Identifying Critical Factors That Predict Quality Management Program Success: Data Mining Analysis of Baldrige Award Data

Abstract

This study identifies the critical factors that predict quality management program success using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Criteria for Performance Excellence framework as a measurement proxy. Success is measured based on MBNQA applicant scores that qualify for award recipient consideration. Use of the MBNQA system as a proxy for success is supported by prior research. This study performs longitudinal and cross-sectional data mining analyses using ANOVA, multiple regression analysis, discriminant analysis, and decision tree analysis to compare 1,098 independent review process cases and 486 consensus review process cases drawn from the MBNQA item-level applicant scoring data from 1991 to 2006. The data are drawn from the MBNQA item-level blinded applicant scoring data released in 2011 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The analyses use an MBNQA “award” threshold score of 608 points that is stable for the 1991 through 2006 reporting period. This score is the approximate lowest winning score of the 66 award recipients for the reporting period, and is a function of the component scores that are being modeled. This study contributes to the quality management literature by empirically identifying the factors that matter the most when predicting quality management program success as measured by qualifying for an MBNQA award. The author found that MBNQA Category 4 (Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management) and Category 1 (Leadership) MBNQA criteria (factors) are the only contributing factors—none of the other MBNQA factors matter. This finding suggests that quality management practitioners should consider focusing on leadership development and informatics-related interventions as a strategy for improving organizational performance and achieving MBNQA award status as measured by MBNQA criteria and financial outcomes.

• Criteria for Performance Excellence (CPE)
• data mining
• Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA)
• quality management program

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark R. Jones

Mark R. Jones is the founding partner of The Sunyata Group, serving concurrently as the chairman and CEO of all the Sunyata for-profit and nonprofit entities. Jones is a senior executive with more than 35 years of entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial leadership experience. He has over 28 years of full-time professional experience, including five years of full-time experience serving at a senior executive level—CEO/executive VP/corporate VP/CIO/ CTO/CTA—in organizations with annual budgets of #100M or greater, and in nonprofit and elected and/or appointed positions. Jones is currently director (department chair) and faculty of the LIOS Leadership & Organization Development program at Saybrook University. He is currently completing a doctorate in organizational systems specialized in psychology of leadership applied to performance optimization (quality/process improvement) from Saybrook University. He has a master's degree in management specialized in critical thinking reflective analysis from Antioch University – Seattle, and a bachelor's degree in systems analysis from Western Washington University.