On Nov. 20, President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez named five organizations as the recipients of the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest Presidential honor for organizational performance excellence. This year the awardees included nonprofit organizations for the first time.
The 2007 Baldrige Award recipients-listed with their category-include:
* PRO-TEC Coating Co., Leipsic, Ohio (small business)
* Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wisc. (health care)
* Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, Calif. (health care)
* City of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fla. (nonprofit)
* U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (nonprofit)
The Baldrige Award promotes excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. The award is not given for specific products or services. Since 1988, 72 organizations have received Baldrige Awards.
The 2007 honorees were selected from a field of 84 applicants. All of the applicants were evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results. The evaluation process for the 2007 recipients included about 1,000 hours of review and an on-site visit by teams of examiners to clarify questions and verify information in the applications.
The newest Baldrige recipients are expected to be presented with their awards in a ceremony in Washington, D.C., early next year.
The Baldrige National Quality Program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with the private sector.
For details, see "Presidential Award for Excellence Honors Five U.S. Organizations." For more information on the Baldrige Program, see www.quality.nist.gov.
