ABSTRACT
Aggressive businesses and industries measure performance meticulously. Recipients of the prestigious Baldrige Award distinguish themselves by achieving world-class results, partly because they are uniformly excellent in measurement and analysis. 1 Recognition of measurement—metrics in the corporate vernacular—as a key to success is nothing new. Outstanding companies have long been regarded as “measurement-happy and performance-oriented.” 2 Top performers carefully monitor and record the relevant dimensions of performance—they know the important facts and figures—and they act on that knowledge.
