1. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Help improve quality in U.S. companies
Recognize achievements of excellent firms and provide examples to others
Establish criteria for evaluating quality efforts
Provide guidance for other U.S. companies
Malcolm Baldrige, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce

2. Criteria for Performance Excellence
Leadership
Strategic Planning
Customer and Market Focus
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
Human Resource Focus
Process Management
Business Results
Baldrige Award trophy

3. The Baldrige Framework – A Systems Perspective
Organizational Profile:
Environment, Relationships, and Challenges 2
Strategic Planning 5
Human Resource Focus 1
Leadership 7
Business Results
The framework is the 30,000 foot view of the Criteria. [Note: Education and Health Care Criteria have slightly different nomenclature.]
The building blocks, or Categories, are essential -- performance in the Baldrige categories is the cost of entry -- but excellence in the linkages will be the mark of competitive leadership. The arrows point to excellence.
The umbrella over strategy and action plans:
It is the set of customer and market focused company-level requirements.
These are derived from short- and long-term planning.
They are the things that must be done well for the strategy to succeed.
The action plans “bring the strategy to life.”
They guide overall resource decisions.
They drive the alignment of measures for all work units to ensure customer satisfaction and market success.
The system:
The leadership triad -- leadership, strategic planning, customer & market focus -- emphasizes the importance of a leadership focus on strategy and customers.
The results triad is HR focus, process management, and business results. Its focus is on the employees and key processes that accomplish the work of the organization that yields results.
ALL company actions point toward results.
The large arrow in the center connects the leadership and results triads -- a critical linkage for company success -- and shows the role leaders must play in driving results improvement.
Information and analysis are critical to a fact-based system; they are the foundation for the performance management system. 3
Customer & Market Focus 6
Process Management 4
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

4. Business Results (1 of 3) Customer-focused results
Customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction
Customer-perceived value
Product and service results
Product and service performance
Financial and market results
Financial performance
Marketplace performance

5. Business Results (2 of 3) Human resource results
Work system performance & effectiveness
Employee learning and development
Employee well-being, satisfaction/dissatisfaction
Organizational effectiveness results
Operational performance of key value-creation and support processes
Accomplishment of strategy and action plans

6. Business Results (3 of 3) Governance and social responsibility results
Fiscal accountability
Ethical behavior and of stakeholder trust in the governance of the organization
Regulatory and legal compliance
Organizational citizenship in support of key communities

7. Baldrige Award Evaluation Process
Receive Applications
Stage 1
Independent Review
Judges Select for
Consensus Review? No
Feedback report
to applicant
Stage 2
Consensus Review
Judges Select for
Site Visit Review? No
Feedback report
to applicant
The four-stage evaluation process is illustrated in this chart.
After each stage of review, the Panel of Judges meets to decide which applicants should go forward to the next stage -- consensus or site visit.
The Judges’ guidelines encourage giving “benefit of the doubt” to make certain that all potential Award recipients proceed to each succeeding stage of review.
When it is determined that an applicant will not proceed to the next stage of the process, the feedback report is prepared and sent within 45 days.
All information remains strictly confidential throughout the process.
There are strict conflict-of-interest rules that are followed by all Examiners, Judges, and National Quality Program staff.
Stage 3
Site Visit Review
Stage 4
Judges Recommend Award Recipients to
NIST Director/DOC
Feedback report
to applicant

8. The Baldrige Award Scoring System
Three evaluation dimensions – Process (Approach, Deployment, Learning, Integration,) and Results (p. 55)
Scoring is linked to the importance to the applicant’s business factors
Scoring guidelines (pp )
The system for scoring applicant responses to the 20 Criteria Items involves the assessment of three evaluation dimensions and considers the factor of “importance” to the applicant’s business. The process employs Scoring Guidelines, which are an anchored rating scale.
All Baldrige Award Examiners observe a set of published guidelines in assignment of scores to applicants’ responses. This scoring system is spelled out in detail so that an organization can assess itself and so that applicants are completely familiar with the system being used.
The three scoring dimensions, critical to evaluation and feedback, are:
Approach, which refers to how the applicant addresses the Item requirements, or what method(s) are used. The factors used to evaluate approaches include: (1) appropriateness of the methods to the requirement, (2) the effectiveness of the use of the methods, and (3) evidence of innovation and/or significant and effective adaptations of approaches used in other types of applications or businesses;
Deployment, which refers to the extent to which the applicant’s approach is applied to all requirements of the Item. The factors used to evaluate deployment include: (1) use of the approach in addressing business and item requirements, and (2) use of the approach by all appropriate work units; and
Results, which refers to outcomes in achieving the purposes given in the Item. The factors used to evaluate results include: (1) current performance, (2) performance relative to appropriate comparisons and/or benchmarks, (3) rate, breadth, and importance of performance improvements, (4) demonstration of sustained improvement and/or sustained high-level performance, and (5) linkage of results measures to key performance measures identified in the Business Overview and in Approach/Deployment Items.
Evaluation and feedback must also consider the factor of “importance” of improvements in approach, deployment, and results to the applicant’s business. Areas of greatest importance should be identified in the Business Overview, and in items of particular importance, such as the key customer and process requirements and key strategies and action plans.

9. Feedback Report
Strengths - approaches or results that demonstrate effective response to the Criteria
Opportunities for improvement - how the applicant can better address the purposes of the Criteria, or issues that require clarification

10. Self Assessment and the Baldrige National Quality Program
A primary goal of the Program is to encourage many organizations to improve on their own by equipping them with a standard template for measuring their performance and their progress toward performance excellence.
The Baldrige National Quality Program is more than an Award program. A major purpose of the Criteria is to provide a framework organizations can use for self-assessment.
To encourage self-assessment, the Program makes available the materials to accomplish Baldrige assessments in-house. Materials include the Criteria, scoring guidelines, a structure for identifying organizational strengths and opportunities for improvement, and a case study packet that demonstrates the complete process.

11. Growth of State Award Programs Based on the Baldrige
California Quality Awards:

12. Quality Awards Around the World
In addition to the state and local network, an international network has now evolved as well.
Over 40 programs exist across the world, and many are Baldrige based.
There is even a Baldrige-based Award in Japan, in addition to the Deming prize.
Baldrige has truly become a global benchmark and the Criteria have become accepted as a world-wide standard for performance excellence.
Programs in place
No programs