ABSTRACT
The diagram from the Baldrige criteria booklet, reprinted below, shows how the various parts of the criteria work together as a system.
This diagram is called the “Baldrige Burger” by many because it resembles a hamburger. Parts of it make sense, and parts of it are confusing. There is one box for each of the seven Baldrige categories, which makes sense. Box number 4 is stretched out to become the bottom bun, I assume to illustrate how information and analysis are critical to the other six categories. The problem I have with the Baldrige Burger is that leadership is the first box, rather than the customer. Leaders have been known to lead their organizations off a cliff by not being attuned to the marketplace. The Baldrige model is customer driven, not leadership driven. In Figure 3.1, you will see that the customer is the first box, not the leadership. Leaders need to review market research to decide on company mission, vision, and other factors. The second problem with the Baldrige Burger involves the top bun. The words in the top bun read Organizational Profile: Environment, Relationships, and Challenges. One could put Category 2 as the top bun, since strategic planning cuts across all other categories the same way information and analysis does. However, that would leave a lopsided burger with only three boxes as the “meat” in the middle.
