Answers:
Generally, quality awards signify the prizes that are
given to an individual or a business organisation after evaluating their
performances against the desired standards. From the perspective of quality
management, an award stimulates performers to provide excellent outputs in
their respective domains.
Quality awards are provided on the basis of certain
criteria, which measure the level of customer satisfaction in terms of
services, timeliness and product availability. In addition, it also measures
the extent to which the level of services and outputs are consistent over a
period of time. Basically, such awards are organised at national, international
and regional levels by national or local governments, by consumer
organisations, by trade or professional bodies or by other organisations. The
following are few examples of quality awards at various levels:
National awards:
·
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (USA)
·
Deming prize (Japan)
·
European Quality Award (Western Europe)
·
Golden Peacock National Quality Award (India)
·
Argentina Quality Award
·
Australian Quality Award
·
British Quality Award
·
Canadian Award for Business Excellence
·
Colombia National Quality Award
·
French National Quality Award
·
Israel Quality Prize of the Association of
Electronics Industries
·
Malaysia Quality Award
·
Mexican National Quality Award
·
New Zealand Rail freight Awards for Excellence
in Manufacturing
·
Norwegian Quality Prize