One of Averroes Advisory’s 2019 company initiatives is becoming more socially accountable. Averroes took its first step towards this initiative by kick-starting the year with a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) workshop with the Qatar Cancer Society (QCS). This workshop took place at QCS’ headquarters on January 13, 2019, where QCS staff members were educated on the understanding of a Quality Management System (QMS). The objective of this awareness is to advance the organization in total to work with quality from the perspective of establishing and implementing a QMS towards the road of Organizational Excellence. Teams of 4-5 individuals were formed and worked on numerous group activities concerning quality.

This awareness workshop commenced with an inside look at the historical philosophies of Total Quality Management (TQM) and how it has been molded throughout the centuries, beginning from the Guilds of Medieval Europe until the post-world war era. Multiple quality gurus – individuals who have been identified as making significant contributions to improving the quality of goods and services – were also studied closely in addition to their philosophies. Some of these well-known figures include W. Edward Deming, Joseph M. Juran, Armand V. Feigenbaum, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Dr. Genichi Taguhi, and Shigeo Shingo.

One of the exercises the teams were requested to work on at this point was completing an Ishikawa Diagram, also known as the Fishbone Analysis. This type of analysis helps to distinguish the leading causes of the problems facing an organization and the effects on the business’ operations.

From there, the discussion was directed towards quality management awards and frameworks such as ISO 9001:2015, Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, EFQM Model, and Deming Prize.

Towards the end, some light was shed on the process of gaining ISO certification and its requirements. Being ISO certified serves as a bonus as it is tangible proof that the company’s quality system complies with internationally recognized standards. However, certification is only the beginning as an ISO Management System requires on-going commitment through internal and external audits and management reviews.

The workshop was concluded with a certificate of attendance awarded to each present QCS member. Thank you QCS for your time and for partaking in this significant first step towards Organizational Excellence, wishing QCS much success in its journey!