CONSTRUCTION - ISO 9000 CERTIFIED - SO WHAT? IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED.... (NIK ZAFRI)

These are part of my training slides for ISO certified company (using a high-impact approach). Further enquiry on the training, please e-mail nikzafri@yahoo.com (genuine RFQ only!)

QUALITY CONTINUOUS JOURNEY – WHAT ELSE CAN BE IMPROVED?

Introduction/Refresher

1.0 QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Definition for Quality: 

• Fitness for Purpose (Internal and External Quality Control - 50%) and 

• Client's and Internal Satisfaction (Internal and External Quality Assurance – 50%) - Both QC and QA have respective specifications to be fulfilled – combined both = Quality Management System (QMS)

Common Challenge 1

The word “Quality” on Manual, Policy, Procedures etc. should not be narrowed only to the Quality Department or Management Representative.

Quality is always a shared commitment.

Then Quality Manual, Quality Policy, Quality Procedures are to be deemed and understood as your Company's Manual, your Company's Policy, your Company's Procedures.

Rationale : to avoid 'finger pointing'

Common Challenge 2

Quality, Health and Safety, Security, Environment - Domino Theory – One tile fall, so will the others – ALL IS REQUIRED

Once again, the same as Common Challenge 1 – not to be narrowed to a certain department e.g. Safety & Health and Security is a SHARED COMMITMENT thus making them your Company's Manual, your Company's Policy, your Company's Procedures.

Rationale : to avoid 'finger pointing'

BRANDING :

THIS IS THE WAY YOUR COMPANY WORKS!!!

COMMON ERROR

Your Company is Certified NOT Accredited (by ISO....)

CERTIFICATION BODY – A body that issued the certificate according to the nature of business – e.g. SIRIM QAS, DET NORSKE VERITAS, LLOYDS, SGS ETC. 

ACCREDITATION BODY - A Body that accredits the scope of business/industry in order to qualify the certs issued by the certification body (Accredited Certification Body) e.g. – DEPARTMENT OF STANDARDS MALAYSIA (DSM), UNITED KINGDOM ACCREDITATION SERVICE (UKAS), ANSI-ASQ – NATIONAL ACCREDITATION SERVICE (US) ETC. (MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION (MOSTI)

OTHER KNOWN EXAMPLES

Education

INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING MALAYSIA (CERTIFICATE PROVIDER – PHD, DEGREE, DIPLOMA IN ???) MUST BE ACCREDITED BY MALAYSIAN QUALIFICATION AGENCY (MQA) – USED TO BE CALLED LAN. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Competency and Skills

COMPETENCY BASED INSTITUTION (CERTIFICATE PROVIDER – SKM 1 – 5 IN ???) MUST BE ACCREDITED BY NATIONAL VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE (MLVK) – MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES

2.0 DOCUMENTATION

2.1 Quality Manual

- Common Error : Do it make sufficient reference to the Laws, Regulations, Standards etc.? e.g. This Manual is developed by taking into account the following Laws, Regulations, Standards as far as is applicable:

a. Occupational Health and Safety Act 1994

b. Environmental Quality Act, 1974

c. The International Safety Management Code (ISM) – an International Management Code

for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention,

d. Petroleum Mining Act, 1966

e. ISO 9001:2008

f. OHSAS 18001: 2007

g. EMS ISO 14000 : 2004

WHY?

This is :

a. To assure the Client's that every measure has been taken to customize the documentation to support contractual requirements.

b. To ensure a stringent enforcement

NOT A GREAT CHALLENGE : TO INTEGRATE QUALITY, HEALTH & SAFETY, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENT (HSEQ) MOST OF YOU HAVE DONE IT!

CHALLENGE 1 : CERTAIN CERTIFICATION BODIES VIA ADEQUACY/ COMPLIANCE/SURVEILLANCE ASSESSMENTS - TENDS TO TREAT QUALITY AS A SEPARATE ISSUE - (ISO 9000), HEALTH AND SAFETY A SEPARATE ISSUE (OHSAS 18000), ENVIRONMENT A SEPARATE ISSUE (EMS ISO 14000)

CHALLENGE 2 : THE RESPONSIBILITY SPELLED OUT IN PROCEDURES COMPARED TO JOB DESCRIPTION, DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES. INTEGRATE BOTH IN THE JD! NO OVERLAPPING!

CHALLENGE 3 : METHOD STATEMENTS VS JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS – INTEGRATE OR NOT TO INTEGRATE?

3.0 MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY

What is RESPONSIBILITY? What is COMMITMENT?

Simple Formula

A) RESPONSIBILITY + COMMITMENT = ACCOUNTABILITY

Responsible for WHAT?

- Budget, Plant and Machinery, Conducive Working Environment, Transportation, ICT etc.

Commited to WHAT?

- ensure implementation of The LAW, Quality, Safety, Security, Environment, Standards, Customer Requirements/Specifications, Vision, Objectives, KRA-KPI, Balance Scorecard etc. 

ACCOUNTABLE to providing resources to ensure smooth operation from start to end.

So - the equation : 

   ACCOUNTABILITY 

+ RESPONSIBILITY 

+ COMMITMENT 

--------------------

= LEADERSHIP

-----------------

LEADERSHIP of WHAT?

PEOPLE

Common Error

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, KEY RESULT AREAS, BALANCE SCORECARDS, DEPARTMENT/UNIT OBJECTIVES ARE OF DIFFERENT PLANETS – NOT LINKED TO ONE ANOTHER - OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH KPI, KRA, BALANCE SCORECARD ETC. (CASCADING PRINCIPLE – PETER DRUCKER – MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES) 

4.0  TRAINING

5.0  PLANNING, OPERATION, PROCUREMENT, CONTROL (PRODUCT REALIZATION)

5.1 Planning

You have proper scheduling – CONGRATULATIONS - with all the Critical Path Method (CPM) – Pert Analysis, Gantt Chart etc. GOOD! 

Improvement: The RED BAR to indicate CPM on every activity

Additional explanatory notes are REQUIRED besides than depending on the data inputs from the software. This is WHERE Quality comes in with the experience of Data Analysis and Improvement to be made! Thus the CPM should also take into account quality setbacks based on experience running a project. Hence will improve the timing accuracy 

THIS CAN BE REFLECTED IN THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT/PROGRESS REPORTS

Common Error 1

AUDIT? – A SCHEDULED & PERIODICAL ASSESSMENT ON THE OVERALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM – BE IT QUALITY, SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT

INSPECTION? – A ROUTINE UNSCHEDULED ASSESSMENT ON PRODUCT & WORKMANSHIP (PROJECT) - CONTRACTED

SIMILARITY : BOTH CAN ISSUE NON-CONFORMANCE REPORTS (NCR) /CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUEST (CAR)

CHALLENGE

DO CLIENT REQUIRE PROJECT QUALITY (OR HSEQ) PLAN? OR PROJECT EXECUTION PLAN (IF YOU ARE IN THE CONSULTING/DESIGN CAPACITY) OR YOU JUST DEPEND ON THE CONTRACT SPECS OR IF THE CLIENT DO NOT NEED IT – WHY DO IT? (PROACTIVE VS REACTIVE!)

6.0 MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT

DO YOU MEASURE COST OF QUALITY

(IS IT STATED ANYWHERE IN THE NCR?, SITE DIARY, LOGS - INTANGIBLE COST)

PREVENTIVE ACTION :

DO YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PAST DATUM OF WASTAGE CONTROL, POSSIBLE REPAIR ETC (CONTINGENCY) - TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE FUTURE COSTING/BQ? 

QUALITY CAN HELP IN MAKING YOUR CONTINGENCY COST BETTER. ANALYSIS OF DATA, CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT PROPOSAL FROM THE MANAGEMENT REVIEW MEETING - CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN DOING FUTURE COSTING AND BILL OF QUANTITIES.

E.G. BUFFER STOCK – WHERE DID THE DATA CAME FROM?

CONCLUSION

QUALITY IS A CONTINUOUS JOURNEY.

DO NOT BE IN THE COMFORTABLE ZONE.

YOU’LL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS WHEN YOUR COMPANY STARTS DIVERSIFYING FURTHER!

(well...THEY MIGHT!)

Kawalan Emosi dan Psikologi Pelabur dalam Meramal Pasaran Saham – NIK ZAFRI

Nota/Penafian : Artikel ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis sebagai berkongsi pengalaman kembali (setelah jatuh) membuat pelaburan di pasaran saham.

Kita sering melihat rancangan, segmen berita, wawancara dan lain-lain yang memaparkan perangkaan yang menunjukkan pembetulan dalam pasaran (market correction) tetapi adakah ini satu perkara yang penting perlu kita ketahui?

Saya melihat perubahan mendadak dalam cara kebanyakan penganalisa atau peramal pasaran mencuba sedaya-upaya untuk meramal pasaran saham. Apabila saya meneliti setiap komen, analisa, ramalan yang diberikan – kebanyakannya (bukan semua) – tidak pasti dan sifat ‘playsafe’ atau ‘tunggu dan lihat’ – menjadikan semua pendapat yang diberikan hanyalah teori semata-mata.

Izinkan saya berkongsi sedikit pandangan holistik saya mengenai pasaran saham dan kenapa saya bertanggapan bahawa percubaan untuk meramal pergerakan pasaran saham kadangkala membazir masa dan sumber.

Pertama – kenaikan dan penurunan pasaran saham. Ini kerana pasaran adalah di mana ‘pembeli dan ‘penjual’ bergabung.  Apabila terdapat ramai ‘penjual’ dari ‘pembeli’, maka harga akan turun.  (apabila 'pembeli' ramai dari 'penjual', maka harga saham akan melambung tinggi)

Sebabnya : Dari pengalaman saya sendiri, saya melihat, kadangkala pelabur lebih dipengaruhi perasaan berbanding dengan logik. Apabila bertindak mengikut perasaan, maka pasaran akan menjadi tidak stabil. Maka sebarang ramalan akan menjadi buntu. Sebaliknya jika pelabur bertindak secara logik, maka pasaran juga berpotensi menjadi stabil.

Kedua - Menghabiskan masa terlalu lama di hadapan skrin untuk meramal pergerakan pasaran saham kadang-kadang boleh dianggap sebagai ‘membazir masa’. Adalah lebih baik, kita tumpukan 80% dari masa berkenaan dengan membaca bahan-bahan yang menambahkan pengetahuan pelaburan dan 20% diberikan terhadap skrin.

Ketiga - Pelabur berpengalaman akan tahu bahawa trend sering menunjukkan bahawa bulan Ogos, September (terutamanya September) atau Oktober, akan berlaku sesuatu yang mampu mengubah pergerakan saham, antara lain ialah : 

• Peperangan (terutamanya peperangan yang berlaku secara mengejut)
• kesan asimetrik yang berasal dari luar negara (negara yang dipanggil ‘negara maju’) yang mengalami hutang negara yang sangat besar atau kadar faedah Rizab Persekutuan menjadi terlalu tinggi)
• kadar pengangguran yang sangat tinggi (tandanya : apabila pembayaran gratuiti atau bonus pada 2-3 bulan sebelumnya ‘terlalu tinggi’)
• kenaikan sumber tenaga secara mendadak, seperti petroleum dan diesel (minyak mentah termasuk minyak tanah) - apa yang ganjil ialah fenomena ini diikuti dengan kenaikan bahanapi yang lain seperti arangbatu, hidro dll TERMASUK alternatif seperti minyak sawit dan tenaga solar (saya pun hairan kenapa? - tetapi saya seperti bersedia untuk menghadapi suasana berkenaan)
• kenaikan harga barang makanan secara tiba-tiba, (tidak semestinya kenaikan barangan terkawal seperti gula dan minyak masak sahaja)
• kenaikan kos sara hidup (Contohnya kenaikan nilai hartanah selaras dengan kedatangan pelabur asing)
• nilai projek contohnya pembinaan yang dijalankan terlalu tinggi dari kebiasaan (mungkin pelabur terkejut, jika saya katakan bahawa, nilai projek yang tinggi BUKAN disebabkan oleh kenaikan harga bahan binaan tetapi kerana faktor dalaman seperti pembaziran, kerosakan yang tinggi tanpa kawalan, kemalangan di tempat kerja dan juga rasuah!)

Dan banyak lagi tanda-tanda lain – ada juga trend yang berlaku secara domestik (dalam negara) dan bukan berasal di peringkat antarabangsa.

Hal-hal yang disebutkan di atas juga menyebabkan pasaran menjadi ‘volatile’. Maka pelabur kadangkala banyak bergantung kepada maklumat dalam internet dan tidak lagi memeriksa kesahihan maklumat berkenaan. 

Kadangkala ada maklumat yang bermotifkan spekulasi untuk memanipulasikan psikologi pelabur bagi menjual atau membeli (berawaslah)

Pendekata, tidak ada sebarang pelaburan yang boleh dikategorikan sebagai ‘sempurna’.  Ianya bergantung kepada proses dan kebarangkalian.

Sebenarnya, salah satu faktor kejayaan saya sendiri (secara peribadi) ialah semua sumber yang pernah saya pelajari atau rujuk perlu digabungkan dengan pengalaman saya sendiri. Dengan kata lain, saya sendiri mencipta teknik pelaburan yang tersendiri dan tidak terlalu bergantung kepada bahan-bahan yang ‘bersepah’ di internet atau mengharapkan analisa dan ramalan pasaran pakar.

Apa yang penting kepada saya ialah meninggikan kebarangkalian untuk mengambil tindakan yang betul (kerana saya juga tidak kebal dari melakukan kesilapan). Tindakan yang betul ‘berulangkali’ akan meninggikan lagi kebarangkalian untuk saya meraih keuntungan berbanding berulangkali tindakan yang silap akan meninggikan kebarangkalian saya mengalami kerugian yang besar.

Jika diperhatikan betul-betul, semuanya bergerak dalam satu kitaran. Ada yang naik dan ada yang turun (begitulah sebaliknya)

Setiap kali adanya ‘bullish’, maka ianya akan diikuti dengan ‘bearish’. Begitulah sebaliknya.

Setiap kali berlakunya pembetulan (correction), maka akan datang pemulihan (recovery)

Walaubagaimanapun, bukan perkara yang senang untuk meramal dan mengawal pasaran saham. Ramai yang kecewa apabila perkara ini berlaku.

Tetapi yang pasti, pasaran saham adalah peluang keemasan untuk menjana pendapatan sekiranya pelabur menggunakan teknik dan strategi pelaburan yang ‘matang’ (persediaan untuk ‘untung dan rugi’ dalam pelaburan)

Jangan terlalu beranggapan bahawa pasaran saham merupakan cara ‘rahsia’ untuk menjadikan anda seorang yang kaya kerana ‘cita-cita’ itu kadangkala akan menjadi ‘illusi’ dan anda pasti kecewa melihat hasilnya. Jika anda beranggapan begini, maka anda juga menjadikan diri anda sebagai ‘spekulator’ dan anda setaraf dengan mereka yang berjudi atau menikam loteri.

Pasaran saham bukan tempat spekulasi atau perjudian – ianya adalah perniagaan yang mempunyai ‘untung dan rugi’ dan bukannya ‘untung’ semata-mata atau ‘rugi semata-mata'

No, You Can't Use Fund Flows To Predict Stock Market Movements

DON FISHBACK, BETA ODDS SEP. 30, 2010, 5:11 PM

I suppose I could leave it at that, but perhaps a little explanation is warranted.


There was an article on Business Insider today that told of a formula for market success. It was based on “following” mutual fund flows. When fund flows are positive, go long a broad-based market index, such as SPY. When fund flows are negative, go short the SPY.

If that sounds familiar, it should. Almost one year to the day, I wrote about the same thing!

Here’s a link to the post titled Busting Yet Another Market Myth (Please refer to the author's official blog )

There were actually two parts to last year’s post. One part dealt with what happened to the stock market after the broad-based indexes rose more than a given percentage above their long-term moving averages. The second part dealt with what happened to the stock market after mutual fund flows of stock funds were positive or negative.

I showed that from the period beginning in 2007, a terrific strategy would have been to do the non-contrarian thing and follow fund flows. In other words, the conclusion the Business Insider contributor reached was correct based on the data period analyzed.

Importantly, I also showed that had you selected a different time period, the results would have shown the exact opposite! In other words, following fund flows would have proven to be disastrous. You would have completely missed out on a huge market rally.

What’s more, in my analysis, I did not go short when fund flows were negative as the Business Insider article suggested. Had you also gone short when flows were negative from 1984 to 1990, would have been catastrophically wiped out!

Bottom line, there is no evidence that, when measured over an extended time period, mutual fund flows predict gains and losses.

Author's Blog : http://www.donfishback.com/index.html 

This article originally appeared at Beta Odds. Copyright 2014.