Business Initiative Directions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Business Initiative Directions (BID) is a Madrid-based organisation selling what the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have called "meaningless international awards", more widely known as "vanity awards".[1]
 | |
| Industry | Vanity awards |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Madrid, Spain. |
Key people | Jose E. Prieto, President and CEO |
| Website | www |
History and people
Jose E. Prieto is the president and CEO of Business Initiative Directions.[2] He founded the company in the US and Spain in 1986, after which it expanded to Europe.[3] The company says it is focused on the principles of the Total Quality Management movement.[3]
Awards
BID market a number of awards:
- Century International Quality ERA Award (CQE)
- International Arch of Europe Award
- International Quality Crown Award
- International Star Award for Quality (ISAQ) (one was offered to a school in Swaziland, which BID described as a "company")[4]
- International Star for Leadership in Quality Award (ISLQ)[5][6]
- World Quality Commitment Award[7]
- WQC International Star Award
Criticism
The Center for Investigative Reporting and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) have called the awards "meaningless".[1]
Sri Lanka's Honorary Consul in Spain said that BID was possibly a scam company.[8] The Spanish Consulate in Mumbai stated BID was a fraudulent company.[8][9]
Botswana's Consumer Watchdog reported that the "so-called 'World Quality Commitment Convention', run by 'Business Initiative Directions' is remarkably similar to the equally ridiculous Bizz Awards scam we exposed some months ago."[10]