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A Road Map for the Future

The Baldrige Criteria May Provide Such a Roadmap for Change. 

June 2, 2014

Technology continues its dramatic advances and it’s as much daunting as it is exciting to think about 

what the future has in store for us. Certainly the economic landscape is a minefield that presents a 

multitude of challenges.

Successful organizations will have a roadmap to help them navigate the future. This roadmap should 

help the organization focus on providing customers with products that make their lives smarter, 

simpler, enjoyable, synchronized, and safer. Quality needs to play an important role in this roadmap, 

so an effective quality system may hold the answer.

There are quite a few quality system models available today, but I believe the one which best 

accomplishes the above concepts is the successful implementation of the Baldrige Criteria for 

Performance Excellence. The Baldrige criteria changes the way an organization manages by focusing 

efforts on the customer and by placing emphasis on delivering outstanding business results through 

the seven categories: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, 

analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; business results.

As a former Baldrige and state award examiner I’ve not encountered an organization that has 

implemented the criteria without challenges. The organizations that gain the most benefit from the 

process use the criteria as a model for change. They don’t concern themselves with “winning,” but 

with effective implementation with the goal of continuously improving their processes.

Along the way, the successful implementers (not necessarily defined by winners) have learned 

valuable lessons, including:

Top down commitment and involvement. Cascading from the boardroom throughout the 

organizational management there must be a strong commitment and involvement in quality 

initiatives. Managers must set the example and take an active role in monitoring and auditing 

processes while searching for ways to improve all aspects of the business.

Never lose site of the customer’s priorities. Organizations must always remember that customers are 

their primary reason for existence. If you don’t believe that, try doing without them for a while!

A Road Map for the Future | 2014-06-02 | Quality Magazine Page 1 of 2

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Initiate tough goal setting. As far back as 1951 in his first edition of his “Quality Handbook,” Dr. 

Joseph M. Juran stressed the importance of goals focused on quality and the customers and it’s no 

less true today. To ensure they have the highest standards, forward-thinking organizations regularly 

benchmark best-in-class companies to assess their processes, products and services against those of 

the competition.

Implement measurement systems to track progress. At both the macro and micro levels, successful 

organizations must always remain committed to finding and tracking measurable results. The key is 

to focus on the vital few and not the trivial many. This will ensure clarity and organizational 

synergy.

Provide ongoing education and training. Dr. Juran, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and Philip Crosby 

were just three of the modern quality giants who stressed the importance of education. This makes 

employees more skilled and knowledgeable which often leads to greater involvement in the quality 

processes which cannot be overemphasized. Employees must be trained in the “whys” and “how 

tos” of quality and what it means to the employees, the organization, and, most of all, the customers.

Communicate the message. Organizations must guard against groupthink by being open. It is 

important to understand failures so everyone can guard against repeating those mistakes. 

Communicating successes, however, is a crucial step in ensuring that organizations can build upon 

them in the future.

Never be satisfied with the status quo. To survive, organizations must always strive for continuous 

improvement. Product and service quality must exceed, or at least meet, that of their competition. It 

must be used to drive bottom-line performance and sustain their competitive advantage. As we 

move deeper into the 21st century, the bar will continue to rise, making it even more imperative that 

organizations continue to examine their commitment to quality and search for ways to continuously 

improve their business and ongoing relationship with their customers.

If your organization’s key initiatives are to increase sales, improve profits, deliver more value to the 

customer, and to lead the competition, your organization should adopt a business framework that will 

drive increasingly higher levels of performance excellence. If your organization has not yet achieved 

such levels of excellence, why not consider the Baldrige Criteria as a roadmap for the future? 

Baldrige organizations regularly outperform the S&P 500 significantly so there is strong evidence this 

model works. The effort isn’t free, but there is a significant return on investment so there is much to 

be gained. To paraphrase Dr. Deming, you don’t have to do anything, survival is not compulsory! 

A Road Map for the Future | 2014-06-02 | Quality Magazine Page 2 of 2

http://www.qualitymag.com/articles/print/91903-a-road-map-for-the-future 6/3/2014