26 7 Fundamentals of an Operationally Excellent Management System
3. Process centered
4. Integrated system
5. Strategic and systematic approach
6. Continual improvement
7. Fact-based decision making
8. Communications
Throughout the 1980s, U.S.-based manufacturing operations continued to
lose ground to constantly improving foreign competition, partially because
Japanese rms believed in helping each other and sharing best practices
with their countrymen. Then, in 1987, the U.S. government introduced the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). This award, presented
annually by the president, is designed to provide an operational denition
of business excellence. Two key aspects of the Baldrige Award are the pro-
motion of best p ...