Conference 7.286::digital

2281.0. "Aiming for Excellence ?" by SEDSWS::SAMPAYO (I wish I was fault tolerant) Thu Dec 17 1992 18:03

         
         
         Aiming for Excellence is the name of a seminar I attended
         today and I would like to relay to the Digital public my
         views of this experience.
         
         Aiming for excellence is the synonym given to the TQM
         education programe - along with most others, I expect, I was
         keen to listen and to evalaute what was on show with a modest
         ammount of healthy scepticism. What I saw and heard gave me
         some hope for the future in what is otherwise a protractedly
         gloomy environment.
         
         I was impressed because of the presence of a member of our UK 
         Board of Management, this was the 20th seminar he had
         attended and particiapted in, demonstrating 
         to me a reassuring top level involvement. He was keen to
         listen to feedback on digital and the way we work, openly and
         resisted any temptations he may have had to be at all defensive.

         
         I was impressed with the idea of Quality Improvement Circles,
         the potential value of which hit me when I realised that I
         was sitting on a table with members of other departments,
         instead of the standard homogeneous audiences, whose work
         ouput affected directly my ability to deliver a quality
         service to my customers - we were talking and talking about
         the problems which we all know exist but perhaps did not
         fully understand in their complete form. I look forward to
         the opportunity to get involved and fix some of these
         problems. 
         
         
         Finally, I was impressed with the frequent use of the word
         "customer". Basically it boils down to good old fashioned
         core marketing concepts, which arguably have not been at the
         centre of this evolving product orientated company. I believe
         that recognizing that we are all responsible for listening
         and acting upon the needs of our customers will hold the key
         to our continued prosperity.
         
         Martin 
                  
         
         

    Martin,
    
    How much is left of your hope after getting this overwhelming
    response???
    It seems that rumours, cuts and other fuds attract much more attention
    from the Digital population than the CUSTOMER.....
    Fortunately the Customer does not blame us (Ref. Note 2292)
    Maybe this note would be better of in the TQM conf.
    Keep up your ambition!
    
    Jan
    (ex DEC Customer for more than two DECades)