Friday, November 12, 2004

I have updated the website at www.learn9.net

On the first page there are now links to my two articles on ISO 9000 at OhmyNews. The stats from ISO show that ISO 9000 still has growth, but not in the UK. Why this is is open to discussion. Maybe the UK has moved on and Asian firms have been coerced into it. Alternatively, the revised standard has some benefits and Asian companies can make this work. For the IQA to publish an article by John Seddon, there must be some debate going on. My guess is that there must be some Asian companies able to work with ISO9000 and quality as well. I expect some case studies or new books soon. My second article is looking for information from others.

Discussions with the Deming SIG at the IQA have not got far with the idea that Deming in Japan had something to do with local values. I think this will come up again. Not that I understand any depth on this, but clearly quality is a global issue ands Asian values are part of this. John Seddon has not shown any evidence that UK management moved to some other form of quality policy, just that they gave up on ISO 9000.

I have also included a link to the Lancaster Leadership conference next year. Having looked at the material on leadership and excellence I don't think the 'critique' aspect will block too much discussion. So I might work out something for a workshop contribution. I think IT and web issues will be disruptive for institutions working on learning and skills so there is a fit somewhere.