Baldrige FAQs: Baldrige Award Recipients

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Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Recipients

How many organizations have applied for and received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award?

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award received 1,639 applications from the program's inception through the 2015 award cycle. One hundred two organizations from a wide variety of industries have received the award. Seven organizations have received the award twice: MEDRAD, Inc. (2003 and 2010); MESA (2006 and 2012); MidwayUSA (2009 and 2015); The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. (1992 and 1999); Solectron Corp. (1991 and 1997); Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc. (1999 and 2005); and Texas Nameplate Company, Inc. (1998 and 2004).

How many organizations have competed by category?
 

Applications by Category, 1988-2015

*Incomplete data, with a varying number of programs reporting each year.

**Eligibility rules were revised in 2012 to limit applicants mainly to those at a higher level of organizational maturity.

Are Fortune 500 companies winning the Baldrige Award?

Of the 102 award recipients since 1988, 4 have been Fortune 500 companies: Motorola (1988), Federal Express Corp. (1990), Eastman Chemical Co. (1993), and Solectron Corp. (1991, 1997). Several other award recipients are subunits of Fortune 500 companies, including 3M, AT&T, Boeing, Caterpillar, Dana Corporation, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Marriott, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Raytheon (formerly Texas Instruments), Verizon Communications (formerly GTE), and Xerox. Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. (2010) is a subunit of Nestlé, a global Fortune 100 company. Many subunits are large companies in their own right. Cadillac, a division of General Motors, was an award recipient in 1990. Award recipients Sunny Fresh Foods (1999 and 2005, now Cargill Kitchen Solutions)  and Cargill Corn Milling (2008) are businesses of Cargill, Inc., the largest privately held U.S. corporation, which would rank in the top 10 companies in the Fortune 500 if it were publicly held.
 

Do Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients and applicants sustain their performance improvement efforts?

Baldrige Award recipients continue to strive for performance excellence. It is expected that recipients will continue their efforts, since they have embraced a system that requires commitment to continuous improvement. Unlike ISO 9001, which registers a quality system, Baldrige evaluates whether an applicant has embedded a dynamic management system aimed at pursuing ongoing performance improvement with a goal of excellence in its organization. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence are dynamic, setting new challenges for both Baldrige Award recipients and applicants. This is shown by the fact that award recipients often say that their rate of improvement goes up markedly after they receive the award.

For two-time winners of the Baldrige Award, median growth in revenue between awards was 93%, and median growth in jobs was 63%. By comparison, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average growth in jobs was 3.5% for a matched set of industries and time periods for each recipient.
 

Which organizations have received the Baldrige Award?
 

2015 MidwayUSA; Charter School of San Diego; Charleston Area Medical Center Health System; Mid-America Transplant Services

2014  PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector Practice; Hill Country Memorial, St. David's HealthCare, Elevations Credit Union

2013 Pewaukee School District; Sutter Davis Hospital

2012 Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control; MESA; North Mississippi Health Services; City of Irving, Texas

2011 Concordia Publishing House; Henry Ford Health System; Schneck Medical Center; Southcentral Foundation

2010 MEDRAD, Inc.; Nestlé Purina PetCare Co.; Freese and Nichols, Inc.; K&N Management; Studer Group; Montgomery County Public Schools; Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital

2009  Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, MidwayUSA, AtlantiCare, Heartland Health, VA Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center

2008  Cargill Corn Milling North America, Poudre Valley Health System, Iredell-Statesville Schools

2007  PRO-TEC Coating Co.; Mercy Health System; Sharp HealthCare; City of Coral Springs; U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC)

2006  Premier Inc.; MESA Products, Inc.; and North Mississippi Medical Center

2005  Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc.; DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Co. (now DM Petroleum Operations Co.); Park Place Lexus; Jenks Public Schools; Richland College; Bronson Methodist Hospital

2004 The Bama Companies, Inc; Texas Nameplate Company, Inc.; Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business; Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton

2003 Medrad, Inc.; Boeing Aerospace Support (now Boeing Support Systems); Caterpillar Financial Services (U.S.); Stoner, Inc.; Community Consolidated School District 15; Baptist Hospital, Inc.; Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City

2002  Motorola Inc. Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector (now part of Motorola Government and Enterprise Mobility Solutions); Branch-Smith Printing Division; SSM Health Care

2001  Clarke American Checks, Inc. (now Harland Clarke); Pal's Sudden Service; Chugach School District; Pearl River School District; University of Wisconsin-Stout

2000  Dana Corp–Spicer Driveshaft Division (now part of Dana Holding Corp. Torque-Traction Technologies); KARLEE Company, Inc; Los Alamos National Bank; Operations Management International, Inc. (now CH2M Hill)

1999  BI; The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. (now part of Marriott International); STMicroelectronics, Inc.–Region Americas; Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc. (now Cargill Kitchen Solutions)

1998  Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs (now Boeing Global Mobility Systems); Solar Turbines Inc. of Caterpillar, Inc.; Texas Nameplate Company, Inc.

1997  3M Dental Products Division (now 3M ESPE Dental Products), Solectron Corp., Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., Xerox Business Services

1996  ADAC Laboratories; Dana Commercial Credit Corporation (now part of Dana Holding Corp.); Custom Research Inc. (now GFK Customer Research, Inc.); Trident Precision Manufacturing, Inc.

1995  Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Building Products Operations; Corning Inc. Telecommunications Products Division

1994  AT&T Consumer Communications Services (now the Consumer Markets Division of AT&T); GTE Directories Corp. (now known as Verizon Information Services); Wainwright Industries, Inc.

1993  Eastman Chemical Co.; Ames Rubber Corp.

1992  AT&T Network Systems Group Transmission Systems Business Unit (now part of Alcatel-Lucent); Texas Instruments Inc. Defense Systems & Electronics Group (now part of Raytheon Co.); AT&T Universal Card Services (now part of Citigroup, Inc.); The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. (now part of Marriott International); Granite Rock Co. (now Graniterock)

1991  Solectron Corp.; Zytec Corp. (now part of Artesyn Technologies); Marlow Industries, Inc.

1990  Cadillac Motor Car Co.; IBM Rochester; Federal Express Corp.; Wallace Co., Inc.

1989  Milliken & Co., Xerox Corp. Business Products and Systems

1988  Motorola Inc., Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division of Westinghouse Electric Corp., Globe Metallurgical Inc. (now part of Globe Specialty Metals, Inc.)

Which states have had Baldrige Award recipients?
 

Alaska Chugach School District, 2001 (Anchorage); Southcentral Foundation, 2011 (Anchorage)

California ADAC Laboratories, 1996 (Milpitas); Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs (now Boeing Global Mobility Systems), 1998 (Long Beach); Charter School of San Diego, 2015 (San Diego); Granite Rock Co. (now Graniterock), 1992 (Watsonville); Premier Inc., 2006 (San Diego); Sharp HealthCare, 2007 (San Diego); Solar Turbines Inc., 1998 (San Diego); Solectron Corp., 1991, 1997 (Milpitas); Sutter Davis Hospital, 2013 (Davis) 

Colorado Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business, 2004 (Greeley); Operations Management International, Inc. (now CH2M Hill), 2000 (Greenwood Village); Poudre Valley Health System, 2008 (Fort Collins); Elevations Credit Union, 2014 (Boulder)

Florida AT&T Universal Card Services (now part of Citigroup, Inc.), 1992 (Jacksonville); Baptist Hospital, Inc., 2003 (Pensacola); City of Coral Springs, 2007 (Coral Springs); Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., 1997 (Jacksonville), Studer Group, 2010 (Gulf Breeze)

Georgia The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. (now part of Marriott International), 1999, 1992 (Atlanta)

Illinois Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, 2010 (Downers Grove); Community Consolidated School District 15, 2003 (Palatine); Motorola Inc., 1988 (Schaumburg); Motorola Inc., Commercial, Government, and Industrial Solutions Sector (now part of Motorola Government and Enterprise Mobility Solutions), 2002 (Schaumburg)

Indiana Schneck Medical Care, 2011 (Seymour)

Louisiana DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Co. (now DM Petroleum Operations Co.), 2005 (New Orleans)

Maryland Montgomery County Public Schools, 2010 (Rockville)

Massachusetts AT&T Network Systems Group (now part of Alcatel-Lucent), Transmission Systems Business Unit, 1992 (North Andover)

Michigan Bronson Methodist Hospital, 2005 (Kalamazoo); Cadillac Motor Car Co., 1990 (Warren); Henry Ford Health System, 2011 (Detroit)

Minnesota 3M Dental Products Division (now 3M ESPE Dental Products), 1997 (St. Paul); BI, 1999 (Minneapolis); Cargill Corn Milling North America, 2008 (Wayzata); Custom Research Inc. (now known as GFK Customer Research, Inc.), 1996 (Minneapolis); IBM Rochester, 1990 (Rochester); Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc. (now Cargill Kitchen Solutions), 1999, 2005 (Monticello); Zytec Corp. (now part of Artesyn Technologies), 1991 (Eden Prairie)

Mississippi North Mississippi Medical Center, 2006 (Tupelo); North Mississippi Health Services, 2012 (Tupelo)

Missouri Boeing Aerospace Support (now Boeing Support Systems), 2003 (Berkeley); Concordia Publishing House, 2011 (St. Louis); Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, 2009 (Kansas City); Heartland Health, 2009 (St. Joseph); Mid-America Transplant Services, 2015 (St. Louis); MidwayUSA, 2009 and 2015 (Columbia); Nestle Purina PetCare Co., 2010 (St. Louis); Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, 2003 (Kansas City);SSM Health Care, 2002 (St. Louis); Wainwright Industries, Inc., 1994 (St. Peters)

New Jersey Ames Rubber Corp., 1993 (Hamburg); AT&T Consumer Communications Services (now the Consumer Markets Division of AT&T), 1994 (Basking Ridge); AtlantiCare, 2009 (Egg Harbor Township); Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, 2004 (Hamilton); U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), 2007 (Picatinny)

New Mexico Los Alamos National Bank, 2000 (Los Alamos); VA Cooperative Studies Program Clinical Research Pharmacy Coordinating Center, 2009 (Albuquerque)

New York Corning Inc., Telecommunications Products Division, 1995 (Corning); Pearl River School District, 2001 (Pearl River); Trident Precision Manufacturing, Inc., 1996 (Webster); Xerox Business Services, 1997 (Rochester); Xerox Corp. Business Products and Systems, 1989 (Rochester)

North Carolina Iredell-Statesville Schools, 2008 (Statesville)

Ohio Dana Commercial Credit Corp. (now part of Dana Holding Corp.), 1996 (Maumee); Dana Corp.—Spicer Driveshaft Division (now part of Dana Holding Corp. Torque-Traction Technologies), 2000 (Holland); Globe Metallurgical Inc. (now part of Globe Specialty Metals, Inc.), 1988 (Beverly); PRO-TEC Coating Co., 2007 (Leipsic)

Oklahoma The Bama Companies, Inc., 2004 (Tulsa); Jenks Public Schools, 2005 (Jenks); MESA Products, Inc., 2006 and 2012 (Tulsa)

Pennsylvania Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Building Products Operations, 1995 (Lancaster); MEDRAD, Inc., 2003 and 2010 (Warrendale); Stoner, Inc., 2003 (Quarryville); Westinghouse Electric Corp. Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division, 1988 (Monroeville)

South Carolina Milliken & Co., 1989 (Spartanburg)

Tennessee Caterpillar Financial Services (U.S.), 2003 (Nashville); Eastman Chemical Co., 1993 (Kingsport); Federal Express Corp., 1990 (Memphis); Pal's Sudden Service, 2001 (Kingsport)

Texas Branch-Smith Printing Division, 2002 (Fort Worth); City of Irving, Texas, 2012; Clarke American Checks, Inc. (now Harland Clarke), 2001 (San Antonio); Freese and Nichols, Inc., 2010 (Fort Worth); KARLEE Co., Inc., 2000 (Garland); Lockeed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, 2012 (Dallas); K&N Management, Inc., 2010 (Austin); Marlow Industries, Inc., 1991 (Dallas); Park Place Lexus, 2005 (Dallas); Richland College, 2005 (Dallas); STMicroelectronics, Inc.—Region Americas, 1999 (Carrollton); Texas Instruments Inc. Defense Systems and Electronics Group (now part of Raytheon Co.), 1992 (Dallas); Texas Nameplate Company, Inc., 1998, 2004 (Dallas); GTE Directories Corp. (now known as Verizon Information Services), 1994 (Dallas/Fort Worth Airport); Wallace Company, Inc., 1990 (Houston); Hill Country Memorial, 2014 (Fredericksburg); St. David's HealthCare, 2014 (Austin)

West Virginia Charleston Area Medical Center Health System, 2015 (Charleston)

Wisconsin Mercy Health System, 2007 (Janesville); Pewaukee School District, 2013 (Pewaukee); University of Wisconsin–Stout, 2002 (Menomonie)

Are award recipients required to share trade secrets?

Baldrige Award recipients do not have to share proprietary information, even if it was part of their award application. Award recipients are required to share nonproprietary information about their successful performance and quality strategies with other U.S. organizations. The principal—and only required—mechanism for award recipients to share information is The Quest for Excellence® Conference. Many award recipients also participate in the annual Baldrige Regional Conferences.

The cost of sharing information often is outweighed by the benefits received.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program assists in information sharing by providing profiles of and contact information for Baldrige Award recipients.

Do advertising and publicity diminish the image and prestige of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award?

Promoting public and business awareness of performance excellence is one of the primary goals of the Baldrige Program, and advertising is one way to meet this goal. The law establishing the award states that a recipient may publicize its receipt of the award and use the award in its advertising. Guidelines help organizations ensure that their advertising appropriately represents their Baldrige Award recognition.

Is the Baldrige Award selection political?

Politics do not enter into the selection of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients. The Baldrige Program seeks to provide the fairest, most competent evaluation of each application. Furthermore, strict conflict-of-interest and confidentiality regulations guide the application review process.

Independent Review: All award applications are reviewed and scored independently by six to twelve members of the Board of Examiners. Examiners are never assigned to review an application from an applicant with which they have a conflict of interest or that they have reviewed in a previous year. After this review, all award applicants undergo Consensus Review.

Consensus Review: The application is reviewed further and scored jointly by the same six to twelve members of the Board of Examiners, led by a senior examiner. The Judges' Panel then selects which applicants will progress to the site visit stage. Applicants remain anonymous until after the selection.

Site Visit Review: A team of 6 to 10 members of the Board of Examiners, led by a senior examiner, conducts the site visit, verifying and clarifying the information in the application. Site visits consist primarily of a review of pertinent records and data and interviews with executives and employees. A report by the site visit team is submitted to the Judges' Panel.

Judges' Final Review: The Judges' Panel conducts final reviews and presents Baldrige Award recommendations for the approval of the director of NIST and the secretary of commerce.

Conflicts of interest are strictly avoided during the judging process, and judges who have conflicts of interest with an applicant are excluded from any discussion of and voting on that applicant.
 

Results/Impacts

How have the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients performed financially compared to their competitors? 

Award recipients have performed well, reporting rising market share and other financial indicators as well as excellent product and service outcomes. Examples include the following:
 

• St. David's HealthCare, a 2014 award recipient, has demonstrated exceptional performance in net revenue growth through expanded operations and operational discipline between 2007 and 2013, with an increase of more than 70 percent. Additionally, the return on assets has increased from approximately 17 percent in 2007 to 33 percent in 2013, far exceeding the 4.7 percent average benchmark for Moody's AA-rated organizations. Its financial strength allows the system to reinvest in its facilities each year without incurring any long-term debt.
• Hill Country Memorial, a 2014 award recipient, demonstrated significant improvements in its financial performance from 2010 to 2013. During that period, its net income increased from $10 million to nearly $20 million, cash flow to total debt ratios improved from 50 to 60, and cash and investments to debt ratios improved from less than 1.5 to higher than 3.
• Pewaukee School District, a 2013 award recipient, demonstrates strong financial performance. The district's Moody bond rating was raised from "Aa3" to "Aa2" in 2010, while ratings for many districts in Wisconsin and throughout the nation dropped. In addition, the school district has increased its fund balance from just over $300,000 in1997-1998 to nearly $4.6 million in 2012-2013. This represents a working capital fund making up 17 percent of the district's operating budget.
• Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, a 2012 award recipient, maintained a major global market position in each of its key lines of business in a shrinking market for the four years preceding its award. Return on investment grew at a 23% percent compound annual rate, faster than the industry-best competitor (13.7%).
• From 2006 to 2011, MESA, a 2006 and 2012 award recipient, more than doubled in size. Entry into new markets created more than $26 million of annual revenue over nine years. Total sales from existing customers grew from 70% to more than 90% from 1997 to 2005, and return on equity improved from -5% in 1999 to more than 25% in 2005. At the time of MESA's 2006 award application, MESA's return on equity exceeded that of industry competitors by 20%.
• The City of Irving, Texas, a 2012 award recipient, was 1 of 5 cities in the state and 89 in the nation with an AAA rating from both Standard and Poor's and Moody's in the six years before winning the award.
• North Mississippi Health Services, a 2012 award recipient, led its primary competitor in market share by 13% and all others combined by 8%. It is the only health care organization in Mississippi or Alabama with a Standard & Poor's AA credit rating, which it has held for the past 18 years.
• For Henry Ford Health System, a 2011 award recipient, inpatient market share increased by an average of 3% per year from 2004 to 2011. Net operating income was greater than $25 million per year from 2007 to 2010 despite significant increases in uncompensated care.
• For Schneck Medical Center, a 2011 award recipient, market share exceeds 60% for inpatient care, 70% for outpatient care, and 80% for ambulatory care.
• Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., a 2010 award recipient, ranks number one in market share for pet care products in North America and has twice the market share of its closest competitor. Its market share increased from approximately 31.2 percent in 2001 to 34.2 percent in 2010 in a mature industry.
• For MEDRAD, a 2003 and 2010 award recipient, revenue grew steadily from about $120 million in 1997 to approximately $625 million in 2009. In addition, gross margin increased more than 10 percent in three years. MEDRAD has sustained market leadership in the United States and Europe for most of its products over several years and, in many cases, has more than twice the market share of the leading competitor.
• For AtlantiCare, a 2009 award recipient, system revenues grew from $280 million to $651 million over seven years, reflecting an 11 percent compound annual growth rate. During this period, AtlantiCare's medical center volume increased from about 34,000 to more than 56,000 discharges—more than twice the state growth rates. Market share increased to a six-year high of 62 percent in the second quarter of 2008 for the primary service area, as well as increasing by 57 percent from 2000 to 2009 in the regional service area.
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, a 2010 award recipient, demonstrates impressive results for many measures of clinical outcomes. For example, risk-adjusted mortality (where 1 is the standard) decreased from 0.55 in 2007 to 0.42 in 2010, exceeding the six-county top-decile level as measured by Thomson Reuters. The percentage of pneumonia patients who receive blood cultures prior to the administration of antibiotics, a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services core measure for emergency departments, increased from 96 percent in 2006 to 100 percent in 2009, equaling the top-decile level as measured by the Healthcare Quality Association.
• MidwayUSA, a 2009 and 2015 award recipient, was one of the fastest-growing companies in its industry in the 11 years before its 2015 award, with 43.8 percent average annual growth in net income and 21.3 percent average annual growth in gross sales.
• Despite an above-average need for uncompensated care in its service area, Charleston Area Medical Center (the four hospitals within 2015 award recipient Charleston Area Medical Center Health System) maintained an average operating margin of 5.2 percent from 2011 to 2015, better than the Truven Health Analytics national benchmark for teaching hospitals, as well as those from other rating services.
• For Charter School of San Diego, a 2015 award recipient, positive end-of-year fund balances increased over the 6 years before its award even as state funding decreased 43.14 percent.
• PRO-TEC Coating Company, a 2007 award recipient, supplies about 15 percent of all hot-dipped galvanized steel to the U.S. automotive industry. Profitable for the 12 years prior to and including the year it received the award, PRO-TEC produced no less than 85 percent of the U.S. advanced high-strength steel supply from 2002 through 2006. Its return on assets has maintained a sustained upward trend since 2002, and its revenue per associate has continuously improved to a level nearly four times Industry Week's 90th-percentile benchmark.
• Between 1999 and 2005, Sharp HealthCare, a 2007 award recipient, gained more than four percentage points in market share, an unprecedented achievement in a mature health care marketplace. Sharp's market share in its target segments—women between the ages 25 and 54, seniors of age 65 or older, and Hispanics—increased by 15 percent, 5 percent, and 5 percent, respectively, between 2002 and 2006.
• In spite of a lower budget and lower per-pupil expenditures than other school districts (ranking 107 out of 115 in North Carolina), Iredell-Statesville Schools, a 2008 award recipient, has outperformed comparative districts at the state and national levels. In student achievement, the district rose from 55th to 9th out of North Carolina's more than 100 school districts from 2002 to 2008. The district's total average SAT score of 1056 in 2008 was better than the peer district average (995), state average (1007, rising from 57th to 7th), and national (1017) average.

Is it true that Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients have become more profitable since receiving the award?

Award recipients report that they benefit from the application process and from receiving the award. Many award recipients gained new customers after receiving the award—customers they believe they would not have gained were it not for the award. Besides additional business, they see improved results, gain benchmarking partners, receive nationwide and worldwide recognition, promote individual and organizational learning, and increase internal motivation. Receiving the award, however, is not a guarantee of increased profitability, which is based on many factors.

How does the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award affect financial results/shareholder value? 

The Baldrige Program does not maintain information on the financial results of individual organizations. However, award recipients provide some financial results in their application summaries.

What is the typical payback on the Baldrige investment? 

There is nothing typical about the benefits of an investment in the Baldrige process. The process pays applicants back in many different ways. Organizations that have received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award have seen

• moves toward globalization
• decreased time to market
• an increase in new product sales as a percentage of total annual sales
• increased workforce involvement, empowerment, and productivity
• greater customer satisfaction
• increased return on assets and return on equity
• increased market share
• greater opportunities for research and development
• increased revenue
• decreased cycle time
• cost reductions
• improved product reliability
• improved health care outcomes
• improved student learning outcomes

However, an organization does not have to receive the award to see these benefits; all applicants are winners through improved business processes and results.

Award Recipients' Long-Term Performance

Is it true that many Baldrige Award recipients have gone out of business?

No, that is not true; in fact, award recipients generally have had very good results. These include financial and other indicators of success, including exceptional results in such areas as workforce satisfaction, customer satisfaction, market share, and cycle time reduction.

It is important to note that several award recipients have changed senior leadership and management systems since becoming award recipients and, for various reasons, have not fared as well as they did previously.

Have any of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients gone out of business?

The Wallace Company, Inc., a 1990 award recipient in the small business category, filed for bankruptcy after it became an award recipient, and it was then acquired. The financial difficulties were a direct result of a recessionary economy and a highly price-sensitive market.

Armstrong World Industries, Inc., whose Building Products Operations was a 1995 award recipient in the manufacturing category, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in December 2000 to enable the company to continue its full service to customers and its employee pay and benefit programs while resolving asbestos liability issues.

In March 2006, Dana Corporation—the parent company of two Baldrige Award recipients (Dana Corporation–Spicer Driveshaft Division, manufacturing category, 2000; and Dana Commercial Credit Corporation [DCC], service category, 1996)—filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Dana reorganized and subsequently emerged from bankruptcy in January 2008 as Dana Holding Corporation, which includes the driveshaft operations and several other core businesses. The assets of Dana's former DCC leasing operation have been divested.

Overall, Baldrige Award recipients are role-model organizations. However, there is no performance excellence guarantee that an organization's financial condition will continue to be outstanding or will not be affected by market developments or other factors.

How could an organization receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and then have declining performance?

No one can predict the future, and no criteria, not even the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, can examine for it. Sudden shifts in business conditions beyond the control of a company are possible. An organization may fail for many reasons, including macrochanges in the market structure (e.g., shrinking demand, too many competitors), pricing of key commodities, management changes and redirection, legal difficulties/lawsuits, financing, or wrong or ill-timed decisions by the organization (e.g., going public/not going public, over- or underexpansion, over- or underdiversification, acquisitions, mergers, or divestitures).

Excellent organizations with good products, processes, workforce practices, marketing, and management—organizations like Baldrige Award recipients—should be more likely to withstand many such changes than are others. Excellent organizations have a systematic strategic planning process and are more likely to notice coming changes. They are flexible, have a dedicated workforce, are constantly improving processes, have loyal customers, and are, therefore, better able to adjust to market shifts than are other organizations. They also tend to have their research and development integrated into their manufacturing, marketing, and strategic planning, and, consequently, they are less likely to be blindsided by technology shifts.