Team Showcase
   Alabama Quality Award

    The Alabama Quality Award (modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award) has been administered by the Alabama Productivity Center since 1986. The Award recognizes and honors organizations whose past or recent innovations in areas of production, service or management have resulted in increased productivity and quality.

   For the purpose of the award, increased productivity and quality means getting more mileage out of the firm's resources, whether those resources are energy, capital, materials or people. The award was established to promote the awareness of performance excellence as an increasingly important element in competitiveness. Not only does it recognize excellent organizations, the Award also aims to increase the understanding of the requirements for performance excellence.

   The Award promotes :

          1. Understanding of the requirements for performance excellence and competitiveness improvement
          2. Sharing of information on successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from using these strategies

Alabama Quality Award: Categories

  1. Small Business Sector
  2. Service Sector
  3. Manufacturing Sector
  4. Non-Profit
  5. Education
  6. Health Care

Recognition:

Four Levels of Recognition:

  1. Level 1- Commitment to Excellence
  2. Level 2- Progress Toward Excellence
  3. Level 3- Alabama Excellence Award
  4. Award of Excellence for Continuous Productivity and Quality Improvement

AQA winners will participate in Annual Conference 2010, which will be held in December 2010 at Tuscaloosa. A presentation will be made by the winners at the Conference.

Eligibility:

   The applicant’s efforts must be implemented within the State of Alabama, but the organizations may have affiliates, divisions, or headquarters in other states.

   Previous winners of the Alabama Quality Award are eligible to reapply three years after being named an Award winner. In the meantime, previous winners may apply for the Award of Excellence in Continuous productivity and Quality Improvement each year until they are once again eligible to reapply for the Alabama Quality Award.

Eligibility Dtermination

    To ensure the Award recipients meet all reasonable requirements and expectations in representing the Award throughout the State of Alabama, potential applicants must have their eligibility approved prior to applying for the Award. Potential applicants are encouraged to submit their Pre-Application/ Eligibility Determination Form as early as possible, but not later than February 28, 2010. This form is found in the back of the 2010 Alabama Quality Award Application Guideline Booklet.

Fee Structure

  1. Pre-Application for all levels- $100.00
  2. Level 1- $750.00
  3. Level 2- $750.00 plus $1.50 for each employee not to exceed $2,000
  4. Level 3- $750.00 plus $1.50 for each employee not to exceed $2,750
  5. Award of Excellence for Continuous Productivity and Quality Improvement- for previous winners: $400.00

Schedule for Award Process

  1. October/January: Distribution of Applications
  2. February: Pre-Application/Eligibility Forms Due
  3. April: Award Application Due
  4. May/June: First Screening of Applications
  5. July: Consensus Review
  6. August/September: Sites Visits Conducted
  7. October: Winners Selected
  8. December: Award Ceremony/Conference

Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework

   The requirements for Performance Excellence are embodied in seven Categories as follows:

  1. Leadership
  2. Strategic Planning
  3. Customer Focus
  4. Measuremnet, Analysis, and Knowledge management
  5. Workgroup Focus
  6. Process Management
  7. Results

   Further details are available in criteria booklets available under "Criteria & App Forms" (Top of the page)

Evaluation/ Feedback

    Applications are reviewed and evaluated by members of the Board of Examiners, in accordance with strict rules regarding conflict of interest, in a four-stage process:

  1. Stage 1 - Independent review and evaluation by at least five members of the Board
  2. Stage 2 - Consensus review and evaluation for applications that score well in Stage 1
  3. Stage 3 - Site visits to applicants
  4. Stage 4 - Judges' review and recommendations of Award recipients

Site visits are done for all Level 2 and Level 3 applicants.

    All applicants receive a feedback report at the conclusion of the review process. The report contains a specific listing of the applicant's strengths and opportunities for improvement based on the Criteria for Performance Excellence. The feedback system is one of the most important components of the Alabama Quality Award; it provides a pathway for continuous improvement to be used by the applicants.

Strict confidentiality is observed at all times and in every aspect of application review and feedback.

Deadline and application information for Alabama Quality Award:

To request an application, call 205-348-8956 or e-mail: Linda@cba.ua.edu

Application Due Dates:
   Pre-Application Due: February 28, 2010
   Full Application Due: April 30, 2010

Applications should be mailed to:
   Linda Vincent
   P.O. Box 870318, 249 Bidgood Hall
   Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0318