QUALITY AWARDS IN ASIA

Quality Awards in Asia

Quality Awards in Asia

Introduction

Globalization has led to increased international competition. For a country to attract foreign investment and to increase its export, the challenge is to produce and provide higher quality goods and services. In many markets, quality has already become the key to having a competitive edge. Quality is no longer confined to the quality of a product or a service. It applies to delivery, administration, customer service, and all other aspects of company activities. Quality encompasses all the ways in which a company meets the needs and expectations of its financial stakeholders, its customers, and the community in which it operates. Today, governments and companies recognize the emergence of quality consciousness worldwide, and that quality is crucial for gaining a competitive advantage internationally. This has led many companies to seek guidance in implementing their quality programs. National Quality Awards (Nquality Awards) are a means by which countries at a national level promote quality awareness.

In the short history of the development of Nquality Awards, three awards have played a key role in the quality revolution in Japan, Western Europe, and the USA. They are the Deming Prize (DP), the European Quality Award (EQA), and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Quality Awards). Their success in raising the performance and competitiveness of industries in their respective countries has drawn much world attention. Many countries have modeled their award programs based on these three awards.

This research compared Asian Quality Awards based on an all-encompassing framework. The comparison led to analyses and recommendations for the establishment of Quality Awards by countries that have not already done so. The Nquality Awards investigated were current at the time of the comparison. They are:

Hong Kong Management Association Quality Award 2001 (HKMAQA);

China Quality Award 2000 (JQA);

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2001 (Quality Awards);

Taiwan Quality Award 2001 (SQA)

Overall description of the Quality Awards

The design of Quality Awards is to promote quality awareness, understand the requirements for quality excellence, and share information on successful strategies and their benefits. Nquality Awards contain typically from seven to ten examination criteria and a further 20 to 30 sub-criteria. The awards are made yearly to only the most deserving and well-run organizations. They are a nation's highest accolade for achievement in the best quality management practices. Quality Awards vary in many ways including:

Different award categories for different organizational sizes;

Awards for the manufacturing and service sectors;

Awards for not-for-profit organizations; and

Awards for different levels of quality management excellence attainment.

The awards are administered usually by government statutory bodies, with participation of judges and examiners from both public and private business organizations. Fuller descriptions of the compared Quality Awards can be found in their application material, Web sites, and references listed in this manuscript.

Quality Awards Criteria Development

To assist in the comparison, a framework that covered all the elements examined by the Quality Awards was developed. There were altogether ten major criteria (see Table I). The Quality Awards differed in terms of emphasis on the various ...