ASQ Advocacy Efforts Aim to Change Baldrige Caps

WASHINGTON D.C. — A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would ease restrictions on the number of Baldrige Awards that may be given out in any year.  H.R. 1231 was introduced on February 28, 2007, by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX). 

ASQ worked with House Science and Technology Committee staff to introduce the bill. 

H.R. 1231 amends the original Baldrige legislation to state that a maximum of 15 awards in total may be made in any year. 

Currently, there is a cap of three awards per category.  If the Baldrige judges determine that more than three applicants in one category meet the rigorous Baldrige standards, one or more of these worthy organizations would not receive the Award because of the existing cap. 

“As long as the cap remains, the possibility exists that an organization could be excluded from receiving the Award even though it had achieved the standard of excellence represented by the Award,” stated Ron Atkinson, president of the American Society for Quality.

The House Science Committee, ASQ and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which manages the Baldrige program, all agreed that the cap of three awards per category was not a fair process. All three support changing to a total cap for all categories.