Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Quality Award

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) is one of the four 2012 honorees of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Award recipients are evaluated based upon "leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results" (Newman 2012). Lockheed Martin "designs, develops, manufactures, and supports advanced combat, missile, rocket, and sensor systems for the U.S. And foreign military" (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award). The company received the Award because of its outstanding ability to uphold high quality standards in a consistent fashion, year after year. The company has been profitable for shareholders and customers alike.

For example, "ratings for customer loyalty have improved 18% since 2007 and are best in class with 100% of customers" and the company's consistent improvements of its processes have yielded 100% on-time deliveries "since 2006, and overall supplier quality has been nearly 100% since 2007" (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award). The company has continued to retain standards above and beyond that of the industry average. No regulatory actions have been taken against Lockheed since 2009, an outstanding achievement given the highly sophisticated machinery it is producing. Moreover, the organization's 56% superior security rating audit is well above the 4% industry average (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award).

The company has also been praised for the striking resilience it has shown since 2007, yet another measure of business excellence. Despite the recession, threats to government spending, and other external circumstances beyond its control, Lockheed remained steady in terms of its profits, quality, and ethical conduct. For shareholders, Lockheed Martin has proven to be a strong investment. "Return on investment, a strategic measure for MFC, has grown at a 23% compound annual rate, faster than the industry-best competitor at 13.7%" (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award).

Lockheed Martin was praised for having shown itself to be a profoundly ethical company, at least within the parameters of its industry. Regarding its financial accounting standards, there have been no irregular findings since 2009 and the company has upheld standards of continuous improvement, increasing from "from 109 discrepancies in 2007 to zero in 2011 and 2012, earning MFC a 'low-risk' rating from customers" (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award). All employees receive ethics awareness training as part of the company's best practices and 85% of its employees stated that they were proud to work for the company, above the industry average of 82% (Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award).