So you want to improve your performance: here's how APEX ultimately improves bottom line.

• Author: Park, Ben
• Position: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - Alaska Performance Excellence

Businesses in Alaska are now facing two of the biggest challenges ever. First, the current economic downturn and the struggle to stay alive while the demand for many products and services is down significantly; and second, the opportunity that we face in the near future with a gas pipeline. I am already seeing some wise business leaders identifying the strategies that will be necessary to survive the current downturn while preparing to benefit from the longer-term opportunities. One way they are doing this is through participation in a new program to Alaska called Alaska Performance Excellence or APEX. At first glance, it may seem that APEX is about Alaska businesses and organizations applying and competing for an award. However, the program is about much more than winning awards--it's about helping Alaska organizations meet the challenges they face by aligning their entire team behind their vision and mission.

WHAT IS APEX?

APEX is a state award program tailored after the Baldrige National Quality Program, which has been sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce since 1988. Every year, BNQP awards the Baldrige National Quality Award, which is the highest level of national recognition a U.S. organization can achieve for performance excellence. Participants in this program learn to focus on a balanced business model, which includes seven categories: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement analysis and knowledge management, work force focus and process management and results. Baldrige has continued to refine the program over the past 20 years, and it now encompasses leading management practices found in world-class organizations from all sectors: business, health care, education and nonprofit.

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APEX PROGRAM LEVELS

While the Baldrige award process is intensive, requiring organizations to complete a 50-page application and undergo a multi-day site visit, the APEX program offers three participation levels for Alaska organizations to choose from. A pilot program was completed in 2007/08, and a complete award program will be offered in 2008/09 with recognition of award recipients for the first time.

The first level is called the Self-Assessment Workshop level. Organizations complete a self-assessment survey and attend a one-day workshop to review the results of their survey, learn about the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, and create something called an organizational profile...