Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis is one of four winners of the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award — the country’s highest presidential honor for business-performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership.
CPH is the only nonprofit business among this year’s winners, which were announced Nov. 22. The others named are three health-care organizations: Henry Ford Health System, Detroit; Schneck Medical Center, Seymour, Ind.; and Southcentral Foundation, Anchorage, Alaska.
“With innovative practices, an unwavering commitment to excellence, dynamic management and proven results, the four organizations recognized today with the 2011 Baldrige Award will serve as role models — not only for their peers in the health care, nonprofit and business sectors — but for every American organization that strives for a higher standard of performance and never settles for second-best,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson.
The 69 organizations that applied for the award were evaluated in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results.
The evaluation process for each of the award recipients included about 1,000 hours of review and an on-site visit by a team of examiners to clarify questions and verify information in the applications.
“It is with God’s grace that CPH has achieved a level of excellence that few major corporations realize,” said CPH President and CEO Dr. Bruce G. Kintz. “As a Christian organization we are humbled by our achievements, and as a thriving publishing house we are proud to represent both innovation and sustainability in this ever-changing marketplace.”
Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Awards were established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness and performance of U.S. businesses. Congress expanded the program in 1999 to include education and health-care organizations, and again in 2007 to include nonprofits.
Concordia Publishing House and the other 2011 Baldrige Award recipients are expected to receive their awards at an April 2012 ceremony in Washington, D.C.
For more information about the award, visit www.nist.gov/baldrige.
Posted Nov. 22, 2011
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