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The Taiwan National Quality Award (TNQA) has been conducted for 14 years. However, small and medium‐sized companies (SMSCs) rarely win the TNQA. This study undertakes a capability analysis to explore how SMSCs do win the TNQA. A survey instrument involving 149 questions extracted from “the 2001 Handbook of Standard Criteria for Evaluation of TNQA” is used to measure the capability of SMSCs in competing for the TNQA. The paper concludes with a summary of the essential qualities required by an SMSC if it is to compete successfully for the TNQA.

In this paper, fuzzy hierarchical analysis (FHA) is used to explore the process by which the criteria weights of the Taiwan National Quality Award (TNQA) are assigned by TNQA committee members. Each member is allowed to employ fuzzy scales in place of exact scales. Each pairwise comparison of criteria is made through a questionnaire from each TNQA committee member. The membership function of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers is introduced to specify TNQA committee members’ intentions. After FHA, the reasonable range of each criterion weight of TNQA is determined. The current criteria weights of TNQA are properly verified.

Given the critical role of project prioritization and selection process in Six Sigma efforts, this study aims to analyse the relevant literature to answer this question: What types of project prioritization and selection methods have been used in Six Sigma research?

The study implemented the systematic literature review (SLR) method to identify and review all relevant previous studies.

The study revealed that 59 articles focused on the topic used 111 methods, analytic hierarchy process appeared as the most frequently used method with 12 articles (20%) and one-third of the methods used in the current Six Sigma project selection literature contained multi-criteria decision-making methods. In total, 61% of 59 articles were not published in the journals ranked by the ABDC’s list. Only 17% of the articles reviewed in this study were published in journals ranked as B category and 12% of the articles were published in A category journals.

The findings of this literature review may help Six Sigma practitioners and researchers accurately identify project prioritization and selection methods, considering that qualitative and quantitative scientific methods guarantee to make better decisions than “gut feelings” of the decision makers in this process.

Although a variety of studies focused on the topic, an SLR is lacking in the area of Six Sigma project prioritization and selection. Therefore, this study was constructed using the SLR method to analyse the topic.

Total quality management (TQM) is considered a very important factor for the long‐term success of an organization. However, there exist a lot of international quality awards, apart from different versions of national quality awards (NQAs), developed by the governments of many countries based on these well‐established awards. In addition to these awards, there are a plethora of frameworks proposed by various researchers and consultants. Hence, many organizations are not in a position to understand clearly the concept of TQM, in terms of knowing what has to be implemented and what area to focus on. To overcome these issues, this paper attempts to present a list of TQM implementation elements for manufacturing excellence. These elements can be undertaken by any manufacturing organization striving for excellence.

A literature review was carried out to provide a brief overview about the 28 models, awards and frameworks given by national, international agencies and individuals. Then a comparative analysis was carried out to identify the list of TQM elements and a framework for TQM implementation elements has been proposed through discussion with experts and domain knowledge.

The outcome of this research is a framework of TQM implementation elements for sustaining manufacturing excellence obtained from the comparative analysis of various TQM models and national/international quality awards.

The proposed list of TQM elements and its associated framework are highly conceptual and need to be validated through an empirical approach or by a clinical approach utilizing a case study.

The paper identifies the TQM implementation elements which will direct an organization towards manufacturing excellence, as well as ensuring that the elements withstand the test of time, pace of technology, market and customer changes.

A comparative analysis of the validity of business excellence models (BEMs) has rarely been empirically pursued. In addition to their similarities, BEMs exhibit differences in terms of their criteria, relations and emphasis, and some researchers have claimed that it is because these models tend to represent underlying cultural, economic, or social dynamics, as well as global best practices. Based on three such BEMs (the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) model, the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model and the King Abdul Aziz Quality Award (KAQA) model), this paper introduces a four-phase study to analyse these models comparatively.

This paper: (1) conceptually delineates the distinctive natures of and differences between the three models; (2) develops a comprehensive measurement model based on the content of these models; (3) reviews the relevant literature on BEMs; (4) discusses the motivation behind this comparative approach and (5) introduces a four-phase study to comparatively analyse these models.

A comprehensive measurement model and three structural models are developed, but empirical tests have not been performed. This developed approach is introduced here as a first step in the advancement of our understanding of BEMs and their underlying theory.

The range of variability and complexity of BEMs—i.e. a holistic and comparative empirical view of BEMs—have not so far been fully considered, and findings in this domain tend to be inclusive, while some of the underlying relations of these models have not been investigated. This paper contributes to filling these research gaps.