Quality Award Programs
Support Your Baldrige-Based State Award Program
Thirty-three states have quality award programs based on the Baldrige model. You can find out if your state is one of them at the Alliance for Performance Excellence (click here).
The state programs provide excellent local support for organizations that are integrating the Baldrige model. Like the national program, organizations submit applications based on the Baldrige Criteria that are evaluated by trained examiners. Unlike the national program, state programs typically offer levels of awards that range from recognition for starting the journey to a gold-level award similar to the Baldrige Award. State programs often provide training and support to help organizations at all stages of the journey.
Many Baldrige Award winners started with their state programs, identifying and addressing opportunities for improvement until they received their states’ highest awards, at which point they applied for the Baldrige Award. In that way, state programs are like a baseball farm system, providing more personal and hands-on instruction and guidance to prepare organizations for the national stage.
Despite the valuable service they provide, state award programs struggle to stay in business: It wasn’t that long ago that 42 states offered Baldrige-related programs. The marketing difficulties of the national program extend to the state programs, each of which must fend for itself within the business and economic climate of the area it serves.
One example of a thriving state program is the Quality Texas Foundation (QTF), which recently announced an agreement with the Dubai Quality Group “to promote the principles of quality and excellence through training, organizational assessments,…
25Apr2011 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedBaldrige Program Releases Applicant Data
I am frequently asked how many points an organization must score to receive the Baldrige Award. I usually answer, “at least 600,” which is probably a safe bet, but the actual number is lower: Of the 66 organizations that won the Award from 199 to 2006, the lowest score was approximately 460 and the highest was 811.
The Baldrige program has released an analysis of data from 17 years of applications representing all sectors. You can access the data analysis here. Highlights include:
- The minimum total score at independent review was 51; the maximum was 811; the mean was 417.
- The mean score for small business applicants was 354, well below the mean for manufacturers (478) and service companies (467)
- In 2006, the lowest-scoring applicant received 185 points and it was an outlier: The mean for all applicants ranged from 429 to 519 points. This is significantly different than 1990 when most of the manufacturing, service, and small business applicants scored in the 50 to 350 range, there was a gap with no scores from 350 to 450, and then a few scored from 450 to 811.
- The range of scores for manufacturing applicants has narrowed significantly from 1990, when it ranged from 100 to 800 points, to 2006, when the range was around 420 to 520 points
- The median score for small businesses improved from approximately 170 in 1990 to approximately 440 in 2006.
- The total scores for education and healthcare applicants show amazing consistency with lows around 180 and highs around 600 (for education) and…
Baldrige Benefits the U.S.
“Our country is discussing ways to meet the economic challenges and global competition facing our nation and the necessity to make some concessions to help solve our national debt and deficit problems, and yet we already have a program that benefits the United States by driving economic development through increasing business productivity, workforce efficiency, and job creation.”
Last Friday, E. David Spong, president of the American Society for Quality, past chairman of the board of the Baldrige Foundation, and CEO of two Baldrige Award winners, testified before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in support of increasing, not decreasing, funding for the Baldrige program. President Obama has proposed cutting the program’s funding from $9.6 million annually to $7.7 million.
Spong points out that “federal funding is in fact only a small measure of the total amount of hours, funding, and value contributing to the program. Yet government support is significant as it provides the integrity, consistency, and continuity the program needs; and without an efficient and effectively managed program, the entire stakeholder system would collapse.”
To those who think the purpose of the Baldrige program is the Award, Spong argues that “the intention is not to simply give out awards, but to establish role model organizations that would share their successful strategies with other U.S. businesses.”
His speech, available here (pdf), lays out a compelling case for the Baldrige program, and Spong is the perfect person to make that case. I wrote about his Baldrige accomplishments here. Yet his speech also…
15Mar2011 | Steve George | 1 comment | ContinuedProposed Cut to Baldrige Program’s Federal Budget
President Obama released his proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year, which starts this October, and it cuts funding for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program from $9.6 million in FY2010, the last year Congress passed a budget, to $7.7 million. According to Quality magazine, “At this proposed level, BPEP will evaluate alternative sources of funding and alternative cost models consistent with the administration’s goal of transitioning the program out of federal funding.” (“Federal Budget Request for NIST Includes Science and Technology Investments,” February 14, 2011)
An article on the NASDAQ web site points out that the proposed budget cuts the Commerce Department’s discretionary spending by more than a third from 2010 levels, from $13.87 billion to $8.77 billion, although the budget for the 2010 census alone, which has been completed, dropped by $6.27 billion, more than the total amount to be cut. That means Commerce’s budget outside of the census actually increased, with extra millions going to ensuring a cyber infrastructure, strengthening measurement services, supporting biomanufacturing and nanotechnology-based products, and supporting increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
Unlike these initiatives, the Baldrige program is considered an “outdated or lower priority program,” according to the Commerce Department. (“White House Budget Would Save on Census, Spend on Exports,” NASDAQ, February 14, 2011)
Of course, anyone who works with the Baldrige model and witnesses how it helps organizations achieve world-class performance considers it a high-priority program, which is why the program is likely to continue with alternative funding. One source of that funding will continue to be the…
15Feb2011 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedBaldrige in Asia Pacific
A recent article in VietNam News stated that 11 Vietnamese enterprises received 2010 gold awards for the quality of their management systems. The awards are based on the Baldrige model. In addition, 85 companies received silver awards. The number of awards suggests that Vietnamese businesses are embracing the Baldrige model as a means to achieve performance excellence (“Ministry honours nation’s 96 leading enterprises,” VietNam News, December 27, 2010)
Earlier this year, the Asia Pacific Quality Organization gave world-class IAPQA Awards to one large manufacturing company and two large service companies in Mumbai, India, and to a university in Selangor, Malaysia. It also gave Best in Class Awards to organizations in Vietnam, India, China, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Mexico. You can read the list of winners here.
In addition to Vietnam, several Asia Pacific countries have established quality award programs based, completely or in part, on the Baldrige program. For example, the Singapore Quality Award was launched in 1994. You can see the influence of the Baldrige model on the Singapore criteria, which are available here (pdf). The Australian Business Excellence Award program is managed by SAI Global, an international consulting firm.
In China, Hisense Electric became the first company to with the China Quality Award twice. A well-known home appliance company in China, Hisense expanded into LCD, LED, and plasma televisions, first in China and then internationally, now selling through Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Commenting on the Award, Hisense’s president, Yu Shumin, said, “Transforming from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Created in China’ and building Chinese brands…
28Dec2010 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedInspirational Baldrige Award Recipients
Today’s ceremony honoring the 2009 Baldrige Award winners reminded those of us who love the Baldrige program why it’s so important.
The ceremony began with representatives of the five winning organizations speaking about their journeys and the value of Baldrige to their organizations. I was particularly struck by David Tilton, president and CEO of AtlantiCare, who said, “The Baldrige program has helped transform our organization and make it a focus of community pride that truly benefits all people in southeastern New Jersey. We are engaging employers, community organizations, and insurance companies in an effort to improve the way that care is provided, paid for, and consumed in our region. This journey has truly transformed who we are and has created meaningful, lasting benefits that each day make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.”
Every healthcare organization that has received the Baldrige Award has made similar statements. As Rulon Stacey, president and CEO of Baldrige Award-winner Poudre Valley Health System, said, “Baldrige saves lives.”
The people who integrate Baldrige and witness the transformation of their organizations can’t understand why others don’t embrace it. Matt Fleming, vice president of sales and marketing for Midway USA, said, “We wondered why every organization in America didn’t rush out to adopt the criteria. We need to take Baldrige to the grassroots level. Our communities would become communities of excellence, and our country would become a country of excellence. Baldrige has helped us achieve our vision and all of our goals.”
The ceremony concluded with remarks by…
16Dec2010 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedValue of the Baldrige Program
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recently released a preliminary report with recommendations on how to cut costs in the federal government. One of its recommendations included the elimination of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.
The commission’s recommendations have been widely panned, in part because, while they would save $228 billion, they would lose four million jobs. They would reduce Pentagon spending, cut tax deductions for mortgage payments, raise the retirement age to 69, cut retirement benefits by up to 35%, cut Medicare, and generally antagonize every special interest in Washington. It’s hard to believe any politician will support it.
Still, raising the specter of eliminating the Baldrige program has prompted Baldrige supporters to rally support for the program. Paul Borawski, chief executive officer of ASQ, wrote an open letter to the commissioners in which he argued, “There is no other program like this in the world and in fact, other countries utilize the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program as a model.” You can read his letter here.
The Baldrige Improvement Discussion Group on LinkedIn has an ongoing debate about what key messages should be communicated to the commission in support of the Baldrige program. My friend and Baldrige.com contributor Paul Grizzell points out key benefits of the program: (1) its purpose is not the Award but to advance the competitiveness of American business; (2) the breadth of participation has produced impressive results and the sharing of best practice, role model practices; (3) the involvement of examiners at the national and state…
30Nov2010 | Steve George | 0 comments | Continued
