Quality and service excellence boost companies' organisational performance: DED's Al Kassim

The event is an ongoing attempt to create synergistic awareness of the concepts of quality and excellence across the emirate.

More than 500 delegates from all business sectors in the UAE attended the conference. The annual conference shows the government's keenness to reinforce the message of quality by promoting business excellence in society.

"Knowledge grows when shared. The sharing of expertise will clearly pave the way for organisations to grow and develop faster, and along more integrated lines," said Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director General for Planning and Development at DED. "The key to identifying and sharing best practices is to learn from others and to employ that knowledge."

The conference was divided into four sessions with many of the DQA winners presenting a selected best practice to the audience. In addition, the conference also hosted two speakers from international quality award recipient companies - Paul Ellis, Director of Business Excellence at TNT Express, winner of the European Excellence Award, and Jane Keeley, Head of Business Excellence at RICOH UK Ltd, winner of the British Quality Award.

"To become a truly effective business community that can offer services on par with the developed world, we must introduce consistent quality in whatever we do. This can be best done when we learn to work together and share our expertise with each other," added Al Kassim.

"Dubai Quality Group will continue to promote quality and sustained improvement in the workplace through programs such as the Dubai Quality Award. We believe that this event serves as a platform for motivating organisations to boost their efforts in finding innovative solutions to the different challenges they may encounter in the pursuit of excellence," said Marwan Al Sawaleh, Chairman of DQG.

Paul Ellis opened the conference with a presentation that focused on customer satisfaction referring to the approach used by TNT Germany that won the European Excellence Award in 2006. Ellis's presentation also focused on corporate social responsibility referring to TNT's partnership with the World Food Program. "Corporate social responsibility has become increasingly important to today's business," said Ellis.

Jane Keeley's presentation entitled 'Together to Excellence' focused on the different methodologies used in RICOH to keep the staff in a company fully motivated. "By developing our employees and equipping them with the knowledge and tools to make continuous improvements in their day-to-day roles, we give them the opportunity to release their full potential," said Keeley.

"This conference has become a popular event where we gather to congratulate the winners of the award and watch them motivate the rest of us to achieve higher standards and set international benchmarks," said Dr. Lway Nackasha, Advisor, Quality and Business Excellence at DED.

"The Department of Economic Development encourages and supports such initiatives because they have a commendable role in placing Dubai on the world map of quality and excellence," added Dr. Nackasha.

The full-day event witnessed participations from the winning companies of the DQA 2006 including Acer Computer (ME) Limited, Al Khaleej Sugar (L.L.C), Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Emaar Properties PJSC, Dubai Oil Mills Company, International Rubber Company, National Cables Industry, Dubai Women's College, Dubai Medical College for Girls, HSBC Middle East Finance Company Ltd, UAE Exchange Centre, Apparel (L.L.C), and Interactive Insurance Brokers Company (L.L.C).