(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program has announced that the 2011–2012 Criteria for Performance Excellence for businesses and nonprofit organizations are now available to download. The criteria serve as the standard for selecting the annual recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and as a road map for organizations worldwide seeking improved strategy and operations by pursuing performance excellence. The other two editions of the 2011—2012 criteria—for health care and education—will be available on the Baldrige website later this month.

The Baldrige criteria work as an integrated framework for managing an organization. They are simply a set of questions focusing on seven critical aspects of management that contribute to performance excellence: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; work force focus; operations focus; and results.

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