Why Should Quality “Go Global”?

This blog post is in response to February 2015 ASQ Influential Voices topic "Why Should Quality "Go Global"?"

ASQ's mission statement talks about increasing the use of and impact of quality in response to the diverse needs of the world. In my humble opinion, we need to do more, throughout the world, to accomplish that mission.

Here is my logic for 'Why':

• In the 21st Century, globalization is the name of the game. An organization cannot survive and prosper, if it is only US focused.

• Need for good education, proper healthcare, and responsive government are universal.

• With limited global resources, need exists to ensure people's livelihood through economic prosperity.

• We are polluting the world (air, land, water) faster than our forefathers did.

• World is constantly in turmoil due to barbaric and uncivilized behavior of few people and groups.

Here is my logic for 'What' should be done:

• Take a case of global supply chains. In the globalized scenario, the key players of the supply chain (suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and customers) could be anywhere in the world. When these key players integrate quality management to optimize their entire supply chains, they will achieve best performance for their supply chains. 

• There is a need to skillfully integrate quality management with supply chain management to create innovative products/services to provide for the global citizens. ASQ should promote the use of Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria for better management of  global supply chains.

• Quality is a common denominator for providing access, containing cost, and ensuring best outcomes in education, healthcare, and government sectors. ASQ should act as a catalyst to share best practices in all sectors globally.

• For Economic prosperity, ASQ should promote effective and efficient deployment of ISO 9001 Standards globally.

• For Environmental stewardship, ASQ should promote effective and efficient implementation of ISO 14001 Standards universally.

• For Social Responsibility, ASQ should disperse effective and efficient use of ISO 26000 Standards for good governance and promote spirit of cooperation and collaboration among 7 billion people on this earth.

Here is 'How' we can carry the "Quality Torch" forward collectively and individually: 

• Education Sector: ASQ India in collaboration with IIT (BHU) Varanasi, IIT BHU Global Alumni Association (IBGAA), and Business Excellence, Inc., USA we  initiated a Free Knowledge Transfer Using Technology (Google Hangouts). Under this initiative a 12 session Leadership Excellence Series (LES) was unveiled in August 2014 to impart soft skills and quality management principles/practices to India's top 1% of youth in engineering college. The resultant YouTubes are shared widely with 6,500 students, faculty, and administration at the IIT (BHU) campus.

          https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140822213201-1800896-knowledge-transfer-via-google-hangout?trk=mp-           reader-card

          https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140902040132-1800896-successful-launch-of-iit-bhu-asq-india-leadership-excellence-series 

• Healthcare Sector: In 1989, we established Blind Foundation for India (BFI) with a mission to prevent and cure blindness as well as provide education and rehabilitation to over 15 million visually challenged people in India. This staggering number translates to one out of three blind people in the world residing in India. 

          Refer to my April 13, 2013 TEDxIIT Chicago Talk on "Exponential Power of the                      
          Gift of Giving" at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-fmkivYcVg&feature=share 

• Government Sector: Refer to ASQ™ TV - Quality and Indian Government at:       https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141003192404-1800896-asq-tv-quality-and-indian-government?trk=mp-reader-card

• Social Responsibility:  On April 7, 2013 gave my TEDxIIT BHU Varanasi, India Talk on "Leveraging Social Responsibility to Unite the World" at         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94kXi9WTl04

ASQ and quality professionals have treasure trove of knowledge which needs to be disseminated to uplift citizens of the world for economic prosperity, environmental stewardship, and peaceful coexistence.

I look forward to learn from your perspectives and practical experience in making Quality Global.

Finding Inspiration from Quality Leaders

This blog post is in response to January 2015 ASQ Influential Voices topic "Finding Inspiration from Quality Leaders?"

In my journey of excellence I have come across several leaders who influenced my thought process.
Here are few of them whose teachings inspired me including lessons I have learned from each one of them.

1). Late Prof. Gopal Tripathi, Head of Department, Chemical Engineering & Technology, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, UP, India

I had my good fortune to study from a Giant in the field of chemical engineering whose contributions made a great impact for chemical engineering education in post-Independent India.

Lessons Learned:  

• Subject Mastery - He shared his deep technical knowledge in an engaging ways. He was an  inspiration to kindle my interest in teaching. It is my pleasure to teach quality management and operations management as an adjunct faculty in business schools in USA and India for the last 22 years.
• Humility -  He had photographic memory and would always greet students by their name. He is my role model to keep me grounded throughout my life.   

2). Prof. Darsh Wasan, Motorola Chair Professor in Chemical Engineering and Vice President, Illinois Institute of Quality (IIT), Chicago, Illinois, USA

After coming to the United States for my graduate work at IIT Chicago, I was privileged to work with Prof. Darsh Wasan for my research work. He is an eminent academician and a researcher blazing new trails in the field of surface phenomena and chemical engineering.

Lessons Learned:

• Focus: He would communicate with students to remain focused whether conducting research or writing reports and proposals. He had exacting standards and high expectations. I have learned the importance of simple communication, focus, and setting high expectations of everyone I interact with including my family members and friends.

• Networking: I witnessed his extraordinary networking abilities connecting with professionals. I learned a life-long lesson to keep building my network. It has served me well, both professionally and personally.

3). Mr. John Delatore, Retired Director, International Switching Systems Engineering, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, Illinois, USA

I worked with Mr. John Delatore in Systems Engineering at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He provided extra-ordinary support for quality planning and implementation initiatives in the International Switching Systems Engineering Division.

Lessons Learned:

• Visionary: He spearheaded quality planning and implementation initiatives from grounds up. His vision and foresight to bring the best practices from both within and outside of AT&T to benefit the organization was par excellence. I learned how to leverage best practices and always stay focused on the improvement journey.

• Caring: He had very high standards, however, he would always care and support his people. I learned the importance of caring for people and provide required support when leading projects.

4). Late Dr. Hans Bajaria, ASQ Medalist and ASQ Fellow, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, USA

I had a pleasure to interact with late Dr. Hans Bajaria for over a decade. He was a great ambassador for quality management. With his keen insights he served his clients well globally.  

Lessons Learned: 

• Innovation: He used to look for innovative ways to tackle customer issues. I learned from him how to be customer focused and find end-to-end solutions in an innovative ways. 
• Boldness: As a subject matter expert, he would speak his mind challenging conventional wisdom. I learned how to present a counter-point with conviction to persuade others about the merit of my proposal.

5). Mr. Ron Kingen, Past President and Chair of ASQ, President, CVI Group, LLC, Racine, Wisconsin, USA

It has been a delight to interact with Mr. Ron Kingen, the past President and Chair of ASQ for over 25 years. First at the ASQ Certification Board, then at ASQ Board level including the ASQ Capital Campaign.

Lessons Learned:

• Inclusiveness: He is a role model for inclusiveness. Working on a variety of teams, his insight to engage members from different background is outstanding. I learned a simple lesson on working with diverse group of people to achieve best project results. 

• Respect for People: He exhibits tremendous respect for everyone he interacts with. I have learned from him how to be a professional and respect everyone, irrespective of their viewpoints or positions.

6). Mr. Navin Dedhia, Past Member of ASQ Board, San Jose, California, USA

I have a pleasure to interact with Mr.Navin Dedhia for over 25 years at ASQ at the ASQ Certification Board, ASQ International Chapter Member Advancement Team, ASQ Capital Campaign, and ASQ Fellow Process Coach Team.

Lessons Learned:

• Global Focus: He was Chair/Trustee of the ASQ International Chapter for over 18 years. He nurtured involvement from the International quality community which paved the way for ASQ to become ASQ Global. My lesson is how to look beyond the US borders to add value for global ASQ members. 

• Mentoring: Has has mentored generation of quality professionals globally in a most effective way. His mentoring contributions are phenomenal. I learned a lesson from him on becoming a mentor to other quality professionals.

I look forward to hear about your views on this topic.

Is Quality Ambitious Enough?

This blog post is in response to December 2014 ASQ Influential Voices topic "Is Quality Ambitious Enough?"

Personally, I believe Quality is Not Ambitious Enough. 

Here are my thoughts on issues and opportunities to make quality more ambitious:

Issues:

• We the quality professionals have not done a good job selling the value of quality to the C Suite. Hence, the Quality Department is a Cost Center rather than Value Center. Too often we hear stories of organizations dismantling quality departments when times are tough. 

• Everyone wants quality, however, in majority of organizations there is no underlying mechanisms to create and sustain quality, other than delegating work to quality department.  

• Executives are busy drawing strategies and rest of the management is busy in day-to-day affairs. Quality is an afterthought. 
• There is a lack of single-minded focus in instilling quality in Education (K-12, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels), Healthcare (physicians, nurses, administrators, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.), Government (local, state, and federal levels), Non-profits, Manufacturing, Service, and Small Businesses.

Opportunities:

• Each one of us rededicate ourselves to sell the value of quality to our top management in any organization we work in.

• In an organization wherever we serve, ensure we help build necessary mechanisms to create and sustain quality.

• Provide input to our executives for their strategy formulation to build quality in the strategic plan so that they can drive quality from the top. Reinforce quality value proposition for the middle management and get their engagement to move the quality forward. 

• In various sectors such as Education, Healthcare, Government, Non-Profits, Manufacturing, Service, and Small Businesses, volunteer your time and talent as appropriate. Start instilling importance and value of quality at all levels of organizations. As a quality professional be a champion or catalyst for the cause of quality rather than become a police person focusing on compliance only.

• Here are my personal actions in making quality ambitious in various sectors:

         Education: Sharing Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework at K-12, 

         Undergraduate, and Graduate levels. Initiated Google Hangout for free knowledge 

         transfer at various educational institutes in India to strengthen soft skills and exposure 

         to quality management principles and practices.

         

         Government: Shared Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework at local, state, 

         and International levels.

         Manufacturing: Leading a Knowledge Sharing Series for a very reputable Corporate 

         House in India in collaboration with ASQ India.

         Non-Profits: Personally instilled quality discipline in managing a non-profit (Blind 

         Foundation for India) for over 25 years.

         Service: Championed use of Baldrige in organizations for significant transformations.

         Small Businesses: Shared best practices and outstanding frameworks to benefit 

         them in quality improvement.

I look forward to hear your views on this topic.

Leadership and Quality Professionals

This blog post is in response to November 2014 ASQ Influential Voices topic "Is Every Quality Professional a Leader?"

I would start by defining leadership, leadership quotes, leadership versus management, leadership core competencies, some examples of great leaders, and leadership paradigm.

Then I will share my personal quality journey to stress the importance of leadership in all aspects of work (corporate, academic, professional, and not-for-profits).

Leadership Definition:

Leadership Quotes:

Leadership versus Management:

Leadership Core Competencies:

Great Leaders (Some Examples):

Leadership Paradigm:

Let me briefly elaborate on the Leadership Paradigm shown above. Rare are the Servant Leaders who sacrifice and provide service to others (e.g., Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, etc.). Most of the enlightened C level executives are Value Leaders. They focus on organization's growth and profit. Knowledge Leaders are generally educators who care for and share their knowledge with those who they come in contact with. Then finally there is Position Leadership. These are generally front to middle level managers (and sometimes C levels), who wield undesirable influence in the path to progress for an organization. 

Now I will highlight my quality journey and importance of leadership in various roles to be effective (For-Profit, Academic, Professional Organizations, and Not-for-Profit organizations).

For-Profit Organizations (40 years):

• Served in a number of corporations at various levels to promote the mission of quality and excellence. 
• Took extensive leadership and quality management training while working with AT&T Bell Laboratories.
• Worked with senior leadership teams to elevate importance of quality including global clients.
• Served as a champion/catalyst to raise the flag for quality using leadership skills acquired over the years.

Academics (21 years):

• Currently associated with 33 educational institutions globally.
• Teach courses in quality management, operation management, leadership excellence, supply chain management, project management, risk management, etc. at graduate level.
• Continue to refine my leadership and subject matter knowledge by reading articles from Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, McKinsey Quarterly, etc.
• Continue to learn new practices through students/professionals from various domains.

Professional Organizations (30 years):

• Honor to serve at ASQ in various leadership capacity since 1988.
• Served in leadership roles at ASQ Chicago Section, Regional, National, and International levels. Led number of strategic initiatives for ASQ including Capital Campaign and Volunteer Leader Recognition process. Served as a Site Committee Chair for ASQ's 50th Annual Quality Conference (now World Conference for Quality and Improvement). Also led ASQ Certification Process Improvement initiative.
• Currently serve in advisory capacity at ASQ India promoting quality mission in education, health care, government, and corporate world.
• Served in lead capacity at Information Integrity Coalition. Also served as a Chief Judge for the Illinois Team Excellence Award Program for seven years 91993-1999). From 2006-2010 served as a Chair of the Illinois Institute of Technology's Alumni Awards Program Judge's Committee.

Not-for-Profit Organizations (44 years):

• Honor to serve and lead the Blind Foundation for India (BFI) since 1989.
• The BFI is supporting over 15 million blind people in India through prevention, cure, education, and rehabilitation.
• Served as Honorary Executive Director with GOSUMEC Foundation, USA to support Seth G. S. Medical College and K. E. M. Hospital in Mumbai, India,
• Served as a Chair of the AT&T Bell Laboratories' Save the Children Holiday Fund Drive from 1985 to 1999 sponsoring 50 children in 20 countries around the world.

In summary, from my personal experience I can unequivocally stress the need for leadership for all quality professionals to be effective in adding positive value in any setting.

I would love to hear your perspective on this topic.

Formula for Member and Volunteer Recruitment and Retention

This blog post is in response to the October 2014 ASQ Influential Voices topic, "Recruiting Members and Volunteers Amid a Changing Landscape".

For any professional organization recruiting and retaining members and volunteers is a big challenge. However, this challenge is no different than organizations recruiting and retaining employees. Therefore, we can take a cue from the Human Resources (HR) area on how to effectively recruit and retain members and volunteers.

For the HR side let us explore an employee engagement model ("Managing Human Capital")* - Recruitment  + Participation + Recognition + Development --> Retention (RPRDR). Let us expand the RPRDR model as follows:

• Recruitment  -  Hire for attitude and positive spirit (see Gallup's book "First Break                                 All the Rules")** - Talent, Expectations, Strength's Focus, and                                     Right Fit
• Participation -  Need Orientation, Mentoring, Teamwork Opportunities, and                                           Meeting Management 
• Recognition  -  Motivate employees through Recognition and Suggestion processes.                             Use Theory of Strengths (Focus on Strengths and Manage                                             Weaknesses)
• Development - Offer Continuous Education & Training, Coaching, and Performance                             feedback
• Retention       - Practice A to Z of "Love 'Em or Lose 'Em" #

* Manu K. Vora (2005). Managing Human Capital, Book Chapter, Six Sigma for Transactions and Service, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

** Buckingham & C. Coffman (1999). First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, M.  Simon & Schster, New York, NY. 

#  B. Kaye & S. Jordan-Evans (2002). Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay, , Brrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, CA.  

Now let us look at a similar Member/Volunteer Engagement Model - Recruitment + Participation + Recognition + Development --> Retention (RPRDR):

• Recruitment   - Recruit with a Value Proposition (Professional and Personal)
• Participation  - Create opportunities to serve on Committees, Conferences, etc.
• Recognition   - Build aspiration - Advance Regular member to Senior member                                       to Fellow; Nominate worthy candidates for Society Awards
• Development - Offer Certification Training courses, Customized workshops, and                                   Coaching
• Retention       - Retain members and volunteers by delivering promised Value

Let me share my personal experience deploying RPRDR model in ASQ Chicago Section, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and sharing best practices from ASQ India.

Recruitment - 

1). From 1990-1995 I was able to recruit 350 new members at AT&T Bell Labs by offering ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) refresher courses at the Naperville, Illinois location. The Value Proposition was to expose employees to quality discipline through refresher classes and provide opportunity for professional certification.

2). From 1988-1997, for 10 consecutive years, we organized National Quality Month Simulcast for AT&T Bell Labs Naperville location to share best-in-class practice for the company. This free values-added service attracted management attention and resulted in ASQ new members.

3). From 1993 I am proud to share ASQ value-added services to my graduate students at various business schools globally. As a result I have recruited many student members globally.

Participation - 

1). At ASQ Chicago Section during 1994-1995, serving as the Section Chair, we had around 30 different committees. As a result, we were able to engage many member leaders to serve on different committees.

2). In 1997, the five ASQ Section leaders (Chicago, Fox Valley, Heart of Illinois, Illiana, and Northeastern Illinois) came together to establish Northern Illinois Quality Conference (NIQC). Between 1998 to 2012, for 15 consecutive years, this high value annual conference provided various opportunities for member leaders to volunteer and actively participate in this regional conference.

3). In 1996 when ASQ celebrated 50 years of its formation, as a Chair of the Site Committee, we were able to engage 300 members for the Site Committee.

Recognition - 

Let us remember that Recognition is the Only Paycheck Volunteers get!

1). At ASQ Chicago Section we had set up a simple process to advance Regular to Senior member during monthly technical meetings. Forms were kept on hand and distributed to potential senior members. Likewise, a new Advancement to Fellow committee was established. Serving on this committee, we proactively sought out highly qualified candidates and coached them in their Fellow Nomination Process. I am happy to share that since 1990 we have advanced around 15 members to Fellow membership from the Section.

2). Since 2002, I have a pleasure to serve as a Fellow Process Coach. Overall, very happy to have touched around 70 successful new Fellows from the ASQ Board, Committees, and International members. 

3). Since 2010, I have a pleasure to coach 6 new Fellows and 3 under consideration from ASQ India. 

4). Personally nominated worthy candidates globally for ASQ Awards over the last 25 years.

Development -

1). From 1993-1999, serving as the Chief Judge at Illinois Team Excellence Award (ITEA) Program we were able to offer special training to ASQ member leaders recruited as Judges from various Chicago area Sections. We followed Motorola's Total Customer Satisfaction philosophy for the ITEA Program. 

2). In December 2013, we initiated a Leadership Excellence Series (LES) for ASQ India Local Member Communities (LMCs) leadership team and ASQ India members. The focus of LES is to share quality management principles and soft skills to enhance leadership of member leaders and members. It is an honor to serve as a faculty to conduct these free knowledge transfer via Webinar on a monthly basis.

3). In August 2014, IIT (BHU), IIT BHU Global Alumni Association, ASQ India, and my company Business Excellence, Inc. embarked on a Leadership Excellence Series (LES). 
The objective of the LES is to impart soft skills and quality discipline to students and the campus community of IIT (BHU), Varanasi, India.
See the few links at: 

• Knowledge Transfer via Google Hangout -  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140822213201-1800896-knowledge-transfer-via-google-hangout?trk=mp-reader-card

• Successful Launch of IIT (BHU) - ASQ India Leadership Excellence Series (LES) - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20140902040132-1800896-successful-launch-of-iit-bhu-asq-india-leadership-excellence-series?trk=mp-reader-card

• 2nd IIT (BHU) - ASQ India Google Hangout - "Effective Teamwork" -https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141003190623-1800896-2nd-iit-bhu-asq-india-google-hangout-effective-teamwork?trk=mp-reader-card

4). I have a honor to coach and mentor number of ASQ members globally in quality management discipline through teaching, writing, and in one-on-one meetings at various conferences globally.

Retention -

1). When one advances from ASQ Regular member to Senior member, and eventually to Fellow member, they stay with ASQ for a long time as they realize value of ASQ membership.

2). When an ASQ member becomes certified, they stay much longer with ASQ.

3). When an ASQ member adds better value at their workplace, they remain with ASQ for a longer time as they are eager to acquire new learning from ASQ and implement that learning at their workplace.

In summary, if we proactively recruit members and volunteers on a value proposition basis, we need to fulfill that promise by creating participation opportunity, and then recognize and develop them for better retention in ASQ.

I look forward to learn about your success with member and volunteer recruitment and retention.   

Charting A Strategy for Quality-and Beyond

This blog post is in response to the September 2014 ASQ Influential Voices topic, "Charting A Strategy for Quality-and Beyond".

Strategic Planning Process:

The strategic planning process involves senior leadership team coming together to deliberate on Vision, Mission, and Values for their organization. They get staff support with information on customers, employees, processes, and finance. The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis tool helps the leaders to perform internal and external scans to take an organization at the next level.

Some Quotes on Vision:

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. – Jonathan Swift

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power              and energy to get it done. – Ralph Lauren

Vision/Mission/Values Definitions: 

Vision (Long-term Dream, Destination):

¨Is it inspiring?

¨Is it clear and vivid?

Mission (Purpose of being, Path to your vision):

¨Why you exist? (business purpose)

¨What you hope to achieve in the future?

¨Does the Mission provide focus and inspiration?

¨Does the Mission provide criteria for strategic choices?

Values (Guiding Principles):

¨What is important to people?

¨How will people work together? 

Once the Vision, Mission, and Values are established using the SWOT Analysis, an Integrated Business Plan is developed identifying Goals, Strategies, Objectives and Action Plans as shown in the graphics above. A Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a tool used to measure success of a selected strategy when deployed. It has four components and has current, leading,  and lagging indicators as shown in the graphics below.

Deployment of Strategic Plan:

Around the world only 30-35% of strategic plans are successful. 

Key reasons for failures are:

1). Too many strategies-Prioritize few critical strategies.

2). Lack of resources for few strategies-Provide needed resources.

  

3). Lack of communication-Use Hoshin Planning process.

See the Hoshin Planning in Action graphic below.

My ASQ Strategic Deployment Experience:

1). 1998-1999 - ASQ wide Volunteer Recognition Process Team Leader

I had the pleasure to lead the ASQ-wide volunteer recognition process with 

members from Sections, Divisions, and ASQ Staff. After benchmarking

of other professional organizations, the ASQ-wide volunteer recognition 

process was defined, documented, approved, and deployed in 1999.         

2). 1999-2001 - ASQ "Investing in Quality" Capital Campaign Vice Chair 

Based on my fund-raising expertise, I had the pleasure to serve as a Vice Chair 

of the first capital campaign at ASQ. With 24 member Campaign Cabinet 

with ASQ thought leaders from Sections, Divisions, Industry, and Staff. 

In spite the post 9/11 turbulence, the Cabinet was successful in raising $1.75 

million. That allowed a permanent home for the ASQ headquarters in 2001.

I look forward to learning about your success with strategic planning process.