Developing a plan to win the Baldrige Award

Abstract

Presents a strategy for companies to adopt when striving for eligiblity for the Baldrige Award. The Baldrige Award became the US standard of excellence due to the fundamental values that the guidelines provide by laying out the blueprint for quality. The word “quality” was used extensively in previous versions of the Baldrige criteria, and credit was given to organizations that had an impressive TQM progamme. However, that is not the case any more. In the 1995 Baldrige criteria, new standards now call for a balance between customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and business results. Quality as a separate effort is no longer given the credit that it was given in previous years. Companies with even advanced TQM programmes will find that they do not fare very well against the new standards unless their TQM is fully integrated with the daily running of the business. Considering eligibility for the Baldrige Award, shows how to obtain the award by providing a strategy used by previously successful organizations. Uses this strategy to develop a plan that integrates a TQM plan and a Baldrige plan into one company’s overall plan. Then, the company’s overall plan is generated into three different plan levels, namely the strategic, functional, and annual plans, based on different time frames and details. Finally, deploys the plans to various work units throughout the organization to guide business day‐to‐day activities.