The Japan Quality Medal is an annual award presented to an organization such as a company, an institute, a division of a company and a headquarters office (organization, hereafter) that received the Deming Application Prize (including the Deming Application Prize for Small Companies , the Deming Application Prize for Divisions and the Quality Control Award for Operations Business Units) three or more years ago (counting January to December of the award year as one year), that has continuously applied TQM to priority issues and has been achieving its objectives steadily and effectively in a changing business environment.
More specifically, the Deming Prize Committee set the following criteria:
<Organizations Qualified for Receiving the Deming Application Prize>
| a) |
Customer-oriented business objectives and strategies are established in a positive manner according to the management philosophy, type of industry, business scale, and business environment with the clear management belief. |
| b) |
TQM has been implemented properly to achieve business objectives and strategies as mentioned Item a) above. |
| c) |
The business objectives and strategies in the Item a) above have been achieving effects as an outcome of the Item b) above. |
Focus points of the examination are how the applicant has continuously applied TQM in a prior manner.
If the company has new TQM activities that impact the way it manages its business, it is encouraged to include such activities - even if they are just at the trial stage - in the examination. Examples of these activities include quality creation, employee satisfaction improvement, environmental initiatives and international and social contributions. Such activities, however, are not required for the examination. If the applicant company has them and chooses to include them, then they become subjects for evaluation.
A company or a division of a company that wins the Japan Quality Medal (the winning company hereafter) is presented with the Certificate of Merit and the Japan Quality Medal. The examination for the Japan Quality Medal is conducted by the Deming Application Prize Subcommittee (the subcommittee hereafter) and the decision of award is made by the Deming Prize Committee.
