Why Is It Important To The Baldrige Program?

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The primary quality organization and certification in United States include American Society for Quality (ASQ), American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Baldrige Program, Society of Quality Assurance (SQA) and Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). These organizations help U.S. business and individual have competitive advantage in the global economy.
American Society for Quality
ASQ is a global community of people that share ideas and tools dedicated to quality to make the world better. The ASQ is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA with members in more than 140 countries with regional centers in North Asia, South Asia, Latin America and the Middle …show more content…

Malcolm Baldrige former Secretary of Commerce was an advocate of quality management, hence after his death in 1987 U.S. congress created the Award to recognize his contribution. The goal of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 was to improve the competitiveness of U.S. business by rewarding the business that is recognized role-model business, establish criteria for evaluating improvements efforts, distribute and share best practices (NIST, 2016). Applying for Baldrige award is two-step process with first step to submit for an eligibility certification package with non-refundable fee of $250 and once eligible than submit Award application package with processing fee of $1250. Also, the site visit for manufacturing & service, small business, Non-profit organization could range from 13,600 to $60,000. The Baldrige program impact is estimated 820 to 1 ratio for U.S. economy to its cost, 109 Baldridge Award winner serve as national role model, and 2010-2015 award applicant represent 567,434 jobs, 2655 work sites, over $142 billion in revenue/budgets and about 449 million customer served. The disadvantage of the Baldrige award is the processing fee and business has to allocate time and resource for the application process (NIST,