Images of quality: deconstructing the quest for excellence

Like daffodils in springtime, total quality management (TQM) programs bloom, fade, and bloom again. Once lauded, then debunked, analyzed, and resurrected, TQM is here examined as a linguistic construction. The intent of this research is to examine the Quest for Excellence films, as produced by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The films are produced for the annual Malcolm Baldrige Award ceremony in Washington, DC. Films are analyzed, because this paper extends the work of De Cock, who argues that language plays a central role in constituting reality; and because films are powerful language or sign systems.