From 1990 to 2006, 63 of the 66 Baldrige Award recipients scored between 500 and 725 points on the independent examiner reviews of their applications. One outlier scored around 460 points while two came in around 800 points. The scores, released in a report by the Baldrige program, confirm a widely shared belief that an organization’s management system becomes a competitive advantage when it can earn at least 500 points.

The data also show variation in the quality of applications by sector. The average score for the 278 manufacturing applicants over those 17 years was 478 points. The 158 service applicants averaged 467 points. The mean for the 314 small business applicants was 354 points.

Among the newer sectors, the 205 healthcare applicants averaged 414 points, the 134 education applicants averaged 381 points, and the 10 nonprofits averaged 454 points.

I would be interested in your reaction to the data. For example, does it mean that manufacturing applicants generally (a) had higher levels of quality than the applicants from other sectors, (b) got higher marks because examiners understood their stories better, or (c) got a break because the Criteria favored the way manufacturing works? Or is there a (d)?

By the way, according to the report, the highest score in that 17-year period was 811. The lowest was 51.

To find out how a Baldrige application is scored, look at the relevant Criteria booklet (available here) and turn to the Scoring section for an explanation and scoring guidelines for the process and results Categories.

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