The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) program was initiated in 1987, to promote competition among U.S. businesses and drive quality awareness by recognizing the outstanding achievements of U.S. companies. The award acts to publicize the companies performance in business excellence. The program is controlled by the U.S. Commerce departments National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (Baldridge National Quality program)
             The MBNQA promotes a businesses future success. If you consider, for example, that for the fourth year in a row, the fictitious "Baldridge Index" has outperformed the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 by almost 3 to 1, according to the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST. To prove this point NIST took a hypothetical $1,000 and invested it in six of the companies awarded the MBNQA from 1988 to 1998. NIST found that the group of six companies outperformed the S&P 500 by more than 2.7 to 1, achieving a 394.5 percent return on investment compared to a 146.9 percent return for S&P 500 (Baldridge Index). The Boeing's Airlift and Tank (A&T) division is one of the six companies.
             On December 10, 1998, Boeing Airlift and Tanker (A&T) Programs, based in Long Beach California, was chosen to receive the MBNQA for manufacturing, based on its demonstrated quality and business performance excellence. President Bill Clinton presented the award to Boeing A&T and commented that "As America's standard for business excellence, the Baldridge Quality Award has become a driving force in helping U.S. firms achieve leadership in the world's competitive marketplace," the president said " I congratulate the Baldridge award winning companies for their commitment to and aggressive pursuit of excellence, and for their outstanding achievements in every aspect of their business." (Baldridge National Quality Program).
             The award was the result of countless hours of har...