What is the Baldrige Quality Award?
The Baldrige National Quality Program to improve competitiveness is sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Founded in 1987, the program offers businesses seven rigorous criteria for assessing performance. These criteria help companies achieve strategic goals by aligning resources, improving communications, and increasing productivity and effectiveness. The first six criteria—Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer and Market Focus, Information and Analysis, Human Resource Focus, and Process Management—address methods of Approach and Deployment, while the seventh considers Business Results. These are further broken down into questions (e.g., “How do leaders set and deploy organizational values?”). Woven throughout are “Core Values and Concepts”—the precepts and practices found in high-performing organizations. Each year NIST issues updated Baldrige National Quality Program Criteria for Performance Excellence to be used in applying for the Malcolm Baldri
Related Questions
- As an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, what attributes do you look for to gauge operational excellence?
- Does a decline in applications for the award indicate a decline in interest about quality and the Baldrige Award?
- Why was the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award established?
