and industry are beginning to understand that poor
quality costs companies as much as 20 percent of sales revenues
nationally and that improved quality of goods and services goes
hand in hand with improved productivity, lower costs, and increased
profitability. |
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| 3. |
strategic
planning for quality and quality improvement programs, through
a commitment to excellence in manufacturing and services, are
becoming more and more essential to the well-being of our Nation's
economy and our ability to compete effectively in the global
marketplace. |
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| 4. |
improved
management understanding of the factory floor, worker involvement
in quality, and greater emphasis on statistical process control
can lead to dramatic improvements in the cost and quality of
manufactured products. |
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| 5. |
the
concept of quality improvement is directly applicable to small
companies as well as large, to service industries as well as
manufacturing, and to the public sector as well as private enterprise.
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in
order to be successful, quality improvement programs must be
management-led and customer-oriented, and this may require fundamental
changes in the way companies and agencies do business.
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several
major industrial nations have successfully coupled rigorous
private-sector quality audits with national awards giving special
recognition to those enterprises the audits identify as the
very best; and |
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| 8. |
a
national quality award program of this kind in the United States
would help improve quality and productivity by: |
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a.
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helping
to stimulate American companies to improve quality and productivity
for the pride of recognition while obtaining a competitive edge
through increased profits; |
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b.
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recognizing
the achievements of those companies that improve the quality
of their goods and services and providing an example to others;
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c.
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establishing
guidelines and criteria that can be used by business, industrial,
governmental, and other organizations in evaluating their own
quality improvement efforts; and |
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d.
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providing
specific guidance for other American organizations that wish
to learn how to manage for high quality by making available
detailed information on how winning organizations were able
to change their cultures and achieve eminence." |
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BNQP
Website comments:
nqp@nist.gov
Date created:
7/19/2001
Last updated: 9/25/2001
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