Thirty-Four Organizations Apply for the 2016 Baldrige Award

BPEP’s focus is on managing data, change, and organizational components

Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - 15:00

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Thirty-four organizations from a wide range of sectors have submitted applications for the 2016 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Demonstrating the relevance and value of the Baldrige Excellence Framework to organizations of multiple sizes and sectors, the 2016 Baldrige Award applicants include 21 healthcare organizations, four education organizations, four nonprofit organizations, three small businesses, and two service businesses. The organizations are based in 20 U.S. states and represent every major region of the United States.

Working in teams throughout the summer, members of the volunteer board of Baldrige examiners will evaluate the award applicants against the 2015-2016 Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The assessment criteria encompass categories of leadership; strategy; customers; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce; operations; and results. Baldrige examiners provide each applicant with 500 to 1,000 hours of review and a detailed report on the organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvement.

In August, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP)’s judges panel will determine which organizations will receive site visits by examiner teams to verify information in the application and clarify questions that come up during the review. From those site-visited organizations, the 2016 Baldrige Award recipients will be selected in six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, healthcare, education and nonprofit. They will be selected in November 2016 and receive their awards in the spring 2017.

The BPEP is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in cooperation with the private sector. The program raises awareness about the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economy, provides organizational assessment tools and criteria, and develops and educates leaders in all types of organizations about the practices of national role models. 

Thousands of organizations worldwide use the Baldrige framework and criteria, which are regularly revised to reflect leading practices, to guide operations, improve performance, and get sustainable results. This proven framework offers organizations an integrated leadership guide to key management areas, including strategy, operations, data and information, and results. The next edition of the Baldrige Excellence Framework will be published in 2017.

The Baldrige Award is not given for specific products or services. Since 1988, 109 awards have been presented to 102 organizations (including seven two-time recipients). For more information on the Baldrige Program, go to www.nist.gov/baldrige.

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NIST

Founded in 1901, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a nonregulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, NIST’s mission is to promote 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.