Segment

The term “segment” refers to a part of an organization’s overall customer, market, product or service line, or employee base. Segments typically have common characteristics that can be logically grouped. In Results Items, the term refers to disaggregating results data in a way that allows for meaningful analysis of an organization’s performance. It is up to each organization to determine the specific factors that it uses to segment its customers, markets, products, services, and employees.

Understanding segments is critical to identifying the distinct needs and expectations of different customer, market, and employee groups and to tailoring products, services, and programs to meet their needs and expectations. As an example, market segmentation might be based on geography, distribution channels, business volume, or technologies employed. Employee segmentation might be based on geography, skills, needs, work assignments, or job classification.

The term "segment" appears in the Baldrige Criteria in the following locations: