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Update: In a most recent contact with ASQ, the association said it would not initiate a grassroots campaign. “From what ASQ knows, the commission's proposal is dead and the Baldrige Program is safe for now. We will continue to be vigilant in the coming year to make sure that the president and Congress don't take the commission co-chair's advice during the budget and appropriations process.”
ASQ says it always encourages its members to send them their comments.
Quality Digest Daily recently reported that the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR) suggested, as one of the recommendations to reduce the nation’s debt, the elimination of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.
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Commission members voted on the report and its recommendations on Friday, Dec. 3. If 14 of the 18 commission members approved the recommendations, they would then be formally sent to Congress for consideration as legislation. Support for the plan fell three votes short.
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Comments
Support of Quality at the National Level
This country needs to formally support the efforts of companies and organizations to deliver quality products and services and to continually improve. If the government applied the principles of Baldridge to their own processes, the result would be the elimination of major waste and delivery of government that meets or exceeds the requirements of their customers. (the citizens of the United States) I would be willing to guess that that cost saving would be much larger than the proposals to cut programs.
If the Baldrige Program is valuable why is govt subsidy needed?
If we all take the attitude that government spending needs to be reduced but just not "our" program, the inefficient government will continue to grab more of our paychecks. How much of our tax dollars are currently used for managing the Baldrige Program? Do we really need the government involved? Since we all expect the quality improvements to save money for the companies in the long run, how can we make this self-sustaining? If the participating companies don't find the changes valuable why should taxpayers be asked to subsidize this?
Fate of Baldrige Program Still Uncertain
We all must be fiscal responsible, I think that the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program should be remove from any government sponsorship and/or cost.
Federal Sponsorship of Baldrige
The criteria for performance excellence are a great tool for improving the performance of any organization. I have used the tools to improve organizations. I am a fan. The criteria and the awards program should continue. Period. Full Stop.
An entirely different discussion is whether the federal government should pay for the program. Just because something should be done doesn't mean that government should be doing it.
How much are we talking about anyway? According to the NIST site "The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is a government and industry partnership, with over 90% of the support, including in-kind contributions, provided by the private sector. The federal government’s contribution to this Program is about $8 million annually and is used by NIST to manage the Program. ....In addition, the private Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has raised an endowment currently valued at approximately $17 million."
Sounds like we've got about an $80 million program, with $72 million covered by the private sector. And an endowment.
If these published numbers are correct, then with resources like that, an equally valid question is why the federal government is subsidizing the program?
Eliminating the subsidy is not the same as eliminating the program.
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