Selected papers from the 6th Canadian Quality Congress

Citation

Sinha, M. (2015), "Selected papers from the 6th Canadian Quality Congress", The TQM Journal, Vol. 27 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/TQM-03-2015-0041

Selected papers from the 6th Canadian Quality Congress

Article Type: Guest editorial From: The TQM Journal, Volume 27, Issue 4.

This Special Issue of The TQM Journal contains selected papers presented at the 6th Canadian Quality Congress that was held at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The theme of the congress was: Quality Improvement as Key to Business Excellence.

The collection of papers has a variety of interesting and challenging topics. From the development of success factors and organizational approaches of the uses and application of ISO 50001 standards to design improvement in the European excellence model, to taking care of patients in hospitals using IEC 80001 standards and assessing motivational challenges in teaching TQM to students, to climate change and organizational quality culture development – you will find quite a wide variety of very interesting subject areas covered in this issue.

The authors, in their efforts in evolving TQM spectrum, are telling us what is happening now and what must happen on the world stage. Besides the papers printed here, there were many other valuable presentations on quality and innovations in healthcare industries. But, unfortunately these authors decided not to write their stories at this time for this Special Issue.

The volume begins with topic on future challenges of energy management standard which is a very new area of research these days. Due to rising energy costs, increasing global competitive pressure and the demand for environmentally friendly products, companies all over the world are beginning to consider the implementation of an energy management system (EnMS) to meet future challenges. The paper by Phillip Karcher and Ronald Jochem discusses the main success factors for the effective implementation, operation and certification of an EnMS in accordance with ISO 50001 standard, which represents the fastest growing standard for management systems in the world.

The second research paper of Seyed Amir Bolboli and Markus Reiche aims to propose a practical way for designing EFQM measures based on the RADAR logic and develops a new concept for selecting the firm’s specific EFQM measures based on the level of maturity and the prevailing corporate culture. A comprehensive review of literature is presented leading to a clarification of the relation between EFQM and RADAR for identification of the requirements for assessment of culture and determination of maturity level in the context of EFQM. The findings are expected to reduce the effort for implementation of EFQM by designing tailored measures that fit to the existing culture and maturity level.

A third paper by the team of Kyle Eckhardt, Andrew Hayes, Michael Hamilton and Tidimogo Gaamangwe gives a case study reporting on the use of the IEC 80001 standard, application of risk management for information technology (IT) networks incorporating medical devices in order to deploy the management of a wireless alarm solution in a long-term care home facility. A unique leadership committee and workgroup were formed to develop processes and procedures for integrating medical devices with IT systems; as well as execution of the project itself to detail the process of following the IEC 80001 Standard in Canada. It offers insight into building an organizational framework around the standard and identifies the gaps that should be considered by executives and project sponsors before proceeding with a project.

A statistical study of Godson A. Tetteh uses questionnaire method to gather information about student’s study habits, learning skills and motivation for schoolwork. Students who participated in the study were provided with the necessary feedback to improve on their examination scores. The contributions to literature were examined to reflect how the attitude(s) of the student in the classroom significantly affect the learning outcome. Results show that students study time, learning motive and learning strategy have significant effect on the learning outcomes.

No one has time for quality. Haven’t we heard this before? Find out what Jan M. Myszewski proposes in this paper on the mechanisms that obstruct an organization’s ability to develop positive cultures. The focus should never be on the short-term phenomena. There are a set of generic circumstances that produce specific organizational behaviors, referred to as the culture of hurrying. The author discusses the pathology when hurrying becomes a basic way to compensate for the effects of the failure, without eliminating its mechanisms. Consequently, the conditions that stimulate the culture of hurrying to grow are formulated and pathways provided to management illustrating how to escape from the culture of hurrying.

Enterprises contribute substantially to creation of many challenges, in particular the ones related to climate change and social strain. As such enterprises should also contribute to their solutions. Sustainable enterprise excellence, resilience and robustness are discussed in this next paper by Rick L. Edgeman and Zhaohui Wu, in relation to enterprise response to multiple wicked challenges, symptoms and their consequences. The authors claim that the study is among the first explorations of enterprise self-assessment in general and sustainable enterprise excellence, resilience and robustness in particular in relation to sustainability challenges.

The final paper by Alan C. Gillies shows that while the idea of quality culture is widely discussed, too often it is downgraded to a vague and ill-defined magic bullet solution associated with general intangible factors that can boost organizational performance and profit. So, if organizations are serious about their quality culture, they need to put in place a systematic approach designed to deliver a regenerative quality culture, with a focus upon individual and organizational learning both at the same level of detail as approaches used in process improvement. This paper has shown an approach to using mentoring supported by suitable on-line tools as a key component within organizational learning in pursuit of a regenerative quality culture.

The 6th Canadian Quality Congress was once again too good an opportunity to be missed. I am grateful to my team of volunteers, Editorial Review and Technical Program Committee members for their dedication and support.

Thanks are extended to Ms Ellen Rutter, the content editor of The TQM Journal along with her technical staff at Emerald Group Publishing and Dr Alex Douglas, the editor, without whose help and guidance it wouldn’t have been possible to publish this Special Issue on time.

I look forward welcoming everyone at the 7th Canadian Quality Congress, September 28-29, 2015; venue being the campus of the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada!

Dr Madhav Sinha - Canadian Society for Quality, Winnipeg, Canada

About the Guest Editor

Dr Madhav Sinha is a major contributor to the theory and practice of quality control and total quality management (TQM) in Canada and known internationally as an expert and a pioneer in the field. He has a varied career experience of 45 years as Research Scientist, Plant Engineer, Quality Manager, University Professor and Government Administrator. A prolific writer, Dr Sinha has authored, co-authored and edited ten books, including a textbook and over 50 research papers published internationally, some translated into foreign languages. He is the recipient of over 35 medals, honors, awards and testimonials for his outstanding contributions in the field of modern quality management, including the Distinguished Service Gold medal, the highest award accorded by American Society for Quality and its Grant medal (for leadership in developing quality educational programs), Edwards medal (for contributions in application of quality control methodologies), Lancaster medal (for work in the international fraternity of quality), the Leadership Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba for his pioneering contributions in developing quality control sciences in engineering disciplines. He is listed in the International Who’s Who in Quality and International Who’s Who in Public Service as an outstanding Canadian making significant contributions to the economy and society’s well-being. Dr Sinha is an elected Academician Emeritus of the International Academy for Quality and the Founding President of Canadian Society for Quality. He was recently recognized by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and awarded with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his more than three decades of outstanding contributions in the field of total quality management and for spearheading many unique initiatives to promote and elevate the quality profession in Canada and contributing to build its caring society through his excellent services and achievements. Dr Madhav Sinha can be contacted at: mailto:madhavsinha2@shaw.ca