The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellence of both public and private U.S. organizations given by the President of the United States. It is administered by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which is based at and managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and the associated award were established by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 (Public Law 100–107). The program and award were named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as United States Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan administration, from 1981 until Baldrige's 1987 death in a rodeo accident. The first award was given November 13, 1988. By 1991, The New York Times opinionated that the criteria should be broader and "tougher to win." In 2010, the program's name was changed to the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The award is not given for specific products or services.

Baldrige Excellence Framework

Overview

The Baldrige Excellence Framework has three parts: the Criteria for Performance Excellence, core values and concepts, and scoring guidelines. The framework serves two main purposes: (1) to help organizations assess their improvement efforts, diagnose their overall performance management system, and identify their strengths and opportunities for improvement and (2) to identify Baldrige Award recipients that will serve as role models for other organizations. In addition, the framework and its Criteria help strengthen U.S. competitiveness by • improving organizational performance practices, capabilities, and results • facilitating communication and sharing of information on best practices among U.S. organizations of all types • serving as a tool for understanding and managing performance and for guiding planning and opportunities for learning • The framework provide organizations with an integrated approach to performance management that results in • delivery of ever-improving value to customers and stakeholders, contributing to organizational sustainability • improved organizational effectiveness and capabilities • organizational and personal learning The following three sector-specific versions of the Baldrige framework are revised every two years:

Framework details

The framework provides organizations with an integrated approach to performance management that results in delivery of ever-improving value to customers and stakeholders, contributing to organizational sustainability improved organizational effectiveness and capabilities organizational and personal learning The criteria for performance excellence are based on a set of core values: • Systems perspective • Visionary leadership • Customer-focused excellence • Valuing people • Organizational learning and agility • Focus on success • Managing for innovation • Management by fact • Societal responsibility • Ethics and transparency • Delivering value and results The questions that make up the criteria represent seven aspects of organizational management and performance: • Leadership • Strategy • Customers • Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management • Workforce • Operations • Results

History of the Baldrige Program

In the early and mid-1980s, many U.S. industry and government leaders saw that a renewed emphasis on quality was necessary for doing business in an expanding and competitive world market. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987, signed into law on August 20, 1987, was developed through the actions of the National Productivity Advisory Committee, chaired by Jack Grayson. The nonprofit research organization APQC, founded by Grayson, organized the first White House Conference on Productivity, spearheading the creation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1987. The Baldrige Award was envisioned as a standard of excellence that would help U.S. organizations achieve competitive quality. In the late summer and fall of 1987, Dr. Curt Reimann, the first director of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program, and his staff at the National Institute of Standards and Technology developed an award implementation framework, including an evaluation scheme, and advanced proposals for what is now the Baldrige Award. In its first three years, the Baldrige Award was jointly administered by APQC and the American Society for Quality, which continues to assist in administering the award program under contract to NIST. Up to 18 awards may be given annually across six eligibility categories—manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. As of 2016, 113 awards have been presented to 106 organizations (including seven repeat winners).

Program impacts

Public-private partnership

The Baldrige Award is supported by a public-private partnership. The following organizations and entities play a key role:

Baldrige Award Recipients