i

Contents

iii About the Baldrige Excellence Framework

The Baldrige framework empowers your organization to reach its goals, improve results, and become more 

competitive. The framework consists of the Criteria, the core values and concepts, and the scoring guidelines.

vii How to Use the Baldrige Excellence Framework

You can use this booklet as a reference, for self-assessment, or as the basis of an external assessment. 

1 Criteria for Performance Excellence Overview and Structure

The Criteria include the Organizational Profile and seven interconnected categories. 

3 Criteria for Performance Excellence

3 P Organizational Profile

P.1 Organizational Description

P.2 Organizational Situation

6 1 Leadership

1.1 Senior Leadership

1.2 Governance and Societal Contributions

9 2 Strategy

2.1 Strategy Development

2.2 Strategy Implementation

12 3 Customers

3.1 Customer Expectations

3.2 Customer Engagement

14 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

4.1 Measurement, Analysis, Review, and Improvement of Organizational Performance

4.2 Information and Knowledge Management

17 5 Workforce

5.1 Workforce Environment

5.2 Workforce Engagement

20 6 Operations

6.1 Work Processes

6.2 Operational Effectiveness
ii 2023–2024 Baldrige Excellence Framework

22 7 Results

7.1 Product and Process Results

7.2 Customer Results 

7.3 Workforce Results

7.4 Leadership and Governance Results

7.5 Financial, Marketplace, and Strategy Results

26 Scoring System

Performance against Criteria items is scored on two evaluation dimensions: process and results.

28 Process Scoring Guidelines

29 Results Scoring Guidelines

31 Criteria for Performance Excellence Items and Point Values

33 How to Respond to the Criteria

This section explains how to respond most effectively to the Criteria item questions.

36 Core Values and Concepts

These embedded beliefs and behaviors form the foundation of the Criteria.

42 Changes from the 2021–2022 Baldrige Excellence Framework

44 Glossary of Key Terms

The glossary includes definitions of terms in small caps in the Criteria and scoring guidelines.

52 Index of Key Terms

56 List of Contributors

On the Web

Criteria Commentary

For each Criteria item, this commentary provides an in-depth explanation and additional examples to build users’ 

understanding.
3 Customers 13

3.2 Customer Engagement: How do you build relationships and enhance the customer 

experience? 

response to this itemType of information to provide in 

PROCESS

a. Customer Experience

(1) Relationship Management How do you acquire and retain customers by building and managing relationships? How do 

• build a more customer-focused organizational culture,

• manage and enhance your brand, and

• meet customers’ requirements and exceed their expectations in each stage of the customer life cycle?

(2) Customer Access and Support How do you enable customers to do business with you, seek informat

and obtain support? How do your processes or mechanisms vary for different customers, customer groups, 

or market segments, as appropriate? How do you

• determine your customers’ key support requirements and expectations, and

• deploy these requirements to all people and processes involved in customer support?

(3) Complaint Management How do you manage customer complaints? How do you resolve complai

promptly and effectively and recover your customers’ confidence? How do you analyze complaints and use 

this information to make the necessary changes to prevent future complaints?

(4) Fair Treatment How do your customer experience processes promote and ensure fair treatment for diff

customers, customer groups, and market seg

b. Determination of Customer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Engag

Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Engagement How do you determine customer satisfaction, dissatisfacti

engagement? How do your determination methods differ among your customer groups and market segments, 

appropriate? How do you take action on the results of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and engagement determination 

methods? How do you obtain information on customers’ satisfaction with your organization relative to competitors and other organizations providing similar products and/or services?

Terms in small caps are defined in the Glossary of Key Terms (pages 44–51).

Notes

3.2. Results for customer perceptions and actions (outcomes) should be reported in item 7.2.

3.2a. You should ensure that your approaches for 

managing customer relationships, enabling customers to 

seek information and support, and managing complaints 

promote fairness, equity, and inclusion and do not inadvertently discriminate. 

3.2b. Determining customer dissatisfaction should be seen 

as more than reviewing low customer satisfaction scores. 

It should be independently determined to identify root 

causes and enable a systematic remedy to avoid future 

dissatisfaction. 

3.2b. Information on relative satisfaction with other 

organizations may include comparisons with competitors, 

comparisons with organizations that deliver similar products and/or services in a noncompetitive marketplace, or 

comparisons with industry benchmarks obtained through 

trade or other organizations. Such information may 

also include information on why customers choose your 

competitors over you.

For additional guidance on this item, see the Criteria 

Commentary.