Wednesday, 10 June, 2015

The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) recently welcomed the Managing Director of the global arm of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and representatives from the organisation’s MENA Region to discuss Total Quality Management (TQM), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability during a knowledge sharing session. Welcoming over 40 Quality Management professionals from across the UAE, UOWD’s Master of Quality Management students and faculty benefited from a challenging debate led by Mr Volker Soppelsa, Founder and Managing Partner of Strategies4 Sustainability. Over the course of the evening, Mr Soppelsa discussed how quality, sustainability and corporate social responsibility are three connected yet separate areas, which should all be considered in innovative ways. “CSR, Quality and Sustainable Development are all linked. When we work to incorporate sustainable development into our thinking, we have to think of them as pillars which connect” he explained. “You cannot achieve quality if you improve quality in one area, but it gets worse in another.” The evening marked the first collaboration between ASQ and UOWD, with plans afoot for more partnership events in the future. The ASQ represents a global community of over 75,000 quality professionals. It is dedicated to the promotion and advancement of quality tools, principles and practices in their members’ workplaces in 150 different countries across the world. “This partnership is a natural one for us” comments Dr Slim Saidi, Program Director of UOWD’s Master of Quality Management degree. “As the first and only university in the region to offer the MQM program, we have been supporting our graduates to develop the specialised skills to incorporate the principles of Quality Management in operational and strategic management roles for almost ten years. Our relationship with ASQ will provide our students and alumni with networking opportunities and help with developing the key-skills that will help them to succeed in the world of Total Quality Management.”