The number of applications increased from seven, with no winners, in 1993, to 70, with 59 winners, in 1998. Organizations can apply by attending one-day application writing workshops on Baldrige criteria and the New Mexico Quality Awards. The schedule of the workshops, which will be held in 17 communities throughout the state, will be announced at the Quality New Mexico Conference in March. Applicants must decide which award they are applying for. There are fees involved, the costs of which vary depending on the award applied for.
Applicants then conduct a self assessment necessary to complete the application.
Upon being received by Quality New Mexico, the applications are reviewed by a team of examiners who score them and write feedback reports, which are given to the applicants. Approach concerns the applicant's methods to achieve the seven elements of the Baldrige criteria. Deployment deals with how that approach is implemented throughout the organization. The examiners might spend as long as 60 hours on an application. The examiners then make a recommendation to a board of judges, which the judges review.