The Baldrige Criteria ask: “What are the principal factors that determine your success relative to your competencies?” In marketing terms, this is your value proposition, the reason a customer should buy your product or use your service instead of a competitor’s.

According to Anthony Tjan (“Value Propositions that Work,” Harvard Business Publishing, September 14, 2009), there are only four categories of value propositions that work:

• Best quality
• Best bang for the buck
• Luxury and aspiration
• Must-have

If you think of a market or industry leader, you can probably figure out the category of its value proposition. Whole Foods = best quality. Wal-Mart = best bang for the buck. Ritz-Carlton = luxury and aspiration. Apple iPhone = must-have.

An organization that knows its value proposition has a competitive advantage because it must understand and build upon its core competencies to produce its signature value, align people and processes to provide that value, and communicate that value to customers, employees, and the public to establish and sustain its leadership.

And then it must deliver on its value proposition. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Baldrige Award recipients is that they know who they are. They are clear about their vision and mission and they understand and can articulate their value proposition.

Recent discussions about the value of Human Resources (see “Valuing Employees—and HR”) suggests that departments within an organization can benefit from clarity about their value propositions, as well. I would be curious to know if a support group can have a different value proposition than its parent organization. For example, could an HR department focus on delivering best bang for the buck in an organization recognized as having the best quality in its industry?

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