Understanding The Big Picture How Big Data Analytics Software Can Improve Quality, Safety And Environmental Risk Management

 

Abstract

For organizations to truly benefit from Quality 4.0, leaders must move beyond using data and computing technology to perform business-as-usual tasks toward managing the organization’s information footprint using data and information as an element of sustainability. The author outlines the 11 axes of the research institute LNS Research’s Quality 4.0 model and presents a case study showing how the model was applied to a train operating company in the United Kingdom to improve quality, safety and environmental risk management.

American Society for Quality (ASQ) Sustainability Survey

ASQ Sustainability Survey

Scan the QR Code to benchmark your Sustainability & CSR performance against best practice within your industry 

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ASQSustainabilitySurvey
 

#quality #sustainability #csr #climatechange #environment

Quality and Essesntial Element of Sustainable Development - American Society for Quality EED Summer Newsletter 2020

 

American Society for Quality EED Sutstainability Committee Strategic Plan - ASQ EED Summer Newsletter 2020

 

 

 

Sustainability Footprint: A Case of Persception in Two SMEs - American Society for Quality EED Summer Newsletter 2020

 

Register for my 3 hour strategy immersion session. You will develop sustainability strategy to:

1. create products and services that do not harm the environment

2. develop businesses with a social purpose 

3. achieve profitable 

We will begin your journey by understanding how your can reduce your exposure to the risks posed by global megaforces using our 10MF toolkit. 

I will demonstrate how you can use the Sustainable Strategic Growth Model to Learn, Develop, Implement, Optimise and Sustain to transform your organisation. The model has been adopted by managers and business leaders at major international organisations such as Tarmac, Ferrovial Agroman, Asanko Gold and the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society.

Included in the 3 hour immersion session we will provide you with our sustainability megaforces 10MF flashcards . 

Your personal copy of our strategy books Sustainability Footprints in SMEs - Strategy and Case Studies for Entrepreneurs and Small Business.

Start your journey by registering for our one to one sustainability strategy immersion session by clicking the link below. I look forward to our conversation

https://bit.ly/2LPvVjY

European Sustainable Development week 30 May - 5 June 2018

To celebrate European Sustainable Development Week #ESDW we are sharing strategic resources for business growth such as our 10 #sustainability megaforces (10MF) toolbox. 

Click the link below to get your 10MF toolbox now! 

https://bit.ly/2LDmILA 

#CSR #environment

#quality

Management Systems and Performance Frameworks for Sustainability

My second book Management Systems and Performance Frameworks for Sustainability: A Road Map for Sustainably Managed Enterprises is now available! A through an in-depth exploration of quality management theory, this book proposes a "Sustainability Management Framework" as a structure for a balanced approach to developing operations strategy for corporate social sustainability (CSR). #SustainableStrategy This book is a development in sustainable theory showing you a road map of how to put it into practice. #FutureProof Receive your complimentary copy as part of your ©Diploma in Sustainability Strategy comment below to know more. http://ow.ly/icHT30jN5RK

Garthdee Field Allotments and Community Garden Project

Garden allotments are often an overlooked mechanism to foster sustainability connecting individuals to the environment by growing food and building community engagement. In this episode I showcase the work of Stuart Oram Chairman of the Garthdee Field Allotments and Community Garden. To learn more on how you can incorporate CSR in to your business strategy, register for the upcoming Certificate in Sustainability Strategy and Diploma in Sustainability Strategy course www.SustainabilityStrategy.org 

Vattenfall European Offshore Wind Development Project Presentation

For further insight into embedding sustainability into your business. Register for the upcoming Certificate in Sustainability Strategy and Diploma in Sustainability Strategy by visiting our website www.SustainabilityStrategy.org

Volkswagen quality - lots of smoke and mirrors?

Organisations and individuals strive for telos or purpose for their existence. This manifests itself in the business context in terms of values, mission statements and policy. The tragedy for Volkswagen is that its foundations was based on nefarious purpose that cannot be divorced from its present context.

Volkswagen was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront "German Labour Front" or DAF by the Nazi Party as part of its Kraft durch Freude "Strength through Joy" as free trade unions were banned under Hitler's leadership. The strength through joy program was meant to appease workers by providing affordable cruises, holidays, an affordable automobile and social activities once the domain

of the upper classes.

Along with Schönheit der Arbeit "Beauty of Work" the improvement of factories and work spaces the emphasis being "somke free" environments. Volkswagen "Peoples car" and its iconic "beetle" design was produced in 1938 with the intention to provide German workers with an affordable automobile at the price of a German motorcycle through a payment plan. Many German workers opted for this payment approach with the onset of war some prospective car owners lost their deposits. This led to protest regarding the leadership of the DAF under Dr Robert Ley who boasted that he controlled workers' lives from the 'cradle to the grave'. Subsequent Volkswagen automobiles for both domestic and military use prior to 1945 were made by an estimated 15000 slave labour victims from concentration camps comprising 80% of the company's wartime workforce. Volkswagen in 1998 accepted corporate responsibility for their actions and has set up a fund to compensate victims.

In its post-war reincarnation Volkswagen develop a renewed purpose as the car "Das Auto" built around a fun, friendly image of the "Beetle" shape embellished with the pictures of flowers and bright colours as well as popularised in Disney movies such as "Herbie goes bananas" along way from the militarised look of the original models. The whimsical nature of the "Herbie" film genre had a lasting impression on my childhood as one of my elementary school teachers owned a Volkswagen which some of my classmates described as a "dustbin on wheels". This analogy was not unfounded when compared with Japanese brands such as Datsun not only provided economy but were quieter due to the use of coolant rather than air to reduce engine temperature. The company continued its focus on volume rather than quality as its strategy for success. Consecutive Volkswagen executives have pursued this expansion acquiring 18% market share in China, 22% in Brazilian market coupled with a ruthless search for cost savings through component sharing between production models. The effects of this strategy is evident in Volkswagen's wind noise issue in 2011 and prior power train non conformity although a decade old contributing to a crisis in reliability has not been forgotten by consumers in key markets such as the U.S. where sales fell by 22% in summer 2014. J.D. Power Initial Quality Study has consistently rated Volkswagen brand near the bottom for every year except 2009.

The engineered rigging of emissions test and data arguably is symptomatic of an organisational culture with a misaligned purpose on "the car" rather than the customer/stakeholder i.e. global society. As a result over 1M tons of pollution in the form of emissions to air e.g. nitrogen dioxide (NO₂₎  from approximately 11M vehicles containing rigged components which is equivalent to the combined emissions from all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture. Pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NO) and specifically NO₂ pose a  respiratory threat to humans and animals by inflaming the breathing passages. The EU is disproportionately at risk due to the higher level of diesel vehicles when compared to the US where 3% of automobiles use diesel.

Volkswagen quality ethos is focused on "reliability, visual appeal and service" with  the absence of sustainability.
Sustainability can be achieved by cultural acceptance within the organisation that it has a duty to global society due to the lifecycle impacts of its products and services. Sustainability Footprints which is defined as "methodologies for assessing the social and environmental impact of the economic investment in a specific strategic option in relation to other strategic alternatives and their potential risk to the survival of future generations" e.g. carbon footprint can assist Volkswagen in monitoring and measuring its business performance leading to culture of innovation instead of deception.

Volkswagen by adopting a sustainable business practices can finally transform the company from being Das Auto "the car" but rather truly being the "People's car" putting individuals and society at the core of its corporate strategy and adopting a "cradle to the cradle" approach to managing its processes.

IEMA Approved Certificate in Sustainability Strategy

This course gives candidates a practical insight into the application of sustainability practices to business.

Climate change, energy and fuel consumption, the scarcity of water and material resources, population growth, wealth, urbanization, food security, the decline of the eco system and deforestation - the emergence of these sustainability mega forces within the 21st century business context have created both risks and opportunities for businesses.

The IEMA Approved Certificate in Sustainability Strategy will provide the knowledge and skills necessary to assist managers with designing strategies that will mitigate the effects of sustainability risks and enhance organisational potential to exploit opportunities.

You will study the development of effective business plans that incorporate sustainable development goals using the Sustainable Strategic Model Analysis Tool.

Subjects include:

• Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility – Context and Definition
• Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Dilemma
• Sustainable Strategic Growth Model - a solution to the Sustainability and CSR dilemma
• Sustainability Footprints – tools for growth
• The Politics of Sustainability
• Case studies

This qualification would benefit senior management, company directors, Quality Managers, Safety Managers, Environmental Managers, CSR/Sustainability Managers, Marketing and early career professionals who are involved in Sustainability/CSR implementation and reporting. 

The approach used in the course assumes no prior awareness by providing the knowledge and strategic tools to deploy sustainable development utilising best practice case studies.

For further information on our upcoming course dates and online program view our website www.sustainabilitycsr.com 

National Air Traffic Control Service - the need to pursue "Absolute Zero"

The National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) traces its history back to the early days of commercial aviation in the United Kingdom in its pioneering role utilising a rudimentary form of air traffic control based on flag signals. Modern commercial aviation however demands both the use of complex information management systems and highly skilled human labour with the NATS employing just over 2000 air traffic controllers handling 2.2 million flights annually.  To meet this challenge the organisation is “committed to delivering exemplary service performance and, through consultation with our customers, identifying and implementing new standards in service quality”.

National Air Traffic Control Service £623M Swanwick site which serves as the nerve centre for the management of UK airspace has seen its share of teething problems at its inception and software issues during the summer but the 7^th December 2013 witnessed a catastrophic failure of its management systems which Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic control monitor, reported "Around 130,000 minutes of delay are currently expected with approximately 1,300 flights (almost 8% of the European traffic today) being severely delayed".

An investigation into the incident revealed that there was a breakdown in the IT systems with "more than a million lines of software" compromised significantly affecting the internal phone network that not only supports interaction between air traffic controllers within the same room but also with regional air traffic control authorities on the European continent. This seemingly straight forward technical issue was blamed on the "difficulty switching from night time to daytime operation" thereby making it impossible to reconfigure voice communication systems which is organised into sectors to cope with the demands of daytime UK airspace traffic.

The inability of NATS to meet its service plan objectives contributed to poor service performance levels with 20% of departures at Gatwick Airport hit by delays and 50% of flights at London City Airport faced disruption.

A cursory review of NATS 10 year business plan reveals a limited emphasis on contingency planning with quality issues shrouded by terms such as efficiency and innovation despite having a quality management system. Unfortunately there has not been a balanced strategic approach to the management of non-financial risk with effort being expounded on safety and emissions reduction to the detriment of the reliability of mission critical information management systems. This was compounded by a failure to test contingency measures or effectively mobilise contingency plans in the event of catastrophic failure.

Increasingly in our technological age firms and nation states are exposed to information risk either through limited access to information, loss of information and inaccurate information that affects not only competiveness but also safety and security. In essence sustainability is now a four legged stool consisting of the economic, ecological, social and information.  Sustainable organisations must combine the goals of "zero errors” and “zero emissions” into the pursuit of the strategic goal of "Absolute Zero" the point at which no more adverse risk can be removed from a system which is a benchmark upon which sustained customer satisfaction can be achieved.

The four swans of sustainability

 

On a recent visit to Edinburgh Napier Business School for a meeting with Dr. Ian Smith the sustainability program course leader. I noticed four origami swans on his desk. Upon enquiring further he intimated that the items were found at the end of one of his lectures on the seat vacated by an anonymous student.  Jokingly he suggested it is symbolic of the quality of his lecture which one of his students found origami more interesting!

But why swans?

Swans in mythology have helped Greek gods move across the sky and is considered by many ancient and indigenous peoples to symbolise transformation, balance and elegance. Swans depending on colour e.g. black swans symbolise mystery or uncertainty.

My own research into the phenomenon of sustainbility footprints (i.e. the use of carbon footprint, water footprint, ecological footprint and the emerging concept of social footprints to evaluate the present non-financial consequences and future risk implications of strategic decisions) - indicates Sustainability footprint methodology is at the nexus of three management theories:

·         Risk – sustainability footprint risk must incorporate environmental impact and its effect on cost structure and revenue streams

·         Natural Resource Based View – sustainability footprint measurement contributes to strategy through pollution prevention, product stewardship and sustainable development

·         Shared Value – as indicators sustainability footprint assists firms in the mitigation of environmental impacts arising from value chain activities

These theories reveal four key areas within which sustainability footprints can contribute to the success of the firm in terms of cost dimension, innovation dimension, environmental dimension and stakeholder dimension...... the four swans of sustainability

Results of our pilot case study suggest that sustainability footprints can transform stakeholder perceptions of waste from being a cost centre to a profit centre, reduce carbon emissions by diverting waste from landfill and stimulate innovation through the search for potential energy savings.

Firms that do not measure their carbon, social and water footprint expose themselves to uncertainty and risk especially within the context of climate change as they fail to adopt behaviours or make decisions which are expressly sustainable.

To learn more about quality, safety and environmental management visit www.sustainabilitycsr.com