What Baldrige and Attending Quest for Excellence Can Do for Small Business and Entrepreneurs
Small businesses and entrepreneurs can and do benefit from the Baldrige process. Previous results show that organizations of any size and type can benefit from using the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The Baldrige Criteria address all key areas of a small business and are compatible with other performance improvement initiatives, such as ISO 9000, Lean, and Six Sigma. Using the Baldrige framework, you can organize and integrate these approaches, improve productivity and effectiveness, and pursue performance excellence.
Are the Baldrige Criteria relevant to small business?
Yes. Because Baldrige is a nonprescriptive framework for organizational excellence, it is just as appropriate for small businesses and organizations as it is for larger businesses. The Criteria allow organizations to be responsive in ways that are appropriate for their size and resources. The Criteria can help small organizations by encouraging a disciplined set of processes (though documentation may be less formal) that help the organizations plan and react to a complete set of situations that can affect their success.
How have other small organizations achieved success with Baldrige?
In a variety of ways. For example, Los Alamos National Bank increased their net income more than 60%. Texas Nameplate Company, Inc. retained 70% of its top customers for more than ten years. Park Place Lexus’ new-car client satisfaction rating was the highest among US Lexus dealerships at 99.8%. Many small & local businesses have started their Baldrige journey at the
Quest for Excellence Conference.
What benefits come from small businesses applying Baldrige Criteria?
The Baldrige Criteria provide a valuable framework by which small businesses like yours can measure performance and plan in an uncertain environment. The Criteria provide a framework by helping businesses achieve and sustain the highest national levels of
- customer satisfaction and engagement
- product and service outcomes, and process efficiency
- workforce satisfaction and engagement
- revenue and market share
- social responsibility
Resources for learning to apply the Baldrige Criteria to small business
The best way to learn about the benefits of applying the Baldrige Criteria is to attend the Quest for Excellence conference. Learn more
About Quest for Excellence, the
conference schedule, and
registration options
Other small business-focused resources include:
Have a question? We can help.
If you have a question about the Quest for Excellence Conference and small business, and can’t find the information in the Quest for Excellence content on our site, please feel free to contact us via phone or e-mail; 301.975.2036 or
baldrige@nist.gov.
