Baldrige Award Winning Quality - 18th Edition

The Baldrige Award System is a very complex matter.In this special case I provide five stars for the excellent work of Mark Graham Brown since 1990.I have been studying his books since 1994 starting with Baldrige Award Winning Quality Third Edition covering the 1993 Award Criteria. I do not know him personally and have no relationship.Mark Graham Brown writes in his Introduction on page 1:“2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the Baldrige Award criteria after their initial publication in 1988.The Malcolm Baldrige Award criteria continue to be a powerful set of guidelines for running an effective organization.Originally designed for manufacturing businesses, the criteria evolved to be relevant to service companies, health care organizations, schools, and in 2006 to nonprofit and government organizations.Not only are many large and small businesses using the criteria to drive improvement, but many branches of the military use the Baldrige model to assess their units, as well as a number of federal, state, and local government organizations.Large corporations such as like Tata have developed their own assessment model that is 98% Baldrige-based.Most states now have their own Baldrige-styled awards, using the same criteria and an identical or similar application and review process.Interest in Baldrige was on the decline for about five years, but in recent years, the number of applicants was about double the average for the last few years. Applicants from healthcare, education, and non-profit organizations have dramatically increased.Interest in Baldrige is clearly on the rise again, but most of it is from the healthcare industry. …When his book was first published in 1990, it was the only book on the Baldrige Award and criteria. Since then, there have been more than 20 other books and hundreds of articles published on the award. The Baldrige criteria are identical to those used in Brazil, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a number of other countries. The European Quality Award also parallels Baldrige on most of the criteria. What we have now is a worldwide set of standards that can be employed in running any type of organization, from small to large, from business to charity, to hospital or school.”To provide 18 editions with regular updates for the Baldrige community during 25 years is an outstanding performance, especially if we consider that he does not only explain the 7 categories, 17 Examination items and 36 Areas to Address of this system.He also provides the reader with comprehensive details in 14 chapters:Understanding the system (chapter 1)Preparing an Application (chapter 2)Key Themes and Relationships among the criteria (chapter 3)Understanding the Scoring Scale (chapter 4)Interpreting the criteria for the organizational profile (chapter 5)Interpreting the criteria for the seven categories (chapter 6-12): Preparing for a site visit (chapter 13)Using a Baldrige Assessment as a Strategic Planning Tool (chapter 14)In the chapters 5-12 you find a rich and valuable set of “Indicators for questions” in all areas to address which could help you to identify the appropriate issues for your specific organization implementing a system striving for Performance Excellence. Some enumerations of the “Indicators for questions” got mixed up and are confusing, but if you read the book carefully you find out the right context, you can correct the enumeration and you get the proof that you have understood the subject. This flaw could be improved in the next edition.I don’t know any comparable set of information based on 25 years of experience helping executives, managers and professionals to identify in a systematic approach the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of your organization as a base for improvement initiatives.Below you find further details for your orientation. On page 4 we can read:“The Award is managed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) which is part of the Department of Commerce and is named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his tragic death in a rodeo accident in 1987.”On page 5 we find the seven categories of criteria for the Baldrige award:1. Leadership2. Strategic Planning3. Customer and Market Focus4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management5. Workforce Focus6. Process Management7. ResultsPage 9: “Of the 1.000 points possible to earn on an application, the majority of applications receive scores less than 500 points. Page 90: A score of 75 percent or 750 points has historically been where most Baldrige winners fall.On page 19 Mark Graham Brown provides the following summary:“So there you have it. The criteria have changed, but mostly changed for the worse in my opinion.They still have not fixed the Strategic Planning section to make 2.1 focus on the “How” of planning and 2.2 to focus on “What” your plans are. The constant reiteration of ‘Innovation, Intelligent Risk Taking, Strategic Opportunities’ is annoying, and likely to frustrate those trying to write an application.Many of us in the Baldrige community were hoping for a complete overhaul this year to make the criteria much simpler and bring back the thousands of organizations that used to follow Baldrige and no longer do so. Sadly, that did not happen.In spite of direct and clear feedback provided by major corporations, those at NIST chose to ignore their stakeholders and do another word smithing job on the existing criteria, making them harder to understand than in the past.”This is not the fault of the book but the one of the NIST.After having digested the whole book and especially your specific approach to promote your “Performance Excellence” and if you are persistent enough you will find on page 381/382 Mark Graham Brown’s pragmatic advice:“Using the Baldrige Assessment to drive improvement …Trying to Fix Everything at the Same Time … The assessment is done again the following year, and, to everyone’s surprise, the overall score does not improve much. The reason for the failure is that such an approach is too diluted, too uncoordinated, too lacking tie-in to the company’s strategic business plan. Teams end up stepping on each other’s toes, perhaps improving performance in one area only to make it worse in another.A Smarter Approach – Selecting a Few Major Areas to Work on Improving.A better improvement planning approach is to prioritize the areas for improvement before proceeding to develop action plans. With this approach, you take the 120 or so opportunities for improvement from the Baldrige assessment and select the most important 10 to 20 to work on over the next year. Senior executives may assign a score to each area for improvement, using the following variables and scale: … To what extent will fixing this weakness IMPACT our performance on key measures of quality, customer satisfaction, or financial performance? (1=no impact; 10=great impact on a number of performance measures.) URGENCY-To what extent do we have to address this weakness immediately? (1=can be postponed for several years; 10=this needs to be fixed now.) TREND-Is performance in this area currently getting worse, stable, or better? (1=performance is improving rapidly; 10=performance is getting worse all the time.)By adding the scores for each area for improvement as given by each member of the senior executive team, you should be able to list the 100 or so areas in order of their priority. You then take the top ten and develop action plans for improving performance in these areas. A project manager is assigned to each action plan, and specific tasks and deadlines are developed for each improvement project. Even getting ten improvement projects done in a single year is fairly aggressive. Some of my clients selected one or two big improvements to do each year and that seems to work better than picking ten that won’t get done. Sadly, real work gets in the way.”My conclusion: before you start drowning into details I recommend reading the “Strategy Safari” by Henry Mintzberg, then think about “Linking a Baldrige Assessment with your Strategic Business Plans” as mentioned by Mark Graham Brown on page 383; however, be careful of the risk of drowning in details and how far you go with your Baldrige work which is the message behind Mark Graham Brown’s advice.On page 383f. you find Mark Graham Brown’s final advice: “Strategic Planning Model. The overall strategic planning model shown below is followed by a number of major companies and government organizations:”This pragmatic approach was already described in the 17th Edition covering the 2008 Award Criteria (Pages 335ff.), in the 14th Edition covering the 2005 Award Criteria (Pages 333ff.).The 3rd Edition covering the 1993 Award Criteria mentioned 28 Examination Items and 92 Areas to Address (Page 7) which compare with 17 Examination Items and 36 Areas to Address today.Buying the book is worth the money and much more; you train your own staff, safe unnecessary money for consultants who are trying to impose on you their system without being as transparent as this system etc. Other helpful books by Mark Graham Brown are: Keeping Score – using the right metrics to drive world-class performance published in Winning Score – How to design and implement organizational scorecards published in 2000.“From Baldrige to the Bottom Line – A Road Map for Organizational Change and Improvement” by David W. Hutton published in 2000 is also a very helpful resource.The classics and landmarks of the quality movement are: “Quality is Free – The Art of Making Quality Certain” by Philip B. Crosby published in 1980, “Out of the Crisis” by W. Edwards Deming published in 1982 (First MIT Press edition in 2000), “Juran on Planning for Quality” by J. M. Juran published in 1988, “The New Economics for industry, government, Education, 2nd Edition by W. Edwards Deming published in 1994 and “The Knowledge Creating Company – How Japanese Companies create the Dynamics of Innovation” by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hitotaka Takeuchi published in 1994 should be part of a “Best Business Books” library.

Thos book provides infomation on the 2014 MBQNA in an informal manner which sometimea throws you off the main thought of the revisions that were made. Many opinions seem much to personal in content and language.

The Baldrige Award System is a very complex matter.In this special case I provide five stars for the excellent work of Mark Graham Brown since 1990.I have been studying his books since 1994 starting with Baldrige Award Winning Quality Third Edition covering the 1993 Award Criteria. I do not know him personally and have no relationship.Mark Graham Brown writes in his Introduction on page 1:'2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the Baldrige Award criteria after their initial publication in 1988.The Malcolm Baldrige Award criteria continue to be a powerful set of guidelines for running an effective organization.Originally designed for manufacturing businesses, the criteria evolved to be relevant to service companies, health care organizations, schools, and in 2006 to nonprofit and government organizations.Not only are many large and small businesses using the criteria to drive improvement, but many branches of the military use the Baldrige model to assess their units, as well as a number of federal, state, and local government organizations.Large corporations such as like Tata have developed their own assessment model that is 98% Baldrige-based.Most states now have their own Baldrige-styled awards, using the same criteria and an identical or similar application and review process.Interest in Baldrige was on the decline for about five years, but in recent years, the number of applicants was about double the average for the last few years. Applicants from healthcare, education, and non-profit organizations have dramatically increased.Interest in Baldrige is clearly on the rise again, but most of it is from the healthcare industry. 'When his book was first published in 1990, it was the only book on the Baldrige Award and criteria. Since then, there have been more than 20 other books and hundreds of articles published on the award. The Baldrige criteria are identical to those used in Brazil, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and a number of other countries. The European Quality Award also parallels Baldrige on most of the criteria. What we have now is a worldwide set of standards that can be employed in running any type of organization, from small to large, from business to charity, to hospital or school.'To provide 18 editions with regular updates for the Baldrige community during 25 years is an outstanding performance, especially if we consider that he does not only explain the 7 categories, 17 Examination items and 36 Areas to Address of this system.He also provides the reader with comprehensive details in 14 chapters:Understanding the system (chapter 1)Preparing an Application (chapter 2)Key Themes and Relationships among the criteria (chapter 3)Understanding the Scoring Scale (chapter 4)Interpreting the criteria for the organizational profile (chapter 5)Interpreting the criteria for the seven categories (chapter 6-12): Preparing for a site visit (chapter 13)Using a Baldrige Assessment as a Strategic Planning Tool (chapter 14)In the chapters 5-12 you find a rich and valuable set of 'Indicators for questions' in all areas to address which could help you to identify the appropriate issues for your specific organization implementing a system striving for Performance Excellence. Some enumerations of the 'Indicators for questions' got mixed up and are confusing, but if you read the book carefully you find out the right context, you can correct the enumeration and you get the proof that you have understood the subject. This flaw could be improved in the next edition.I don't know any comparable set of information based on 25 years of experience helping executives, managers and professionals to identify in a systematic approach the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of your organization as a base for improvement initiatives.Below you find further details for your orientation. On page 4 we can read:'The Award is managed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) which is part of the Department of Commerce and is named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his tragic death in a rodeo accident in 1987.'On page 5 we find the seven categories of criteria for the Baldrige award:1. Leadership2. Strategic Planning3. Customer and Market Focus4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management5. Workforce Focus6. Process Management7. ResultsPage 9: 'Of the 1.000 points possible to earn on an application, the majority of applications receive scores less than 500 points. Page 90: A score of 75 percent or 750 points has historically been where most Baldrige winners fall.On page 19 Mark Graham Brown provides the following summary:'So there you have it. The criteria have changed, but mostly changed for the worse in my opinion.They still have not fixed the Strategic Planning section to make 2.1 focus on the 'How' of planning and 2.2 to focus on 'What' your plans are. The constant reiteration of 'Innovation, Intelligent Risk Taking, Strategic Opportunities' is annoying, and likely to frustrate those trying to write an application.Many of us in the Baldrige community were hoping for a complete overhaul this year to make the criteria much simpler and bring back the thousands of organizations that used to follow Baldrige and no longer do so. Sadly, that did not happen.In spite of direct and clear feedback provided by major corporations, those at NIST chose to ignore their stakeholders and do another word smithing job on the existing criteria, making them harder to understand than in the past.'This is not the fault of the book but the one of the NIST.After having digested the whole book and especially your specific approach to promote your 'Performance Excellence' and if you are persistent enough you will find on page 381/382 Mark Graham Brown's pragmatic advice:'Using the Baldrige Assessment to drive improvement 'Trying to Fix Everything at the Same Time ' The assessment is done again the following year, and, to everyone's surprise, the overall score does not improve much. The reason for the failure is that such an approach is too diluted, too uncoordinated, too lacking tie-in to the company's strategic business plan. Teams end up stepping on each other's toes, perhaps improving performance in one area only to make it worse in another.A Smarter Approach ' Selecting a Few Major Areas to Work on Improving.A better improvement planning approach is to prioritize the areas for improvement before proceeding to develop action plans. With this approach, you take the 120 or so opportunities for improvement from the Baldrige assessment and select the most important 10 to 20 to work on over the next year. Senior executives may assign a score to each area for improvement, using the following variables and scale: ' To what extent will fixing this weakness IMPACT our performance on key measures of quality, customer satisfaction, or financial performance? (1=no impact; 10=great impact on a number of performance measures.) URGENCY-To what extent do we have to address this weakness immediately? (1=can be postponed for several years; 10=this needs to be fixed now.) TREND-Is performance in this area currently getting worse, stable, or better? (1=performance is improving rapidly; 10=performance is getting worse all the time.)By adding the scores for each area for improvement as given by each member of the senior executive team, you should be able to list the 100 or so areas in order of their priority. You then take the top ten and develop action plans for improving performance in these areas. A project manager is assigned to each action plan, and specific tasks and deadlines are developed for each improvement project. Even getting ten improvement projects done in a single year is fairly aggressive. Some of my clients selected one or two big improvements to do each year and that seems to work better than picking ten that won't get done. Sadly, real work gets in the way.'My conclusion: before you start drowning into details I recommend reading the 'Strategy Safari' by Henry Mintzberg, then think about 'Linking a Baldrige Assessment with your Strategic Business Plans' as mentioned by Mark Graham Brown on page 383; however, be careful of the risk of drowning in details and how far you go with your Baldrige work which is the message behind Mark Graham Brown's advice.On page 383f. you find Mark Graham Brown's final advice: 'Strategic Planning Model. The overall strategic planning model shown below is followed by a number of major companies and government organizations:'This pragmatic approach was already described in the 17th Edition covering the 2008 Award Criteria (Pages 335ff.), in the 14th Edition covering the 2005 Award Criteria (Pages 333ff.).The 3rd Edition covering the 1993 Award Criteria mentioned 28 Examination Items and 92 Areas to Address (Page 7) which compare with 17 Examination Items and 36 Areas to Address today.Buying the book is worth the money and much more; you train your own staff, safe unnecessary money for consultants who are trying to impose on you their system without being as transparent as this system etc. Other helpful books by Mark Graham Brown are: Keeping Score ' using the right metrics to drive world-class performance published in Winning Score ' How to design and implement organizational scorecards published in 2000.'From Baldrige to the Bottom Line ' A Road Map for Organizational Change and Improvement' by David W. Hutton published in 2000 is also a very helpful resource.The classics and landmarks of the quality movement are: 'Quality is Free ' The Art of Making Quality Certain' by Philip B. Crosby published in 1980, 'Out of the Crisis' by W. Edwards Deming published in 1982 (First MIT Press edition in 2000), 'Juran on Planning for Quality' by J. M. Juran published in 1988, 'The New Economics for industry, government, Education, 2nd Edition by W. Edwards Deming published in 1994 and 'The Knowledge Creating Company ' How Japanese Companies create the Dynamics of Innovation' by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hitotaka Takeuchi published in 1994 should be part of a "'Best Business Books"' library.