ASQ Announces 2012 International Team Excellence Award Finalists

(ASQ: Milwaukee) -- The American Society for Quality (ASQ), the world’s largest network of quality resources and experts, has announced that 32 global teams from nine countries have been named finalists in the 27th annual International Team Excellence Awards process.

The teams will be part of the quality impact sessions and live case-study presentations May 21–23, 2012, at ASQ’s annual World Conference on Quality and Improvement at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

Teams representing a broad spectrum of industries including manufacturing, service, education, health care, and government will vie for the coveted ASQ gold, silver, and bronze awards. Winners will be announced during an awards ceremony Wed., May 23, and will serve as benchmarks of organizational excellence in all industries for years to come.

The finalists’ projects showcase creative and innovative solutions and organizational cost savings. Conference attendees can observe team project presentations that demonstrate the real-life application of quality tools to achieve valuable business results.

The following finalists have been invited to participate in the 2012 International Team Excellence Award process. Project summaries can be found at wcqi.asq.org.

Education:
• Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies—Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• Tropic Isles Elementary—Fort Myers, Florida

Government:
• CGI Federal—Fort Campbell, Kentucky
• Ministry of Defense (MINDEF)—Singapore
• NAVFAC-Navy Medicine-HDR-Clark/McCarthy—Camp Pendleton, California
• National Reconnaissance Office—Chantilly, Virginia
• URS Federal Services—Stockton, Utah

Health care:
• BJC Healthcare—St. Louis

Manufacturing:
• Alcoa Inc.—Morristown, Tennessee
• Altos Hornos de México S.A.B. de C.V—Coahuila, Mexico
• Anheuser-Busch InBev—St. Louis
• Boeing—Long Beach, California
• Continental Automotive System Co. Ltd.—Tianjin, TJ, China
• Continental Automotive Systems Corp.—Icheon-city, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• CSX Transportation/General Electric—Jacksonville, Florida
• Ford Motor Co.—Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Ford Motor Co.—Saarlouis, Saarland, Germany
• Ford Motor Co.—Dearborn, Michigan
• General Motors Co.—Milford, Michigan
• Hewlett Packard—Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
• Reliance Industries Ltd. Dahej—Dahej, Gujarat, India
• Reliance Industries Ltd. Hazira—Surat, Gujarat, India
• Suzlon Energy Ltd.—Pune, Maharashtra, India

Service:
• Firstsource Solutions Ltd.—Amherst, New York
• HCL Technologies—Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• Housing and Development Board—Singapore
• Pruksa Real Estate Public Company Ltd.—Phayathai, Bangkok, Thailand
• Telecom Personal SA—Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Capital Federal, Argentina
• Telefonica Argentina—Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Tgestiona—Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans—Coconut Grove, Florida
• Wyndham Consumer Finance—Las Vegas

Since 1985, more than 1,000 teams from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and the United States have participated in this team recognition process—the only one of its kind in the United States. Organizations such as 3M; Alcoa; Bayer; Boeing; Humana; Reliance Industries Ltd., the largest business enterprise in India; and Telefonica, a major cell phone operator in Argentina, have all showcased proven results with long-term implications, resulting in cost savings of millions of dollars.

Conference speakers

Speakers at this year’s WQCI, where the Team Excellence Awards takes place, include the following quality professionals.

James Albaugh, the executive vice president of The Boeing Co., and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is responsible for Boeing’s commercial airplanes programs and services. He is a member of the Boeing Executive Council and serves as Boeing’s senior executive in the Pacific Northwest.

Carletta Ooton, the vice president and the chief quality, safety, and sustainable operations officer for The Coca Cola Co., has more than 20 years of quality and operational experience, and has overarching accountability for the policies and standards, audits, analytical services, food safety, customer quality, performance measures, and operations support delivered by the global quality organization.

Majora Carter, the president of MCG Consulting, is named one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company magazine. Carter is known for her sustainability leadership in pioneering the nation’s first urban green-collar job training and placement system.

Simon Sinek, a leadership expert and author of Start with Why (Portfolio Trade, 2011), teaches leaders and companies to inspire people. His unique approach has earned him invitations to meet with high-profile leaders at Microsoft, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other organizations around the country.

Joseph A. DeFeo, the president and CEO of Juran Institute, is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on transformational change systems and breakthrough management principles. DeFeo is co-author of several books, including the go-to resource for deployment leaders, Juran’s Quality Handbook Sixth Edition, The Complete Guide to Performance Excellence (McGraw-Hill, 2010).

About The Author

American Society for Quality ASQ

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a global community of people dedicated to quality who share the ideas and tools that make our world work better. With millions of individual and organizational members of the community in 150 countries, ASQ has the reputation and reach to bring together the diverse quality champions who are transforming the world’s corporations, organizations, and communities to meet tomorrow’s critical challenges. ASQ is headquartered in Milwaukee with national service centers in China, India, and Mexico. Learn more about ASQ’s members, mission, technologies, and training at http://asq.org.