Cutting down Quality with Cost by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

In the 1980s most of the companies were desperately trying to cope with yet another recession.It was during those tough times that the term " downsizing" was invented to describe the efforts being taken to improve efficiency and focus on core values. Unfortunately, because managers took the easy way out and simply cut resources and staff levels rather than work to create real effeciency improvements, it wasn't long before the term became discredited.

Instead of building new business through improved value propositions and competitiveness, many organizations simply became less capable and continued in a spiral decline. Major companies in UK like Ferranti and Marconi sacrificed themselves to this flawed strategy and thier long and honorable tradition of excellence in engineering was lost forever.

The term "rightsizing" was invented to desguise the impications of change, backed up wih assurances that the companies were " refocusing" and "reasserting core values". For short whil people were fooled , but it didn't take long to realize that nothing had changed and the end results were exactly the same: people still lost their jobs, companies still failed.

The companies that formed the core of the UK motor industry Austin , Rover, Triumph, and Jaguar, became synonymous with poor quality in the 1970s and the 1989s and this gave European and Japanese engineering companies an entry into our domestic market, which they have continued to extend ever since.

In the next five years, the global automotive industry has been desperate to reduce costs, but instead of improving effeciency and value focus there has been a discernable tendency to reduce product quality. This is not simply a reduction in bodywork metal and the increased use of plastic, as those measure could still return a good quality product overall, it seems the companies have resorted to poor quality build quality and mechanical components that only have a short life. The entire automotive sector seems to be following the example of the failed British motor manufacturing industry of 20 years ago.

Users and maintenance workshops of top brands such as BMW, Toyota and Audi have said that the build quality of new cars is worse that they have ever seen and replacement mechanical items have a significantly shoter lifetime than the originals. Corners have also been cut in overall vehicle design, meaning that gaining access to worn-out parts now involves the disassembly of a greater number of unrelated components increasing the time and cost of routine maintenance.

The word for this trend is "downengineering". It implies not simply reducing the complexity and cost of mechanical components, but completely losing sight of the need to maintain product value. After a disastrous quality failure in early 2010, the chairman of Toyota admitted that his company had "lost its way" from the heyday of automotive excellence, and sadly this failure was soon followed to another problem.

But Toyota was simply the first to get caught out on safety issues, and therefore publicly pilloried:other top marques are heading along the same path, and several other high profile failures followed last year. These quality failures are not just economic catastrophes for manufacturers, they are also causing serious problems for thier customers.Numerous people have found that after trading in their tatty old car for a new vehicle on the scappage scheme, their new vehicles may have attractive-sounding features such as better sound systems with iPod sockets and satnav options, the ownership experience is actually worse than it was previously.

But if the word "downengineering" is used to descibe production cost economies , how long will it be before everybody understands that it really means poor quality? And how long will it be before "rightenginnering" is invented to replace it?

Increased Risks from Global Political Upheavel

New research has found that the level of political risk has risen in more countries than it has declined. This comes as no surprise to a world that is still growing accustomed to the changes in Egypt and Tunisia.

The research conducted by GA Business and Management Consultancy, measured the political risk in 211 countries and territories based on the level of risks such as currency inconvertibility and exchange transfer, strikes, riots, and civil commotion, war, civil war, sovereign non-payment, political interference, supply chain disruption and legal and regulatory risk.

The findings demonstrated the negative effects of the global financial crisis on the economies of nations with traditionally low levels of risk. At the same time the continued emergence of several markets in Africa where more international trade and investment occurring has led to a greater need for political risk insurance cover.

The annual research has seen a nearly 30% increase in the number of countries in the middle of risk rankings-the medium high categories-as this countries have become more active in the world economy and their prosperity has increased. In addition, in recent research, GABMC pointed to continued tension between sovereign risks in the euro zone in the emerging countries. In 2012, the key issue for country risk will be private debt monitoring and growth financing.

GABMC found that the winners of the financial crisis are the emerging countries, which will continue their solid growth trajectory in 2012 with a slight slowdown: 6.4% compared to 6.2% in 2011.

Management Quality: Crucial to Staff Morale by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

With increased worries about job security and frozen salaries widespread, managers have to perform to the best of their ability to lift staff morale, according to GA Business and Management Consultancy. When publishing the results of its latest expatriates employee outlook survey in Bahrain, the GABMC revealed that almost a third of staff say their standard of living has  declined over the last six months with 46% confirming their pay has frozen, 7% that their pay has been cut and 20% believing that their job is at risk.

To combat the ill feeling, the GABMC is arguing that how managers communicate, consult, coach and develop staff is critical for morale and that organizations need to deliver consistently high quality leadership for their own sustainability.

GABMC further said:" If organizations don't invest in developing high performing managers, they may find better managed competitors racing past on the road to recovery. Employers need to find cost effective ways of equipping their line managers with the people management skills to support employee engagement and well being.

"They also need to consult and involve staff where major reorganizations or changes in terms and conditions are looming if they are to keep people on side and pulling together to deliver future success."

After tracking the progress of twenty top organizations undertaking change programmes,it has revealed eight areas which businesses should concentrate on including capability building, collaborative leadership and organizational agility. These  areas came as the GABMC published the findings from one  year research program.

The findings also supported the need for best practice management and communications approaches to ensure fully engaged employees.

Your career questions answered:A letter from my former management student at the University of Perpetual Help-Las Pinas

                              

" I've spent my career so far working for large organizations, but I want a change. How different will I find it to work for a small business"- Mary-Ann

The Answer:
First you would consider the reasons behind your desire to change jobs. You want a new position that will address your current concerns, but if you don't fully understand these it is unlikely that you will be happy in your next job no matter where it is.

It could be that you feel your current employer doesn't appreciate your efforts, that there is a lack of career prospects r you don't find the work interesting. In such scenarios working for a small or medium sized enterprise, a company with fewer than 250 members of staff, may offer the solutions you are looking for.

GA Consultancy survey found that employees of SMEs were not only happier in their work , but they were also more loyal and more committed to their roles than working for larger organizations. This is thought to be a result of staff being able to more readily see their impact upon a business's success or the greater sense of community that is easier to foster in smaller organization. when it comes to day to day job roles the biggest difference between SMEs and larger organizations is usually the variety of work and level of responsibility. In SMEs staff members usually have to approach their work with greater degree of flexibility , whereas in larger organizations individuals may be tasked with a single area of responsibility within a larger departmental team. Often in smaller businesses one person is more likely to work across a range of activities and will generally have closer relationships with other areas of the business.

For quality professionals this can mean moving from an expansive quality team to being solely responsible for quality, health and safety and environmental systems. This can be a huge challenge , but also very rewarding and an opportunity to work with everyone in an organization.

Moving to an SME gives individuals the opportunity to be more hands on and, with fewer levels of management., there can be a lot less red tape if you want to change a process or system. However, this can be a bit of a culture shock for some individuals, especially those from more senior roles within a large business.

While greater flexibility and more challenging work maybe appealing, you must also bear in mind that working in SME generally does not offer the same level of remuneration or the benefits, in terms of pension contribution for example, that working for a large organization can bring.
                                                      

Focus on Construction by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

The construction industry is under many different pressures. Climate change fears have governments worldwide looking to the construction to be energy efficient, and as a potentially hazardous industry, construction businesses are also under pressure to prove the highest levels of health and safety and to strive for improvement. In addition, there are the financial strains of the recession.

One answer to these different pressures is to turn to quality for help. At the moment quality is all about integrated systems. A focus on safety and environment is hugely important by integrating ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHS 18001 everybody can work to deliver these objectives.

Quality in construction is not a new concept, but it has gained a higher profile over recent years. Quality is being taken more seriously because it reduces costs and gives confidence to the client. The role of quality is to ensure you're delivering what the client wants by having the right systems in place.

Training
But having the right systems in place will only work, if staff are properly trained. With the launch of diploma for the younger people, it is more hoped that these millennial generations will enter the industry. The course not only examines tools and techniques , but also influences to a project, including community involvement and environmental issues. It is an opportunity to capture the imagination of young people who are seeking an exciting career in the built environment.

For those in the profession, the scheme was created to improve quality and reduce accidents, certifies the competence of individuals in more than 220 construction profession. Training as hugely important in our sector, especially when it comes to health and safety.

An agenda focused on promoting:

• Integrated and collaborative working within the supply chain
• Leadership, people development and training
• Value- how to add the most possible benefit of end users
• Sustainability

We have surveyed the construction industry clients how the sector is performing in terms of customer satisfaction. These improvements are due to industry working more collaboratively. Clients are choosing who to work with and procure from, not just on the lowest tender , but by looking at a quality assessment.

In the future we are likely to see an increased focus on what we  term as "value". This refers to the value that the facility provides to its users-if it's an office how does it help staff productivity? Far more clients are going to be approaching procurement by evaluating not just the delivery of the product but how does it performs for its users over time. Quality is all about ensuring that this happens -it is about measuring outcomes not outputs.

Analysis of Probability and Impact of Risk by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Managing risk is a critical part of business and is particularly relevant to quality management, where reducing the risk of errors and handling the issues that occur is a standard part of the job.

Risk analysis typically identifies risks through a process of brainstorming and examining plans. It then maps risk along two dimensions, probability and impact, assigning scores (typically up to 3,5 or 9) to each. Probability is the chance or likelihood of the risk occurring. Sometimes these are then multiplied together to give an overall risk severity figure.

Risk are often listed in a register, which is then used to manage and track those risks. This have some columns, but the example shown in figure 1 simply shows the main items discussed here.

Figure1

Risk of Description        Probability             Impact    Severity        Action
                                        (1-3)                    (1-3)           (PxI)                
Failure to deliver         Medium (2)            High (3)       6      Weekly risk reviews
to schedule                                                                              Code buddies

Risks can then be plotted on matrix to flag the severity of risk. When working in a team session, this can be done on  wall with flip charts and Post-it notes.

Risk planning may then continue by working out how to reduce the probability or impact of selected risks. Moving any risk will require mitigating action and will have a cost associated with it. A cost-benefit assessment can therefore be done to determine the most effective actions to take.

In business, risk analysis is common in projects where planned activities are assessed. In quality risk management, rather than examining the project plan, it is useful to identify risks through analysis of the process diagrams. At each process step ask. " What could go wrong? How? How likely is this? What would be the impact on the business?"

Typical risk include:

• Inputs and materials do not meet required specification.
•  Instructions, training or management are inadequate.
•  Actions are not completed on time or unexpected delays occur.
• Human error or inadequate motivation results in defects, damage and other problems.

This  method is quite common but relatively simple. The secret to success with it is in getting people to face the possibility of things going wrong which can be quite tricky.

It is important as well  to continue the dialogue on an ongoing basis, ensuring actions are completed and reassessing risks for changes in both impact and probability.

Strategic Management- A Deming Perspectives by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Strategy is the way that a person of organization reaches a vision of some ideal future, usually by means of plans that evolve through regular review and revision. It is how organizations focus the products and services they offer to make themselves distinctive from the customers' perspective. It states what is and, just as importantly, what is not being offering to customers or consumers.

Strategic management is an ongoing process to achieving an organization's long term goals. In effective organizations strategy is aligned with the values and core purpose and the organization achieves consistent execution in the way it carries out business to ensure strategic goals are met. W. Edwards Deming, well known quality management guru whose marked influence can still be felt strongly in quality principles today, advocated a cycle of continual improvement that can be applied to management strategy.

A Deming Perspective
Deming proposed a reasoned wide-ranging way of managing how to emphasise the delivery of consistent high performance over the long term. It views organizations as whole systems focused on meeting the needs of the customer and other stakeholders, which means quality reduces waste and so improve productivity. Deming saw the customer as the most important part of the production line or service provision, which means the focus must be on customer satisfaction. A truly distinctive offering can achieve customer delight or even customer insistence.

Only the customer can define quality-it can be whatever he or she says it is. Quality means having a primary focus on customers' needs and expectations and everything flows from this focus. It is not an incidental or support issue but the central issue, especially for top management. Quality is true effectiveness in that it means not only producing things right , but producing the right things-those items that customers want to buy. Strategy for sustained organizational success is inseparable from the need for quality.

In his chain reaction Deming showed how the power of quality can provide organizations with competitive advantage and lead to sustainability.

Understanding the whole of the organization's current situation is an essential foundation for the strategy process. Deming advocated a balanced perspective when trying to understand the situation, which he called a system of profound knowledge knowledge, comprising:
- Appreciation for a system
- Knowledge about variation in data
- Knowledge and explicit learning
- Psychology
Deming concluded that only through this broad range of capabilities could managers transform their management style to one suitable for what we call a sustainable organization. His well-known promotion of statistical process control covers the point above concerning knowledge about variation in data. His 14 points for managers, presented in Out of the Crisis, and his stress on the importance of leadership covers psychological knowledge. Points one and three, however have particularly strong relevance to strategy.

The Deming Wheel
A system is a network of interdependent components, or processes, that work together to achieve a particular aim- without an aim there is no system. Organizations must therefore have a stated aim or purpose that is clear to everyone and says something about the future. The effectiveness of connections and communications between processes is equally as important as the performance of the individual processes. Competition between the components of a system can lead to failure to achieve its aims. Cooperation, not competition is required between the parts of the system. Information must be open and transparent.

Surprisingly, perhaps , Deming had long been a strong advocate of thinking about organizations as systematic wholes. The best approach is to coherently integrate aspects of an organization that are often treated in isolation. Deming frequently stated that 97% of problems come from the system. He was clear that management is responsible for the organizational system and continually improving it, which again links to strategy. This is the basis of providing quality to customer. The plan -do-study-act cycle emphasizes the importance of adaptive feedback and learning in an organization.

As Deming said, "there is no substitute for knowledge." The Deming wheel or PDSA cycle is familiar to many employees and managers as feedback and learning tool that can develop knowledge about the organization. Indispensable in continual improvement and innovation, it is applicable to individual, organizations and society. It also provides a template for strategic processes.

As never-ending cycle of learning and improvement it can be used to model the strategy process. Within each of these four stages, further cycles ensure that each part of the process works effectively.

P- Define your aim
There are a number of stages to defining the aim . These include:
   * Scan the environment. The need for change must be assessed. Successful strategy is dependent upon a sound foundation of knowledge. Evaluation is required of the whole business environment, looking at political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental factors. Competitive trends maybe understood by benchmarking , conducting industry analysis and evaluating competitive intelligence. Trend information can then be projected to develop alternative future scenarios.
   * Vision and Mission. Based on the above knowledge the strategy process can proceed. Managers can establish a vision and mission that expand on the focus of meeting or exceeding customer expectations. Profit is not the sole purpose, but in fact an outcome. This clarification of management's concept of the business is essential for policy development, planning and successful strategy implementation. Having established the organization's business vision and objectives, focus moves on to making competitive changes required to gain or maintain its market position. Mutual consensus is then built among the management team om implications of observed and projected indicators.
  * Define objectives. The objectives must reflect the underlying business purpose of the organization serving customers in every transactions. The business objectives that are developed must address possible alternatives. Once core objectives are identified it is necessary to gain shared commitment within the business.
  * Plan Indicators. Establish the key control indicators that must be measured in order to monitor successful implementation strategy.
  * Communicate objectives. Sustainable organizations communicate and act on their purpose in a way that transpires whole-hearted commitment in all those who are important o their success. They balance the needs of multiple stakeholders, recognizing their responsibilities to their owners, employees, customers and the community, and seek to achieve consensus around a common vision of the organization's purpose, direction and character.

D- Implement the strategy
Having devised a long term strategy this should be broken down into medium term and annual strategies. There should be a method to strategy deployment , passing it through subsequent levels of management until it reaches the workplace. As the strategy cascades down to the front line, the plan should include increasingly specific plans and activities that should describe "work worth doing". This creates and sustains excitement and commitment among the organization's leaders, managers, employees, and most importantly, customers. The daily work of the organization is to add value for the customers or consumers of its outcomes. It is the most important part of an organization and must be designed to meet or exceed customer needs.

as above , quality is determined by the senior management team through its responsibility for the system. It cannot be delegated. All activities that directly relate to making a product or providing a service should be the key focus of management attention. This means taking responsibility for maintaining and improving the way every-day work is done. Poor quality results from management failing to carry out this responsibility , not from poor workmanship or laziness.

S- Measuring progress
Understanding the whole situation, requires measurement. Measurement of any aspect of an organization objectively counterbalances human nature, but is critical during strategy implementation. Sustainable organizations understand through measurement and ongoing monitoring how they are performing against the overall purpose and strategic plans. It shows whether, and how much, change has been achieved and knowledge is built for the next iteration of the strategy process.

Indicators are chosen to show if the system is achieving its customer-focused goals. They must test validity of understanding and of the strategic plans. Measurement can be numerical or language data. Data collection needs careful thought and planning because real -world numerical measurement data varies.

This is the one area where Deming specified a method-the process behavior or control chart, known as Statistical process control. SPC tells you if it is safe to take action on data, identifies signals of exceptional debts requiring action and allows you to assess whether changes have led to improvement.

Many elements of the organization cannot be defined in strict numerical terms. For example , customer loyalty or the benefits of training may appear to be impossible to quantify , yet this does not mean that they cannot be managed and improved.

A-Ongoing improvement
Customers, competition and society impose constant pressures to change. Strategy creates an environment in which sustainable organizations take a planned approach to improvement, innovation and learning. A culture of learning will facilitate change, foster exploitation of new ideas from all sources and encourage a strong team approach to managing change. Learning will be shared between processes, projects and company units increasing the knowledge base. Appropriate processes can encourage all staff to make innovative suggestions for improvement.

Improvement and learning are directed towards better products and towards services being more responsive, adaptive and effective , presenting additional marketplaces and performance advantages. The same goes for ongoing improvements to all business processes, systems and procedures. Knowledge, Deming stated. was the key. Making PDSA part of  strategy and culture enables organizations to update and increase their knowledge to become truly sustainable.

Getting balance
A successful corporate strategy is typically a realistic assessment of the current environment situation, an inherent vision of the future and understanding of the change required to link the present to the future. It is of critical importance in achieving sustainable organizational success.

Deming ideas focused on achieving quality in the eyes of the customer and although many of his ideas are incorporated into modern quality management, he has something to add to the strategy process.

He advocated  balanced perspective including appreciation for a system, knowledge about variation in data, knowledge and explicit learning and psychology. This is all grounded in the primacy of the customer and managing for quality. Deming challenged managers leading strategy development, particularly when it involves significant change, to be prepared to embrace the wholesale transformation of themselves and their management style.

The Piece was delivered last September 20,2011 to all Professors and Students of  King Abdullah University of Science and Technology., Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Taste of Strategy by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Twenty years ago I was talking to my son Jol, a young entrepreneur selling homemade sweets to his friends. "So what is your strategy son?" I asked. "And how do you ensure the quality of your sweets? "Strategy? Quality?" shrugged Jol. "Dad! That's all Greek to me. Uncle Toto makes them , I sell them. Simple."

Well Jol was half right. Strategy is indeed Greek in origin being derived from Greek word strategies, meaning general or army leader. Quality, however, is not Greek, being derived from Latin word qualitas being an attribute or property. And Job had a strategy -albeit a simple one- but his grasp on quality appears somewhat more tenous.

So what impact would Jol's limited grasp of strategy- and even more limited grasp of quality- have on the success of his enterprise? Is it set to be a roaring success or a dismal failure? And what does it mean for Toto. With Jol's simple strategy Toto could make biscocho one week and pinasugbo the next. She could make round ones , square ones, fat or thin ones packed with flavoring or using natural fruits. He could wrap them in tin foil, clingfilm, or expensive gift wrap. Does it matter?

In pondering this scenario, let's start by thinking a bit more detail about these words, strategy and quality, and their importance to an organization. In the context of its Greek military use, strategy is distinct from tactics: while tactics are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, strategy is concerned with how different engagement are linked. How battle is fought is a matter of tactics; the terms and conditions that it is fought on. Whether the battle should be fought at all is a matter of strategy.

Strategy is therefore, directional in nature. It describes where your organization want to get-its vision or desired future state-and how it intends to get there. Quality, being an attribute or a property, more closely relates to the tactical and operational aspects of an organization-how effectively and efficiently the operations work to achieve the strategy. So does that mean that leaders should only concern themselves with the strategic aspects of management? Is Jol right to gloss over the details of how pinasugbo will be made? Should Toto concentrate purely on making pinasugbo or should he take an interest in who Jol wants to sell them to, why and how?

In the 1930's Haribo's aim was to "make children happy." This was changed in the 1960s to: "Kids and grown -ups love it so; the happy world of Haribo." What difference does a few words make? And how important is this statement of purpose? For a start , the change in Haribo statement would have stopped Toto using chemical flavorings because strategy defines the terms and conditions the battle is fought on. The statement could also influence perceptions of the appropriate values and behaviors associated with the organization.

In fact, having a clear statement of purpose underpinned by measurable objectives and the defined strategy for achieving them is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of any management team. When these are "right" they are often so elegant that they seem obvious -but this can belie the effort required to get to even this stage. A real understanding of the organization, its stakeholders, their needs and expectations and how they can balanced can be anything but easy.

It is only when this strategy can be stated and commonly understood that the more traditional aspects of quality can add real value. Quality can ensure that appropriate products and services are developed and offered at prices that provide value to all stakeholders, that processes align to achieve the agreed purpose, that working practices are effective , efficient and consistently implemented and that organization has the capability to deliver with people who have the appropriate skills and knowledge to undertake their roles with sufficient and suitable resources.

In essence it is the leader's role to ensure that the strategy is defined and the infrastructure to support this is in place. However, it is the skills of quality professional that can ensure strategy's effective and efficient implementation. The two fit hand in glove and both are essential for a fit and healthy organization.

I

Focus on Hospitality

2012-The year of the Dragon..

The hospitality sector is huge, encompassing hotels, restaurants, caterers and event organizers. It employs a massively diverse workforce and the pressures of the economic downturn have had a substantial impact , especially for those in tourism. In Bahrain , hotel occupancy is down by 45% due to political crises and hotel prices in prime locations such as Caribbean and Far East have dropped to their lowest level in decade. In such a tough times keeping a focus on quality will help businesses in the sector differentiate themselves from the competition.

Food Safety
No organization working in hospitality can afford to be the cause of illness of any customer so food hygiene and safety standards are of ultimate importance. Caroline Mortimer, director of Metropolitan Police Force in London caters for  50,000 people. "We employ one person internally who does nothing but check food hygiene standards within each of our catering facilities and also within our suppliers as well. Nobody is procured without having their food safety systems audited in full."

Ensuring that suppliers have the correct systems in place is where standards such as FSSC 22000, newly benchmarked by the Global Food Safety Initiative, come in. Caroline says: "All of our suppliers have to be certified against recognized safety systems such as ISO 22000. Without an internationally recognized certification, suppliers will not be able to win contracts with global or international businesses.

Service with a smile
To encourage the best in Hongkong  Hospitality, The Grand Hyatt Regency- Hongkong has launched the "Smiles of Hyatt" campaign. Running until the end of summer the scheme asks members of the public to take photographs of the nation's most welcoming smiles and then shares them online.

Michael Ato Chan says. " We want to shine a light on those in our sector who are leading the way in customer service . And because excellent customer service invariably starts with a smile,  we started this campaign".

The future is green
Sustainability is crucial in the hospitality sector for not only surviving these times but thriving in them, according to Michael "Ato" Chan."People focus on green issues and think that they can't afford to be green but sustainability is about more than just environmental factors: economic and social factors are equally important."

"The first step is to look at elements such as venue, transportation , accomodation and food stuffs and ask questions about their sustainability. There is a wealth of resources online from organizations such as the department of environment , food and rural affairs that can help a business starting out."

Another important development in this sector is BS 8901, the environmental management systems standard for event organization. "Standards such as BS 8901 offer businesses a great framework to start addressing their sustainability. The future holds positive things for this industry. We have the scope to do something great.

What Jolito Ortizo Padilla say about Strategic Alliance

A strategic alliance is a relationship between two or more organizations that falls somewhere between the extremes of an arm's length sourcing arrangement on the one hand and a full blown acquisition on the other.

In general there are two types of strategic alliance: a bilateral alliance (between two organizations) and a network alliance between several organizations). They have many advantages:they require little immediate financial commitment, they allow companies to put their toes into new markets before they get soaked and they offer a quiet retreat should a venture not work out as the partners had hoped. However, going into something knowing that it is (literally) not a big deal, and that there is a face saving exit route, may not be the best way to make those charged with running it hungry for success.

The most popular use for alliances is a means to try out a foreign market. Not surprisingly there are more alliances in Europe and Asia (where there are more foreign markets nearby) than in the US. In some cases, alliances are used by companies because other means are closed to them.

One thing crucial to a successful alliance is the degree of cultural compatibility. Companies are advised, for example, to pick on someone their own size. Alliances between very big organizations and very small ones are hard to operate not least because of the different significance that the alliances asumes in each organization's scale of things.

Strategic alliances grew at a phenomenal rate during the 1990s. Some companies, such as General Electric , set up several hundred. But alliances have not always been successful. In 1998 BT and AT&T agreed to bundle their international assets into a single joint venture that started off with annual revenues of $11bn, annual operating profits of $1bn , and some 5,000 employees. In 2001 the two companies agreed to unwind -at considerable cost.

The Organizational Competence Techniques by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

The financial meltdown and Toyota's problem are clear examples of systematic failure. Disastrous events in the Philippines such as the death of 1,116 victims brought about by  typhoon Sendong in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City  again highlighted system failure. Although the root causes of these failures are varied, a common theme is the inability of management to act sufficiently quickly to prevent system failure or under performance. Auditing is needed such lead indication.

It is clear that management needs a mechanism that provides indicators of any looming crisis, a measurement of real risk that can be acted upon. This can't include tools such as key performance indicators, traditional compliance based auditing or in process measure because , while useful, they are backward looking, recording what has already happened. They tell us little about what  is likely to happen in the future.

Compliance auditing focuses on the tangible-what can be seen and touched-meaning outputs and the quality of these in terms of conformance. It operates at a transactional level. But in the real world it is not just outputs that count. More important are outcomes -what these outputs mean to customers and other stakeholders- because this is what is really delivered. It is the organization's culture and how people behave together that deliver its results. Traditional compliance auditing misses many of these usually intangible issues and therefore only gathers part of the picture.

Compliance auditing should not be disbanded, but it is clearly not enough for the 21st century where identifying the risk to outcomes is becoming vital. The practice of auditing needs to identify not just what is visible but also to understand the importance of what is currently invisible, before it is too late.

The Project Structure
Recognizing the need for change the High Performance Group has intitiated a project to define the ways in which the apparent shortcomings of auditing could be addressed. a key part of the tool kit was a behavioral assessment methodology with the aim of:
- Creating an auditing method to assess the real-world, based on what people actually do.
- Showing how system and process risks can be scored , benchmarked and managed consistently.
- Determining how significantly more evidence can be gathered and how this could be analyzed to the delivery of outcomes.
- Determining the effect of this on audit process and the role of the auditor.
The ongoing project involves the inclusion of a number of large and small organizations using the approach and providing valuable feedback. As a focus , the University of Canterbury in New Zealand has also been using the approach in a carefully controlled environment whereby students studying for a Master's in Business Administration could apply techniques as part of their studies and provide critical validation. UKAS has also reviewed the approach as part of the requirements 4 and 5 and it has been used to gather evidence for certifications.

The university runs an MBA in Quality Management in which students study management systems and business processes as living entities , culture and behavioral indicators and auditing and assessment techniques. External validation of the behavioral assessment approach took place as an integral part of this course and in the last four years 18 very different organizations have taken the assessment, including:
- Hospice/hospital/medical care providers
- A financial services company
- Educational establishment
- Food producers
- Manufacturers including those of aeronautical , mechanical components and electronic components.
There are several factors behind the rationale for using the behavioral assessment technique. Once we move away from considering transactional compliance -type issues , organizations are complex. At the compliance level it is simple; evidence exists or it doesn't and  often it is invisible. There are huge number of interactions that take place between people in an organization, each affecting the other in different ways and with different levels of importance . When this complexity is understood , it is quickly realized that collecting the amount of data required , analyzing and reporting risks to outcomes and objectives is beyond the auditor; they need help.

As a result, an online assessment tool was used to:
- Gather more evidence
- Reduce intrusion for the organizations concerned.
- Ensure confidentiality and therefore be potentially more revealing
- Be more cost effective
- Consistently collate and analyze results
 - Reduce the students /auditors time in data collection
This web-based approach is not a survey, but a sophisticated assessment technique that tests organizational competence based on behavioral science , with an outcome and risk focus. It places conformance as a step in the maturity towards effectiveness and efficiency.

The assessment
While it is belived that the underpinning science and assessment logic applies to any subject, the university wanted a control subject where the results could be benchmarked across the target organizations. For this reason ISO 9001 was chosen as the subject.

The online assessment was designed in UK with the behavioral indicators established as description of business-as -normal , as experienced by those who would be participating. The assessment were planned by the students by identifying the internal and external stakeholders who are impacted by or take part in the scope forming the basis of the benchmarking activity from which risks can be identified.

Organizations were invited to take part over a four week period with each auditee contributing about ten minutes of time. The assessment system collected the data for the students and analyzed its importance , automatically providing a technical report against clauses of the standard.

The data was then analyzed against the eight quality principles contained in ISO 9000 series and the other factors associated with process management.

To validate the results the students and auditors reviewed the findings determining:
- Areas of potential risk , by department, function or group , using the scoring system where 40% represents acceptable performance. Scores above 40% represented increasing levels of effectiveness in the subject and it being embedded in the whole organization management system. Scores below suggest increasing levels of risk.
- The areas that would be specifically targeted for compliance auditing. The logic was that if the behavioral assessment was itself an effective auditing technique then there is no point re-auditing the same thing twice.

Each organization was then visited by the students/auditors to:
- Validate the results of the behavioral assessment against the reality of the organization
- Look closely at the targeted areas identified
- Compare the results with those that the certification body reported if one had been recently involved.
- To gather feedback on general accuracy and use of the approach.

Research Findings
The MBA student reviewed the findings of the validation activity , which the university summarized as follows:
" The evidence collected over the late four years shows that the approach has been consistently accurate, as well as time-and cost -effective.It addressed well-documented and inherent weaknesses associated with surveys and more traditional assessment approaches. While nothing is foolproof and more traditional auditing activities should not be discarded , the approaches would, for various reasons, find extremely difficult to achieve without significant cost."

" The main strength of the approach is  that it collects tactical data based on the outcome of behavior as experienced by different stakeholder groups. The ability to automatically and therefore consistently analyze the importance of each piece of tactical information is the key elements that makes the assessment tool very valuable. The findings provide a profile of potential risks leaving the user to determine which risks are the most important on which to base improvement solutions that best support the delivery of objectives."

Audit fatigue
The same audit data can be used in different ways to report against standards, outcomes and objectives as is required. Using the same data more than once cuts the costs of auditing auditor intrusion and, at the same time, it adds value for the organization.

The changing role of the auditor
Auditing is now required to act in a new paradigm . The inclusion of other audit techniques means that auditors system in terms of how open , closed and mature it is and select appropriate audit techniques.

As the audit takes place , the different techniques will yield different levels of evidence and the skills is to build this together to demonstrate conformance and the risk to outcome/objectives. Thse auditing practices require changing the role of the uditor in all areas of understanding , planning, analyzing and reporting.

Audit planning is a core competence
Audit planning should not simply be about creating an agenda or meeting schedule to ensure each clause is covered; it should be much wider. It is about understanding:
- The outcomes the system or process has been designed to achieve
- The balance of effectiveness and efficiency outcomes measures
- How to use a range of techniques that will make visible the inherent risks in the organization
- The factors that will increase or decrease risk and apply these to the audit scope
- The requirements of the specific standard or governance requirements and the range of audit techniques that may be used in assessing them
- How the use of technology and non-human based activity not only saves costs but is desirable to increase value.
Every standard organization, system or process is different therefore so must be the audit programme.

Compliance and conformance
There is sometimes confusion between compliance and conformance. Compliance is an auditing technique with weaknesses if used alone. A reliance on compliance can drive in risk and rarely achieves the outcome- driven audit reports now needed or measure of effectiveness.

The need to assess the real world and what actually happens
The culture of an organization or business process is determined by the interaction of different people. The complexity of an organization at a behavioral level means that traditional compliance- based techniques are not really effective.

This is because questions frequently condition the response , confidentiality becomes an issue, issues raised can be sensitive, there is no hard evidence to check and the large amount of data needed to assess behaviors makes consistent analysis very difficult. Consistency is often difficult at a compliance level and this is only magnified at a behavioral level.

What is needed to assess behaviors
The research shows that to assess behavior we need to collect a lot more information in order to give the level of confidence that is required by organizations and develop a 360- degree approach , involving as many of the stakeholders as possible.

Using audit evidence
Traditionally a piece of information is used as evidence that a requirement is or isn't being met. This is a one-to-one relationship. When assessing behaviors there are many sources of evidence and each has a different level of importance dependent upon how critical it is to the delivery of one or more objectives. It is a many-to- many relationship The increase in evidence makes using the auditor's judgement almost impossible. This means that an IT solution is inevitable as an aid.

Where next?
Organizations are recognising the need for change because they:
- Understand it is how people behave that drives results.
- Need to manage risk to the future delivery of objectives
- Need to balance transactional  techniques (such as compliance , key performance indicators and control charts) with lead indicators
- Need to present strategic information to management using graphs, numbers and benchmarks
- Need to focus on what outputs mean to stakeholders in terms of outcomes
- Understand the desire to move on without throwing out the past.
The project has shown that our challenge as auditors is to develop strategically in the way that we plan and deliver audit programmes. We have to think more about outcomes than we have one in the past. We cannot be satisfied with just looking back and saying this or that was wrong- that's easy. It is more of a challenge to help stop the event from occuring in the first place.

It is difficult to audit a process where documented evidence isn't available and then work out if it conforms to a requirement. It is to measure the risk to achieving something. We need to embrace new tools -that is about audit management.

Effective Public Speaking by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

 

 

 

This Piece is dedicated to my Duenas High School(Class 1969)classmates who in one way or another help my spirit high during my four years of studies.

 

 Col. Juanito Cabayao, Mr. Regino Pama, Ms. Fanny Ortizo, Ms. Ronne Cabayao, Mr. Romeo Padilla, Mr. Nilo Espulgar , Mr. Ronnie Navigar, Mr. Jose Collado, Ms. Rema Nangan, Ms. Mildred Cocjin, Ms. Anita Arcenas and Ms. Elsa Lara.

 

 Above all  to the lovable teacher of mine Ms. Lanada.

 

My Sincere Appreciation to all of you....

 

Everyone wants ro be able to speak confidently to a group of people, large or small. Many of us think that this ability is rare. This is not so; we can all be effective speakers if we develop good emotional attitudes to ourselves and others, and practice some basic techniques.

There are two main differences between public speaking and ordinary conversation. First we are "given a floor" for a specified period , and no one is supposed to interrupt us. We keep talking and there is little opportunity to test audience reaction to what we are saying. In conversation a listener can ask us to repeat something if he does not understand. Second, because in public speaking we must "get the point across" the first time , we need to enlarge the scale of our presentation in proportion to the size of the room and audience. Our voice must be louder , with a greater range in tone and emphasis. Words must be more distinctly pronounced , pauses and moments of silence longer, gestures more definite. We have to commit ourselves far more blodly than in conversation.

Emotional Apects
The secret of speaking effectively to a group of people or making a speech, is having the same mind set as you would when talking to a new friends in your own home. Public speaking should be more than normal conversational speaking enlarged to reach everyone in the bigger audience. But we often feel that our normal way of speaking is not good enough-we have to be more literary or more formal. This does not help our confidence; we build up a self image of an orator with all the mental barriers and fears of imagined failure. And by trying to be formal we are often dull and unsuccessful, thus firming our fears. The way out of this vicious cycle is to be yourself.

When we stand up to speak, our emotions play another trick  on us by creating certain physiological reactions. These are due to pumping of adrenaline into our system;our pulse rate increases, we perspire , and in extreme cases we cannot think logically. Realize that you are not unique, but that this reaction occurs with everyone in varying degrees. An experienced speaker uses it to give life and enthusiasm to his talk. This reaction normally fades after the first few minutes . If you feel that the physiological reaction hinders your effectiveness, gain confidence by:
- Taking a few deep breaths before you get up, to give your blood a good supply of oxygen and to encourage relaxation.
- Being thoroughly prepared and word perfect with your opening sentence; and
- Engaging the eyes of someone in the audience right at the start.

Listeners will generally accept you at your evaluation. If you expect to be successful , the audience will sense it and agree. Also, they will feel well-disposed towards a speaker who speaks; looks and behaves towards then in a friendly manner.

Getting Ready
We need something of interest to say; this means we must prepare. We must be sure that we know more about our subject that we can express in one talk. It is not only the ideas that count , but also the background to the subject that colors the way in which we give the talk. Preparation is the process of selecting ideas that we feel are appropriate to the particular , and arranging them in a logical sequence.

As well as a thorough knowledge of the subject , careful preparation of the opening and closing is most important. A well practiced opening sentence and closing is most important. Knowing the closing sentence stops us going on and on looking for an "ending" , and also ensures that we leave a positive final and lasting impression with the listeners. If you write our notes in preparation for a talk, avoid reading them out when you come to speak. Unless you are very skilled , this is the quickest way to put an audience to sleep. Reading from  notes is speaking the thoughts of yesterday; we lose the little inflections and hesitations for a word that gives spontaneous speech sparkle and life. Write these on a small card in large letters, so that a quick look while you are speaking puts thoughts into your mind in the righ sequence. don't be shy of loking at your "confidence card" : your audience would prefer a coherent talk rather than random thoughts.

Thinking Aloud
There are few people who use their speech organs effectively, and those who do  have had some training. To be an effective speaker we do not need a long course in voice production. Most people can improve their ability to speak significantly if they practice a few basic rules. The objective is to:
- Ensure that we are easily heard;and
- Improve communication by maintaining interest and reinforing the meaning behind our words

The first rule for being easily heard is to use an adequate volume of speech relative to the size of the audience and the acoustics of the room. Owing to the use of public address systems, many of us lack the ability to speak at a suitable volume or to use proper voice projection. To do this you do not have to shout , but you must open your mouth and throat when speaking. Breath deeply and bring the air up from your diaphragm. This enables the voice to reflect off the hard palate at the roof of the mouth , and to be projected freely outwards. A few minutes' daily practice in front of a mirror will improve voice projection

Another aspect of being easily heard is articulation. In addition to opening your mouth , good and clear articulation needs flexibility and control of the lips and tongue.We know that personal appearance has a great effect on the impression made on other people. We also know the saying: "When he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it". Good impressions can be spoiled and communication impaired., by slovenly speech habits. A good way of improving articulation is to practice tongue-twisters.

The speed at which we speak in words per minute can often prevent us from being heard easily. This is also related to articulation, as the better the articulation the faster we can afford to speak. Most people tend to speak too fast, particularly when they feel nervous. This gives insufficient time for listeners to take in what is said and to evaluate it. The best way to check your speed is to listen to yourself on a tape recorder.

A final point of potential difficulty in articulation is accent. Many people seem to feel that speaking in public has to be done in the received pronunciation that used to be favoured by the BBC. This is not so; a clearly spoken regional accent adds tune and color to a presentation. Slow down a little and avoid specific dialect words if your audience is not familiar with the accent; your listeners will appreciate your opennes.

There are two main ways by which we can add interest and meaning to what we say. These are by the use of tone and pauses. Most English-speaking people use only a limited range in the pitch of their voice when speaking , often only a range of two or three tones of the musical scale.A  person with a trained voice uses between one and two octaves. We tend to avoid the use of tone variation for fear of being too showy; however , by its proper use we can enhance and emphasize our meaning and let our listeners know what we feel about it. If we make a point of increasing the range of tone in our voice , it will gradually become automatic , our meaning will be clearer , and our voice will sound far more interesting.

Pausation is separating individual thoughts or ideas which may involve a number of words. By pausing , we lead listeners from thought to thought. Their attention is held by keeping them in a continuous state of curiosity. This cannot occur while talk is going on, so there must be suitable moments of silence for the listeners to " get the picture". The length of pause may vary from a split second to several seconds, depending on the importance of the point, the dramatic effect that we want, as well as the size of the udience.

Physical Aspects
The effectiveness of a talk depends on what members of the audience hear, see and feel. Each listener should feel that he or she is being addressed personally; this is achieved by the speaker looking directly at the audience. This increases not only the attention and interest of the listeners, but also the confidence of the speaker by giving him or her the feeling of speaking to a series of individuals. With a small audience , each person should get their share of personal attention. Even with large audiences , the eyes of individual listeners should be engaged. People in a circle around this person will feel the attention: the circle increases in size with the distance from the speaker. A speaker losses contact with his listeners when he stares at the floor in front of him , gazes out of the window, or apparently examines the back wall over the heads of his audience. He appears remote and builds up a strong emotional barrier.

The hands can add up or detract from the effectiveness of a talk. They should appear natural and be readily available to add meaning to what is said through gestures. Avoid continued unnatural poses such as arms folded across the chest or behind the back , both hands in pockets or gripping a table or chair. It is better to use a variety of natural positions, but remember that too great a change in a variety can be distracting.

Finally, a speaker who rythmically sways on his feet or moves about a lot distracts the attention of his listeners. On the other hand a wooden attitude with no movement at all, or with a poker face , looks unnatural and also causes lack of engagement. Be aware of all of these distracting mannerisms and habits ; they can be reduced or eliminated by concentration and practice.

Know Your Subject
One of the most important rules for speakers is: "Talk about something that you have earned the right to talk about." This does not mean that we may talk only when we are an expert on the subject , but that we have earned the right to speak on particular aspects of the subject that we choose. Nor do we need to talk like a superior expert, looking down on the unenlightened. Be confident of your knowledge , but also aware that we are all human being together.

A second rule is: "Talk about things that you are eager to talk about". If a subject is of very little interest to ourselves we can guarantee that it will be of little or no  interest to our audience. Our attitude should be : "I know something which I believe to be important and worthwhile, and am going to make the most of the chance of persuading others that it is important and worthwhile.

Enthusiasm is not noise and histrionics; it is a need to get our ideas across to our listeners by giving them the same eagerness that we ourselves have for the ideas. Without this the listeners will not register what we say and will only passively react to our voice , and ther will be no point in our giving the presentation.

GA Consultancy -Bahrain will have a series of seminars in  Effective Public Speaking

Please call 0973-36409105

Being A Self- Aware Leader by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Can you hear yourself? Do you reflect on your comments and ask for or get feedback? Let me describe some key scenarios for you to consider as we journey into 2012.

A manager had a weekly update meetings with her boss, a vice president , at which she was expected to produce at least one breakthrough idea each week. Over the course of four years this resulted in a stack of papers, notes and diagrams. These ideas came from different sources, including her own epiphanies, but also from business journals and online forums. However, not one of these ideas was ever actually revisited by her boss or approved for implementation. The manager became increasingly irritated at the efforts to which she was going with no ostensible outcome. Do you ever undermine yourself and demoralize your staff in this way?

In another organization, an opportunity arises to meet and have one to one with the boss. A manager enters for his on -to-one, there is small talk and then comes the big question: "What can I do to help you achieve what you need? I'm here to help, so be honest." The manager is open and requests support for a new initiative, but the response comes back: " Any time, just tell me what you need; I'm totally behind you." The manager wonders if he's missed something and tries again, but receives the same response. It seems that what  his boss really means is: " Allow me to make this powerful statement that will make it sound as though I support you.It makes me feel good and like a real leader."

Over a period of some years a manager had lost count of the number of evaluations he had conducted on suppliers for key products. He later discovered that his CEO had a significant ownership in a number of the companies being evaluated and, in fact, ownership in the suppliers that were always selected, despite not always being the ones recommended. How much time, energy and money could have been saved if the manager had simply been told: " We have an interest in the following companies and so will always do business with them, but let's do some high level comparisons and due diligence." How frustrated do you think this manager felt by not being given this information and later discovering the facts?

As part of strategic scenario planning at one firm, it was decided that teams could be formed to discuss ideas for the future of the company. The CEO deliberately didn't attend the start of the meeting to give the teams an opportunity to be open and honest. After four hours of work, the teams had covered the walls with charts and notes with everything synthesized down to core points. The CEO arrived and stated her dissapointment that the teams had not come up with what she wanted. The CEO then asked the teams to reform and she rotated around them, nudging them towards what she wanted. If you know what you want, why make people jump through hoops so that it looks as if you are doing the right thing?

As a leader, don't blow smoke.If you want to do something, just do it. Do not make a team spend time and energy doing something you are going to ignore anyway-you will make instant cost savings by not following that route.

A foreman work for the same company for 39 years. He loved it and was proud of the team that worked for him. He was amazed that every 10 years or so he would see the same ideas come through the company, particularly one idea from  an all-terrain vehicle that was designed , developed and tested, and was always scrapped because it just didn't work out- but not until a huge amount of time and money had ben spent on the project. The managers and engineers didn't know this was the fourth time the idea had been tried as they hadn't been around the last time and because they never asked the foreman or his crew for advice. Who are you ignoring?

Do you ever solicit ideas form other people and then present them as your own? What do you think you are doing to morale? Do you really think that person will forget they told you about the idea? Give credit where it's due and you will boost morale and the creation of more ideas.

These examples are not unique. You will have seen many teams and professionals use their skills, education, knowledge and expertise to advise and direct only to have those above them either ignore or directly go against this advice, to fail and then repeat this process again and again. Always remember that ego does not trump knowledge. It is important , especially when we are in our comfort zone, to ensure that we are aware of how we act in a leadeship role.

  GA Business and Management Consultancy
With GA Consultancy, You Get the Best Results

ISO 9001 Standard and Corporate Performance

Despite the fact that more than one million organizations worlwide have a certified ISO 9001 management system, such a system is still viewed by many as focused on product quality. Any internet search will find a host of companies claiming the physical properties of their products are excellent because they are ISO 9001 certified.

When I was in China recently, my question as to why an organization should be ISO 9001 certified was repeatedly answered in terms of assured product quality. Certainly, in China at least, the role of a quality manager is seen as ensuring a component is within tolerance rather than ensuring a company is achieving its strategic objectives.

But ISO 9001 certification, as many purchasers have discovered, does not always ensure good product quality. A number of organizations remain certified because they fear the loss of a marketing tool, but few can demonstrate tangible benefits to justify paying certification bodies for the privilege.

Despite the common perception of ISO 9001 as solely focused on product quality, the standard, if properly aplied, can and should concern itself with the quality of the business management system. Rather than looking at compliance with a written procedure, or whether a gauge is calibrated, the standard should be used to assess the effectiveness of processess.

Recent global economic turbulence has focused attention on improving the quality of business performance and the need to make decisions quickly based on reliable information. As a result, there appears to be a growing interest  in corporate  performance management using key performance indicators to monitor corporate  performance . KPIs are an ideal method not only to monitor corporate performance but also to review the effectiveness of processes and have been used by a range of organizations for many years.

Traditionally users of ISO 9001 have focused more on operational rather than financial results, limiting the influence of the standard at boardroom level and reducing management reviews to little more than an annual summary of inspection results. This losses sight of that close link between the management system system and organizational strategy. A set of KPIs covering both operations and financial results can and should be used as the basis for an ISO 9001 management system and corporate performance management.

Another way to refocus attention on the link between ISO 9001 and startegy is via the requirement set out in the standard that the quality representative is a member of the senior management team. Many senior managers are not well versed in quality management, but if initiatives can be linked to results, particularly financial results, then management reviews are more likely to become decision making forums and the linkages between processes are likely to become more apparent.

Many of my colleagues consider my ongoing attempts to replace our word quality manual with simple hyperlinked pictograms to be of little value and even fewer are willing to try to map out their own processes. However, the acceptance of key performance indicators as a basis for setting priorities for improvement and monitoring progress has been much more readily accepted and is a good foundation on which to build the profile of quality with the senior team.

There are, of course, other quality models that could be used for corporate performance management such as business excellence models. Its influence to date has been much less than ISO 9001, but its philosophy has a much wider acceptance than the corporations that actively promote their use of its frameork. ISO 9001's model is much more sure it is being used in the right way.

The more fundamental issue, however, is that ISO 9001 in its current form ensures neither good product quality nor effective management as it does not easily show how these two aims might be achieved. The 2008 revision was little more than improvements to terminology and grammar, but change is certainly needed. The market for certification is saturated , even in the growth economies, with the standard sold almost as a commodity, devaluing certification to it. It would appear that it is in no-one's interest to maintain the status quo.

If ISO 9001 is to survive and certification bodies are to stay in business, then a much greater emphasis on business performance is needed. Hopefully some of the concepts of business intellgence are adopted in quality management so that it becomes something that contributes more to intelligent business.