An Application of Malcolm Baldridge Quality Principles

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In response to worsening global economic conditions and faced with growing international competition, Metropolitan Life Insurance Corporation (MetLife) launched an “Operational Excellence” initiative in July 2008, with the intent to enhance operational productivity and processing efficiencies (“MetLife 10Q”, 2008). Those efforts continue today with aggressive strategies for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures (“MetLife 10-K,” 2012), which has created an urgency for comprehensive improvement of organizational performance.

Accordingly, the author proposes the adoption of an enterprise-wide quality program modeled on the principles of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award criteria for performance excellence (“Criteria for Performance Excellence,” 2011). This paper outlines the key elements of the Malcolm Baldridge performance criteria, provides rationale for the selection of the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, and summarizes how the program can help enhance the organization’s performance.

The Baldridge Performance Excellence Program

The Baldridge Performance Excellence Program originated with the passage of The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 (“The Malcolm Baldridge,” 2010). The act, established in response to growing concerns over global competition in industries vital to the United States, created the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award to encourage and recognize superior quality improvement of products, services, and processes. To administer the award, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created an integrated framework comprising seven criteria for organizational performance management (Figure 1), which govern the Baldridge Performance Excellence Progra...

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