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. These judges determine whether or not the applicant wins an award. Quality Awards Ceremony will be held on March 18-19 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The keynote speakers include former gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Meet the Press host Tim Russert, and Solectron Corporation president and ceo Dr. Ko Nishimura.