In a plan to “strengthen American business through the successful use of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and its framework,” three major quality trade associations have formed the Malcolm Baldrige Collaborative Project. The alliance was formed by the Baldrige National Quality Program, the American Society for Quality and the Alliance for Performance Excellence. The main goal of the organization is to promote the benefits of the Baldrige Criteria in an effort to increase funding to state and local agencies that sponsor quality awards.

To that end, the collaborative will further the promotional efforts already underway by quality groups by adopting a succinct marketing approach for the performance-improvement message, develop marketing messages and choose appropriate media to spread them. The organization will also draft compelling case studies to encourage businesses to adopt the Baldrige criteria. The case studies will be of organizations that have applied for a Baldrige Award, or for a state or local quality award that uses the Baldrige Criteria.

For more information, visit www.performance-excellence.com.

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