History of the Award
Established by Congress in 1987, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is America's highest honor for business excellence. The award recognizes American organizations for first-class performance and promotes successful business quality strategies.
The Award is named for former Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige, whose managerial excellence contributed to long-term improvement in government efficiency. It is administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with the private sector.
To date, 67 organizations have received Baldrige Awards, and a number of local, state and international quality programs are now modeled after its approach.
About the Award
Each year, the Baldrige Award is presented to American organizations to recognize their quality and business achievements. Awards are presented among five fields: education, healthcare, manufacturing, service and small business.
Winning organizations are judged to be outstanding in seven areas:
- Leadership
- Strategic planning
- Customer and market focus
- Measurement, analysis and knowledge management
- Human resource focus
- Process management
- Results
Baldrige Award recipients receive approximately 1,000 hours of rigorous review from an independent board of examiners. In 2006, 76 organizations applied for the award. Of these organizations, 15 received site visits and three won the award.
About NIST
Founded in 1901, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The agency's mission is to promote innovation through the advancement of measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life.
