The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, Lean, ISO, Six Sigma … how do you know which performance improvement tools are right for your organization?

These improvement tools are complementary, not mutually exclusive. For example, Baldrige, Lean, and Six Sigma all

• focus on results
• use a team approach
• require management by fact
• are customer- and market-focused
• require strong leadership for  long-term effectiveness

These tools also share the concept of continuous improvement. The Baldrige Criteria help you identify areas within your organization that are most ripe for improvement, and continuous improvement is an integral part of the cyclical steps of Lean and Six Sigma. For example, in a Lean environment, you work continuously to identify and eliminate waste-generating processes. In the control stage of a Six Sigma project, you generate and monitor data continuously to identify needs for further improvement.

Here’s one difference: the Baldrige Criteria serve as a comprehensive framework for performance excellence. They focus on business results as well as organizational improvement and innovation systems. Lean and Six Sigma methodologies drive waste and inefficiencies out of processes, and ISO 9000 is a series of standards for an efficient quality conformance system. Overall, ISO 9000 registration covers less than 10 percent of the Baldrige Criteria.

Integrating the Baldrige Criteria and Other Improvement Tools

Any organization—no matter its sector or size— can use the Baldrige Criteria as a roadmap for performance excellence. In fact, many organizations begin their improvement efforts by using the Criteria for self-assessment. Through the Baldrige Criteria, you pinpoint strengths and opportunities for improvement, but the Criteria allow you to choose the most suitable tools for carrying out improvements. For example, you might

• use Baldrige to develop an overall performance map, identify areas for improvement, and track results
• use Six Sigma, Lean, or other tools to design operations or improve processes

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What is Performance Excellence?

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide the framework and an assessment tool for understanding organizational strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Performance excellence refers to an integrated approach to organizational performance management that results in

• Delivery of ever-improving value to customers and stakeholders, contributing to organizational sustainability
• Improvement of overall organizational effectiveness and capabilities
• Organizational and personal learning

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Criteria for Performance Excellence

No matter the size or nature of your organization, the Criteria are a guide in your journey toward performance excellence. They can help your organization align resources; improve communication, productivity, and effectiveness; and achieve strategic goals.

The Criteria work as an integrated framework for managing an organization. They are simply a set of questions focusing on critical aspects of management that contribute to performance excellence:

• Leadership
• Strategic planning
• Customer focus
• Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management
• Workforce focus
• Process management
• Results

The Criteria serve two main purposes:

• Identify Baldrige Award recipients to serve as role models for other organizations
• Help organizations assess their improvement efforts, diagnose their overall performance management system, and identify their strengths and opportunities for improvement

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