ASQ Chicago Section 1201

American Society for Quality

The Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence

The Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence is a non-profit organization backed by both private and public funding. The Foundation seeks to help Illinois organizations continuously improve their performance by encouraging, developing and highlighting excellence among all five sectors of the economy: industry, service, health care, education, and government.

Does Performance Excellence Pay?

Studies by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, universities, business organizations, and the U.S. General Accounting Office have found that investing in quality principles and performance excellence pays off in increased productivity, satisfied employees and customers, and improved profitability - both for customers and investors.

Do you want to improve your organization’s performance on the critical factors that drive success? Are you looking for a cost effective way to gain outside perspective on your organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvement? Are you looking for ways to energize and motivate your employees? Do you want to improve your organization’s bottom line? Attend The Lincoln Foundation workshops or events to learn more about the best, most cost-effective, and comprehensive performance assessments available to your organization.

Educational Workshops

Alternatives for Excellence: Baldrige, Six Sigma, and ISO

Determine which performance improvement methodology is best for your organizational needs. This one-day session provides an overview of the available performance improvement methodology options, how they are related, and how to evaluate the best fit for your organization.

Champions for Excellence

A two-day workshop for individuals who want to develop in-depth knowledge and skills on how to utilize the Criteria for Performance Excellence and evaluate an organization in the same way certified Lincoln Examiners do, without committing to serving as a member of the Board of Examiners. A rigorous case study approach is utilized with a strong focus on team-based exercises. Participants are typically those individuals who have been selected to serve as consultants, evaluators, or champions of continuous improvement within their own organization.

Foundation for Excellence

If your organization is interested in beginning a quality initiative or planning to apply for the 2004 Lincoln Awards, attend this dynamic one-day training program to learn how to use the Baldrige National Quality Award criteria. In addition, the training will cover the Lincoln Award application process and will help you determine if your organization is ready to submit an application for The Lincoln Award.

Preparing for Excellence

For those organizations who feel ready to apply, attend a one-day "Preparing for Excellence" workshop in which team exercises are used to teach participants about the award criteria, applicant requirements, preparing an application, and implementing continuous improvement.

Tools for Excellence

This one-day workshop provides an overview of common tools which can be used to enhance your performance excellence initiatives. Descriptions of frequently used tools will be combined with interactive exercises to increase your ability to utilize these tools.

Examiner Training

Examiners receive valuable training and experience in understanding and applying the Baldrige criteria. Examiners complete an intensive three-day training and then analyze an application through a full award cycle as part of an examiner team.

If you have questions or need additional information, please call The Foundation office at (630) 637-1595, email at info@lincolnaward.org or visit our website at www.lincolnaward.org.