Baldrige and the Financial Crisis

There’s a good reason no big financial institution has ever won the Baldrige Award: Their applications would be fatally flawed.

In fact, it’s too bad every financial institution doesn’t have to submit a Baldrige application because their responses to the following Criteria questions (verified with a site visit just to keep them honest) would expose the dangerous and destructive practices that caused the financial crisis:

• What are your key strategic challenges and advantages associated with organizational sustainability?
• How do senior leaders personally promote an organizational environment that fosters, requires, and results in legal and ethical behavior?
• How do senior leaders create a sustainable organization?
• How do senior leaders include a focus on creating and balancing value for customers and other stakeholders in their organizational performance expectations?
• How does your organization review and achieve accountability for management’s actions, fiscal accountability, transparency, and protection of stakeholder and stockholder interests?
• How do you evaluate the performance of your senior leaders and the members of your governance board?
• How do you address any adverse impacts on society of your products and operations?
• How does your organization promote and assure ethical behavior in all your interactions?
• How do you consider societal well-being and benefit as part of your strategy and daily operations?
• How do you ensure…