E-Business Quality Management Education Effort Launched Now that the dotcom bubble has burst, many organizations have begun to realize that, although doing business over the Web is necessary for
survival in this new age of seamless operations and global competition, employees at all levels of the company need a better understanding of what quality really means when applied to e-business.
To address this truth, H. James Harrington, former president of the American Society for Quality, has decided to launch an effort to bridge that quality gap by working with
the ASQ and various institutions of higher learning to identify best practices and develop e-business quality standards. To help in this effort, he recruited fellow ASQ member Thomas McNellis. McNellis has been researching e-business quality at the University of Pennsylvania and teaching e-business quality at West Chester University for the past three years. He
integrates a unique blend of studies (quality management, e-business management, Six Sigma, project management, customer relationship management, information systems development, information
technology management, supply chain management, organizational dynamics and strategic planning) to identify the parameters of measurement that infuse the highest level of quality into every
aspect of an e-business initiative. In the effort to quickly develop a Web presence, most companies don't focus on quality factors, explains McNellis. Customers have limited
patience when they visit Web sites, and companies are not realigning the right back office applications to allow customers and suppliers to optimize transaction time on the Web. As such, not only
are many companies failing to optimize the true value of the Web (the new cost of bad quality), but quality professionals have now inherited a capsulized version of the entire business, which
they must audit for quality--a job made more difficult by the lack of e-business quality training and standards. For a company to make the leap to the next level of success, all professionals
must use new quality tools and tactics to streamline operational efficiency and optimize company partnerships and profitability. Harrington and McNellis have developed a series
of courses with West Chester University called "Quality for The New Age, E-business Quality Management." ASQ Professional Training uses the courses as a part of its E-business Quality
Management certificate program. Completion of the six-course certificate program is designed to provide all professionals with the tools and training they need to become
critical players in the e-business efforts of their organizations. Participants are provided e-business quality tools and best practice handbooks to enhance the practical application of
e-business theory in their work environment. To register or learn more, contact ASQ at (800) 248-1946. For more information about the certificate program, call (610) 436-3337,
ext. 2695; e-mail crumford@btcwcu.org ; or visit www.btcwcu.org .
E-Business Course List
- E-Business 101: Quality For A New Age, E-Business Quality Management
- E-Business 201: E-Business Customer Relationship Management, E-Supply Chain Management and Operational Integration
- E-Business 301: E-Business Security, E-Risk Analysis and E-Legal Reviews
- E-Business 401: E-Business Project Management, an Effective Approach
- E-Business 501: E-Business Six Sigma Software Quality
- E-Business 601: Audit the E-Business Initiative for Value, Effectiveness and Success
|
|
ISO Publishes Draft of Joint ISO 9000
and ISO 14000 Audit Standard The International Organization for Standardization has made available the draft of its
new standard for auditing both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 management systems. Drawing on the considerable pool of experience in auditing ISO management
systems, the standard will replace six such documents currently present in the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families.
"This will help organizations optimize their management systems and facilitate the integration of quality and environmental management, and, in allowing single audits
of both systems, will save money and decrease disruption of work," says Roger Frost, ISO's press and communication manager.
The Draft International Standard ISO/DIS 19011, Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing, can be purchased from the American
National Standards Institute by calling (212) 642-4900, e-mailing info@ansi.org or visiting www.ansi.org .
ISO/DIS 19011 was published on May 31 and has been distributed to ISO's members for a five-month ballot, which closes on Oct. 31, 2001. If approved, the
document will subsequently be published, with modifications resulting from comments received, as a final draft international standard for a further ballot. Its
publication as a full-fledged international standard is expected in 2002. ISO 19011 provides guidance on the conduct of internal or external quality and/or
environmental management system audits, as well as on the management of audit programs. "The new guidelines provide a uniform approach for the auditing of environmental
and quality management systems," adds Frost. "As many organizations implement both EMSs and QMSs--either as separate systems or as an integrated management
system--they want to harmonize and, where possible, combine the auditing of these systems. This saves money in two ways. First, a single audit team--provided the
necessary expertise on environment and quality is included--can audit both systems at the same time. Second, the organizational unit that is being audited is only disturbed once.
"As far as external audits are concerned, ISO 19011 also provides certification/registration bodies with a uniform approach and will facilitate the
combined external assessment of management systems. ISO 19011 is thus serving a real market need for better harmonization of practices in the quality and environmental management arenas." ISO 19011 will replace ISO 10011-1, ISO 10011-2 and ISO 10011-3 in the ISO 9000 series and ISO 14010, ISO 14011 and ISO 14012 in the ISO 14000 series. It
will complete the ISO 9000 "core series," which also includes ISO 9000, ISO 9001 and ISO 9004, published in December 2000. 2001 Quality Cup Winners Announced If you picked up USA Today recently and read that the newspaper had announced
the winners of the 2001 Quality Cup competition, you likely reacted by asking, "What Quality Cup competition?" Nevertheless, the less-than-legendary honor, which
recognizes teams that make significant contributions to the improvement of quality in their organization, has been around for decade now.
The competition was established in 1991 through the efforts of Richard N. Rosett, former dean of the Rochester Institute of Technology College of Business, and
Thomas Curley, president and publisher of USA Today. The competition is conducted as a cooperative academic-industry effort between the school and the publication.
Teams that win the Quality Cup exemplify the qualities RIT's College of Business emphasizes when educating its students and which guide USA Today in its
reader/customer-driven approach to newspaper publication. Team awards are presented in six categories: education, government, health care,
manufacturing, service and small business (those with fewer than 500 employees). Quality Cup winners and finalists are recognized at a ceremony at the USA Today
headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and also receive recognition in special pages of USA Today. For more information, visit www.qualitycup.org . 2001 Winners
Representatives from Providian Financial Corp. accept a 2001 Quality Cup. |
 Government--Tennessee Valley Authority saved $30
million by making decisions on the fly, such as when to fire up a power plant or buy electricity on the wholesale market. Health Care--Wilkes-Barre General Hospital proved with a three-year study that treatment with an
inexpensive nasal antibiotic could reduce devastating chest wound infections in open-heart surgery patients. Manufacturing--In just three months, Iomega Corp. transformed a losing
product, a miniature floppy disk for laptop computers, into a popular portable MP3 player. Basketmaker, Longaberger, dramatically reduced wasted raw material and workers' downtime.
Service--Providian Financial revamped its customer satisfaction program with more than 200 changes in telemarketing sales techniques and direct mail. As a result,
accounts increased 60 percent while complaints dropped 40 percent. Small Business--Wes-Tex Printing employees found delays in the production process, readjusted work schedules and dramatically reduced delivery times.
Writing the Right Résumé W
ith the once rock-solid U.S. economy slipping, it might be time to polish up your résumé. And, with more people suddenly out of work, competition has become
fierce. You'd better be at the top of your game, and your résumé should be at its best. The résumé rules have changed, according to Lawrence Stuenkel, author of the new
book From Here To There (Lawrence & Allen Inc., 2001). Where employers once cared about past responsibilities, they're now concerned with contributions. If your
résumé screams "excessive overhead," it will quickly find its way into the dreaded circular file. Stuenkel offers these tips for writing the perfect résumé:
Show them the money. When you write your accomplishments, ask yourself: "How did the results of my actions make or save the company money?" It's not
"designed and implemented a program that reduced production time and increased product sales," it's "designed and implemented a program that reduced production
time by 26 percent in a six-month period. Net result: Reduced labor costs by 13 percent, which contributed to a $150,000 increase in profits." Stick to the facts. Avoid self-praise and self-evaluative comments. Most top
executives in major companies regard overselling unfavorably.
Be as brief and focused as possible. For example:
- Don't list references or state that they will be furnished upon request. Prepare a list of three references on a separate sheet of paper and have it available.
- Avoid listing irrelevancies such as short educational courses or hobbies.
- Don't include salary history or reason for leaving previous positions/companies.
- Avoid all references to health.
Send your résumé straight to the top. From the CEO, it may travel "downstream." That's much more effective than sending to a lower level of authority and hoping it
travels "upstream." Six Sigma Touts People Power H
ow do you implement a new, record-shattering management strategy? You can bring in a consultant to get your employees fired up. You can show pie charts, bar
graphs and budget projections all day long. You can back your claims with mountains of supporting evidence. But no matter how convincing it looks on paper,
one pivotal ingredient will make or break all of your good intentions: people. Without the right committed minds to carry it out, your plan is about as substantial as empty
air. And this undeniable truth is the reason Six Sigma--a management philosophy that touts people power combined with process power and focuses on eliminating
mistakes, waste and rework--is so effective. "One of the most important elements of Six Sigma is the role everyone plays," says
Subir Chowdhury, author of The Power of Six Sigma (Dearborn Trade, 2001). "This is the people power side of the equation. Any good football coach will tell you the
same thing: Every player must have a specific role, clearly defined, with consequences for not coming through and rewards for doing his or her particular job
well. And that goes for everyone, from the quarterback to the waterboy." According to Chowdhury, key roles in a successful execution of Six Sigma include:
Executive leadership. Executive leadership has to be the driving force behind adopting the Six Sigma philosophy and inspiring the organization from day one. If the
leadership isn't ready to do what's necessary to win, the team won't. Executive champion. A good CEO will likely appoint one of his or her executives to oversee and support the entire mission. This sends a signal to everyone else that
the company is serious about Six Sigma. It might be a vice president or a director of manufacturing or marketing, somebody who's highly visible and has pull. And that
executive is called the executive champion.
Deployment champions. Picked by the executive champion, these people provide leadership and commitment and work to implement Six Sigma throughout their businesses.
Project champions. The project champion's job is to oversee, support and fund the Six Sigma projects and personnel necessary to get the job done. Project
champions also pick, evaluate and support the Black Belts in tackling their projects. Master Black Belts. When a company first decides to implement Six Sigma, the role of Master Black Belt is played by outside consultants. They are the people
responsible for creating lasting, fundamental changes in the way the company operates from top to bottom. When the people they've trained are ready, they take
over the job of Master Black Belt from the consultants.
Black Belts. Black Belts are the key to the whole project, the true leaders of Six Sigma. Black Belts must have considerable intellect and drive and be willing to think
"outside the box." They must have both managerial and technical skills as well as the ability to inspire passion in front-line employees and the confidence of the top brass.
They turn the Six Sigma vision into reality.
Green Belts. Green Belts provide the Black Belts the support they need to get the project done. But because they're trained in Six Sigma, everyone is speaking the
same language and is working for the same goals. 
Salt Lake City Goes
for Gold in Olympic
Customer Service
The XIXth Olympic Winter Games, which open on Feb. 8, 2002, have the
distinction of being staged in the largest city ever to host the Winter Games: Salt Lake City. Because the Salt Lake Organizing Committee wants Salt Lake City and the
United States to shine on the world stage--as this will mark the first time in 22 years that the Winter Games have been held in the United States--it has decided to expand
the training for the army of volunteers who will help Salt Lake City host the events. In addition to the typical job-specific and venue-specific training that volunteers
normally receive, the SLOC wants its 26,000 Olympic and Paralympic volunteers to receive training that will enhance their ability to deal effectively with the thousands of
visitors from all over the world who will converge on Salt Lake City in February. "Months from now, when the games are completed, I hope we hear stories about
enthusiastic and well-trained volunteers who helped a spectator find his seat at the Olympic Stadium, translated for a Russian-speaking visitor or handed out a map and
gave directions to the alpine skiing venue at Snowbasin," says Mitt Romney, SLOC president and CEO.
The job of raising up a trained volunteer workforce almost overnight is a huge one. The SLOC needed a training partner to help it with the training challenge. The SLOC
selected AchieveGlobal as its official volunteer and staff training supplier for the 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The mission of Team 2002 is "To be the best games workforce ever." To motivate the volunteers toward this end and remind them of the traits needed to achieve it,
SLOC has coined the mnemonic CHARGE, which reminds volunteers to be Committed, Helpful, Adaptable, Respectful and Gracious, and to Enjoy the Olympic experience.
As volunteers learn to proactively seek every opportunity to help--the "H" in CHARGE--they use the WARMTH tool, a powerful set of actions for resolving tough challenges WARMTH reminds volunteers to be willing to help regardless of the difficulty of a situation; to acknowledge guests' concerns and assure them that they are being dealt
with empathetically; to restate the concern to clarify that it is understood; to meet the need by directly resolving the challenge or by using all available resources to find the
best resolution; and to thank the visitors for their patience, understanding and participation in the solution. Industry News New Mahr Federal Head
Mahr Federal Inc., a renowned manufacturer of dimensional metrology products critical to manufacturing operations in scores of industries, has recently named Craig
Crossley president of the company. Prior to his service with Mahr Federal, Crossley was an executive with consultancy Russell Reynolds Association. For more information, visit the press room at www.trankin.com . SME Site Accolades
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers' Web site recently earned a top-10 ranking of engineering sites by Galaxy.com, a leading Internet directory. SME's site was
identified as "highly desirable": well-organized and well-written, fast-loading, rich in unique and substantively interactive content, graphically pleasing, and easily and
intuitively navigated. To see for yourself, visit www.sme.org .
Big Three ISO 9001 Registration
Setting an example for its suppliers, DaimlerChrysler (one of the principle proponents
of the QS-9000 requirement) has undergone a rigorous QMS registration process. The company announced recently that it had been recommended for registration to
the newly revised ISO 9001:2000 standard by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. For more information, visit www.ul.com . New Renishaw Site
Renishaw Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision metrology systems, has launched
a new Web site as part of the company's e-business strategy, which will see Renishaw use the Internet and related technologies to work increasingly close with
customers, suppliers and channel partners alike. The new www.renishaw.com
represents a complete redesign of the company's previous Web site, including access to product documentation and data sheets. Product application information is
available, as are a powerful site search function and product comparisons. |
