Day 1 – WEDNESDAY, June 27, Morning
Dr. H. James Harrington
CEO, Harrington Institute
San Diego, California, USA
Topic: Streamlined Process Improvement: A Methodical Way
Streamlined Process Improvement (SPI) has evolved out of the Business Process Improvement methodology created in the 1980s. SPI reflects the refinements and learning experiences related to redesigning complex processes that have been experienced over the past 30 years. Contrary to the six Sigma methodology that has expanded to cover all areas of improvement, SPI only addresses the breakthrough approaches to process improvement. It’s very distinguishing feature is its phase III of the five phases, called PASIC (Plan, Analyze, Streamline, Implement, and Continually Improve) approach. During phase III, called streamlining, 12 tasks are used to develop 2 to 4 alternative redesign processes that are used to define the best value solutions.
Bio-data
Dr. Jim Harrington is a world-recognized authority in applying performance improvement methodologies to business practices. The New York Times referred to him as having a “…knack for synthesis and an open mind about packaging his knowledge and experience in new ways – characteristics that may matter more as prerequisites for new-economy success than technical wizardry….” President Bill Clinton had appointed him to serve as an Ambassador of Good Will. In the book, Tech Trending, Dr. Harrington was referred to as “the quintessential tech-trender”. An author of 35 books on quality management, Dr. Harrington has served as past President and Chairman of the Board of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the International Academy for Quality (IAQ).
Dr. Harrington now serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Harrington Institute with branches in many countries around the world. He is also the Chairman of the Board for a number of businesses. One of the most decorated individual in the field of quality management, there are many awards and medals in many countries that are named after him in his honor. He served as a Principal and one of the leaders in the Process Innovation Group at Ernst & Young and worked for IBM for over 40 years as a Senior Engineer and Project Manager. He was one of the leaders in getting the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award initiated through the American Congress and approved by the President of the U.S and served as the first Treasurer of the Malcolm Baldrige Consortium to set up and develop the award.
Day 1 – WEDNESDAY, June 27, Morning
David McClaskey
President, Pal’s Business Excellence Institute
Kingsport, Tennessee, USA
Topic: Decision Making in Government Organizations
When it seems to be getting increasingly difficult for governments everywhere to make decisions that are both effective, efficient, and have good buy-in across the populations, the lesson learned is that the problem is more in the process used to arrive at the solution rather than it is in the population or constituency. Find out how a simple decision making process built on performance excellence criteria used by world-class organizations can lead to a win-win situation in government decision making without much wear and tear on the public and the process.
Bio-data
David McClaskey is President of Pal’s Business Excellence Institute, an independent consulting company. He is a Baldrige expert and one of the few individuals to have the privilege of assisting seven companies to win eight Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards: for example, K&N Management; Poudre Valley Health Care; University of Northern Colorado Monfort College of Business; Pal’s Sudden Service; OMI; The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; and Eastman Chemical Company. His Baldrige award consulting track record is at 100%. A Fellow of ASQ and IIE, David has won many prestigious awards including the ASQ Grant award.
David is a Fellow of ASQ and the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). The University of Florida established the Leavenworth/McClaskey undergraduate scholarship in 1995 and Harley-McClaskey Scholarship at East Tennessee State University in 2011. Some of David’s recognitions include: 2011 Ned R. McWherter Leadership Award; ASQ Grant Medal, Distinguished Service Award from the University of Florida’s College of Engineering; Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of Commerce for “Outstanding Service to the Nation”. David served as one of nine Judges for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from 1999-2002.
Day 1 – Wednesday, June 27, Afternoom
NANCY PRATT
Senior Vice President, Sharp Healthcare,
San Diego, California
Topic: Quality Improvement Journey at Sharp Healthcare
In 2001, Sharp HealthCare committed to a good-to-great strategy and launched The Sharp Experience, a performance improvement initiative designed to transform the health-care experience and to make Sharp the best place for employees to work, the best place for physicians to practice medicine and the best place for patients to receive care. Today, everything at Sharp—from the strategic plan to system and entity report cards to performance evaluations to meeting agendas—is aligned with Sharp’s six Pillars of Excellence: Quality, Service, People, Finance, Growth and Community. You will find out how was the transformation was achieved by working together to reconnect the hearts, minds and attitudes of 14,000 team members, 2,000 volunteers, and 2,600 physicians to a common purpose and win the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.
Bio-data
Nancy Pratt is a Senior Vice President and a key member of the Sharp HealthCare’s Leadership team responsible for Quality, Patient Safety and Organizational Performance Improvement. She also directs other vital areas, such as: Clinical Informatics, Case Management, Clinical Service Lines, Lean Six Sigma, Clinical Decision Support, CME and Research. Ms Pratt has worked in Clinical Effectiveness for nearly ten years and is a noted national speaker. She began her career in the United States Navy in the Nurse Corps, and led clinical initiatives at the Medical University of South Carolina and Sentara Health Care and served as Vice President of Clinical Services at Clinicomp, International.
Nancy has experience as a Manager in Cardiovascular Care and Trauma. She has more than 20 years experience as a critical care nurse in a variety of settings including positions at Sharp HealthCare. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from the State University of New York, a Master’s Degree in Nursing Administration from San Diego State University, and is an American Society of Quality certified Six Sigma Black Belt. She was a member of the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011 Board of Examiners for the National Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award and led the initiative resulting in Sharp’s recognition as a recipient of the 2007 National Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.
Day 1, Wednesday Afternoon, June 27, 2012
Ron Higgins
President, Wren Group Consulting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Topic: Improving off-ice Business Performance of a Professional Hockey Club
In this day and age of professional sports, managing hockey operations, or the operations of any sports franchise for that matter, is a fulltime, 12-month a year job. To be successful from a fan’s (customers) perspective as well as a financial perspective, professional teams must be competitive and entertaining. Truly successful teams will consistently make the play-offs, often winning at least two to three post-season play-off rounds each year. As a result, the sports component of the business commands a significant amount of skilled resources, time, money and effort.
However, off-ice (or off-field/court) performance also plays a significant role in the success of a professional sports organization and can have a major impact on the business — both positively and negatively. Beyond winning and losing, customer service excellence and community involvement have a large impact on the fan’s experience, and the resulting level of financial commitment they have to supporting the team. Efficient, on target service delivery will be critical to customer satisfaction and retention — and the bottom-line.
Even with salary caps, the organizations operations and service delivery must be managed with focus and precision to cover the costs of both the sports operation and the support/service aspect of the operation. Like the sports operation, operations such as sales, marketing, accounting, information systems, food & beverage, souvenir concessions, facilities management, and human resources must also operate as a well-coached team; a team committed to working together to achieve a clearly articulated and well understood mission, vision and game plan.
The challenge for many professional sports organizations is how to maximize their business performance, and how to do that without sacrificing the quality of their primary product, the team.
Bio-data
Ron Higgins is President of the WREN group, a consulting company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and a founding member and Director for Organizational Excellence Specialists.
He has worked nationally and internationally to bring organizational excellence to organizations in the private and public sectors. Ron is a contributor to the Organizational Excellence Framework and brings over 25 years of experience in delivering business improvement that has provided significant returns on investment.
Ron’s specific areas of expertise include facilitation, strategic planning, organizational alignment to strategic objectives, mentorship, process mapping and improvements and quality management systems. Ron’s expertise allows him to transform organizations into highly effective and efficient organizations by assisting the organizations with planning, implementation, change management, succession planning and training to ensure effective implementation of organizational excellence and long term sustainability.
Day 2 – Thursday, June 28, Morning
Deborah Hopen
Past President, ASQ
President, Deborah Hopen & Associates
Washington, WA, USA
Topic: 21st Century Leadership
Modern businesses operate under circumstances that are considerably different from those that existed just a short while ago. New leadership approaches now must reflect the changing conditions for individuals and organizations to succeed. This presentation addresses six factors that are affecting leadership requirements in the 21st century: technology, global reach, knowledge workers, workforce composition, social responsibility, and partnerships. Some of these factors refine the existing models and others introduce entirely new requirements. The presentation explains the dynamics and situations how they influence leadership for better organization performance.
Bio-data
Deborah is a past president and Chair of the Board of the ASQ with over 30 years of experience in total quality management. She has served as a senior executive with both Fortune and Inc 500 companies. She also served as President of the Washington State Quality Award Program and the International Standards Initiative, as well as was involved as a leader with numerous Washington State cultural and charitable organizations.
Hopen is a Fellow of ASQ and is the editor of ASQ’s Journal for Quality and Participation. She is the 2011 recipient of ASQ Gryna Award, ASQ Quality Management Division’s Roger Berger Spirit Award, and ASQ Los Angeles Section’s Simon Collier Award. She was a Certified Quality Engineer, and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Her consulting list includes clients from the manufacturing, service, military, government, education, and not-for-profit sectors.
Day 2 – THURSDAY, June 28, Morning
Ken Miller
Founder, Change and Innovation Agency
Kansas City, MO, USA
Topic: Bringing Change and Innovation in Government
Government is under incredible pressure. The economic crisis has hit us with a double whammy: exponential increases in demand and dramatically reduced resources. Government simply doesn’t have the capacity to do all the good we want to do in this world.
The house of government doesn’t need another layer of paint or some new carpet it needs an extreme makeover. And just like on the show it needs it done fast! Our house is full of “moldy ideas” that are making everyone sick and our pipes are bursting from the ever-increasing demands. We can stand around arguing whether the house is too big or costs too much or we can grab some tools and fix it up. This presentation makes obvious the real problems plaguing government, how you can join the crew and gives you the tools to complete the makeover.
Bio-data
Ken Miller is the founder of the Change and Innovation Agency, a firm dedicated to helping government increase its capacity to do more good. Ken speaks to thousands of government managers every year. He is the author of three books: Extreme Government Makeover, We Don’t Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government From Radically Improving and The Change Agent’s Guide to Radical Improvement. He is a frequent columnist for Governing Magazine and co-founder of Public Great; a online community for change agents that lives by the creed that the “work of government is noble, the people of government are amazing and the systems of government are a mess. Let’s make them great!” Ken was named one of the country’s top change agents by Fast Company magazine.
Ken has worked with the most difficult environments to tackle big issues like: How can we best organize the resources of a community to fight poverty; How can we overcome the barriers that prevent most inner city kids from going to college; Where’s my tax refund; How do we make a child abuse hotline as responsive and reliable as 911; How can we get union workers in psychiatric facilities to say “Thank God it’s Monday”; How can we bring the radical improvements of manufacturing to the 85% of the workforce that doesn’t make widgets; Why is this DMV line so brutally long?
Day 2, Thursday, June 28, Afternoom
Diane Dalgleish
Assistant Deputy Minister, Capital Projects Division, Alberta Infrastructure, Edmonton, Alberta
Topic: Alberta Provincial Government Journey to Excellence in Infrastructure Development
The province of Alberta in Canada is a place of opportunity. Over the past years, Alberta’s economy has grown at an unprecedented pace. People from across Canada and around the world have come to Alberta to join the workforce and build their futures. That’s why Alberta Infrastructure is taking the necessary steps to put in place essential infrastructure, schools and hospitals and facilities to support a growing and changing Alberta.
The journey to excellence is based on clear assumptions about what Capital Projects Division’s future will hold. It reflects comprehensive information about our current processes, trends and impending changes for leadership that demonstrates quality and commitment for continuous improvement.
In partnership with Excellence Canada, Capital Projects Division embarked on a journey to excellence using the Progressive Excellence Program® framework for quality. Equally important, the Division took a look at how it can invest wisely in innovative ideas that will reshape the current organization and prepare staff for a very exciting future. This means using the most comprehensive approach to review existing processes and strive for efficient and innovative ideas for continuous improvement over the longer term.
First, incorporating quality in the workplace is about the journey – not the destination. As such, leadership plays a vital role in its success. Second, the strategies on how to achieve quality mostly originate from the people within the organization. Providing a framework for these ideas and strategies to emerge is a key to achieving quality.
This paper focuses on the perseverance and leadership required in the development of a framework to support and encourage quality in the organization.
Bio-data
Diane Dalgleish is Assistant Deputy Minister in Capital Projects Division in Alberta Infrastructure, government of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. She has certificates in Executive Development Program from University of Alberta, Banff School of Advanced Management, and a Bachelor of Interior Design from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba. She has a professional affiliation as a Licensed Interior Designer with Alberta Association of Architects, a membership of Canadian Design Build Institute, Canadian Council for Public Private Partnerships, and IPAC.
As the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Capital Projects Division of Alberta Infrastructure, Diane provides leadership to a division of technical and project management experts that are currently delivering major capital facility projects including health, government owned and learning facilities. Diane’s division also undertakes facility evaluations of government owned and supported infrastructure to ensure effective planning for preservation and maintenance needs. She has made many presentations on quality projects involving public sector infrastructure building.
Day 2, Thursday, June 28, Afternoon
Lori Schmidt
CEO, Productivity Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Topic: Enhancing Public Sector Competitiveness
Recognizing the importance of competitiveness in global marketplace, the government of the province of Alberta created the Alberta Competitiveness Council through the naming of its pre-eminent Bill1 the Alberta Competitiveness Act, which received Royal Assent March 25, 2010.
The Council, legislated to enhance Alberta’s ability to compete worldwide, was to undertake its mandate through enhanced government partnerships with industry, business and Albertans and to develop strategies that encourage innovation, productivity and the adoption of technology. After its first year of work, the Council five general recommendations including acknowledging the benefits of Productivity Alberta, a fledgling network of business, government and industry that was developing innovative tools, services and programs for employers. This paper is the story of Productivity Alberta, how it is helping businesses to increase their productivity and hence grow Alberta’s competitiveness in the global market.
Productivity Alberta is a unique and highly effective industry-led initiative. Its objective is that Alberta be known as one of the most productive and innovative regions in the world. This is a formidable challenge, because as home to one of the world’s largest oil and gas stores, the inefficiencies of low productivity is often masked by the increasing commodity pricing and increasing world demand for petroleum products, fuel and plastics. However, when prices fall Alberta’s producers and manufacturers are often hit hard, in part because of low productivity rates relative to other jurisdiction resulting is reduced competiveness. The Alberta Government because aware of this challenges and instituted Productivity Alberta to explore remediation and opportunities to enhance the provinces’ competitiveness.
Productivity Alberta has risen to the challenge. While initially conceived in the Alberta Government, this enterprising group quickly recruited industry leaders and formed an organization that is now leading the way by delivering tools, services, and on-the-shop floor training for small and medium-size enterprises in a variety of industries.
In the past 24 months more than 1,200 businesses have sought out the services provided by Productivity Alberta to enhance competitiveness strategies and tactics and deliver significantly better bottom line results for their companies.
Bio-data
Lori Schimdt is Chief Executive Officer of Productivity Alberta, a private not-for-profit corporation working to improve the productivity, innovation, and competitiveness performance of Alberta industry. Lori is an avid supporter and facilitator of collaborative approaches and alliance building in tackling regional and global competitiveness issues.
Some of her past roles include Director, Cluster and Industry Development with Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, and President of Loral Management Group, her consulting practice which provided strategic management and economic development consulting expertise to a broad base of clients in a variety of business and not-for-profit sectors.
Lori’s varied education combined with her private and public sector background have provided her with a good skill base to assess industry needs and develop innovative solutions. Lori has been recognized by her peers and colleagues as well as independent organizations for her creative planning and process skills and her contributions to private industry through innovative program development and initiatives. She is a member of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils and her work in productivity and Productivity Alberta was recently published in the Councils’ "Accelerating Growth – Best Practices in Competiveness Strategy".
Day 2, Thursday, June 28, Afternoon
Jean-Claude Savard
President of Savard Consulting, Montreal, Canada
Topic: Methodologies to Reduce Non-Value Added Activities
One of the main breakthroughs of lean practices of the famous Toyota Production System is to bring the notion of non-value added activities vs value added activities. Most organizations spend most of their time on non-value added activities.
Jean-Claude Savard will give a peek into the world of lean management to show practical breakthrough methodologies on how to eliminate non-value added activities
Topic: Méthodologie de percée pour réduire les activités à non-valeur ajoutée dans nos organisations
Une des percées les plus significatives que les pratiques Lean ont apporté aux organisations et qui viennent du fameux « Système de production Toyota », a été d’apporter la notion d’activités à non-valeur ajoutée vs les activités à valeur ajoutée. Comme nous le savons, la plupart des organisations passent la majeure partie de leur temps à réaliser des activités à non-valeur ajoutés.
Jean-Claude Savard va vous présenter un coup d’oeil dans l’univers des pratiques Lean afin de vous démontrer pratiquement des méthodologies de percée pour éliminer ces activités à non-valeur ajoutée.
Bio-data
Jean-Claude Savard is a consultant in quality and performance improvement. Through his consulting years, Mr. Savard developed a significant expertise in adapting world-class tools and methodologies to process industries. Mr. Savard’s extensive industrial background encompasses more than 30 years of consulting in performance improvement for various industries. Most of his work focused on process industries: pulp and paper, aluminum (primary metal and transformation), chemical industries, printing, food processing, beauty products and pharmaceuticals process, plastic and automotive parts process, etc.
Savard is a well-known consultant in North America. He conducts consulting engagements in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Mr. Savard is a member of the International Quality Academy (IAQ), which brings together 70 academicians from all continents. These academicians are selected among the most prominent experts from the university, business and consultation sectors.
Savard was awarded the Feigenbaum Medal in Canada for his contribution towards furthering quality in Canada. Mr. Savard has given presentations to numerous conferences over the years in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, and South America. His highly communicative approach to quality makes him a most appreciated lecturer and consultant.
Day 3, Friday Morning, June 29, 2012- Keynote Speaker
Ed Kane
Assistant VP, University Services, Carleton University, Ottawa
Topic: Building Excellence and Innovation at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Changing a “culture” is never easy and it was not a simple task to do so at Carleton University. The journey of change started several years ago and it was no one simple change that helped us reach a “tipping point”. We will explore the challenges that were identified, what we did to overcome them and how the lessons learned have been “exported” across the campus.
From the establishment of an Office of Quality Initiatives, the use of benchmarking exercises, the introduction of LEAN, Carleton University has deployed various techniques to improve the “student experience”, work flows and life on campus. Today, collaboration has improved within and across the many “silos” that exist within any large organisation. Sometimes, asking one simple question can lead to a new way of thinking about how we work together and can make a real difference.
Bio-data
Ed Kane was appointed Assistant Vice-President (University Services) in 2004. He was appointed Director, University Services and Purchasing in 1998. He joined the Purchasing Department at Carleton in 1988 where he was Manager. Ed has held numerous positions within the Purchasing Management Association of Canada, including President of the Ottawa District, and Chair of the 2000 National Conference. He has also held the position of President of the Ontario Universities Purchasing Management Association. Ed received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Sector Administration from the University of Ulster.
Ed is a leader in advocating service excellence and innovation. At Carleton University, service excellence extends far beyond the ordinary approach to customer service that has become commonplace in other organizations. It is about engaging staff in discussion on the needs of their customers, while nurturing the qualities that contribute to a culture of Service Excellence. Such focus gets results.
