A recent LinkedIn discussion addressed the question of the best strategy for dealing with poor supplier performance. A lot of the respondents seemed to advocate a punitive approach, either threatening the loss of future business if performance doesn’t improve, or combing through the terms & conditions in the contract for enforcement language. I’ve always thought that there’s a lot of similarity between managing suppliers and managing subordinates, and I wonder if some of these same people threaten their teams with punitive actions when individual performance doesn’t meet expectations. Continue reading
#115 – PONTIUS PILATE MANAGEMENT (AVOIDING ACCOUNTABILITY) – MALCOLM PEART
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How many times do we experience the situation when something bad happens and the manager who feels they may be responsible has his, or her, moral-fortitude challenged? The challenged manager inevitably goes into self-preservation mode. “Can I duck for cover?” and avoid the flak is their first question. But, and as with most bad situations, there is no time so how can blame be diverted? Continue reading
#115 – DOES A CERTIFICATION MAKE YOU A PROFESSIONAL RELIABILITY ENGINEER? – FRED SCHENKELBERG
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Does a Certification Make You a Professional Reliability Engineer?
The short answer to this question is “No, it doesn’t.”
A certification is just a piece of paper that conveys that you have mastered some body of knowledge. You most likely also committed to abide by a code of ethics. You may also have committed to continuing education to maintain the certification. Continue reading
#115 – ISO 31000 – LET THE FUN BEGIN! – GREG HUTCHINS
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First a confession. We say that we’ve been using ISO 31000 for a ten or so years.
Say what? ISO 31000 was developed in 2009. How can you been using the standard since 2006. OK, technically you’re right. But, we’ve been using AS/NZS 4360 since 2006. The Australian and New Zealand risk management standard was developed in 2004. Most importantly, ISO 31000 has a strong ‘look and feel’ to AS/NZS 4360. Continue reading
#115 – USE OF UNTREATED SEWAGE AS FERTILIZER IN CANANA – DR. BILL POMFRET
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The headlines this week regarding Montreal’s eight-billion-litre untreated sewage dump came and went with a few large plumes of dark-brown water or white effluent witnessed in the St. Lawrence River and strong early morning odours in some quarters, but little visible sewage detected overall. Continue reading