Validating the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Framework through structural equation modelling

Since its introduction in 1987, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) has come to have a major influence in the assessment of quality efforts and systems. Many public and private institutions, for example, use the measures derived from this award programme to carry out self-assessments. Many programmes at the local, state and international levels are based on the MBNQA. Implicit in this evidence is the assumption that the MBNQA adequately captures the major dimensions of Total Quality Management. This study empirically assesses this assumption. Specifically, it assesses the extent of fit between the factors of the MBNQA and their measures. It also evaluates the extent to which these factors really do capture this important higher-level construct known as TQM. The results reported in this study are based on a field survey consisting of responses gathered from 526 plant managers within the US automotive industry. The assessment is carried out using confirmatory factory analysis and structural equation models.