#33 – IS SANTA CLAUS AN ASIAN? – DR. TRUDY

Cultural diversity has been promoted in various contexts and definitions for at least two decades.  However, it has become a lackadaisical term in political correct corporate and political environments.  This topic has lost its spicy flavor, has turned into a cold dish and become tasteless.

Let me add a new perspective to this discussion.  I’m going to talk about Asian cultural diversity, wealth and power.  First, full disclosure, I’m Chinese from Taiwan and an US trained Ph.D. psychologist.  So, I understand both worlds – western and Asian. Continue reading

#33 – FIVE RULES FOR PROJECT SUCCESS OR STOP THE INSANITY! – MALCOLM PEART

Malcom Peart pixThere are many articles about project failure, troubled projects, and project success.   There is also a tendency to desire the ‘top five’ or ‘top ten’ reasons why something unexpected happened in our constant search for brevity. Continue reading

#32 – SUPPLIER RISKS AND THEIR MITIGATION – JOHN AYERS

John Ayers pixLet’s assume you are a small company that wants to grow the business by soliciting subcontracts from a major prime contractor.  What unknown risks may be in store for your company in pursuing this path.  I will tell you what some of the risks are including an example and suggest ways to mitigate them. Continue reading

#32 – RISK & QUALITY: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES – T. DAN NELSON

T. Dan Nelson - Screen Shot 2013-09-06 at 8.16.28 PMI believe that risk and quality will never resolve, one into the other. Though they may be related, each will always have its own identity and purpose.

PURPOSE OF RISK MANAGEMENT
The purpose of risk management is not, and should not be, to manage quality.  Quality should not be driven by risk.  Of course, risk as it pertains to quality must be recognized and adequately managed by successful organizations, or they would not be successful.  Were risk not being managed to some degree to ensure delivery of quality product, it seems an organization would not develop to the point of needing enterprise-wide risk management. If poor quality puts an organization out of business, there would be no business. Continue reading

#32 – RISK ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF LAWS – CAPERS JONES

Capers Jones pixThe structural methods used by the Rhode Island General Assembly for proposing and passing laws are chaotic and unprofessional.

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union (US), but the legislature proposes more bills than any other state including New York and California. The legislature is the most expensive in the United States.  It is also one of the largest on a per-capita basis except for sparsely populated states such as Alaska.  Perhaps 2,200 bills per year are proposed, but only a few hundred are passed.  As a result, many bills are never even read before voting.  Hundreds more bills are lost somewhere in committees for further study. Continue reading