Regional corporates take lessons in quality management in a turbulent world
Extravaganza on quality
Regional corporates take lessons in quality management in a turbulent world
QUALITY specialist from all over the world are currently india to take part in probably the biggest ever extavaganza in quality- World Congress on Total quality 1997. Though the main programme is held in New Delhi , a good part of the programme wil also be held at Calcutta and other metros. For the next few days the city will host a number of tutorials in which international gurus in quality would be present to share their expertise with city entrepreneurs. Of the 59 tutorials to be held nation wide eight are scheduled to be held in the city. Organised by the Institute of Director, the tutorials are expected to offer the participants much more than just an exposure of the world of quality. A “Post Graduate “ Degree Diploma in Quality Management “ from Worldwide Quality Certification Ltd., Uk in the shortest time. No wonder this would provide an ideal opportunity for corporates houses in Calcutta to have a glimpse of the advancement of the tools of quality in the world. “What perhaps is interesting is the fact that is not only manufacturing companies which are interested in the programmes. The service sector too is keen and are participating in a big way- specially in the programme on Quality in Financial Services and Banking to be conducted by Michael R Briggs, quality manager form TBOI plc. This programme has been of interest to bankers and financial companies where the concept of quality is focused on the services rendered to the customer. Yet another programme which is expected to attract a heavy turnout is the one on Bench marking for Strategic Advantage to be conducted by John Macdonald of UK to be held soon. Mr. Macdonald is a pioneer in bringing the quality revolution to the UK in the early eighties and has later been associated with quality related projects in MNCs. A question may be asked as to why attach such an importance to quality in services and products when India still offers a huge and potentially untapped market. However, it would be surprising to note that customers today are a vastly educated lot and are not willing to take whatever the producer offer. Explaining the urgency of theme, Dr Madhav Mehra, president IOD pointed out that “ the tauma that the nation had experienced recently in the wake of some corporate exposures are not stand alone events. This is the symptomatic of a world-wide epidemic. There is a debate across the business and the industrial world which gets featured all over the world. He added “corporate value are no different than personal values.” Boards of companies under investigations included such non-executive directors as required under the Cadbury report. “The irony is all these companies went astray despite the presence of distinguished people in their boards”. It is setting a value and standardizing products and services which form the backbone of quality in any organization. The west has begun to cast a shadow of suspect on the quality standards achieved by many Indian companies. This has been because (a) Corporates consider standardization as a passport to the markets of the western world, (b) the emergence of many certification bodies who do not adhere to norms. But the bottom line of the whole affair is the fact that by setting standards manufacturing costs goes down. In other words corporate save more as wastage is less.
Basav Bhattacharya
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
