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Ritz-Carlton Again
Hotel Wins Second Baldrige Quality Award

The winners for this year’s Malcolm Baldrige Award for performance excellence and quality achievement are two manufacturers and two service companies: STMicroelectronics, Inc.—Region Americas, manufacturing; BI, service; The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., service; and Sunny Fresh Foods, small business/manufacturing. All four of these organizations have a common core focus on the future and a passion for performance improvement; these four companies are role models for the 21st century.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards highlights customer satisfaction, workforce empowerment and increased productivity as each company strives for a commitment to excellence. As organizations strive for quality, the best guide for achieving this is the Baldrige Award criteria. This criteria is generally accepted as the standard for performance and excellence in business. Organizations utilize these standards for training, self-assessment and as a development tool for performance and business processes.
This is the second time around for The Ritz-Carlton, winning once before in 1992, while Sunny Fresh Foods is the first food manufacturer to receive the Baldrige.

STMicroelectronics, Inc.-Region Americas, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, designs, develops, manufacturers and markets semiconductor-integrated circuits for consumer electronics and automotive, medical, telecommunications and computer applications in the United States and all over the world. ST recently earned a “Best in Class” rating based upon 19 standard benchmark areas from the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies. The company has a 10-point environmental commitments and goals list, including meeting and exceeding the world’s most stringent environmental regulations.

BI, stationed in Minneapolis, Minn., helps its customers achieve their business goals by enhancing the performance of people. BI designs and delivers performance improvement programs interconnecting communications, training, measurement and rewards to reach a higher level of success. Over the last five years, BI’s revenues have increased by 47 percent. BI outperforms its two competitors in the customer loyalty department, as well as in overall performance. No matter what the level function or location someone is at within the company, teaming, process improvement and continuous improvement are a way of life.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. based in Atlanta, Ga. employs 17,000 employees in 36 luxury hotels worldwide, with sales topping $1 billion. All Ritz hotels hold a four- or five-star or diamond rating from the American Automobile Association and Mobil Travel guide. Employee turnover has decreased from 79 percent in 1989 to 30.2 percent in 1998. The Ritz has established an extensive and innovative database recording guest requests, preferences and customization services that is accessible by all sites worldwide.

Sunny Fresh Foods, out of Monticello, Minn., manufacturers egg products, including pasteurized refrigerated and frozen egg products, fat-free egg products, peeled hard-cooked eggs and pre-cooked egg products. This small business employs around 380 people. Sunny Fresh Food’s market share is currently ranked second, up from 14th in 1988. Coupled with this, Sunny Fresh is the only supplier to a number of major restaurants. Sunny Fresh also provides weekly evaluations via e-mail to their stakeholders and analyzed for improvement spots. They have designed innovative work systems to ensure that employees minimize their potential for repetitive stress injuries, boredom and to help reinforce the quality process. Their rotation system is leader in the industry and has been mirrored elsewhere.

The Baldrige Award was established in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses by promoting quality awareness, recognizing the quality and performance achievements of U.S. organizations and publicizing successful performance strategies. This year two new categories were instilled for education and health care. The Baldrige Award is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Department of Commerce.

These four winners will be presenting their journey to the Baldrige Award at this year’s Quest for Excellence XII in Washington, D.C., March 13-15, 2000. This conference is co-sponsored by AQP. To register or receive additional information, call AQP at 1-800-733-3310 or e-mail: info@aqp.org.