Industry News
March 13, 2007 - In a ceremony today in Washington, D.C., Vice President Dick Cheney and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez presented three U.S. organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest honor for organizational performance excellence.
The 2006 Baldrige Award recipients are: Premier Inc., San Diego, Calif. (service); MESA Products, Inc., Tulsa, Okla. (small business); and North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss. (health care).
“Congratulations to the three newest Baldrige Award recipients. Your commitment to continual quality, innovation and performance excellence has resulted in outstanding accomplishments and results for your organizations,” said Gutierrez. “Now, by sharing your successes and good ideas as a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, you will be helping other organizations across the nation to also reach the highest standards of excellence,” he said.
Following a six-month evaluation process, including an on-site visit by a team of examiners, the 2006 Baldrige Award recipients were selected from among 76 applicants. An independent board of examiners evaluated them in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, managed by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with the private sector, promotes and recognizes performance excellence in U.S. organizations, and publicizes these organizations’ successful performance strategies. As a non-regulatory agency, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Background
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987 to improve performance in U.S. organizations. Awards are made to organizations that have substantially benefited the economic or social well-being of the United States through improvements resulting in performance excellence. Awards can be given in six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care and non-profit.
The application process is rigorous and thorough. Applicants for the award submit up to 50 pages of details showing processes, improvements and results in seven areas, including leadership, customers and markets, human resources and strategic planning. Each applicant receives more than 400 hours of review by an independent board of business, education and health care experts as well as a detailed report citing strengths and opportunities for improvement. Since 1988, 67 organizations have received the Baldrige Award.
The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence are used worldwide by thousands of organizations to assess and improve their overall performance. Annually, more than 1 million copies of the criteria are downloaded from the Baldrige program’s Web site.
Each Baldrige Award recipient receives a Steuben crystal stela encasing a gold medallion engraved with the Presidential seal and the words, “The Quest for Excellence.” The award is named after Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his death in a rodeo accident in July 1987. Baldrige was a proponent of quality as a key to this country’s prosperity and long-term growth and helped draft the act establishing the award program. The act was signed into law by President Reagan in August 1987.
Further information on the Baldrige National Quality Program is available at www.baldrige.nist.gov
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