Introduction
The Malcolm Baldrige Prize is an award created by the United States Legislature in 1987 to enhance top-notch administration consciousness and to honor firms in the United States that have successfully integrated continuous improvement. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country’s highest distinction for outstanding accomplishment. Baldrige assists firms in addressing a changing environment, focusing on objective strategic productivity, increasing customer and employee involvement, and improving administration and ethics, cultural obligations, competence, and protracted corporate stability. The Malcolm Baldrige Quality Management Program aims to strengthen the viability and management of American enterprises via organizational evaluation and enhancement for the advantage of all Americans.
The award is presented to organizations that are more than reasonable or even great; it is given to exceptional organizations. The Baldrige Award standards are difficult to meet, and only a few businesses can get it each year. The Baldrige Award is not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because a single firm can win it more than once. Winning firms are expected to maintain and increase their world-class performance levels.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Program gives comments and recommendations to award winners to assist them in this endeavor. The Malcolm Baldrige Award is a prestigious US award that recognizes firms that have excelled in quality and performance. The award will be presented by the Nationwide Institution of Standards and Machinery (NIST). The Baldrige trophy is a way of inspiring enterprises to keep aiming for distinction, as well as acknowledging prior successes (Ma, 2017). The award is given to companies that have improved their overall performance significantly. The recipient’s name is inscribed on a plaque in the White House.
Criteria for the Malcolm Baldridge Award
The award recognizes companies that make a lasting impression on other businesses. It aids firms in identifying improvement initiatives, achievements, gaps, chances, and threats, and identifying information management that needs to be improved. For entities to win the accolade, they must bid and meet the set performance expectations of the prize. Companies must apply and commit a deposit fee to consider the award expenditures.
Leadership is considered one of the criteria used in the Malcolm Baldridge Award. A leader’s behavior is portrayed in the eleven concepts and core values of the award. Leaders are expected to own and showcase exemplary behaviors concerned with delivering results, systems perspective, transparency and ethics, and visionary leadership. An innovative leader leads the firm in adhering to the organization’s core values and organizational visions. They invent strategies, methods, systems, and strategies to achieve organizational success. The leader ensures that the working environment is collaborative and supports the existence of unity among the workers. Visionary leaders are expected to motivate their colleagues to achieve high-quality output. Innovative leaders are prone to change and are ready to learn new skills from the environment and the colleagues around them.
The Malcolm Baldridge Award dictates how the organization develops strategic plans to meet its objective. How the company implements its strategic decisions is vital to the smooth running of the organization. Even though many businesses are becoming more skilled at strategy implementation, putting ideas into action remains a significant barrier. This is particularly the case in light of consumer demands for agility and preparedness in the case of unforeseen change, such as fluctuating economic situations, digital disruption, and destabilizing events that can derail an otherwise quick but predictable industry. This category emphasizes the need to focus not only on developing the ideas but also on the capacity to carry them out. The strategies should ensure that the customers are satisfied, and improve operational performance innovation and improvement.
Customers have a vital role in the Malcolm Baldridge selection criteria. The relationship between customers and the organization is of great concern in the selection procedure. Building a good relationship between the customers and the organization motivates the customers to engage more with the organization’s products, thereby increasing the organization’s income. A good relationship with customers helps market the organization to the outside world because of the market’s good reputation (Balunová, 2017). The organization is also bound to motivate and empower its workforce and involve them actively in the organizational strategies. The crew’s output depends on how the organization engages them because it encourages the employees by giving them a sense of acceptance in the business.
Recipients for the Malcolm Baldridge Award
The following are the recipients of the Malcolm Baldridge Award from 1988 to 2010.
Table 1. Malcolm Baldridge award recipients
| YEAR | SECTOR | RECIPIENT |
| 1988 | Manufacturing | Motorola Inc. |
| 1989 | Manufacturing | Milliken Co. |
| 1990 | Manufacturing | IBM Rochester |
| 1991 | Manufacturing | Zyrtec Corp |
| 1992 | Services | Universal card |
| 1993 | Manufacturing | Eastman chemicals |
| 1995 | Manufacturing | Corning Telecommunications Products Division |
| 1996 | Small business | Custom research |
| 1997 | Manufacturing | Solectron |
| 1998 | Manufacturing | Solar turbines inc |
| 1999 | Small business | Sunny Fresh Foods |
| 2000 | Manufacturing | KARLEE Company |
| 2001 | Education | Pearl River School |
| 2002 | Health care | SSM Health Care |
| 2003 | Small business | Stoner Inc |
| 2004 | Manufacturing | The Bama Companies |
| 2005 | Education | Richland College |
| 2006 | Services | Premier Inn |
| 2007 | Small business | PRO-TEC Coating Co |
| 2008 | Manufacturing | Cargill Corn Milling North America |
| 2009 | Manufacturing | Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technology |
| 2010 | Manufacturing | MEDEA |
Business Contributions of Malcolm Baldridge Award Winners
The Malcolm Baldridge Award has been in place for 29 years, and 118 recipients have won the award. At first, the program was taken to motivate firms to improve in all sectors of their operation. However, the program has produced uncountable returns on the companies’ investments. According to one study published in 2011, the payoff for the total expenditure to run the Baldrige Quality Assurance Program net gain is 820:1. Greater efficiency reduced wastage of funds; more employment opportunities, increased worker happiness, and income development are some of the examples of the business contribution of the award. Other surveys in education and infrastructure have shown that Baldrige-based businesses surpass their non-Baldrige counterpart firms in practically all essential variables, including the cost of care, affordability of care, faults, issues, and rates of death in the public healthcare area. Rates of graduation climb, dropout rates fall, and academic achievement on various indicators improve as firms use the Baldrige Framework to mature.
The Malcolm Baldridge winners have significantly contributed to the business sector. This is because the Malcolm Baldridge award has boosted the morale of both the small companies and big companies, resulting in increased productivity of the companies. The award sells the reputation of the businesses making many people believe in the quality of the product produced by companies. For example, in 2010, Nestle Purina pet care won the award. The award ranked nestle products as ranked number one in the market, especially in the pet food products category. Nestle Purina company became popular amongst many people both locally and internationally. Many people became familiar with the company’s products and this resulted in increased consumption of the Nestle Purina products. The direct result of this is that the net revenue of the company increased tremendously.
The prize is particularly significant because it developed a set of universally accepted criteria to assist organizations in implementing an influential culture of continuous improvement. Companies who want to receive the award must understand the particular standards required for building a successful quality policy and high levels of customer satisfaction. The seven criteria are governance, commentary, research, defined strategic development, personnel resource management, quality standards of services and goods, improved performance, and customer happiness. Mechanisms that lead to better quality management must be implemented in any area.
With the introduction of an Information Security program and the new Clusters of a Success project, Baldrige has demonstrated its significance and willingness to cope with current needs once again. The Baldrige Project and Association collaborated with the corporate sector to improve and promote the Baldrige Information security Performance Builder, a security tool (Abasiattai & Ahmed, 2020). This new tool uses the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to assist firms in self-evaluating their cyberspace infrastructure and resources to identify holes and increase their security measures across the board. The ultimate goal is to create a complete security Framework, train inspectors using a situational analysis, monitor progress, and honor ideal operations performance at an annual conference.
The Baldrige approach is applied to indigenous governments as part of the Villages of Achievement 2026 initiative. The Societies of Success Criteria is a systematic strategy for local activists, citizens, and cooperative allies to improve the efficacy of their efforts to promote healthy and productive inhabitants and safe neighborhoods. Communities may accomplish more significant results faster by using this paradigm in the areas that matter most: educational achievement, community well-being, insurance status, and safety.
The submission procedure and earning the award both benefit award winners. Many honor recipients say they acquired new consumers due to the honor, clients they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. They experience increased quality, attract comparative partners, receive national and international recognition, boost personal and organizational development, and improve internal motivation, among other things (Sulianny et al., 2019). On the other hand, receiving the prize does not ensure higher profitability, which depends on various circumstances.
The Baldrige Corporation obtains its overall value from three major areas. The first and most visible are the exact workflow and quality changes that firms using the Baldrige Framework have seen. BPEP has gathered data from Baldrige Prize recipients over the centuries, and their achievements are noteworthy (Oluwatobi et al., 2018). According to the Credit agencies of Econometric Analysis and Workers Statistics, agencies that have earned the Baldrige Honors have seen a staggering 92.6 percent rise in mean total sales revenue since gaining the honors; 2.5% employment creation, nearly 20 times higher than related industries; and an 84 percent rise in the number of business sites.
Conclusion
In conclusion, after thoroughly reviewing the five past MBNQA factory class winners, it is clear to discern numerous common points that led to both each existing employee operation and its long-term growth. Each of the companies had significant financial development in the time leading up to the next award and in the following years. These five corporations have laid out a road map or model for other businesses to follow. Even while the path may seem long and winding to the untrained eye, there are other methods to benefit from the Baldrige initiative without jumping in headfirst. Companies could start by conducting a conscience using the “Baldrige” criteria.
References
Abasiattai, I., & Ahmed, S. (2020). Case study of the application of the Malcolm Baldrige criteria to improve the quality performance of a completions workshop. Performance Improvement, 59(10), 30-53.
Balunová, Z. (2017). Credibility and building a good corporate reputation. Scientific Papers of the Silesian University of Technology. Organization and Management Series, 2017(110), 7-12.
Ma, B. (2017). Progress towards malaria elimination in India: achievements till now & way forward. Epidemiology International, 02(03), 1-3. Web.
Oluwatobi, S., Oshokoya, D., Atayero, A., Oludayo, O., Nsofor, C., & Oyebode, A. (2018). Students’ participation in Hult Prize and their decision for entrepreneurship: Data gathered from Hult Prize 2018 regional finals in Nigeria. Data in Brief, 19, 693-699.
Sulianny, E., Husein, W., & Subagja, D. (2019). The role of organizational development and organizational commitment on business performance SMEs with business motivation as variable mediation in the environmental development partnership program: A case study of small business partners fostered community development center PT. International Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Science, 4(111), 14-26.
The Yosemite National Park’s Geological History
Introduction
Yosemite National Park is one of the significant nature reserves in the United States, located in the Sierra Nevada, California. Since 1984, the park has been under the protection of UNESCO. There are impressive granite rocks, picturesque valleys, meadows, transparent lakes and rivers, waterfalls, ancient giant sequoias, and a wide variety of animals and birds in this vast territory. However, the history of the park, which was created naturally, is of interest to explore. The formation of the park took millions of years, due to which various rocks were formed. The park’s geological history is of interest from the point of view of natural phenomena occurring in the territory that still form the park’s shape.
The History of the Park
Yosemite, in the language of the Apache Indians, means the name of the American black bear. The nature of the current territory of the park was revealed to European Americans in the middle of the 19th century during the gold rush. Nevertheless, this unique area arose thousands of years ago under the influence of a substantial continental glacier. About 540 million years ago, the national park’s territory was underwater near the continent’s coast. Four hundred million years ago, the Farallon tectonic plate began to go under the North American plate. As a result, volcanoes were formed, which formed the Nevadan mountain range, which gradually transformed into the Sierra Nevada.
Ten million years ago, the mountains on the territory began to rise, and having reached a certain height, they tilted, which is why the slopes on the west side were more gentle and steep on the east. As a result, the slope angle of the rivers flowing along the western slopes changed, directly involving the formation of valleys and gorges (Bloom & Deur, 2020). The process of mountain growth and erosion did not stop there, due to which gorges, canyons, rocks, and other forms of relief were formed.
Type of Rocks
At the moment, the geology of the territory is mainly characterized by granite rocks; however, it also includes some metamorphic rocks. The formation of the first rocks dates back to Precambrian time when the first territories of the current national park appeared on the continent of North America. Thus, many of the rocks that can still be observed in the park are granite formations that arose about 200 million years ago. These were volcanic films that had formed at least 5 miles deep. (Gutierezz & Bursztyn, 2020). However, over time, these rocks have been removed from the area due to erosion. This put the granite rock under much lower pressure and underwent a decline in layering and mass depletion.
Volcanic Activity and Fault Motion
Much of the northern region of Yosemite is covered in magma and igneous deposits. For 15 million years, the volcanoes of the Cascade Range have erupted, leading to the emergence of a large number of volcanic rocks in the park (Booth et al., 2020). Due to such eruptions, most of the lava flooded the Grand Canyon of Tuolumne. As a result of the slope of the Sierra block and the uplift of the mountains, the flow gradient in the territory increased to the western side. However, in spite of the fact that the rivers flowed faster, the tributaries retained their original speed, so their speed of clearing the valley was not significantly affected.
Another uplift occurred as a result of the development of significant faults on the eastern side of the territory. Erosion and shearing of tectonic plates have pushed granite rocks underground to the surface. This caused delamination (due to this, rounded granite domes can be observed in the park) and depletion of mass due to the formation of a large number of planes of joints of cracks in the plutons. The Sierra Nevada continues to grow within the park to this day. Today, the growth of some mountains exceeds the mowing rate due to erosion over a century period, resulting in a statistical increase in altitude. (Jenkins & Dietz, 2019). Rockfalls continue to reshape the canyon walls as rivers cut into the valley floor.
Geologic Conditions
The high peaks of the eastern and northern boundaries define the Tuolumne River drainage basin, which sets the meltwaters of the Lyell and Maclure glaciers. Tuolumne meanders through Tuolumne meadows and then flows through desolate canyons to the Hatch-Hatchi reservoir (Scoon, 2021). The channel of the river, bounded by the steep canyon walls, continues to cut vertically into the granite rock.
Tributaries flowing from high peaks along the park’s southeastern border merge to form the main trunk of the Merced River. The river meanders through Little Yosemite Canyon, cascades through Nevada and Vernal Falls, and flows into the Yosemite Valley. These rivers and tributaries, meandering along broad, U-shaped valleys cut by glaciers, form promontory bars, notches, floodplains, and terraces.
Conclusion
It took millions of years for the park to form, including phenomena such as glacier melting and faulting. When tectonic plates shifted, volcanoes were developed, which are still in the park. Thus, active faults and changes in shape also occur on the territory of the national park. The park’s geography is diverse and was formed by various natural disasters that happen in the modern environment of Yosemite.
References
Bloom, R. & Deur, D. (2020). Reframing native knowledge, co-managing native landscapes: ethnographic data and tribal engagement at Yosemite National Park. Land, 9(9), 335. Web.
Booth, D. B., Ross-Smith, K. Haddon, E. K., Dunne, T., Larsen, E. W., Roche, J. W., Stock, G. M. & Mahacek, V. (2020). Opportunities and challenges for restoration of the Merced River through Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, USA. River Research and Application, 36(9), 1803-1816.
Gutierezz, J. A., & Bursztyn, N. (2020). The story of ice: Design of a virtual and augmented reality field frip through Yosemite National Park. IGI Global, 18(25), 1-16.
Jenkins, J., F., A., & Dietz, F. (2019). Moving beyond the frame: Geovisualization of landscape change along the southwestern edge of Yosemite National Park. Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis, 3(9), 17-23. Web.
Scoon, R.N. (2021) Yosemite National Park, California. The Geotraveller, 32(9), 37-50. Web.
George Zimmerman And Black Lives Matter Movement
The acquittal of George Zimmerman triggered the creation of Black Lives Matter in the United States in 2012 after the killing of a black American teenager, Trayvon Martin. It was then publicly demonstrated in 2014 in the streets with the hashtag #blacklivematter on social media platforms. This after the death of Erick Garner, which occurred in New York and that of Michael Brown that was reported Missouri. Black Lives Matter established its roots overly in the year 2020 after the killing of George Floyd. His death triggered more reactions resulting in the movement’s spread globally. Black Lives Matter aimed to protect and address the discrimination that black people faced as a result of racism.
The death of George Floyd, a black American, was brutal and had evidence of police brutality. He was arrested from his car in a parking area. His death was through being pinned down by Dereck Chauvin, a white police officer. From the footage of the scenario, Dereck Chauvin is seen pressing his knee on George’s neck resulting in his death. Dereck and his fellow white police officers were ruled to be involved in the killing of Floyd. George was a black, and the police officers were Whites, and the incident was associated with brutality against Floyd’s rights. Notably, Dereck was also convicted for violating George’s civil rights.
Dereck and three other policemen faced court charges and were fired for police brutality and racism. Dereck is serving an imprisonment term for pressing his knee into the neck of an unarmed man. The punishment subjected to him included an imprisonment term and getting fired. I think fairness and justice are difficult to achieve in a society associated with racism. People of color face discrimination and racism in the daily routine from unethical personnel.