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Corporate Culture: A Function of Leadership and Integrity:
Keeping integrity in mind, consider these
examples...
- An Executive at 3M Corp. was heard to say:
"Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule".
- A Marketing Executive at Citrix Corp. was quoted as:
"Teamwork is a lot of people...doing what I say".
- A Supervisor at AT&T remarked:
"We know we have a communication problem, but we don’t discuss it
with the staff".
Hard to believe ? Let me assure you, fact is
stranger than fiction.
Exactly what is our Corporate
Culture and how does it relate to leadership and integrity? I believe it could
be defined as an attitude or approach, both in dealing with clients and
coworkers. Although it may start at the top, it’s reflected all the way down.
Leading with integrity engenders a mutual trust. Trust begets faith, faith
begets confidence and confidence begets results. "A lot of people doing
what I say"? I don’t think so!
Lead with integrity; the basis of a solid corporate culture.
I consider our corporate culture to be very fragile and
in constant need of nurturing and support. That starts with leadership. Leadership brings
to mind another word: integrity. In truth, they are part and parcel. Integrity is
perforce, fundamental to any form of effective leadership.
A leader with integrity adheres to a code of business
ethics and moral values, while behaving in a manner that is a tribute to their corporate
climate and professional responsibility. A leader does not abuse their position of
privilege. Rather, a leader gains the respect of all who work with them, serving as a role
model in support of corporate policies, professional ethics and corporate culture.
In our daily tasks we are all leaders. Just ask our customers.
Every person in our company has a dramatic impact on our
corporate culture. No one needs an official title to lead with integrity. We have put a
great deal of effort into making our company a healthy, safe and happy place to work. And
it shows, both in the efficiency of our service and the wonderful loyalty of our clients.
That’s our corporate
culture; leading and succeeding ... with integrity.
Some
Thoughts on Quality
The Four Absolutes of Quality:
Definition: The definition of quality is conformance to
requirements.
System: The system of causing quality is prevention.
Performance Standards: The performance standard for
quality is zero defects.
Measurement: The measurement of quality is the price of
non conformance.
AMG: A "Shining Star"
When you study quality and you understand its
applications, total quality becomes singly, the most important policy that a company can
follow. Regardless of how overused, or for that matter misused the word
"quality" may be, the discipline underpinning the concept of Total Quality
remains the core of every successful business practice. We have all trained in the
principles of Total Quality and because we practice these principles in everything we do,
our company has become an absolute "shining star" among logistics providers.
Our performance speaks for itself.
For this article, let's focus
on Quality Absolute number three: Performance Standard. We have
learned that the only truly acceptable performance standard is "Zero Defects".
If we compromise this standard and begin to accept "close enough is good
enough", we fall into the category of the mundane. We become a member
company of the ninetieth percentile. That collection of very ordinary companies
who claim to be much better than they are while proving their ineptness to their
customers everyday. I genuinely believe that most of these companies
survive and even thrive on clients that just don’t know any better.
Tragically, uninformed customers seem to populate the ninetieth percentile too.
If we are to work with
"Zero Defects", we must meet our clients’ requirements every
time. The only way to do that is to create a thorough process model and
follow it to the letter. The model must define every process and describe every
procedure in minute detail. Its purpose is to establish clear, obtainable
requirements for the customers and the suppliers that we bring to every program
that we operate.
We must research our clients and carefully communicate
the results of that research when designing the process model. Based on the process model,
we must then ask the client to establish the performance requirements that will enable us
to get their operation to peak efficiency.
As we all know, in many cases
we have had to work with our clients to help define these standards. A lot
of companies seem unaware of the extraordinary benefits of a top quality
logistics management program. I’m going to speculate that this
lack of awareness is the result of previous exposure to ninetieth percentile
suppliers.
Once we have determined the
output requirements, we can move on to the supplier side and start working to
help suppliers meet their input requirements. Our ability to do this, to build a
program that dramatically improves our customer’s position while remaining
equally beneficial to the suppler base, serves to underscore the value of our
training in total quality management.
Finally, the process model has to be created using
performance standards that are realistic and obtainable. This must apply equally to the
standards of performance for our client and their supplier base. When everyone understands
and agrees, success becomes almost inevitable.
When we design a program for our client, it must be
perfect. In most cases we have to work with the client to help them improve their
processes and procedures in order to bring everything up the highest possible performance
standard. Thorough research and the unflagging application of the principles to Total
Quality Management enable us to do this.
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