Malcolm Baldrige Criteria – A Business Excellence Model

The New Zealand Business Excellence Awards

A press release statement dated on 21/10/09 was published at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0910/S00556.htm announced the New Zealand toughest and most prestigious business excellence awards which uses criteria that are fully aligned to the international respected US Baldrige Award Criteria.

The New Zealand Business Excellence Awards are administered by the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation which set guidelines. One of them is for applicants to compete against a rigorous international benchmark such as the Baldrige Award Criteria

According to the media release, there are two distinct tiers to the awards that is the highly prestigious 2009 New Zealand Business Excellence Awards and NZ Business Achievement Awards. The Business Achievement Awards are an abridged but still tough version of the full Baldrige aligned New Zealand Business Excellence Awards.

 Click Here for original press release

Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria was developed into its respective seven categories. Each of these seven categories focus on a key process to achieve performance excellence.

The Malcolm baldrige Criteria emphasize on alignment of all these key processes. The Baldrige values and Concepts are build into the criteria to attain alignment of the seven categories yet without displaying the values and concepts specifically in the criteria itself.

The Malcolm Baldrige Criteria used to be revised on a yearly basis and has changed to a once in two years basis effective 2009 with the introduction of the Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria 2009-2010 version. The Malcolm Badrige Award is given to the best organization of its respective award categories. Each award Applicant has to exhits the highest standards of Approach, Deployement of their key process in relation to the seven categories in the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria.

The effectiveness of the Approach and Deployement are assessed in the area of its Results. Hence, the Baldrige Award Assessment Approach took into consideration an aligned actions of the Approach, Deployement and Results of strategies, key actions and plan in the organization. Whenever a Baldrige Award Assessment is carried out to an applicant, the Baldrige Assessor will evaluate how well the values and concepts are being deployed as a way of life in the organization.

To be awarded the Malcolm Baldrige Award winners, the applicant has to show an holistic approach to all the seven cetegories as well as a high level of Implementing Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria.

One way to provide information about the implementation of the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria is to provide an award application report to the Malcolm Baldrige Award authority which is used as a basis for Baldrige assessment.