Malcolm Baldrige

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has been the centerpiece of the Baldrige National Quality Program since 1988. It is an award presented annually in recognition of performance excellence of US-based or headquartered companies.

The focus of the Baldrige system is an organization's overall performance management system, and product or service qualities are not certified. Award-winners have become recognized role models and have shared their excellent strategies with other organizations.

The Baldrige criteria for performance excellence consists of seven financial and non-financial perspectives. They set the measurement focus on essentials, like strategic deployment, personnel capabilities, and return on investment, for instance. Such a balanced measuring system allows managers to concentrate on the most important tasks, and lets them lead both internal and external continuous improvement processes flexibly. The criteria forms a framework which is adaptable to any organization for improving overall performance. Following categories make up the criteria for the Baldrige system:

Leadership - How the organization is guided, how its responsibilities are addressed to the public, and how good citizenship is practiced by the senior executives?

Strategic planning - How the strategic directions of the organization are set, and how the key action plans are determined?

Customer and market focus - How the organization's requirements and expectations of customers and markets are determined?

Information and analysis - How the management, effective use, and analysis of data and information are carried out in order to support organization's key processes and performance management system?

Human resource focus - How the workforce can develop to its full potential and how the organization's objectives are conveyed to the workforce?

Process management - How the key production, delivery, and support processes are designed, managed, and improved?

Business results - How the organization's performance and improvement have materialized in its key business areas, such as customer satisfaction, operational and financial performance, human resources, and supplier and partner performance.

In addition, the criteria give even more benefits to company and U.S. competitiveness. Firstly, they help in improving performance practices and capabilities. Secondly, they facilitate communication in order to share best practices among organizations of all types, and finally, they serve as a tool for understanding and managing the separate functions and processes of the entire organization.