The impact of worker perceptions of the coherence of quality on corporate strategy deployment: An exploratory case study (Malcolm Baldrige)

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to determine whether the use of the Baldrige "Are We Making Progress?" leader and employee questionnaires led to the identification and resolution of gaps in the perception of the "coherence of quality" at Golden West Bakery (GWB). The study used a sequential transformative research methodology to both quantitatively measure the perceptual gaps of leaders and employees within the seven categories of the Baldrige quality framework, and to seek qualitatively the meaning behind those gaps using a rigorous interview protocol that mirrored the questionnaires and provided coherence from the Baldrige quality framework. The presentation of the data and findings clearly demonstrated the usefulness of the questionnaires when coupled with qualitative methods to identify differences in the perception of quality by leaders and employees. The study presented a model that described the management dilemma and raised questions regarding how literacy issues directly affect the implementation of business theory using the Baldrige model. The deployment of these questionnaires assumes sufficient literacy rates exist to understand the coherence of quality embedded within the Baldrige quality framework. The conclusions of this study raise a number of valid and important research topics that should be considered by the scholar community. The first and most important recommendation is to include literacy as a criteria category within the Baldrige quality framework. The second and equally important question for future research is to determine how to transition companies like GWB, where illiteracy dominates business operations, to a total quality management system.