How Long Does It Take to Win?
Most organizations are attracted to Baldrige because they want to improve their performance, but at some point, almost all of them ask a question that has been on their minds:
How long does it take to win the Baldrige Award?
The Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation started using Baldrige in 1993 through the Tennessee Quality Award program. It was awarded the Tennessee Quality Excellence Award in 1999 and received the Baldrige Award in 2003. According to its Web site, it planned to apply for the Baldrige Award again this year as a worldwide organization.
You could say it took Cat Financial ten years to win the Baldrige Award. I know other organizations–granted, not many–who have done it in two.
So how long does it take to win the Baldrige Award? It depends.
It depends on your starting point. If you’re a 250-point organization (which is pretty common for first-time Baldrige assessments), it’s probably at least five years. If you’re a 500-point company, maybe a couple years if everything goes right.
It depends on senior executive commitment. If your CEO will move mountains to close the gaps in your management system, it will take less time than if senior leaders stand on the sidelines and delegate the improvement process.
It depends on how serious the gaps are. If you don’t have…
Steve George | March 10th, 2010 | Continued
About this Site
Steve George
Steve George founded Baldrige.com, the leading online community for Baldrige supporters, visitors interested in Baldrige, and anyone who wants to build a well-run organization.
Steve wrote his first award application in 1989 and has since worked with five Baldrige Award recipients, several state award winners, and dozens of other organizations including hospitals, manufacturers, service companies, small businesses, nonprofits, colleges, an army base, and a district court.
A trained Baldrige examiner in 1996, Steve has provided Baldrige training and written and edited Baldrige case studies.
He is also the author of four Baldrige-related books.
His goal for Baldrige.com is to build an online community for sharing information, answering questions, and promoting the Baldrige model as a proven approach to achieving performance excellence.
Imagine a world in which the organizations we buy from, supply, work for, and receive services from are well-run and high-performing. We aim to support that vision by providing:
Information You Need to Build the Organization You Want



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