Benchmarking Training Workshop

Balancing Risk and Reward

5:03 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Companies today should consider myriad corporate strategic concerns as well as increased federal regulation and public scrutiny over executive compensation and disclosure practices. The right balance between pay and risk—while retaining people long-term—can help with CEO succession.

Compensation plans should consider the impact of diverse company operations on the performance of any measured business unit and should include the contributions of those personnel responsible for these operations. It may be necessary, for compensation purposes, to adjust reported financial results, winnowing out the impact of corporate-wide transactions and actions, such as write-downs, that employees' activities cannot affect. Compensation plans should avoid rigid performance metrics and allow the committee ample discretion to adjust compensation to prevent manipulation of the system. Evaluate each provision of the compensation plan in the context of other risk-control strategies the company has adopted, such as the audit committee's financial risk controls.

A bottom-up strategy should be used, whereby business intelligence percolates from staff at ground level and informs the creation of realistic targets, rather than having top management impose arbitrary targets that might encourage imprudent risk-taking. Plans with steep performance curves or ratcheted award plateaus also create incentives for risky behavior to make the next higher level; there is need for discretion to discount (or augment) performance results that seem out of keeping with the company's risk-reward tolerances. One means to adjust performance criteria could be, for example, to weigh profits against return on assets; another would discount easily achieved targets and weigh difficult ones more heavily.

Importance of UL Mark

12:03 AM Posted by IQMS Global


All electrically controlled devices or systems in the USA must be approved. Conformity with national safety regulations is demonstrated by a mark of conformity from a qualified, recognized testing laboratory. The most widely recognized testing laboratory is UL (Underwriters Laboratories). UL conducts tests according to UL standards, which incorporate national standards as an essential component. The UL Mark is a registered certification mark of Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), an independent, not-for-profit, product safety testing and certification organization. The UL Mark may only be used on or in connection with products certified by UL and under the terms of written agreement with UL.
The UL Mark on a product means that UL has tested and evaluated representative samples of that product and determined that it meets UL's requirements. The requirements are primarily based on UL's own published Standards for Safety.

The UL Mark is one of the most recognized, accepted and trusted symbols in the world. Safety-conscious and concerned consumers look for this on products because it delivers the credibility of an independent, technically expert organization which has determined whether foreseeable risks associated with the product's use have been eliminated or minimized. Even after the product is offered in the marketplace, it must continue to meet safety requirements in order to continue bearing the UL Mark, or the mark will be removed by UL.

Underwriters Laboratories’ ever-recognizable UL Mark has been a beacon of safety and peace of mind, guiding consumers to reputable electrical products that have been rigorously tested and approved for safe use. To this day, the mere presence – or lack of – the trusted UL Mark is enough to make or break the purchases of millions of consumers worldwide.


The UL Mark comes in the form of a label or is die-stamped, silk-screened or molded into a product, it needs to contain the following 4 design elements to be verified as legitimate:
• The UL trademark: the letters “UL” arranged diagonally (descending left to right) within a circle, with a small ® symbol directly below the U
• The word “listed” printed either below or beside the circle in all capital letters: LISTED
• A 4-character alphanumeric control number, or a 4 to 6-digit issue number. In the case of the issue number, it may or may not be preceded by the phrase “Issue No.” as well as 1 or 2 letters
• A product identity phrase that concisely names what the product is


Additional signs of a genuine UL Mark are:
• A UL file number (which will often have the letter “E” as a prefix)
• The manufacturer’s company name or logo
• Applicable electrical ratings
• Information designating the product’s Catalog, Model, or Type designation

ISI Mark and Certification

3:34 AM Posted by IQMS Global


ISI mark is a third party guarantee of quality given by Bureau of Indian Standards. During the pre independence period, standardization activity was sporadic and confined mainly to a few Government purchasing organization. However, immediately after independence, economic development through coordinated utilization of resources was called for and the government recognized the role for standardization in gearing industry to competitive efficiency and quality production. ISI mark thus helps in formulating Indian Standards for products and services by bringing together and coordinating various interest groups like manufacturers, consumers, technical experts, testing personnel and others interested. The standards so prepared are known as Indian Standards (IS) and are considered as legal documents. The Indian Standards are used not only by the industry but also by the Government, students, consumers and regulatory authorities. It is interesting to note that the first Indian Standard was formulated for the National Flag which is IS1.


The certificate given by Indian Standard Institute to the commodity is as per the standard quality and quantity. Every manufacturer has to submit each lot or batch of production to the quality inspector who takes some sample quantity for examination. After satisfactory examination the certificate is issued to the producer. After that the batch is dispatched to the market for sale.


The ISI mark on a product is an assurance that the product conforms to the requirements as laid down in the specification. Conformity to the standard is ensured through regular surveillance of the manufacturing process, surprise inspections and testing of samples drawn from the factory as well as from the market. Fraudulent and unauthorized use of the ISI mark is a violation of the law punishable under the BIS Act.


Talent Management – Only people make the difference

5:18 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Today human talent has assumed the position of most-prized assets and resources. Therefore, recruiting, grooming, rewarding and retaining great employees have become a mission-critical necessity for service provider organizations across the board internationally. This is known as Talent management.Talent management has a direct impact on profitability, customer satisfaction, innovation and new product development.Worldwide executives identify talent management as the number one or number two top priorities for their organizations. Talent managers need to meet this need by developing their expertise to create a competitive advantage for their organization. When companies are being valued on the basis of the quality of human talents they have and business is being won or lost because of employees, there sure is a need to have systems, processes, and practices in place that make companies “nurseries and breeders of great performers” and to becoming “great places to thrive” for their employees.


Talent management also implies recognising a person's inherent skills, traits, personality and offering him a matching job. Every person has a unique talent that suits a particular job profile and any other position will cause discomfort. It is the job of the Management, particularly the HR Department, to place candidates with prudence and caution.


The necessary function of Talent management includes:

Key Functions of A Talent Management Toolset
Assessment (Ongoing)
Business Objective Orientation (Task Relevance)
Performance Appraisal / Review
Talent Requirements
Talent Pool Development and Management(Referrals, Direct Marketing, Sourcing)
Recruiting
Internal Rotation / Transfer Management
Succession Planning
Leadership Development


Talent management is the strategy through which Organizations become unique because they know that exceptional business is driven only by superior talent. Talent management is the new HR tool.


Environment Management

3:56 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Environmental problems are becoming serious day by day because of the interacting effects of increasing population density, industrialization and urbanization, and poor environmental management practices. Environment Management is, thus the management of interaction by the modern human societies with, and impact upon the environment.

The continuing degradation of the natural environment poses one of the greatest challenges to modern societies. All human, but in particular all industrial, activities create a burden on the environment although paradoxically at the same time the revenues gained from these activities create the basis for our well-being. Major problems include global warming, loss of biodiversity, water and air pollution, releases of persistent organic pollutants and other toxic substances, and land degradation including coastal erosion.


Good environmental management brings many benefits:

• Consistent with our company values of being brave, imaginative and decent
• Improved environmental and reputational risk management
• Cost savings
• Meeting stakeholder expectations of what constitutes a well run, responsible
business
• Ensuring compliance with relevant environmental laws, regulations and codes
• Reflects our commitment as a signatory to the Global Compact principles on
labour standards, human rights, environmental responsibility and combating
corruption


ISO 14001:2004 specifies requirements for an Environmental Management System to enable an organization to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take into account legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes, and information about significant environmental aspects. It applies to those environmental aspects that the organization identifies as those which it can control and those which it can influence. It does not itself state specific environmental performance criteria.




ISO For Food Safety

2:26 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Control of food safety is very critical because failures in food supply can cause human suffering, death, poor reputation, violations, poor nutrition, poor quality products and decreased profits. ISO 22000 series is a truly global option for ensuring food safety. The purpose of ISO 22000 is to provide a practical approach to ensure the reduction and elimination of food safety risks as a means to protect consumers. ISO 22000 follows a long tradition of preventive actions, identified and regulated by quality and food safety professionals. It requires an organization to include any applicable food safety related statutory & regulatory requirements into its food safety management system.


The organization generally requires to:

Identify, evaluate, control hazards that reasonably expected to occur
Communicate safety issue of products throughout the food chain
Communicate food safety management system throughout the organization
Evaluate periodically and update the system to reflect the organization’s activities and recent information on hazards


Organizations should consider adoption of ISO 22000 for three principle reasons:

• Benefits in the marketplace - Customers receive confidence through the demonstrated implementation and ongoing maintenance of the system. As organizations along the supply chain adopt ISO 22000 or become subject to customer controls along the food supply chain, the market achieves assurance that there are no weak links in the food chain.

Benefits to the organization producing the food - The organization has confidence that it has done the right things to provide control over activities that affect food safety. The system is well-planned, monitored, audited (internally and externally), and measured, and feedback is provided in a timely manner to decision makers.

ISO 22000 goes well beyond regulatory requirements - ISO 22000 includes--but goes beyond--existing HACCP programs. HACCP programs are excellent and work very well to prevent food safety problems, but they are not supported by an overarching systematic approach that includes many of the components extracted from ISO 9001.


Changing Roles of Human Resource in Changing Environment

3:01 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Human Resource Management is undergoing a massive transformation. Employers are placing greater emphasis on business acumen and are automating and outsourcing many administrative functions, which will force many HR professionals to demonstrate new skills and compete for new, sometimes unfamiliar roles. As organizational trends and demands change, new ways of thinking and operating are needed, so to add value in the “new” organization HR professionals must play new roles and demonstrate broader competencies– Better models.


Evolving Trends and Impact in Human Resources Management:

Linking HR strategy to business strategy
Automating HR process
Outsourcing HR activities
Measuring the return on investment of HR programs


Shifting Paradigms

What’s Out What’s In

Job Analysis Competency Assessment
Personnel Management HR Management
Rulemaker Consultant
Functional Orientation Business Orientation
One Size Fits All Tailored Programs
Centralized Decisions Framework for Others to Decide
Mutual Distrust Partnering
Focus on Activities Focus on Impact


The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of his or her changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction, and customer-centered.Within this environment, the HR professional, who is considered necessary by line managers, is a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor. At the same time, especially the HR Generalist, still has responsibility for employee benefits administration, often payroll, and employee paperwork, especially in the absence of an HR Assistant.


"People are our greatest asset" is a mantra that companies have been chanting for years. Yet it is only recently that businesses have started putting HR systems in place that support this philosophy. As a result, the information that sits inside the HR department is being made available for effective use throughout the wider organization, helping companies align their workforces with long-term business objectives.



Balance Score Card

4:48 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Balance Score Card (BSC) is a device used in strategic planning and management system. BSC is used extensively by businesses and industries to monitor organizational performance as against organization’s strategic goals. The first balanced scorecard was created by Art Schneiderman in 1987 which was popularised by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton. BSC is used as a performance measurement framework which adds strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to give managers and executives a more 'balanced' view of organizational performance. Balance Score Card enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the Balance Score Card transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve centre of an enterprise.


The organizational Balance Score Card encompasses the organizational mission, vision, core values, critical success factors, objectives, performance measures, targets and improvement actions. This corporate scorecard is communicated and translated into all business unit balanced scorecards, team balanced scorecards and the performance plans of individual employees and their personal balanced scorecards. In connection with this policy deployment, each employee is stimulated to contribute to the shared organizational strategy.


Balance Score Card views organizations with four perspective:

The Learning & Growth Perspective
The Business Process Perspective
The Customer Perspective
The Financial Perspective


Deploying Balance Score Card

Kaplan and Norton provide an outline of how to deploy the Balance Score Card. Basically, a core team is formed to develop the detailed plan and deploy it. To reduce cost and risk, it is usually wise to initially deploy pilot projects in a limited part of the organization. However, all deployment efforts should be initiated at the headquarters level. Strategic goals have to come from the top. Also, some strategic initiatives to reach these goals should be identified there. Some metrics should be standardized at the top level in order that measurements from different departments will be comparable for benchmarking. At the departmental or pilot project level, specific goals, initiatives, desired outcomes, metrics, targets, and annual milestones can be defined.


Importance of Program Management?

4:26 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Every organization, irrespective of its sectors carries out number of projects and programs every now and then worth billions of dollars to accomplish a certain major goal or set of goals. But a significant number of projects get delayed, or have cost overruns, or fail due to lack of proper management. Program Management, thus, helps in this regard and also for excellent business performance. There are similarities and differences in how the term is used in non-profit and for-profit organizations. Nonprofits usually refer to programs as ongoing, major services to clients, for example, a Transportation Program, Housing Program, etc. For-profits often use the term for very large business efforts that have limited duration and a defined set of deliverables. Nonprofits and for-profits might refer to programs as a one-time or ongoing set of activities internal to the organization, for example, a Total Quality Management Program, Workplace Safety Program, the Space Program, etc. The real value in employing program management is that it focuses on the business results desired and offers a systematic approach for delivering revenue generating or cost reduction solutions that create competitive advantages.

It does this by focusing on the following business needs:
Aligning strategy and execution
Managing complexity
Integrating business functions


Program Management also brings the concept of Programme Management Maturity Model (PMMM). The Programme Management Maturity Model (PMMM) provides a mechanism through which an organisation or a group within an organisation can:
Evaluate itself in programme management terms
Compare its own maturity with other organisation on a fair basis
Compare its own maturity with benchmarks from similar organisations
Understand its strengths and weaknesses
Develop a plan to improve its ability to deliver successful programmes


We very often use the terms Programme Management and Project Management interchangeably. But, Programme Management is different from Project Management.

Programme Management - Strategic in nature, focused on business success and ensuring work remains feasible from a business perspective.

Project Management - Tactical in nature, focused on execution success and ensuring work generates deliverables on time, on budget, and fully functional

If implemented correctly,program management can become a powerful element of a company’s product, service or infrastructure delivery system.

Statistical Process Control to Monitor Process

12:11 AM Posted by IQMS Global


Very often we come across the term SPC or Statistical Process Control in manufacturing organizations.Statistical Process Control (SPC) involves using statistical techniques to measure and analyze the variation in processes. Most often used for manufacturing processes, the intent of SPC is to monitor product quality and maintain processes to fixed targets. Statistical quality control refers to using statistical techniques for measuring and improving the quality of processes and includes Statistical Process Control in addition to other techniques, such as sampling plans, experimental design, variation reduction, process capability analysis, and process improvement plans.

Statistical Process Control is used to monitor the consistency of processes used to manufacture a product as designed. It aims to get and keep processes under control. No matter how good or bad the design, SPC can ensure that the product is being manufactured as designed and intended. Thus, Statistical Process Control will not improve a poorly designed product's reliability, but can be used to maintain the consistency of how the product is made and, therefore, of the manufactured product itself and its as-designed reliability.
Statistical Process Control was pioneered by Walter A. Shewhart in the early 1920s. W. Edwards Deming later applied SPC methods in the United States during World War II, thereby successfully improving quality in the manufacture of munitions and other strategically important products. Deming was also instrumental in introducing SPC methods to Japanese industry after the war had ended.

The followings are the major benefits of SPC for an organization:
  • Provides surveillance and feedback for keeping processes in control
  • Signals when a problem with the process has occurred
  • Detects assignable causes of variation
  • Accomplishes process characterization
  • Reduces need for inspection
  • Monitors process quality
  • Provides mechanism to make process changes and track effects of those changes
  • Once a process is stable (assignable causes of variation have been eliminated), provides process capability analysis with comparison to the product tolerance
Statistical Process Control is used everywhere, behind the scenes. It is a verifiable way to better understand and make sense of variation. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is an optimization philosophy centered on using a variety of statistical tools to enable continuous process improvement. Closely linked to the total quality management (TQM) philosophy, SPC helps firms to improve profitability by improving process and product quality. Although initially used in manufacturing, Statistical Process Control tools and methods work equally well in a service environment.

Knowledge Management

11:21 PM Posted by IQMS Global


“The only irreplaceable capital an organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its people. The productivity of that capital depends on how effectively people share their competence with those who can use it.” – Andrew Carnegie
Most companies are focused on producing a product or service for customers. However, one of the most significant keys to value-creation comes from placing emphasis on producing knowledge. The production of knowledge needs to be a major part of the overall production strategy. Knowledge management is, thus, the hottest subject of the day. Knowledge management is applied today across the world, in all industry sectors, public and private organizations and humanitarian institutions and international charities. The term knowledge management was first introduced in a 1986 keynote address to a European management conference (American Productivity and Quality Center 1996). Knowledge Management is the name of a concept in which an enterprise consciously and comprehensively gathers, organizes, shares, and analyzes its knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skills.

Knowledge Management is often about managing relationships within the organization. Collaborative tools (intranets, balanced scorecards, data warehouses, customer relations management, expert systems, etc.) are often used to establish these relationships. Some companies have developed knowledge maps, identifying what must be shared, where can we find it, what information is needed to support an activity, etc. Knowledge maps codify information so that it becomes real knowledge; i.e. from data to intelligence.

Knowledge Management can transform your organization to new levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and scope of operation. Through advancements in technology, data and information are readily available. The modern business manager is able to discover and learn new measures, new technologies, and new opportunities, but this requires the ability to gather information in usable formats and disseminate knowledge to achieve the organization’s objectives.

Knowledge Management is continually discovering what an organization knows—codifying tacit knowledge, Data Mining, and Business Intelligence; continually increasing what the organization knows—organizational learning and communities of practice, and continually organizing and disseminating explicit knowledge for use throughout the organization.

The author of modern management, Peter Drucker, wrote, “The basic economic resource—the means of production—is no longer capital, nor natural resources, nor labor. It is and will be knowledge.”

Information Security Management System

4:38 AM Posted by IQMS Global


For any business houses in today’s digital world, information assets are very much critical. Organizations now are highly dependent on information and communications technology. Successful businesses should have right information at the right time in order to make well-informed decisions. Interconnectivity leads to information being exposed to growing number and wider variety of threats and vulnerabilities. So, every information whether paper-based or on a computer, is at risk. Thus, protection of information becomes a major challenge for every organization.

Information Security Management System is thus used for the protection of information. ISMS provides a framework to establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain and improve the information security within an organization. It is an organizational approach to information security. ISMS is a documented system certifying that:

o Information assets in your company are described and secured,
o Information security risks are managed and mitigated,
o Security policies together with their ownerships and guarantees are in place,
o Adherence to security measures is inspected periodically.


ISMS can be implemented as a specific information system that deals with a particular business area, or it can be implemented as an all-encompassing system involving the whole organization.In any case, ISMS usually involves resources spanning from the management to the regular employees.

How ISMS helps : -

o If information is the key asset that is needed in your business then ISMS helps to protect your business case,
o ISMS delivered via ISO standards is compatible with others in the market,
o Company management is always involved in the security and always has access to information,
o Your partners view you as more reliable, credible, and trustworthy,
o ISMS certification opens doors to new business (for example better competitive position in the EU market),
o Information and data sources are utilized more efficiently,
o ISMS makes your investments into information security more efficient,
o ISMS brings the importance of information security to your employees and makes them more involved in your business,
o ISMS changes the culture in your company (brings responsibility and accountability).


ISMS employs PDCA model for implementation. It is the process of “ PLAN-DO-CHECK –ACT”.

Information security protects information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business damage, and maximize return on investment and business opportunities.

Change Management

11:21 PM Posted by IQMS Global

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”-Henri Bergson

For change to become effective, it has to be approached in a wise way. Change management is, thus used as a systematic approach to deal with change. A somewhat ambiguous term, change management has at least three different aspects, including: adapting to change, controlling change, and effecting change. A proactive approach to dealing with change is at the core of all three aspects.


The need for Change:
  • Employees become disinterested in the current state and the future state.
  • Employees begin arguing about change and the direction of the company.
  • Employees revert back to the old way of doing things.
  • Changes are not fully implemented.
  • Active resistance emerges and sabotages the change.

Change, the very word brings fear and insecurity in the mind of the employees. So, change should not be imposed on people otherwise it may have negative impact in the organization. It requires thoughtful planning and implementation. Successful adaptation to change is as crucial within an organization as it is in the natural world. Strong resistance to change is often rooted in deeply conditioned or historically reinforced feelings. Patience and tolerance are required to help people in these situations to see things differently. There are examples of this sort of gradual staged change everywhere in the living world. Also, certain types of people - the reliable/dependable/steady/habitual/process-oriented types - often find change very unsettling. People who welcome change are not generally the best at being able to work reliably, dependably and follow processes. The reliability/dependability capabilities are directly opposite character traits to mobility/adaptability capabilities.

It is very necessary to understand the mindsets of people to manage change. Planning, implementing and managing change in a fast-changing environment is increasingly the situation in which most organizations now work. Dynamic environments such as these require dynamic processes, people, systems and culture, especially for managing change successfully, notably effectively optimizing organizational response to market opportunities and threats.

Managing Change is a challenge for business leaders today as it may lead to waste of resources also.So,change should be used as a tool for helping people through change so that the desired business results can be achieved. Since,"change is the only constant”, organizations need to take measures to manage change systematically so that it benefits the organization.

Managing Innovation

11:27 PM Posted by IQMS Global


“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
Companies are catching on to this sea change. In an Ernst & Young study, European and North American companies called innovation the most important criterion for success in the future. Jack Welch, CEO of GE and seen as the world’s greatest living manager, obsesses about his company’s ability to “break the glass”—that is, continue to innovate. He worries whether it has “the right gene pool— do people who join big companies want to break the glass? We’ve got to break this company to do this—there’s no discussion, we’ve just got to break it.”
Organizations, therefore, have to thrive to innovate constantly to be the leader. Innovation involves a lot of processes. It, thus becomes imperative to manage these processes. It can be used to develop both product and organizational innovation. Without proper processes, it is not possible for R&D to be efficient; innovation management includes a set of tools that allow managers and engineers to cooperate with a common understanding of goals and processes. The focus of innovation management is to allow the organization to response to external or internal opportunity, and use its creative efforts to introduce new ideas, processes or products. There are two major types of innovation – product and process innovation. As a third type hybrids combine product and process innovation. Product innovation is concerned with bringing new or greatly improved goods or services to market. Process innovation concerns itself with improving the business functions required to profit from providing goods or services. Innovation management is the economic implementation and exploitation of new ideas and discoveries, and the implementation of an innovation culture in an organization, to promote and make possible the development of new ideas and business opportunities.

It is driven by any of the following business imperatives:

The need for enhanced growth beyond current strategic plans
The need to find alternative ways of mitigating cost pressures going forward in a rising cost environment
The need to create strategic flexibility for the business going forward in order to create options and choices for management
The need to improve market perceptions of a business. Empirical evidence proves that those companies who are constantly innovating trade at a premium to those that do not. The markets price in an expectation of innovation and growth
The need to adapt a tired business model in the face of global competition

Management must ignore the temptation to try and appease shareholders and analysts in the short term, by following through on their convictions. They will in any event be held accountable at some future period.
The challenge for any competent management team is to determine whether their strategy will ensure that once they are done with all the cost cutting and increased efficiencies, they have something else in their quiver to off-set the unavoidable effects of inflation on their input costs in year two and three.

“The winners will get below the buzzwords and be recognizable by their focus on the outputs of innovation or real value delivered. They will create actionable platforms for experimentation and a road map to scale early success” - Anon