MESSAGE FROM THE EDUCATION CHAIR

Dear ASQ Members:

This week we need to discuss leadership directions, refresher course status, and a new section in our library devoted to assisting you in improving the quality of your social life. 

Leadership Directions

Last Saturday some or our officers joined other officers from all over Region 7 including Mexico for a leadership conference with ASQ Headquarters' Executive Director Paul Borawski.  Objectives included sharing ideas, reviewing plans, and brainstorming new directions that ASQ should move in.   Interesting highlights that you might be interested in knowing, reported thus far are as follows:

• We need to remember that ASQ is a Non-profit 501-3C "Educational Organization".

• ASQ is adopting a new 6 year living strategy for their strategic plan as opposed to the old static yearly plan.  Long range plans have been realized to become irrelevant in a rapidly changing world.  Living strategy evolves as knowledge evolves. 

• To adopt their new strategy, ASQ plans to involve much larger numbers of stakeholders.  The quality community grows through stakeholder involvement in ongoing strategic dialogue.

• Dual role long term objectives of ASQ are (1) to be stewards of the quality profession and (2) to be stewards of the quality movement.

• Seven key forces shaping change in quality as discovered from a global Delphi process in order of importance are:

  1- Quality must deliver bottom-line results.

  2- Management systems increasingly will absorb the quality function.

  3- Quality will be everyone's job.

  4- The economic case for a broader application of quality will need to be proven.

  5- Global demand for products and services will create a global workforce.

  6- Declining trust and confidence in business leaders and organizations.

  7- Rising customer expectations.  

• The impact on quality professionals include:

  1- Greater need to prove the economics of quality.  Most critical dimension.

  2- Dispersion of the quality function.  Less use of the word "quality".

  3- Integration of quality among employees.  Transition to coach / mentor.

  4- Need for next generation quality tools and techniques.  Paradigm changes.

  5- Development of the human side of quality.  Appropriate / risk management.

• Eight Strategic Themes being explored are:

  1- Support the quality profession in its efforts to grow in value in the workplace and community.

  2- Assure workplace value through the skills and tools we offer.

  3- Prove the economic case for quality.

  4- Assure that a vital, growing body of knowledge is accessible to everyone.

  5- Re-create ASQ to become a community of choice.

  6- Make sure the world knows the importance and value of quality.

  7- Support people who believe quality can make a difference in the world.

  8- Grow the use and impact of quality in every segment of the economy.

• Costs and ease of obtaining certifications were a great concern amongst the representatives.

• ASQ is currently approximately 60% manufacturing oriented and 40% Service oriented.

• Two sections have breakfast meetings in addition to regular meetings that are more education and less networking oriented.

• One survey reviewed found that the number one reason for good meeting attendance was the topic.  The number two reason was networking.  Other reasons include career, social, benchmarking, & commitment.    

• An interesting poll amongst the group found the vast majority of attendee's believed that service quality in America is dropping.

• Our webmaster (Kim Niles) co-chaired a workshop with the Phoenix Section 704 webmaster which went well as our web site is being referred to as a model section web site. 

Refresher Course Status

Both the CQE and CSQE refresher courses have recently started.  There are several other courses planned.  There is still time to sign up for any course. 

We are holding all classes except the CQM in the Erickson building with food provided to those held in the Erickson building.  See information below and on our education page for more details.

Improving The Quality of Your Social Life

Another interesting tidbit to come out of the leadership conference is that other sections are using students and consultants to update their websites as they have not been as lucky as we have to find a real nut to do it mostly as a hobby.  Our biggest advantage with our arrangement is that we sometimes benefit from Kim's crazy all day web hunting trips as is the case today. 

Quality author Steven Covey would likely say that improving the quality of ones social life would require knowing what to do, how to do it, and wanting to do it.   We can't help you want to improve your social life but the rest simply requires information which has been compiled in link format on our Library Basement under personal tools & other fun stuff / Entertainment around San Diego.  Send any additional links you may know about or any other suggestions directly to Kim.

Don't forget to sign up for the upcoming 3-hour workshop March 26th on "Converting a Quality Management System using the Process Approach" by local guru Roland Kelly with Eagle Registrations who was voted number one. (details below and on our workshop page) and April 4 is the last day to sign up for the CQE, CQA, CSQE, CQIA, and CCT Pilot certification tests.

Sincerely,

Stacy Apostol

Education Committee Chair

ASQ Section 0703 

This month we are highlighting two articles as follows: 

"Recertification Advice" (html on our site)

By Rich Ostrin  

This article provides some recertification advice from our section expert and coordinator of the subject.    

"Design of Experiments Quiz #2" (136kb pdf file)

By Hank Posters

Accept the challenge. Complete the quiz and e-mail your answers to hposters@hotmail.com. Anyone who completes the quiz will receive the correct answers with explanations and discussions as applicable.