Security maturity not keeping pace with increasing cyber threats

During the pandemic, digital maturity has increased significantly. At the same time, our vulnerability to disruptions and cyber threats has increased. It is worrying that the security maturity of authorities and companies has not increased in line with the threats. This is an important management issue!

Creating a foundation for working with quality culture; ISO standards, SIQ Success factors or a great mix?

When I took on my current assignment as a management and governance strategist with a focus on quality and operational development at the overall level, the work was very much about addressing urgent needs, which the operations raised as important to take care of at the overall level.

Quality Manifesto for the 21st Century

We, quality professionals of the world, unite to commit ourselves to revitalize quality and transform our profession to increase its relevance for the world. We believe firmly that the principles and practices at the core of the quality discipline possess the power to enable organizations to revolutionize their way of working and to manage their affairs for the lasting benefit of humanity.

Quality Manifesto for the 21st Century

We, quality professionals of the world, unite to commit ourselves to revitalize quality and transform our profession to increase its relevance for the world. We believe firmly that the principles and practices at the core of the quality discipline possess the power to enable organizations to revolutionize their way of working and to manage their affairs for the lasting benefit of humanity.

SIQ Management model for sustainable success

On September 21, I will present NorDan AB's successful work with the UN Sustainable Development Goals at ICSD 2021, the 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development. The conference is considered one of the most important international forums for researchers, authorities, UN organizations and companies to share experiences with practical solutions to achieve the UN's sustainability goals.

Is it even possible to lead for sustainability?

My wife is a researcher in environmental communication. In one of her projects she studies a number of concepts that can be categorized as "empty signifiers". In short, this means that the concepts have been eroded so much that they can mean anything or nothing - or whatever you choose to put in them. Nevertheless, they are still used in some companies' communication, for example, to put up a nice facade and show that they know what you are expected to say.

Management system for sustainability and social acceptance

Working with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the planetary boundaries can be a challenge. The goals cover everything from poverty eradication, health for all, social justice and meeting the needs of society while staying within the ecological limits of the planet.

Who is the sustainability manager in the company of the future?

Last winter, the role of quality manager was discussed by Örjan Anderberg here on SIQ Forum. I'd like to follow up on that excellent article and discuss the future role of the sustainability manager.

Small businesses - key elements for sustainable development

Imagine Sweden's business community as a playing field where small and large, private and public companies trade with each other. Companies are run by managers and employees who spend half of their waking hours at work. The rest of the time they are private individuals, consumers and political voters.

On human terms

The Quality 5.0 vision and the Japanese Society 5.0 have the same direction of travel.

What kind of society do we want in the future?

We can see that the concept of quality has evolved over centuries - from self-sufficiency where you were your own customer (1.0) to barter and craftsmen (2.0) to the industrial revolution where quality became synonymous with tolerances and product characteristics (3.0). In the late 20th century, TQM and quality became synonymous with customer satisfaction (4.0).

Self-organization in large development organizations

More and more organizations are becoming interested in agile methodology on a large scale and not only in software development. It is increasingly important to create organizations that can quickly adapt to a constantly changing environment. An important part of such adaptability is considered to be self-organization. An important question for us is whether self-organization within groups differs from self-organization between groups. Many companies have experience with agile methodology at the group level, but now that we are interested in agility at the organizational level, new challenges arise that are likely to require different approaches than those we know from the group level.

What leads to good results?

What really affects the performance of organizations? This was a question that my colleague Hendry Raharjo and I asked ourselves in a research study. We had access to quantitative data from 165 businesses.

The leadership challenge

Surely you recognize that you face many different challenges in your business. It can be anything from new markets, summer staffing, digitization, sick leave figures, new products, daring to let go of the old, and staying motivated in a changing world.

My biggest digital challenge this year

Different is the world we live in right now and probably for quite some time to come. I have had the privilege of being part of the team that conducted an evaluation for an organization applying for the Global Excellence Award. Of all the years I have been an examiner regionally, nationally, internationally and within the sector, this one is the most different, but also the most creative.

An autumn for health and success

The holidays are over and many of us are making late summer promises for the start of everyday life. Now we need to eat more healthily, start exercising regularly and - last but not least - get to bed on time in the evening! Do you recognize yourself?

Which societal challenge concerns you the most?

Our own studies conducted by the Swedish Quality Index show that mental ill health is increasing in working life - in all age groups. The increase in mental ill-health in working life is worrying and what concerns me most is that it is in the younger age groups that ill-health is greatest. Why is this the case and how can we reverse the trend?

Tomorrow we all have at least three jobs

Recent studies show that today's management models make organizations sluggish in relation to the surrounding pace of development and, in addition, employees and leaders are increasingly unhappy in the workplace! See SIQ's study on Organizations' main challenges for the next five years and the latest measurement in the Swedish Quality Index national employee survey.

Swedish schools create best-in-class learning environments

A few weeks ago, SIQ received the final entries for this year's round of the Better Schools Quality Award. And what a round! A very exciting field with organizations from Umeå in the north to the south of Malmö. Everything from preschools, primary schools and upper secondary schools to special schools and adult education programs are participating in this year's evaluation of culture, structure and systematics for sustainable quality work.

From customer focus to society focus

We all know that society needs to move towards a more sustainable society. This applies not only to the climate but also to a better world for everyone to live in. But who is everyone and what does everyone want? These are questions that we in the quality movement usually ask about customers. Who are the customers and what do they want? So surely the quality tools should also work at a societal level? Do they?

As far as possible towards excellence

When it comes to quality work in schools, pupils are our customers. Our starting point is that students' needs, requirements, wishes and expectations are expressed in regulations and steering documents. The portal paragraph of the Education Act states, among other things, that students "shall be given support and stimulation so that they develop as far as possible". The same law also states that education "shall be based on scientific grounds".

Process management for environmental sustainability

When we think of quality, we may think of meeting the requirements set by a customer. In the future, requirements may include not only those from customers but also those from society. This is part of Quality 5.0 and the SIQ management model. This is why it is so important to study quality development methodologies and tools to see if they are useful for identifying and meeting the requirements of both customers and society.

Increased focus on transformation

Many companies today have a very challenging situation where they must both cut costs and lead times in existing processes and deliveries, while understanding new customer patterns and transforming the company towards tomorrow and managing the development of new services and digitization. To succeed with a continuous transformation towards tomorrow's business is often a vision of the future.

What competences are required for successful business development?

Managing new conditions and developing collaborations and business models with customers and stakeholders are two key challenges outlined in SIQ's report on the main challenges facing organizations. Balancing the demands of renewal, development and innovation, i.e. external efficiency, with the demands of resource efficiency, i.e. internal efficiency, is becoming increasingly critical in organizations' quality development efforts.

Quality and democracy

Over the past eight years, Falu Frigymnasium has actively worked to define our success factors, an effort that has proved successful on many levels. We have continuously improved many of our results, something that is not always self-evident even if you have a systematic approach to development work. We have done this under the umbrella of "Democracy in action". Democracy is the common thread in our quality work.

When the kitchen chair became a time machine

Think back to April last year. A weekday morning. Connecting at the kitchen table with colleagues from their various home offices. Did it occur to you that you were in the Corona Express time machine?

Platform approach for stable and agile governance

A large part of the world's top 100 companies in 2020 in terms of valuation are platform companies or companies where the platform strategy is clear.

Organizational life cycles - why organizations do as they do!

In our column 'On the DNA of organizations - what is next?' September 2020, we argued that today's and future management models need to be built on a totally different view of what an organization actually is. We perceive diversity, interconnectedness, and complexity all around us.

What can digital transformation learn from the arrival of the potato in Sweden?

The term 'digitalization' is on everyone's lips, especially after six months of Covid-19, travel restrictions, cancelled meetings and working from home. In a short time, society's need for digital services and tools has accelerated dramatically. With this comes new needs, demands and expectations. Sometimes you can get the feeling that "everything" should be digitized. But of course this is not the case.

Cross-border quality management

INTRODUCTION: QUALITY MANAGEMENT ≠ QUALITY ENGINEERING How can the quality manager role evolve to become fit for purpose in the coming 20th century? Will the role of Quality Manager remain or become obsolete? Quality Manager/Quality Leader/Quality Director 2.0 needs to be transnational and the role renamed!

We don't have time!

Like firefighters in full gear and water-filled hoses around our feet, we stand in a circle with our backs to each other. We shout in unison: - We don't have time!

The digitalization boom - the saviour of welfare?

Digitization of the welfare sector is the most common answer to the question of how to manage funding in the future. Last week, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL) issued a new national alarm about a looming economic crisis. A recurring theme over the past ten years.

1000 billion reasons to improve!

We have recently read that the design of public procurement in Sweden gives rise to annual waste of about SEK 135 billion, and in its wake comes many resource-intensive appeals.