Category Archives: Tips&Tools@Risk™

#58 – QANTAS $3B LOSS, RISK IS MORE THAN COMPLIANCE – GREG CARROLL

Posted on by
Reply

GregCarrollWhere was the QANTAS Board Risk & Audit Committee during the past 6 years of Alan Joyce’s systematic destruction of, at one-time, one of the world’s leading airlines?

Although there are growing calls for the sacking of Alan Joyce as CEO of QANTAS following the announcement this week of a $3b loss, there is a still a strong chorus of supporters saying the result is just a myriad of complex problems i.e. a death by 1000 cuts.   To the outside world it looks more like Monty Python’s mutilated Black Knight maintaining “Tis but a scratch”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4) Continue reading →

#56 – HOW TO MANAGE QUALITY RISKS – AFAQ AHMED

Posted on by
Reply

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere is an expression that “no two snowflakes are alike.”  Similarly quality characteristics of parts produced from the same production process are not alike.

A simple production process, e.g., turning, can have variations in the machined diameter of a shaft because of play in the tooling or operators skill.  These variations lead to “quality risks,” i.e., if variations in the process are not controlled there is a risk of producing out-of-specification machined shafts. Continue reading →

#56 – GOING WITH THE FLOW: EXPERIENCES IN MICROMANAGEMENT – MALCOLM PEART

Posted on by
Reply

Malcom Peart pixPeople say “go with the flow” when things are difficult or there is a crisis looming, but why?  Only two things go with the flow, dead fish and sh*t.

If we sail a boat, ford a stream, or fly an aircraft we need to account for a ‘flow’ of water or wind.  The shortest distance between two points is then a ‘vector’ as we consider the external forces acting on us. Continue reading →

#55 – ERM AT PAYCHEX INC. – FRANK FIORILLE

Posted on by
Reply

apqcPaychex Inc. is a leading provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses.  The organization offers comprehensive payroll services, including payroll processing, payroll tax administration, and employee pay services, as well as HR services, including 401(k) plan recordkeeping, health insurance administration, workers’ compensation administration, and time and attendance solutions.  Paychex was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Rochester, New York.  The organization has more than 100 offices serving approximately 570,000 clients nationwide. Continue reading →

#55 – GM’S ELEPHANT ON THE SHOP FLOOR – WILLIAM A. LEVINSON

Posted on by
Reply

LevinsonThe phrase ‘elephant in the living room’ refers to a major problem that everybody knows is there, but nobody wants to acknowledge.  Acknowledging and defining the problem is, of course, the first part of any closed-loop corrective action process.  ‘Problem notification’ and ‘problem identification’ are the first two steps in the Automotive Industry Action Group’s Effective Problem Solving for Practitioners process.

General Motors seems to have forgotten this. Continue reading →