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NZOQ Learn – Share – Grow Conference Queenstown

22 – 24 October 2008

A business event like no other! NZOQ Conference 2008 is everything you ever wanted to know about quality as a driver and catalyst for growth and all-round business success.

This will be a big three days out for Business Leaders, Quality Managers, Researchers and Practitioners staged in the beautiful setting of the Remarkable Ranges and Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown.

With a full conference programme loaded with exciting speakers, trade stands, evening networking functions, and an entertaining conference dinner – why would you want to miss out!

If you haven’t experienced a NZOQ National Conference, then brace yourself, because NZOQ Learn – Share – Grow Conference Queenstown 2008 will be bigger and better than ever before – it’s a quality show!

Why you should attend:

We highly recommend that you book early to avoid disappointment.

A conference programme will be available in the coming months but if you are interested in attending please show your interest by emailing helen.baines@nzoq.org.nz

We are seeking expressions of interest for:

NZOQ Constitution and Rules

Please right-click the link and choose "Save Target As..." to download the file.

Constitution and Rules PDF Document 126 kilobytes

The Quality Journey – 30 years with NZOQ!

A report on New Zealand Quality Day June 2007

Download the PDF document (120kb)

President’s Brief

Roger Atkinson, NZOQ President

Firstly, congratulations and heartfelt thanks to Lynley Coburn and the Canterbury team for organising a highly successful NZ Quality Day seminar and the Organisation’s 30th Anniversary celebrations, held in Christchurch on 12 June. The seminar had an excellent and varied programme of speakers and attracted close to 70 participants from all over the country. The National AGM took place at the end of the seminar, followed by a cocktail hour and a celebratory dinner in the evening. For some of us a bit longer in the tooth than others, it was particularly gratifying to see the number of “old faces” and founding members who came out of the woodwork.

Although it is early days yet, it is pleasing to report that NZOQ’s new governance structure under the revised Constitution seems to be bedding down nicely since the new Board took office in April.

At its first face-to-face meeting in Christchurch on 13 June, the Board reaffirmed the Strategic Plan developed by the interim Board late last year, with particular focus on:

development of membership services, including recruitment and retention, as well as member benefits

education, including promotion of existing and new courses, scholarships and prizes

2008 National Conference (22 to 24 October 2008 at Rydges Lakeland Resort Queenstown).

In recent discussions with the branches, it appears that not all the implications of the new Constitution and governance structure are yet fully understood by all members. This is hardly surprising, given that the Organisation has been running a representative National Council structure for nigh on 30 years. Most of the confusion seems to centre around the question of local representation at Board level.

Over the years the governing body has evolved from a National Council comprising appointees directly representing the interests of each of the regional divisions or branches, to the current structure of a Governing Board elected by the membership at large, and with none of the individual directors representing any particular region. The Board also has the facility to appoint or co-opt additional directors as required with competencies and expertise to complement the skill set of the elected directors. To keep the options as open as possible, these additional appointments do not even have to be NZOQ members.

While this is a much more businesslike model, it brings with it the danger that, unless some compensating mechanism is put in place, those responsible for the Organisation’s governance can become somewhat remote from the grass-roots membership. With this in mind, the Board has adopted a portfolio structure which includes a Membership Services subcommittee, comprising two board members and the chairpersons from each branch to ensure ongoing direct regional representation.

The normal term for elected board members is two years. However, in order to ensure continuity from year to year, three directors will step down at the end of the current year with the option of offering themselves for re-election. This will set up an annual election cycle, with three directors halfway through their two-year term and three seats up for election.

Every organisation needs regular injections of new blood and we are always on the lookout for potential candidates willing to offer themselves for election. Although board members are unpaid, the work carries with it other potential rewards, including personal growth and the satisfaction of contributing to the leadership of a successful organisation. If you feel you have the relevant skills and experience and are willing to put in the time and hard work required, you are urged to put yourself forward for the 2008 election when nominations open this November.

Celebrating 30 years of quality

During the 1970s, the Quality Assurance wave swept over the industrialised world and New Zealand was no exception, as some of the founding members of the NZ Organisation for Quality reflect on those early days of the organisation, Lyn Nikoloff writes.

Background – Pre 1970s

Quality management had been born in the USA during World War II as a consequence of poorly manufactured armaments that were not fit for the purpose such as a gun being unable to fire a bullet! Or the Liberty Ships that sailed on their maiden voyage from the USA to the UK but then never sailed again. ‘As a consequence, in 1942 or ‘43 a conference was held in America where it was decided to look at ways of improving the quality of military hardware by producing standards for manufacture,’ explains Gordon Smith, founding member of NZOQ.

Two Americans, Joseph Juran, an engineer turned statistician and manager, and W. Edwards Deming, a statistician turned manager, became the ‘gurus’ of quality management with Juran writing the ‘bible’ and Deming assuming the role of ‘John the Baptist’.  Due to their background in statistics, they were able to see the usefulness of statistics in ensuring that a product was being produced to uniform specifications and fit for the purpose.

The Quality Assurance discussion begins in New Zealand – early 1970s

In the mid 1960’s – 70’s the New Zealand economy was focused on the export of primary production i.e. agricultural produce. It is therefore of no surprise to find that the food industry would be amongst the first to embrace Quality Management as the world, and Europe in particular, demanded assurance of quality for all imported goods.

It has been suggested that an edict from the Apple and Pear Marketing Board requiring all its suppliers to have quality assurance accreditation helped to raise an awareness of quality assurance in New Zealand. Such was the disparate state of manufactured goods at this time in New Zealand that no manufacturer could be certain that components would even fit together. Gordon Smith recalls one local food processor who obtained cans, lids and cartons from three separate factories – the lids often did not fit the cans, and the cans did not always fit in the cartons!

However, awareness of the need for quality management was also being raised in two non-governmental agencies (quangos) - the National Research Advisory Council Committee B and the NZ Planning Council. The chair of NRAC Committee B was Professor Kelvin Scott from the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering at Massey University and Ron Guthrie, founding member, was also a member of both committees. 

The NRAC Committee B made nine recommendations to the government that included eight connected to information dissemination, education and training. According to Ron Guthrie they were unable to convince the government to embrace the concept of adopting the nine recommendations, but he thought that the Department of Labour certification system was an ideal vehicle for delivery of quality assurance and did not see the need for a separate organisation. It seems, however, that Professor Scott thought differently and turned his attention to the establishment of a professional body to promote quality ideas.

The disciples gather – mid 1970s

By the mid 1970s all testing laboratories were trying to gain Department of Labour TELARC certification. Bryan Wenmoth, founding member, had been employed by Winstone’s Pipes in Palmerston North and he recalls that at the time local councils would not allow plastic pipes to be placed under roading because the quality of the pipes could not be assured. Therefore, his task was to get their laboratory up to TELARC standard.

During this time Roger Atkinson, founding member and current President, was working at Philips in the Netherlands as a Quality Manager. Philips had been forced to embrace quality management due to its high failure rate of television sets, as much as one fault per set compared to the Japanese who had one fault per 1,000 sets. ‘The job appealed to me as it was between the technical work I was used to doing and dealing with people. Quality Management was a whole new concept in the developing world and it was an exciting time.’

He returned to New Zealand in 1977 to work for Alex Harvey Industries. His employer suggested that he get involved in the NZOQA due to his expertise in the area. ‘It was an exciting time, this was a new discipline and everyone was interested and quality management was the buzz word.’

It is uncertain how the DSIR obtained government funding to appoint someone to promote quality management but regardless of the means, Tony Stephenson, founding member and first President, was appointed to the position of officer to advise on quality related matters in the recently established Auckland Industrial Development Division (AIDD), part of the DSIR in 1975. Tony Stephenson had at that time been working for three years for the Australian Organisation for Quality.

Tony Stephenson’s brief was to drum up support for quality and he did this by visiting the Manufacturers Associations, Chamber of Commerce and Government Departments. He was also involved in delivering a travelling seminar entitled ‘Profit for Quality’ that was run during 1976 and 1977.

From the seminar participants it became clear that they wanted programmes in quality assurance techniques and also a better understanding of its underlying philosophy. Meanwhile, the manufacturers had conducted their own survey and it seemed that they wanted information on inspection techniques in relation to engineering measurement, readings of drawings and interpretation of specifications; purchasing specifications and interpretation of specification; and statistical quality control.1 

Thus quality education was in demand and some believed that a stand-alone professional organisation was the best vehicle by which this could be delivered.  This ethos fitted nicely with Professor Scott’s own analysis that a professional body devoted to quality management was the way forward.

Steering Committee - 1976

Martin Devlin, a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering at Massey University, had tried unsuccessfully in 1974 to convince the Institute of Professional Engineers to foster such an organisation.

In May 1976, a conference was organised by the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering of Massey University, and at that conference Professor Scott convened a meeting to discuss the idea of a national organisation. As a consequence a Steering Committee was set up, chaired by Tony Stephenson, with the aim of investigating the need for a professional body and what form it might take.2

‘We consulted widely throughout all the various sectors and regions in the country. The purpose of the organisation would be to provide training like the Japanese had done, to develop a membership and keep its interests broad base thereby making it humble and egalitarian,’ explains Tony Stephenson.

A draft constitution was drawn up during this time that included the mission of the organisation, a requirement to provide training

to members and to allow a ‘local’ flavour tobe incorporated into the organisation’s structure via regional committees. Also the national committee was to consist of representatives of the various regional committees with a rotating President every two years.

At this time, in addition to the ‘Profit for Quality’ seminar run by Tony Stephenson, Auckland and Wellington universities were also running short courses on quality. Also the Department of Trade and Industry were presenting seminars on quality and had produced an audio visual presentation with Alex Harvey Industries on Quality Control, which they later published as a booklet entitled ‘Basic Concepts in Quality’.3

Massey Quality Conference May 1977

In May 1977, another conference was hosted by the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering at Massey University and a meeting was convened during the conference to discuss the establishment of a professional body and to receive the report from the Steering Committee.4

Over one hundred and twenty people attended the conference and it is reasonable to assume that many delegates attended because their employers believed they needed to know more about what was quality assurance and how it could benefit their business. It appears that most of the delegates were from the North Island with only four South Island representatives: Gordon Smith from the Christchurch Polytechnic, Graeme Absalom from Lane Walker Rudkin, Mr Lane from the clothing industry and a representative from Firestone.

At the meeting, the Steering Committee reported back that there was a need for a professional body for quality assurance in line with the Australians and Americans. According to some accounts of that meeting, there was some debate about the name such an organisation would adopt. Some thought that it should be called the NZ Organisation for Quality Assurance in line with the UK conception of the term, whereby assurance was something you did at the start of the process to assure quality. Others preferred the NZ Organisation for Quality Control in line with the American Society for Quality Control who had interpreted ‘quality assurance’ to mean something you did at the end of the line via inspection.

The meeting voted to call the organisation the NZ Organisation for Quality Assurance but fifteen years later it changed its name to the NZ Organisation for Quality.

The meeting elected Tony Stephenson as President with Kevin Lysaght as Deputy President, Lester O’Brien, a lecturer in the Department of Industrial Management and Engineering, was appointed its Secretary. Bryan Wenmoth became Treasurer as ‘it was easier if the organisation had two cheque signatories in the same town’. Professor Scott’s department provided full secretarial support and even today many NZOQ members are grateful to Angie Morgan.

NZOQA – 1978-80

The constitution was registered in January 1978, which stated in part that there would be an annual conference and a quarterly journal. The first two years were spent setting up the national organisation, internal structures and running small scale workshops. Meanwhile, the membership grew from 21 individuals and 23 company members in July 1977 to over 500 members representing over 140 companies by May 1978.5

Quality education was still being carried out by the NZOQA on a regional basis. After three years it was agreed that a more structured approach to quality education was required and the NZOQA established the Certificate of Quality Assurance based on the American Certified Quality Technician programme. There was also a huge amount of regional input into courses by people such as Tim Ball and Derek Wheeler. Some of the original course tutors are still teaching the courses today including Graeme Absalom. Today, the NZOQ continues to run its highly successful CQA programme.

In 1978 the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) approached Malcolm Reeves, who taught the Food Quality Assurance paper at Massey University, about travelling to the USA to investigate university level training in quality assurance.6 This led to the development of the Diploma in Food Quality Assurance at Massey University – an initiative with the NZIFST, and later the development of the Diploma in Quality Assurance. In 1981 Gordon Smith and Bryan Wenmoth were appointed to teach, in part and in whole, on these two Massey University extramural programmes.

The NZOQ began to move away from its close association with Massey University after 1980 when it held its first stand-alone conference. The venue for the conference rotated thereafter among the three divisions: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and the organisation continued to grow throughout the 1980s.

Upon reflection

Looking back over the past 30 years, there was some consensus among those interviewed for this article (although this cohort is not representative of all the views of the founding members) that today Quality had become part and parcel of good management practice.

It is no longer a buzz word but an accepted part of contemporary business practice and there would be very few businesses in the country today that did not embrace its

precepts in their strategic plans.However, some of those interviewed did lament the lack of infiltration of its fundamental principles into senior management, believing that appointing a Quality Manager was seen by some organisations as ‘doing’ quality assurance. Others commented that for some organisations it seemed to mean writing huge documents that then get locked up in the General Manager’s office.

However, all agreed that by embracing Quality, New Zealand businesses had changed the way they do business for the better both in terms of productivity and the quality of good and services. Bryan Wenmoth is in no doubt that its enshrinement in good business practice has been helped by people like David Russell and the Consumers Institute who have made consumers aware of their rights. 

Quality has come a long way in thirty years and the NZOQ continues to influence existing and new businesses alike. It continues to espouse the benefits of Quality in business practice because it ultimately translates into higher profitability and customer satisfaction.

If you caught this wave and are waiting for another - watch out for sustainability – but you can’t have sustainability without quality!

President’s Brief

Roger Atkinson, NZOQ President

It is my privilege to take up the role of NZOQ President for the coming year. Having served continuously on National Council (now the Board) for the past 30 years, including a previous stint as President in 1989/90, and with retirement from full-time employment looming later in the year, I had been contemplating slipping quietly into obscurity. However, against my better judgement, my colleagues on the Board have persuaded me to give it another shot.

In the end my decision to accept the nomination was based on the calibre of the other Board members and the support that I know I will enjoy from them. They are:

As many of you will be aware, this is the first Board to be elected under the new Constitution, adopted in June last year, and completes the transition from the old National Council to a governance structure more suited to today’s business and social environment. We will continue to develop and implement our strategic direction, using the portfolio structure introduced with the interim Board in the latter half of last year. This year’s officers and portfolio chairs are as follows:

President/Board Services Roger Atkinson
Vice President/Board Chair Joe Hollander
Education Services Kelly Mara
Information Services Wayne Hutchinson
Membership Services Lynley Coburn
Professional Recognition Dan Forsman
General Manager Helen Baines

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor Ceillhe Sperath. Ceillhe has the distinction of being the longest serving President in the history of the Organisation. She stepped into the breach at a particularly difficult time, in early 2004 when Nigel Wyse the previous President resigned due to ill health. At the same time Bryan Wenmoth, our long serving Executive Director, retired and Ceillhe also took on this demanding role in an acting capacity. Over the period of her incumbency we have seen the fortunes of NZOQ change very much for the better, to the point where we can now face the future with some confidence. Ceillhe has brought a new freshness and enthusiasm to the Organisation and we look forward to her continued active participation on both the Board and Northern region committee.

This year the Organisation will have been in existence for 30 years and elsewhere in this issue is an article by Lyn Nikoloff which gives some background and insights into the development of quality management concepts within this country over that time. All members who are able to do so are urged to join us in marking this anniversary at the NZ Quality Day seminar to be held in Christchurch on Tuesday 12 June, with a celebratory dinner to follow in the evening.

Speaking of celebrations ……. although, in the wake of the highly successful World Quality Congress in December last year, we have not been in a position to resource another full-blown national conference this year, mark the dates 22 to 24 October 2008 in your diaries now. Planning is in the embryo stages for what we hope will be our most successful conference yet, with Queenstown as the probable venue. You heard it here first!!

New Zealand Quality Day

Click here to download the PDF brochure!

The New Board of Directors

Ceillhe Sperath

I have been involved in NZOQ since I started my ‘quality’ career with Ernst &Young in 1993 initially as a CQA student fresh from University! I was an honours graduate from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) degree with Honours, majoring in Quality, Operations Management and Management Information Systems. My National Quality & Risk Manager role with Ernst & Young spanned over 10 years and resulted in the set-up of my own company Business Co-ordin@tes Limited. Business Co-ordin@tes offers many business services in the areas of project management, event management and networking but has a particular focus on management system development and business improvement initiatives. Much of my work is on a contract basis, and I am currently completing a year-long assignment as the acting NZ Quality Manager for Maunsell Limited, an international engineering company.

In addition to my NZOQ commitments, I am also an authorised consultant to the NZ Business Excellence Foundation (NZBEF) and was appointed as a National Evaluator & Team Leader for the NZ Business Excellence Criteria Awards (2006). From this association with NZBEF, I also participated as a judge in the 2006 NZ Franchise Awards. I am also President of the Ireland-NZ Association, Chairperson of the Auckland Maori Business Network and a Deputy Chair of Te Hotu Manawa Maori (The Maori Heart Foundation).

On a personal note, in 2006 I got married and also established a tourism business, T.I.M.E. Unlimited with my husband, Neill. This has allowed us to combine our love of the outdoors, travel and sharing our unique NZ culture and environment with others while trying to make a living and achieve a balanced lifestyle!I have thoroughly enjoyed my role as NZOQ President over the past couple of years particularly after the challenge of taking over the interim Executive Director role in late 2004 as part of the transition period after Bryan Wenmoth and Nigel Wyse had both resigned. I am also still an active member of the Northern NZOQ Branch operating out of Auckalnd. In respect to my involvement with NZOQ, I have enjoyed most the ‘quality’ relationships I have been able to build and meeting a variety of people through the extended quality networks of NZBEF and AOQ. It has also been an exciting period over the past few years to be part of the ongoing development and improvements to NZOQ. I am passionate about the services and value we provide to members and am very pleased to be part of the newNZOQ Board to ensure NZOQ remains an organisation relevant to NZ businesses and organisations.

Dan Forsman

A member since 1993 I have served several terms on National Council. I believe NZOQ to be primarily for its members ensuring benefits through promoting the concepts of quality, assisting members, cooperating with like-minded organisations and providing education.

While acknowledging the heritage of NZOQ as an organisation for members I believe that continued sustainability as an educator will ensure the ability of NZOQ to resource ongoing membership benefits. My continued work will focus in this area.

I am Deputy Chair of the Education Committee and involved with the joint venture with Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology for the CQA qualification. This ensures significant financial benefit for NZOQ. I have promoted member scholarships for education and professional development – available from 2007. I am leading NZQA accreditation to NZOQ for quality management unit standards. I was involved with National Office in its positive 2005 NZQA provider registration audit. I Chair the NZOQ Certification Sub-Committee which considers CQM and CQP professional recognition for eligible NZOQ members. I co-judged the Tait Quality Prize in 2005 & 2006 and Beca Prize for 2006. I contribute occasional education articles to Q-NewZ.

As a Palmerston North resident I provide on-call delegated certifying and approval roles for various National Office management functions. I consider this to be an important part of my voluntary functions as the convenient local “councillor-in-residence”.

I am an expert within the tertiary education sector. I am a senior manager for Academy of Diving Trust, a large national private tertiary education organisation. Reporting to the Trust Board, I direct the Academy’s strategy and compliance in a very complex tertiary education environment. My expertise is freely available to NZOQ.

I am a graduate of Victoria University (BA), Massey University (Diploma in Business Studies) and Massey University College of Education (Certificate in Adult Teaching). I have the NZQA National Certificate in Adult Education & Training. This includes unit standards to level 5 in assessment and moderation.

I am married to a fellow tertiary education executive, Wendy and we have two active sons.

In 2005 I was awarded an NZOQ Special Service Award for outstanding service to NZOQ.

Lynley Coburn

My quality career commenced in 1991 as the health sector began to place increased emphasis on quality-related requirements. Soon after, I joined the NZOQ Board as the national Health Sector representative – a position I continue to hold. NZOQ has had a significant influence on my career develop-ment over the years. Additionally, the privilege of assisting with the development and delivery of NZOQ quality training has been enriching.

At a local level I am involved in the Canterbury branch – as Vice-Chair and local newsletter writer as we work delivering value to our local membership with varied programme of events to promote networking and provide learning opportunities.

My recent appointment as NZOQ Education Services Manager will allow continued involvement in providing value to those of you who are passionate about quality and increasing the learning opportunities available to members and their staff. NZOQ training continues to evolve and is reviewed constantly to reflect current quality practice to ensure students are well equipped to meet the quality requirements of their organisation. Students and employers both gain benefits by the inclusion of practical quality improvement projects in many of our courses – what better way to demonstrate the competency of the learning undertaken! Student feedback and their successes in local and National Quality Award programmes show that NZOQ quality training is making a positive difference throughout New Zealand.

The health sector faces increasing quality requirements and in my employment with the Canterbury District Health Board, I am deeply involved in developing quality and audit systems to meet the many external requirements - and importantly, improving the quality of service delivery to those people using our service.

Roger Atkinson

A BE (Electrical) graduate of Canterbury University, Roger has a background in electronics engineering and quality management in a variety of industries, both in NZ and overseas. Currently Group Quality & Systems Manager for Tait Electronics Limited in Christchurch, Roger has served on NZOQ National Council since the Organisation’s inception 30 years ago. Over that period he has held various offices, including Chairmanship of Northern Division, National Vice-President and President (1989-91). In 1994 he was appointed an Honorary Member of NZOQ, in recognition of services to the Organisation.

He is currently NZOQ Vice-President and a member of the inaugural Board.

Roger is also a Member of the Institute of Quality Assurance (UK), a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality, Lead Auditor for JAS-ANZ and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Married to Joce, with two adult daughters, Genevieve and Amy, he is looking forward to the freedom that retirement from full-time work will bring later this year.

Kelly Mara

Kelly has been a self employed consultant in statistics and quality management since 1990. He has worked with a wide variety of private and public sector New Zealand organisations, developing quality management and sampling systems and delivering training and consultancy in quality improvement, process management, team facilitation and Total Quality and Service Quality Management. He has earlier been Course Controller for the Operations Management Module as a part of the Massey University MBA programme and has supervised over sixty MBA research projects. He has developed and delivered many in-house training programs for Quality Improvement methods, particularly in the area of statistical methods.

Since 1985 he has been a National Councillor and Chairman of the Education Committee of NZOQ and was awarded Honorary Life Membership in 1997. He has overseen the substantial developments to the NZOQ Education programme over many years. This programme has developed from very basic beginnings to a substantial nationwide training programme. In particular, the CQA is recognised as a valuable industry award throughout the country. In 2005 the CQA programme became a valuable tertiary qualification, through the development of a partnership with the Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology. He sees that the future for NZOQ’s Education programme as very promising.

Michael Voss

I first became involved with NZOQ after accepting a quality manager position at PEC over 10 years ago and have continued to be involved, more recently as a member of the NZOQ Board. My involvement with the organisation has had a significant part to play in my development both at a personal level and also as a quality management professional.

As a member of your Board, I am keen to ensure that the organisation continues to deliver value to those of you who are passionate about quality both in your professional and personal lives and committed to continue with life-long learning and value the networking that NZOQ is renowned for.

Over the past year I have actively worked as part of the National Council as it transitioned through to the new Board structure. I have also worked as part of the Marketing team that developed the new brand for the organisation. I was NZOQ’s representative on the World Quality Congress steering team that brought the highly successful international quality conference to New Zealand during early December last year where we launched the new look NZOQ. Hopefully many of you had an opportunity to attend some of the 135 papers that were presented and network with other quality professionals from the 30 countries represented. NZOQ partnered with COER, NZBEF, NZIM, Business Capability Partnership and SAI-Global of Australia to bring the World Quality Congress to NZ.

NZOQ Conference scholarship 2007

NZOQ has established a Conference Scholarship for quality professionals in New Zealand. The intention is that the scholarship(s) be awarded annually, subject to the annual budget approved by the NZOQ Board. The NZOQ Education Services Committee administers the scholarship.

Purpose

The aim of this scholarship is to provide an opportunity each year for a person(s) employed in quality management, that is a member of NZOQ, to attend a selected Australasian quality conference, to improve their knowledge of contemporary quality management practices and associated topics, other quality professionals and working networks and other centre approaches in Australia and New Zealand.

Value

This scholarship has a value of up to NZ $1,500 towards the cost of the conference attendance (to include registration, travel, accommodation and subsistence costs, etc). This amount is to be matched by the applicant’s employer. The successful applicant will need support from their employer for both the time to attend the conference, and the contribution to the cost. Where the total cost of the study tour is less than NZ $3,000, the costs will be shared on a 50/50 basis between NZOQ and the applicant’s employer.

Eligibility

Candidates are invited to apply to NZOQ for consideration for the scholarship. The scholarship criteria are:

Evaluation

Evaluation of scholarship applications will be conducted by a Review Panel, established by the NZOQ Board. The Review Panel will make recommendations for scholarship(s) to the Board, who will make the final decision on the award. More than one Scholarship can be awarded in any calendar year.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to produce a written report within four (4) weeks of attending the conference, giving an outline of the conference programme, highlights, information obtained and how the new knowledge will be applied to the applicant’s work. The report shall be not fewer than 300 words and will be published in the NZOQ newsletter (QNewZ)

Administration

Successful applicant(s) are expected to make their own conference attendance arrangements. The successful applicant or their employer should pay for all travel costs and those other costs associated with the conference attendance. The successful applicant(s), or their employer, forwards a copy of the claim/appropriate invoices to the NZOQ General Manger for reimbursement of the NZOQ (Scholarship) contribution.

In the normal course of events, NZOQ will pay 80% of the scholarship amount upon receipt of copies of conference related invoices, with the balance of 20% paid upon receipt of the written report.

Closing Date

Closing Date for 2007 Scholarships: July 31, 2007. Application forms are available from the NZOQ National office.

Certificate of Appreciation Criteria

Purpose

A one off award for members for a particular event or activity of distinction furthering the development of NZOQ to “Learn, Share, Grow”.

Criteria

Process

  1. To be submitted to the General Manager by 30th April for previous calendar year.
  2. Membership committee to make recommendation to the board.
  3. To be presented at NZOQ annual AGM or special branch event within the AGM timeframe.
  4. Once presented recipients name and details to be published in QNewZ.

Resources

Service Award Criteria

Purpose

A one off award for members to recognise the contribution for outstanding service.

Criteria

Process

  1. Nomination and Seconded in writing by a financial NZOQ member outlining reason for nomination.
  2. To be submitted to the General Manager by 30th April for previous calendar year.
  3. Membership committee to make recommendation to the board.
  4. To be presented at NZOQ annual AGM or special branch event within the AGM timeframe.
  5. Once presented recipients name and details to be published in QNewZ.

Resources

A View From The Top

Ceillhe Sperath

NZOQ President

Happy New Year to you all! The new year has rushed in and I realise by the time you are reading this your holidays and Christmas festivities will be a distant memory. If you are still contemplating your new year resolutions might I recommend you consider looking at some of our NZOQ education courses (or if you don’t see something you fancy, please let us know what training topics you think we should consider offering)! In the December issue of QNewZ, we provided copies of our new course brochures along with a flyer on the new Massey Graduate Diploma in Quality Systems which provides a higher education option to follow on from our very popular and successful CQA course. If you require any education information please contact the National NZOQ Office or go to our new look website www.nzoq.org.nz for more information. This is also a gentle reminder about your NZOQ membership subscriptions which were posted in January. With the cost of living ever-increasing, we are happy to let you know that the NZOQ membership fees have NOT changed in three years. We therefore appreciate your prompt payment to assist us to provide ongoing membership services. In terms of the NZOQ Board, our first meeting is mid February and feedback on the outcomes will be provided in the next issue. In the meantime, enjoy the first quarter of 2007! Ceillhe Sperath NZOQ President

World Quality Congress 2006

Wellington, New Zealand, 4-6 December 2006

"Developing management and organisational capability to improve business performance"

www.worldcongressnz.com

Arrival

The evening prior to the event, a networking session was afforded to those who had arrived. The congress was fortunate enough to have a Maori powhiri afforded for our international visitors. It was extremely humbling to be part of this event!

The Event Opening

NZOQ’s own Board Chairman, Joe Hollander, was the M/C for the World Quality Congress 2006 (WQC). An introduction speech by Dr Robin Mann from Massey University started proceedings by introducing Professor Vijay Gopal, the originator of WQC. The Honorable Lianne Dalziel made a compelling speech advocating the value and recognizing the contribution of quality within the greater economy of New Zealand. She then went on to declare the 11th World Quality Congress open.

Speakers

Rod Oram

Rod Oram, international financial journalist, was the first speaker for the event and spoke about how technology changes the world and communities. He suggested that the events of September 11th 2001 should be called interdependence day. The reasoning behind this is because the attack caused the death of people from 62 different countries.

The speech was called “Chasing Cars” because the world labour market has doubled with China joining the global arena, but they do not have enough resources to manufacture enough cars for their own demand. Rod then explained how New Zealand “makes milk” and showed some pictures of a successful dairy farmer. The irony is that the farmer he showed is from Inner Mongolia and Morgan, of Morgan Stanley, is the main customer.

The key point he was trying to get across is from one of his great economic sages – Groucho Marx – who said, “Dogs love to chase cars. But if they caught one, would they know what to do with it?” In the same token, within the evolving world of global economics and industry, is New Zealand investing in the correct areas, and if so, does she know what to do with them once she has invested?

Within the greater scheme of things, New Zealand is short of both financial and human resources compared with other countries. However, we could turn our disadvantages into advantages within the global virtual community that is fast evolving with shared interests.

Rod then went on to share his view of the ten steps that the vanguard group of companies do to put themselves ahead of the race and provided some case studies of successful New Zealand companies.

In fundamental terms, one should stay small and dominate their point in the value chain to be a successful, sustainable business.

From here the format of the congress changed to split the 198 submitted papers into the 16 different streams of interest over the three days. The following is a summary of those speakers thought to be most relevant to New Zealand business.

John Swanwick presented his paper on “Where next for quality? Beyond the 9 box model”. John’s speech was framed as a ‘tribe’ – a fraternity of quality practitioners. Starting with the statement “quality is a journey to excellence”, his speech raised a series of questions in a logical progression:

To try to answer these questions John discussed the EFQM model. He recognized that there are three different types of quality within frameworks:

He identified that models are helpful tools but as they move away from reality they are less useful. This raised the question of what would happen if the models disappeared? Some of the answer lies in the context of Work and the cultural definitions of the individual and society/organisation:

We should be developing frameworks in such a way that people can learn from them easily. It was identified that concepts are more memorable in people’s minds than models; they are looser and can be interpreted to the situation easier. The conclusion was that:

Models get in the way.

Robert Karaszewski

Professor Robert Karaszewski from NCU spoke about the effect of cultural limitations upon the implementation of quality management systems.During his research he has found that the most difficult cultures to implement quality systems are Central Europe, Africa and China.

At the management level within organisations in the Middle East, it was found that the culture toward quality systems is similar to that of the USA and Western Europe; this is mainly because Middle Eastern managers are educated in business schools of said regions.

At the employee level, employees were found to have no knowledge of their processes and that the individual understanding of empowerment was not that different among the different employee levels in the different regions. It was also found that legislation, regulations and lack of technology were not a hindrance to the implementation of quality management systems.

The key findings from this study of what hinders the implementation the most were:

Of the two key findings the main thing that hindered the implementation of quality systems is:

Lack of involvement from top management

Rom Rudski

An interesting and pleasantly appealing presentation came from Dr Rom Rudski from Massey University with his talk on fractal mathematics and how nature uses the repetitive patterns to create itself, such as the fronds on a fern. The interesting insight gleaned from his speech was illustrated with Russian dolls. While they may be perceived as being cloned they are actually all different. The difference being some external obvious difference such as size and the patterns painted on them. However, they are all identical in a non-obvious way which is easily overlooked – they all had the same base colour. This is the intrinsic non-obvious thing called culture. The Russian dolls could then be interpreted as “fractal management” or having the same management culture. Rom went on to describe that we need to be learning; however, we are not learning.

Synthetic technologies are inventions not learnings, and that we could learn a great deal from nature rather than inventing.

Abrahim Soltani

Abrahim Soltani took a manager’s view on process control and what it really means. Abrahim put the discussion in two contexts that every quality professional will come across in their life:

These two contexts were abstracted to come up with the following five points and ended up with two main questions:

  1. The rationale for control of people to control the processes
  2. The linkage between control and the workforce
  3. Perspectives on control across management levels
  4. The mentality is that process control is not used in the pure sense of controlling processes but is used instead to apportion blame
  5. Control and its implications for TQM. HR does not think that TQM works because the HR perspective is that TQM is for the control of people.

Abrahim concluded that the way to stop TQM being used to apportion blame and be perceived as a people controlling framework is for systems to be considered as part performance review.

It was suggested that quality practitioners could use the term “process management” rather than “process control”. The response to this was two fold:

  1. Managers need to understand the words
  2. Most managers look for a solution and then look for the cause.

A final suggestion came that control needs to be put in place to control the people who implement process control…

Moya Bawden

Moya Bawden spoke about business health. She started off by saying that “great businesses have great processes”. She then pointed out that with the hundreds of processes within Baring’s Bank only two processes did not have feedback loops and it was these two processes that led to the bank’s demise. This drove home the fact that if your business fails there is a 3:1 chance that it is your fault. Part of the problem is that solutions are put in place before an investigation occurs. Mostly though, people need the flexibility and empowerment to make decisions within the capacity. For example, a simple policy change is required and not a process change. This can be much more effective in both cost and ongoing business. So what is the cost of conducting process reviews versus the cost of not doing them?

The key message from this presentation was:

Measure, Monitor, Manage

Azizan Abdullah

Azizan Abdullah conducted a study of SMEs whose core businesses were metal stamping and plastics moilding. He found in his study that organisations that won a quality award significantly outperformed other organisations in all critical areas of business management over those who had not won an award. He did however find one “outlier”. This outlier performed as well as the award winners because its TQM commitment was part of its culture and embedded in its business strategy. This shows that:

You do not have to be an award winner to excel, you just need to do what the award winners do and ensure that you are fully committed to a TQM strategy

Cyndi Crother-Laurin

Cyndi Crother-Laurin provided a fresh and inspirational approach to quality leadership. She discussed her PhD research at Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle to investigate “The fish philosophy”. Cyndi worked at the fish market for a full year to truly understand why this company was so successful. This business is a small business that sells $250,000 each month!

So what are the underlying philosophies that created this success? In fundamental terms the people see themselves as part of something much larger than themselves. But that would be too simplistic. The underlying philosophies are discussed and agreed upon by the people to create the culture. They hold meetings to discuss what is not working, where they are now and what the future is. It is not what they are doing but who they are being; it is not visible.

The unfortunate thing is that we reward and punish actions but do not address where the actions are coming from. Actions come from Values and Beliefs, Attitudes and understanding, Thinking and Language. The lever to pull is the Thinking and Language as it affects Values and Beliefs – “the goldmine”.

Quality Awards

A dinner was held for the presentation of the quality awards. These awards are held every year and are the:

Synopsis

Overall, the event was a success providing a large range of speakers from many parts of the globe and just as wide a range of information to share. It was an excellent networking opportunity and some great friends were made with people from all around the world.

We hope to publish some of the papers from the speakers at WQC 2006 in future editions of QNewZ. Unfortunately, there were so many presentations given and so little space that we have provided just a brief snapshot of what was provided.

NZOQ Set to Launch its New Brand

NZOQ needs to aim for improvement and growth in the performance of quality practitioners, managers and organisations but ultimately NZOQ is looking towards improvements in the quality of New Zealand society.

It’s been two and a half years in the gestation but following regional workshops in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, NZOQ is now very close to launching its new promise to industry.

The NZOQ Marketing Committee has worked hard with its marketing project manager, Simon Kozak of Just Marketing Partnerships, to design and develop a fresh, relevant new brand for NZOQ. The new NZOQ is not just about what you will see; it is about a new promise to you, our members, and to organisations wishing to develop and grow quality management in their staff and the organisation. Supporting this is a central idea that will guide the NZOQ Board in the delivery of products and services enabling members to develop their skills, experience and knowledge in quality management. Such products and services include education and training, improved networking, access to specialist knowledge on quality management topics, website based discussion forums, and online resources.

Our promise to you and our appeal to others is encapsulated in our logo strap-line: Learn. Share. Grow. These three words articulate the essence of our new brand which is to enable people, organisations and society to advance with knowledge through opportunities to learn, opportunities to share what has been learnt, and ultimately to improve and grow with new insights and knowledge on quality management. NZOQ recognises that the domain of the quality environment is evolving with many organisations now looking to embrace a quality philosophy. Today we see quality being a driving force within conservation, tourism, social welfare, education and health care sectors of our society along with the traditional areas of manufacturing and production. The new NZOQ aims to appeal to the spectrum of organisations interested in quality.

The new brand includes a fresh visual interpretation of our brand through a restyled logo that retains links with the past, fresh colours and a contemporary look to our website. Up to date brochures and print material contribute to NZOQ being a more relevant organisation growing quality management in today’s business.

Crucial to the development of our new brand is the input of members. Regional workshops were organised and held in late July/early August in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Participants were able to see the new visual interpretation of NZOQ and hear how NZOQ intends to position itself for the future. Overall, feedback was positive with a number of insightful comments contributing to subsequent development of the material.

By the time you read this you will have received a letter from NZOQ President Ceillhe Sperath outlining the way forward for NZOQ. You will also be able to see the changes through this edition of QNewZ and the website. The website contains access to the “Brand Advocates Manual” which is a standard procedure for how NZOQ communicates and will be used by National Office, Regional Branches and indeed any member who wishes to talk about NZOQ, and what it does, to others. On the website you will also find the presentation given to members at the regional workshops.

We appreciate that not all members will have had the opportunity to attend a workshop. Your feedback, however, is still welcome. Why not drop us a note at national office with your thoughts once you’ve seen, read and absorbed the new NZOQ?

The next steps involve a launch to industry through the media and the World Quality Congress (www.worldcongressnz.com) in December. Following this, with your guidance we will develop the specific products and services that will deliver our promise to you. There are changes afoot for the website and a suite of member benefits to be introduced. Watch this space for updates over the next few months. As always your feedback is always welcome.

Welcome to the new NZOQ

Never let it be said that a Quality organisation cannot stand the taste of its own medicine!

Having been involved with NZOQ since its formation in the mid-‘70s, it has been interesting to observe its growth and progress and the personalities involved over time. Many people have helped to shape its nearly 30 years of life and there has been a lot of passion and positive energy in these undertakings.

The time came over a year or so ago to review and streamline the governance and strategic focus of NZOQ. This process commenced in 2005 with a significant review by members of the National Council and has resulted in the recent adoption of the new NZOQ Constitution. Along with the new brand and image of our organisation, the new Board structure will become a sign of our maturity as we strive for further continuous improvement in the future. If the successful NZRFU and other similar organisations can have a Patron, President, Board Chair, Board of Directors, Chief Executive/ General Manager, then why can’t the same apply to NZOQ?

The old National Council now becomes the new Board, with currently nine (9) Directors (out of a possible 10). Elections will commence early in 2007 to commence a rotation process to enable directors to serve a two-year period, while maintaining a stable balance, overlap of tenure and continuity. The Board members have taken on the role as Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the four (4) Board Committees; namely, Education Services (ESC), Information Services (ISC), Membership Services (MSC) and Board Services (BSC) committees. The roles of these committees should be obvious, where the ESC continues with the current function of education, training and accreditation, etc. The ISC covers marketing, publications, circulation of information, newsletters, website, etc and the MSC re-introduces a focus on addressing the needs of our members, branches, interest groups and so on. The BSC comprises the Chairs of the other three committees and focuses on the executive, financial, audit and risk, etc functions of the organisation.

There is provision to co-opt members to the various committees according to the need and workload. This will improve further service to the membership and engagement, as for example, Branch chairpersons/ representatives could be co-opted to the MSC.

The full Board will meet at least four (4) times a year on a face-to-face basis. In the intervening months, the BSC will monitor progress and provide direction to the affairs of the organisation. This will include teleconference meetings on the non-Board- meeting months (as for the old Management sub-committee of the National Council). The day to day management of the organisation will be vested in the four Board Committees and National Office. This should improve the governance and management of NZOQ over time and ensure a focus on the three specific roles related to education, information and membership services.

In November 2006, the Board will meet for an extra day to review the NZOQ vision, mission and statement of strategic direction. This strategic planning exercise will also determine the way ahead for the next five years, more particularly the plan for activities in the 2007-2008 period. Results of the strategic planning day will feature in future QNewZ issues, along with regular comments and updates from our Committee Chairs. This will ensure that our membership is kept informed of our focus and progress, as well as soliciting feedback and endorsement in an open and transparent manner.

I am really looking forward to this challenging transitional period, which will probably last through until the end of 2007. I also look forward to the new energy and image that is being injected into NZOQ and the positive growth and progress for the future. Best regards to all.