Are we Socially Responsible

In this month's A View from the Q Paul Borawski discusses Social Responsibility and its link to Quality.

I think Social Responsibility (SR), without a name, has been in our minds and behaviors for longer than we know. Let's look at some events I recall from over the past 30 years just to see...do these fit under the SR umbrella? -

• Unleaded gasoline
• 'Give a hoot, don't pollute'; and who remembers that Native American with the tear in his eye and the trash at his feel
• Newspaper recycling - in high school we used to raise money for school events through paper drives
• Bottle recycling - hey I get money back if I collect my bottles and plastic containers then carry them back to the store!
• Carpooling
• New York State Clean Air Act (I'm sure there are others like this but I am a New Yorker)
• McDonalds eliminates styrofoam containers and switches to paper
• Hybrid and Electric cars

Quality professionals have worked toward continual improvement for many, many years. Like most quality and business initiatives over the years Social Responsibility was an initiative without a title. For instance how many organizations undertook scrap reduction, cycle time reduction or waste elimination (time and material) before Lean, Six Sigma or SR? More than I can count!

I've been an ASQ member for more than 20 years and have been aware of the ASQ Code of Ethics since my first days as a member. So, I ask, is Ethical Behavior a new element for Quality Professionals? I say no, we've lived under such a code for as long as I can remember.

Quality professionals have discussed responsibility and accountability for decades. This, too, is a principal of SR. Nothing new to us...

My belief is the Quality Professionals have lived under a code of Social Responsibility for many years. Now that the International Organization for Standardization had placed a number and name to a set of principles does not make our position any different. It is now just documented for others to see and read. Like the introduction of ISO 9000, Six Sigma, Lean, etc., ISO 26000 takes the practice off the production floor and puts it smack in the middle of the Board Room for greater attention at the highest levels within the organization.

Okay, I've read through what I wrote above and I hear a certain cynicism in my 'voice'. I don't mean to be cynical here. I truly believe that these initiatives must receive the highest level of attention within the organization and by placing the support of a Standard behind the initiative there is greater success at achieving the goals. Isn't that what we are all about?

2011 Quality Goals

In this month's A View from the Q Paul Borawski asks us to state our Quality Goals for 2011. While this sounds like a New Years Resolution I know it is more. For one thing, Paul has asked us to write our goals. Most resolutions are stated and go awry within days of the calendar change. My belief is if you write your goals you have a better chance of achieving most if not all. So, here goes:

1. Develop and implement an improved QMS for my division of the organization to achieve ISO 9001:2008 registration.


2. Improve the process controls of our manufacturing operations. This can only happen after we transfer some of the inspection operations to our production personnel.


3. Improve overall product quality to reduce customer complaints / credits by 10% from 2010.


4. Attend appropriate training to improve my understanding of FDA regulations for our business.


5. Pursue Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training and eventually ASQ SSBB certification.


6. Re-establish my leadership role within ASQ as Regional Director for Region 3.


7. Increase overall Quality time spent with my family (this I am currently doing with the kids via seasons passes to ski which we are doing every Saturday plus 6 days during the holiday week).

I have numerous other goals already established through our 'success factors' program at work which include measurable objectives for the fiscal year.

Baldrige at Risk

This month in his blog A View from the Q, Paul Borawski addresses the potential elimination of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program by President Obama's commission to reduce financial costs to the US government (National Commission for Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR)). Is the Baldrige program viable or has it run its natural course?


Let me start by saying that I've never been a fan of awards. If you do your job and do it well, then you are duly compensated. I never understood why the Entertainment and Sports industries go a step further, after paying astonomical salaries, and give awards to those at the 'top of their game'.


That said, do I believe there is value to the Baldrige program? My answer is a resounding YES!!!! I say yes because Baldrige is not focused on the outcome, it is actually focused on the journey. Baldrige has laid the ground work for establishment of a sound Business Management System that allows any organization to achieve success. Like ISO 9001, Baldrige is the framework and how it is used it the choice of the organization.


Should the US government continue to support a program that addresses business success? Again, I say YES!!!! Our government excels at supporting programs geared toward bailing out other countries. I say we should focus locally. Earmark that money to drive business improvement and success within our own borders. If we continue to drive businesses to send their work centers off shore then what will become of us? We need our government to encourage US businesses to remain domestic and continually improve themselves, thereby bolstering our own national economy. The Baldrige program provides the tools any organization might need to better define and improve itself. Let's work to keep it going and drive its success well into the future.

Raising the Voice of Quality

In his first post for response by the ASQ Influential Voices team, Paul Borawski, ASQ Executive Director / Chief Strategic Officer asks, "So, what would it take to get the world’s attention to focus on that truth?" (That truth being, Quality really does offer answers to what organizations most need.) He then goes on to inquire, "What would it take to have the world realize the full potential of quality?"

I plan to address each of Paul's questions here...

What would it take to get the world's attention to focus on what quality really does offer to the organization. This is a most difficult question to answer. Difficult because of the hundreds of different cultural perspectives that exist world wide. Differences in political, social and religious beliefs continue to override our big Quality question. I believe that a world at peace will then have an oppotunity to address these greater / larger questions. In a world that is not harmonious the emphasis is placed on safety before all else. In other words, the world as a whole is at the lowest needs level in Maslow's Hierachy of Needs, while this question sits at the self-actualization level or Maslow's highest level of needs.


Yet, if we just look at this from the organizational perspective, and this applies to organizations anywhere in the world, then we can address the question. Quality must start with our senior leadership. If the organization leader does not live and breath the concepts and practices of Quality before all else, then even the smallest of initiatives is designed for failure. The methodology an organization applies might not be consistent from company to company, country to country, culture to culture, after all, one size does not fit all, yet, a focus on Quality as an organizational lead initiative is necessary and that lead must come from the senior most members of the organization.


Next, Paul asks, "What would it take to have the world realize the full potential of quality?" Again, we must approach this question carefully. As previously stated, one size does not fit all. We need to clearley define the different models that can work for different types of organizations and provide organizational leadership with the means to choose the best fit for themselves. For some an ISO 9001 approach may be best, while for others a Lean and / or Six Sigma approach might fit. The Baldrige model is a another good functional model for organizational excellence. A meld of several models could be another option. So long as the Organizational Leaders start the journey by consciously developing a Quality Culture for the organization.

For the world to realize the full potential of quality would require an outstanding advertising campaign addressing the power and benefits of a Quality Culture for all organizations. Sell it like a great product. Benchmark the best advertising campaigns and purse this greater good from a marketing / advertising perspective.