USING BALDRIGE QUALITY CRITERIA TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Many organizational management systems and tools exist to help improve the effectiveness of organizations, including environmental management systems, asset management systems, total quality management, benchmarking, and performance measurement systems (such as the balanced scorecard). However, many of these models are incomplete, as they tend to focus on a subset of utility management issues. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria can provide the framework to integrate the systems and tools in a way that maximizes their usefulness, prevents conflicting goals and priorities, and avoids the “flavor of the month” syndrome. Preparing an application and receiving feedback from a Baldrige-based award program can help organizations meet current challenges and continuously improve.