Conference 7.286::digital

    I know Cadillac (GM) won, and I recall that some part of IBM won (my
    wife attended a seminar at IBM that they gave after they won).
    
    But I'm pretty sure I would have heard (from my wife, who does such
    things) if DEC had won. I'll check with a friend who is a Baldridge
    examiner just to be sure..
    
    ...tom

  IBM Rochester (Minnesota) won for their work on the "Silverlake"
  (AS/400) series.
                                   Atlant

If that's what it says, it's a typo.  It's spelled Baldrige.

  I seem to recall that Digital did win a Baldrige award for something a few
years ago. If it did happen, it was posted in Livewire but there wasn't a lot
of fanfare over it, so it's probable that most DECcies didn't hear about it.

    Where?  I have to believe if won a Baldrige, must less put together a
    team to respond to the application (I've seen the book and it's not a
    trivial matter on how to respond) we would have had a full blown ad
    campaign around this event.  Nope I can't recall anything about us
    winning the big gold ring on quality.
    
    Perhaps our folks a MARRCOMM would know?
    
    Mav

    This is a pretty dim memory (and the folks who could answer
    definitively are probably at Quantum now), but I seem to recall
    that the RA90 manufacturing line in Colorado was in competition
    for the Baldridge award the first year or so the award was given
    out.  I don't recall hearing whether they actually won.

	Mike

    I don't know whether the RA90 Group ever competed for the Baldridge
    Award. They did how ever win the SME "Lead" Award which is given out at
    Autofact

    we have applied at least once.. my wife worked on the application
    package for the first award (the application was done under what was
    then "Corporate Quality", under Frank McCabe). 
    
    Didn't even come close to a win on that one..
    
    I still haven't talked to the examiner I know to verify that we haven't
    EVER won.. he's apparently out doing whatever it is that examiners do..
    
    ...tom

	Still no definite answer .. I have a copy of the (RA90) "Development 
Projects" article from the Sept/Oct 1994 Harvard Business Review , p110 - it
doesn't mention anything about the Baldridge award - perhaps Hamel's book is 
incorrect.

	Steve Phelps. 

Tom:

> we have applied at least once.. my wife worked on the application
> package for the first award (the application was done under what was
> then "Corporate Quality", under Frank McCabe). 
> 
> Didn't even come close to a win on that one..
    
  For Silverlake, IBM took two runs at it. The first was for real,
  but the second was a major league, full court press by the entire
  corporation.

  This award obviously takes persistence. And strategy.

                                   Atlant

    I asked my wife (who gets all the Baldridge stuff, and goes to the
    post-award 'tours' every year because of her job); she said, and I
    quote: "DEC? No way. I don't even know that they've applied since the
    first two years the award was run." She would have remembered if DEC
    (or "Digital") did win, because she is an ex-DEC employee.
    
    As Atlant said, it really takes some effort to win this. Not only do
    you have to have some real, significant, tangible Quality programs that
    set you apart, you have to *work* at getting the award. The first year,
    the attitude of senior management was "Hey, we're DEC, we're great,
    we're sure to win!" .. 
    
    Sound familiar?  8-(
    
    ...tom

    I kind of got the idea that Ken really wanted one of those too,
    which begat things like Six Sigma.

And the awards aren't any indication of continued success, either.  I read an
article in the Dallas Morning News about a company in Dallas that had won the
award and was out of business a year later.  A sidebar listed other previous
winners who were experiencing hard times.  Then there is another Dallas company,
Texas Instruments (TI) who had a division/group/something win sometime in the
past 2 years, which is doing rather well.

Bob

Are you all sure you're not talking about DEC
getting a __Baldrick__ award?

    Digital has never won the MBA... 
    
    Also, there have been several companies that have won the award and
    have gone under.
    
    Chip

re: .15

>    Also, there have been several companies that have won the award and
>    have gone under.
 
Chip,

See .13.

Bob

    The mystery of Digital's "winning" the Baldridge award can be solved
    by reading note 90.0 and reply 90.1 in the STOWOA::Quality conference.
    Apparently, in 1988, Digital was one of a number of "finalists" for the
    award. However, finalist, in that context, meant you were one of a
    limited number of companies being seriously considered for the (single)
    award that year. We didn't make it....