Validation of the Arizona Governor's Quality Award criteria

Tens of thousands of firms have used the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria to improve the quality of their products and processes. Because the MBNQA data are confidential, there has been no published assessment of the validity and reliability of these criteria for evaluating the quality management practices of an organization. In this research, we analyze data from the Arizona Governor's Quality Award (AGQA) in order to check the validity of the model used to evaluate organizational quality. The criteria for the AGQA closely parallel the MBNQA criteria. Hence, the conclusions drawn from this study provide a basis for generalization to the MBNQA criteria. In the literature review, the MBNQA criteria are compared to two other instruments that have been developed and tested for measuring quality management. The MBNQA criteria are found to be more comprehensive and less prescriptive than the other two. In our research, we examine content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity of the AGQA. Finally, we present our conclusions and implications for researchers and managers.