Why should your organization apply for the CQIA Breakthrough Award? Try taking this quiz and compare your answers to the answer key which follows. We think you will get some surprising answers!

1. How many employees does the smallest Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner have?

2. How many years did it take them to complete the quality journey to winning the Baldrige?

3. Their journey to the Baldrige took the following path:

4. Their customers have experienced the following number of defects over the past four years?

5. When they started their quality journey 7 years ago, how many of their employees had high school diplomas?

6. Over the past 4 years, their gross profit has:

while their overall industry market has decreased by 6%

7. Over the past three years, their sales per year have:

The above quiz is based on the Texas Nameplate Company, a Baldrige award winner in 1998. With 66 employees and four million dollars in sales, they are the smallest company to win the award. If an organization this small can do it, why can't yours? Just look at the business results they achieved!

[answers1: a; 2: b; 3: d; 4: a; 5: d; 6: d; 7: d]

To learn more about Texas Nameplate or other Baldrige winners, visit these web sites: