Motorola Sector Wins Baldrige Award

ByJohn S. McClenahen The 2002 manufacturing winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the Commercial, Government & Industrial Solutions Sector (CGISS) business of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola Inc. CGISS is a supplier of two-way radio systems and products. Among other practices, CGISS uses "Performance Excellence Scorecards" in the implementation of strategic objectives and employs "M-Gates," an integrated product-development and life-cycle process administered by cross-functional product teams. "We are enormously pleased and honored by this recognition of our businesswide, continuous-improvement process," says Robert L. Barnett, executive vice president of Motorola Inc., and president and CEO of CGISS. The Baldrige small business winner is the printing division of Branch-Smith Inc., a fourth-generation Fort Worth, Texas, family business. The printing division produces magazines, catalogs, directories and books. The third Baldrige winner for 2002 is SSM Health Care, a not-for-profit Catholic provider of health-care services through 21 acute-care hospitals and three nursing homes in four states. It is the first winner in the Baldrige's health-care category. This year, a total of 49 organizations submitted Baldrige applications in five categories: manufacturing, education, health care, service and small business. There were no award recipients in education or service. Since 1988, some 49 organizations have received Baldrige Awards, created by Congress in 1987 to enhance U.S. competitiveness and named for the 26th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Applicants are evaluated on seven criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human-resource focus, process management, and results. The 2002 awards are to be presented at a Washington, D.C., ceremony in early 2003.