Tag Archives: James J. Kline

#85 – IS QUALITY OR RISK GOING TO DOMINATE? – JAMES J. KLINE

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 In the February 2015 issue of Quality Progress, John West and Charles Cianfrani imply that ISO 9001:2015 will result in a change in the quality format.  However, it will merely be an adjustment.  The inference is that quality will still dominate.  One might expect that approach in the American Society of Quality’s (ASQ) primary journal.  However, this raises the question posed in the title.  Is one approach going to dominate the other?  There are partisans on each side.  In an earlier article, I postulated that it is actually a symbiotic relationship.  However, a closer examination of the foundation and difficulties associated with the Quality Improvement Process and Risk Analysis should put the issue in a better perspective. Continue reading →

#25 – STAYING THE USPS COURSE – A RISK CHALLENGE – JAMES J. KLINE

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In their book Billion Dollar Lessons, Carroll and Mui describe the most inexcusable business failures of the last twenty-five years.  One of the failures, “Staying the Course” poses particular difficulties for Risk Analysts.

The difficulty is three fold.  First, management believes if it stays the course everything will turn out fine.  Absent any significant data to the contrary, it is difficult to change managerial, let alone, institutional inertia.

Second, identifying a viable alternative against which to evaluate the impact of staying the course may be difficult because often the costs and benefits are not clear until years afterwards.

Finally, clients and customers are often psychologically and materially locked into the current strategy.  They, therefore, put pressure on the company and its board to stay the course. Continue reading →