Good Practices

from Winners ofDubai Quality Award

2006

This document summarizes the efforts and hard work of wining organizations of the Dubai Quality

Award 2006. Before closing this cycle, winners are required to share their good practices with the

wider community.

During the course of last year and after consultation with a number of senior assessors, the following

qualities were suggested for the evaluation of the merits of a good practice:

- clear rational on the approach

- high level of objectivity and clear impact on results

- favorable degree of benefits obtained in relation to the efforts expended

- effective reviews applied

- ability to adapt by other organizations

- high degree of originality, innovation and creativity applied.

The company profiles and good practices presented in this document reflect the views of respective

organizations and not those of Dubai Quality Award Secretariat. Therefore, while delighted with the

degree of participation, we cannot accept responsibility for the contents.

We believe that what has been presented in this document amounts to a valuable benchmark for good

practices in Dubai during 2006.

As we observe the success and development of many such participating organizations, we wish to

encourage many other organizations to follow the footsteps of those that featured in this document.

Thus, taking advantage from the many benefits offered by this process. We would also like to invite

prospective applicants to read what winners had to say about the benefits of participating in the

Dubai Quality Award and their advice to future applicants.

Success is always the result of hard work and a determination to do better. Therefore, our advice to

prospective applicants is to register now and never to wait for perfect conditions to prevail.

We wish your organizations every success.

Foreword

Dubai Quality Award SecretariatMay 2007

1- Emaar Properties PJSC (Real Estate) 4

2- Acer Computer (ME) Ltd (Manufacturing) 14

3- Hilton Dubai Jumeirah (Tourism) 22

4- Al Khaleej Sugar (Manufacturing) 30

1- Apparel LLC (Trade) 36

2- UAE Exchange Centre LLC (Finance) 46

3- Interactive Insurance Brokers Co. LLC (Service) 52

4- International Rubber Co. LLC (Manufacturing) 58

5- National Cables Industry (Manufacturing) 66

6- HSBC Middle East Finance Company Ltd (Finance) 72

7- Dubai Oil Mills Co. LLC (Manufacturing) 78

8- Dubai Womens College (Education) 86

9- Dubai Medical College for Girls (Education) 94

DUBAI QUALITY AWARD CATEGORY PAGE

DUBAI QUALITY APPRECIATION PROGRAM CATEGORY PAGE

Edited by: Dr Lway Nackasha, Adviser - Dubai Quality Award, May 2007.

Good Practices

from Winners ofDubai Quality Award

2006

4

Profile

5

2007

At Emaar Properties PJSC, the quest for

quality is an ongoing endeavour that is all-

encompassing. The company’s quality ethos are

rooted in the simple but profound wisdom that

‘everything can be improved.’ This makes Emaar’s

emphasis on quality a commitment to continuous

improvement, wherein realistic goals are set and

every team member is envisaged as playing a vital

role in delivering best practices.

Emaar underscores its commitment to quality

through internationally recognized benchmarks.

An ISO 9001: 2000 certified company, Emaar

approaches quality as a work ethos that must be

ingrained in the approach of every team member.

Regular in-house trainings, appraisals and

leadership programmes keep the staff motivated

and spirited to achieve clearly delineated quality

attributes in all spheres of Emaar’s activities.

Having redefined the concept of community living

in Dubai, Emaar is pushing frontiers of growth

geographically while also adding value to the

lifestyle of its residents in all its master-planned

communities.

This is through focused diversification into key

growth areas, which also have great community

relevance. Emaar’s investment in education,

healthcare, retail, hospitality and leisure, and

industries and investment, thus, becomes another

ongoing commitment to enhance the quality of

living of is customers.

This, in turn, also adds value to Emaar, as it moves

closer to accomplish its Vision 2010 to become one

of the most valuable companies in the world.

In its global development strategies too, Emaar

pursues a quality-backed growth philosophy

through strategic partnerships and joint ventures.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, Emaar is developing

King Abdullah Economic City, the largest private

sector project in the region, in association with the

Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority.

Emaar has teamed up with Giorgio Armani S.p.A,

the world-renowned haute couture major, to build

and manage 10 Armani hotels and resorts across

the world. Emaar has joined hands with Accor

Hotels to form a joint venture, Budget Hotels India

Pvt Ltd, which will develop 100 budget hotels

across the country in ten years.

Other strategic acquisitions and joint ventures

As one of the world’s largest real estate companies

and rapidly evolving to become a global provider

of premier lifestyles, it is imperative that Emaar

has a quality management system that benchmarks

against international best practices. The journey to

being a global player, indeed, begins at one’s

doorstep, and Emaar has carefully positioned, over

the years, to add value to local communities before

setting out to expand its geographic base.

Emaar’s commitment to quality, backed by

transparency in operations, is marked by its listing

on the Dubai Financial Market, which has not only

given the company credibility but also heralded

the arrival of a strong corporate governance

culture in Dubai. With the basics of the company’s

working in place, Emaar set out on delivering its

core competency – premier neighbourhoods that

add value to the lives of residents – through

projects that are unsurpassed in quality and design

excellence.

Not just building homes, Emaar develops value-

added, master-planned communities that meet the

homebuyers’ full spectrum of lifestyle needs.

Emaar’s developments in Dubai – Arabian

Ranches, Dubai Marina, Emirates Living and the

up-and-coming Downtown Burj Dubai – are all

marked by demonstrated build excellence, quality

living ambience and facilities that place the interest

of the communities first. At Emaar, therefore,

quality becomes a tangible deliverable.

Emaar’s commitment to quality takes concrete

shape in the sheer ingenuity of designs that

highlights its projects. Burj Dubai, which forms the

epicenter of Downtown Burj Dubai, for example,

redefines accepted parameters of engineering,

construction and design excellence, and is now on

course to becoming the world’s tallest building.

Emaar’s adherence to demanding quality

standards has been acknowledged not only by its

fast-increasing customer base but also by industry

peers. In 2005, Emaar was awarded the first-ever

Euromoney Gulf Real Estate Award for Best

Overall Developer in the UAE as well as Best

Residential Developer in the UAE. Emaar

sustained the winning streak by clinching the

Euromoney Real Estate awards for Best Overall

Developer in the UAE in 2006. The company also

won Construction Week’s ‘Developer of the Year’

award in October 2006 for its adherence to build

quality, aesthetics, timely delivery and evidence of

intelligent master-planning.

include John Laing Homes, the second largest

privately held homebuilder in the US; Hamptons

International, UK’s premier real estate company;

Raffles Campus, Singapore’s leading education

provider; and Turner International Middle East

Ltd, a building services provider.

Ranked among the Top 5 Arabia Titans and

Arabian Corporates by Dow Jones and Forbes,

respectively, Emaar brings alive a culture of quality

in all its operations – as a tangible, accountable and

functional reality, and continues to approach

quality as its ‘most prized possession.’

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l Self assessment mechanisml Team work enhancementl Identificatin of performance and system gaps l Impetance to Continual Improvement drive

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Get a total ‘buy-in’ of everyonel Work in teamsl Establish self assessment mechanisml Review strenghts and areas for improvement

of enablers

Emaar Properties PJSC

7

2007

6

Nominated Good Practice

TThhrreeee--PPrroonnggeedd MMoonniittoorriinngg ooffCCuussttoommeerr SSaattiissffaaccttiioonn

Emaar’s mission is to provide world class service

to its customers, where the goals are:l to achieve and exceed 80% customer

satisfaction rating, and l to ensure that more than 50% of our customers

are willing to recommend Emaar to other

potential home-buyers.

Our focus is on meeting the needs and expectations

of our customers. We reach out to our customers on

many levels to communicate and elicit their

feedback and improvement ideas.

Emaar monitors Customer satisfaction in three

ways, viz. l customer interviews and opinions captured

through third-party Customer Satisfaction

surveys,l continuous monitoring (day-to-day) through

electronic device-based instant feedback of

walk-in customers, andl customer feedback through web-based

communication.

Customer Relation Management (CRM) team

monitors and reports on the performance of the

Company in relation to customer satisfaction on

various parameters like number of walk in

customers, types of queries, time taken to resolve

problems, feedback from customers on the service

etc. This data is documented and analysed in order

to check efficiency of present systems and bring in

changes when needed.

11-- CCuussttoommeerr SSaattiissffaaccttiioonn SSuurrvveeyyss:: Emaar

has been conducting Customer satisfaction surveys

since 2003. These surveys are conducted twice a

year by an external agency. CRM team coordinates

with a research company to conduct the survey to

identify customer satisfaction levels and customer

requirements. The information obtained is

systematically analyzed to understand the

customer’s perception of the organisation, and the

action points from this are further used to review

our strategy, plans and customer service processes.

The survey is done with the following objectives:l Market research - provide valuable feedback

to improve customer satisfaction levels and

our businessl Marketing - promote aspects of our businessl Information/Education – enhance customer

awareness of the range of our services.

The survey forms were designed to get feedback

on the various activities conducted by the

department, with a view to improving customer

service. The questions range from Location and

Accessibility, Quality of products, Communication

Efficiency and Ease, Speed and Attention, Value for

money, Demographic and Psychographic profile of

customer, Competence of staff to any other specific

feedback or comment. The form asks customers to

rate "politeness", "efficiency" and "product

knowledge" for each activity on the scale of 10 to 40

where 10 is "poor" and 40 is "excellent". Following

are the key findings from these surveys:

SSaattiissffaaccttiioonn lleevveellss:: The graph above shows

the satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels by years.

In 2004, there was a slight decrease in satisfaction.

From 2004 onwards there were large increases in

customer satisfaction levels with each survey taken

(the opposite is seen in the ‘Not Satisfied’

columns). This increase is mainly due to a number

of initiatives by Emaar to enhance and strengthen

customer relations; for example adopting a

customer centric strategy, automation of processes,

creation of a central database and training of

employees.

RReeccoommmmeennddaattiioonn:: The graph above shows the

percentage of the customer who would

recommend Emaar to others as compared to

previous years. The graph shows a continuous

increase in satisfaction every year. Even when

customer satisfaction levels fell in 2004, customer

recommendations still increased.

Overall Satisfaction Levels and Recommending Emaar:

Emaar Properties PJSC

SSaalleess PPrroocceessss:: In general, customers seem more satisfied with the sales process, especially with attitude

of staff and time taken to complete contract preparation.

9

2007

8

Nominated Good Practice

PPrrooppeerrttyy HHaannddoovveerr:: The customers are significantly happier with handover compared to December

2005 survey..

PPrrooppeerrttyy TTrraannssffeerr::

CCuussttoommeerr CCaarree:: Satisfaction has risen with customer care; staff helpfulness and response has

greatly improved.

VVaalluuee ffoorr mmoonneeyy:: 62% of the customers are satisfied with the value for money provided by Emaar

as against competition.

Emaar Properties PJSC

In addition to conducting Quantitative research

through independent market researchers, we have

also implemented other methods to collect

feedback at points of contact with our customers,

these include: l Previously Customer Satisfaction Survey

forms were located at every desk of customer

facing executives and customers were

encouraged to complete the form and give

their feedback and suggestions. Based on

these action plans are developed. The

department wise walk in customer feedback

from Jan – Aug 2006 using this method is

shown in the graph below. This method has

now been replaced by an Electronic Feedback

System.

22-- WWaallkk iinn CCuussttoommeerr FFeeeeddbbaacckk::

10

Nominated Good Practice

11

2007

l After every event we host, we encourage our visitors to voice their opinion about us. We distribute

survey forms to get their feedback on our performance. All Leisure and hospitality operations have

customer suggestions, comments and feedback cards, these are utilized to understand how to

improve our operations and serve our customer better.

TThhee ggrraapphhss bbeellooww sshhooww CCuussttoommeerr ssaattiissffaaccttiioonn lleevveellss aatt vvaarriioouussddeeppaarrttmmeennttaall lleevveellss..

33-- WWeebb BBaasseedd SSuurrvveeyyRefinement from walk-in customer Feedback:

Analyzed responses are only on those customers who reside in their units

FFLLAASSHH RREEPPOORRTT aanndd CCUUSSTTOOMMEERR LLIIFFEE CCYYCCLLEEFFllaasshh RReeppoorrttss::l Weekly presentation to Executive Committeel Overview of performance of customer facing departments

Emaar Properties PJSC

12

Nominated Good Practice

13

2007

Monitoring Facility: This system helps to

streamline visitor turnout based on their needs.

Through this new electronic ticketing system we

are limiting delays and also channelising customer

queries more effectively. Through this system the

customers can choose the desired customer service

from Emaar’s ten services, all operating under one

roof, at the meet and greet desk.

Electronic Feedback System: The manual

feedback system has now been changed to an

electronic feedback device has been put in place,

whereby the customer can directly key in their

feedback and this data directly goes into the

monitoring and reporting system. The real time

reports generated through this are analysed and

further action plans are developed. There is a staff

reward system linked to the findings.

CCuussttoommeerr LLiiffeeccyyccllee::

l Monthly presentation to customer facing

department headsl Tracking and analysis on customer facing

KPI performance

OOtthheerr MMeetthhooddss ooff TTrraacckkiinngg // MMoonniittoorriinnggSSaattiissffaaccttiioonn::

l Interactions: Since Oct 2004 all customer

facing department data is being entered into

Oracle. All customer-facing departments can

now have quick and accurate access to

customer’s details in order to provide faster

service to the customer. All logs of all

calls/faxes made/sent to customers are stored

as interactions.

l Daily Correspondence Tracking System: To

ensure that every communication from our

customers and internal customers are replied

to and answers resolved, we have developed a

daily Correspondence Tracking System (CTS).

The CTS assigns a Reference Number to each

communication received, records are kept of

whom the document has been assigned to and

the due date. The CTS Report is submitted to

the Property Handover Department Manager

each morning. Service standards metrics are

used to ensure that correspondence is

responded to as required.

l Customer Satisfaction Index: To ensure we

meet agreed corporate standards in customer

satisfaction, we have implemented a

Customer Feedback Box at the Handover area

of the department. Forms filled in by

customers are analyzed and tracked each

month with the results of the survey being

published online.l To reach our goals of achieving 80% customer

satisfaction and 50% of our customers willing

to recommend EMAAR to friends, we have

embarked upon a plan of many customer

focused activities, some short term and others

long term. The key elements in our strategy

are: l Identifying the customerl Differentiating the customer by value and

needs, l Building Learning Relationships with the

customer, l Setting Product and Services Standards, and

providing increased Choice in

Product/Service options.

The Mystery Shopper Programme: In order to

provide the very highest level of customer service,

all aspects of the Company are monitored from

design to construction through to product

handover, with customer care spread across the

aforesaid functions via the Mystery Shopper

process. Emaar was infiltrated by anonymous

Mystery Shoppers; people posing as genuine

clients who observed and commented on every

aspect of the Company over the year. The findings

as shown below are reported on a monthly basis

and collated into a quarterly report to be published

on the Intranet, highlighting the performance of

each department and individual staff members.

This exercise is directly handled by the Chairman’s

office and the reports are directly given to the

Chairman.

Based on the findings and recommendations from

the Mystery Shopper exercise, each of the

departments have created an action plan.

Electronic Ticketing System: This consists of a

monitoring system and monitoring facility. This is

a real time monitoring system that helps to monitor

the counters online in terms of number of people

waiting, number of people served, average waiting

and serving time and number of people served.

Alerts are received online when the customer

waiting time exceeds the set standards.

Emaar Properties PJSC

14

Profile

15

2007

Established in 1992, Acer Computer Middle East

Ltd, employs 120 people supporting dealers and

distributors in more than 50 countries. Acer is

renowned for the development and manufacture of

sophisticatedly and intuitively designed, easy to

use products. Acer has got strong presence in UAE

and Middle East and has a strong network of

reputed channel partners and the middle east and

africa operations are managed from Dubai.

Acer commenced the assembly operations,in Jebel

Ali Dubai, an Industry first by a multinational PC

vendor, in 1994. This assembly plant played a

critical role in bringing in latest PC technologies to

UAE and the region .Acer is a number 2 player in

Notebook computers in UAE. Acer currently ranks

as the world's No. 4 branded PC vendor, designing

easy, dependable IT solutions that empower

people to reach their goals and enhance their lives.

Acer focuses on globally marketing its brand-name

products: mobile and desktop PCs, servers and

storage, LCD monitors and high-definition TVs,

and handheld/navigational devices.Acer

pioneered the ‘Collect and Drop’ service for

notebooks in UAE,whereby the notebooks get

picked up by Acer directly from the customers , get

repaired and returned back to the customers. This

service was well received by the market .Acer

enjoys leading positions in Saudi Arabia , Turkey

and many other Middle East countries.. Acer's

unique Channel Business Model is instrumental to

the company's continued success. The model

encourages partners and suppliers to collaborate in

a winning formula of supply-chain management,

allowing Acer to provide customers with fresh

technologies, competitive pricing, and quality

service. Overcoming the barriers between people

and technology is Acer’s long-term goal, to allow

anyone to use and benefit from technology.

AACCEERR CCOOMMPPUUTTEERR CCOORRPPOORRAATTEE PPRROOFFIILLEE

Acer Computer, is one of the leading IT vendors in

the world. The company, over the course of 30

years has built a strong reputation for providing

fresh technologies, competitive pricing, and

quality service. Its vision and mission of

‘empowering people’ has lead to great success in

every corner of the world. Far-reaching strategies

focusing on every aspect of RandD to marketing

development laid a firm foundation for the

company to leap into the future.

AAcceerr MMiiddddllee EEaasstt

Data from the independent research firm IDC

shows that Acer holds the number three overall

market position in Middle East, Africa (MEA)

region, growing much faster than the number one

and number two vendors. In the MEA region, Acer

holds the number two position in the supply of

notebooks, fuelled by a 73.1% year-on-year growth.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it holds the umber

one position with a 26.8% market share in

Notebooks.

Acer commands an overall market share of 20.1%

in the UAE, which has also seen a 73.1% year-on-

year growth in the supply of Notebooks, and in

Turkey, it holds the number two spot with a market

share of 13%. Acer Computer posted a 50.4% year-

on-year growth in 2006 for sales in the MEA region.

The global IT vendor has attributed its positive

performance to a new strategic direction focused

on mobility, enterprise, and convergence related

technologies. Innovative notebooks, such as the

Ferrari 1000 will highlight the manufacturer’s

effort to make the end user more mobile. State-of-

the-art LCD monitors and top-of-the-range plasma

TVs all add to the expanding product line Acer is

committed to provide to its end users.

In its bid to provide leading edge technology, the

IT giant has teamed up with Advanced Electronics

Company (AEC), to manufacture PCs in the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The plant is expected to

roll out 120,000 PCs in the first year alone. Acer

expects to capitalize on its strong PC sales, using its

strong regional name recognition and reputation

for excellence to propel it into the converged

solutions marketplace.

All Acer products come with an ironclad warranty.

Top-of-the-range products like the Aspire L310

come with a three-year warranty, with one year for

the monitor and VGA card.

Acer’s product range includes PC notebooks and

Desktops, servers and storage systems, monitors,

peripheral devices, digital devices, LCD TVs and e-

business solutions for business, government,

education and home users. Acer employs more

than 5,600 people worldwide and has created a

consolidated sales and service network in more

than 100 countries. Revenues reached US $11.3

billion in 2006.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l DQA instills the Excellence Mindset and

Culture amongst the employeesl It brings in a world renowned EFQM

framework to measure ourselves against the

best in class companiesl Accellerates other Organisational

Development initiatives with lot of

enthusiasm and team work.l Organisations get non-biased objective feed

back on all areas of the organisation.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l The key is participation – start from where you

are - the benefit is in the journey towards

excellencel Communicate the Excelence model all across

the organisation and deploy the DQA

initiative through cross functional teamsl Senior Management involvement and

guidance – vitall Challemge yourself and dare to change

Acer Computer (M.E.) Ltd

17

2007

16

Nominated Good Practice

This is the reason, in addition to our brand

strength, culture and work environment, pay and

benefits, and career development, we offer People

Recognition Programs as an integrated element of

employee proposition.

The Recognition Programs were designed to

achieve:

1. To communicate and reinforce Acer’s Goals to

all people

2. To facilitate the involvement and integration

of teams to the common goals

3. To inspire individual and team performances

so as to enhance business results-To move

from Individual to Team recognition

IInntteeggrraattiioonn wwiitthh AAcceerr HHeeaadd QQuuaarrtteerrssAAwwaarrddss:: In addition to local recognition

programs, Acer Middle East participates in the

annual Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

Recognition program, which were held in Milan,

Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague and Berlin in the last 4

years. In these meets, awards are presented for the

country team that demonstrated the best market

share growth, highest revenue achievers, highest

profit achiever and lowest operating expenses

across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

RReeccooggnniittiioonn PPrrooggrraammss √√ IInn AAccttiioonn

All the Functional Managers discuss within their

teams and make their nominations in the

prescribed format. Nominations are made on half

yearly and annual basis, instantaneously as

applicable. Nominations are made both within

functions and cross-functionally. The entire process

is coordinated by HR.

The nominations are discussed and systematically

reviewed by the “Award Review Committee”,

which constitutes cross Functional Managers and

chaired by General Manager. Each Functional

Manager presents and justifies the nominations

and a consensus is reached on the winning

nomination.

The selection process is a face-to-face meeting

amongst cross Functional Managers promoting

objectivity, and encouraging constructive feedback,

clarity in communication, better understanding of

company directions and importance of corporate

values both from functional and cross-functional

points of view.

PPeeooppllee RReeccooggnniittiioonn PPrrooggrraammss

BBaacckkggrroouunndd

Information Technology is a highly competitive

and dynamic industry; the market leadership

demands the companies to be innovative, customer

centric, adaptable to change.

In this context, Acer fully acknowledges that

motivated, engaged and effective people are key

differentiators in the pursuit of market leadership.

At Acer, we also recognize that the sense of

purpose, feeling of appreciation and participation,

celebrations of achievements and assurance of top

management’s commitment to people are

important elements when it comes to the human

side of the organization.

BBaallaanncciinngg bbootthh AAggeennddaass iiss KKeeyy::

Acer Computer (M.E.) Ltd

4. To achieve a balance between Performance

and Recognition

5. To celebrate the key milestones and

achievements with our people

RReeccooggnniittiioonn PPrrooggrraamm aanndd PPeerrffoorrmmaanncceeCCuullttuurree

Acer Computer M.E. Ltd with its commitment of

recognizing the right results, efforts and behaviors

of people that facilitates creating and maintaining

highly energetic, motivated and focused work

culture, introduced the Recognition Programs

Policy way back in 2002, which states, “Exceptional

performances and significant contributions made

by teams and individuals deserve due recognition

and acknowledgment”.

During the deployment stages, the policy, process

and criteria for rewards were presented to all

Functional Managers and communicated to all

staff in staff meetings through announcements,

notifications and e-mails. In addition, these were

made available in the 24x7 HR Portal for ready

reference enabling participants to have access to

the policy and make nominations.

AAlliiggnnmmeenntt ooff RReeccooggnniittiioonn PPrrooggrraamm wwiitthhtthhee VViissiioonn,, MMiissssiioonn aanndd VVaalluueess

Acer commenced the Recognition program by

establishing a link between the Vision, Mission and

Values on one side and the Recognition of

Performance on the other.

19

2007

18

Nominated Good Practice

DDiissttrriibbuuttiioonn ooff AAwwaarrddss

1. Annual Staff Party

Conducted in January/February. All staff with

their families including the outstation staff are

invited to Annual Staff party, which is held in Five

Star Hotels. HR explains the criteria, results and

behaviors of the winners, and the award is

personally presented by the General

Manager/Managing Director.

2. Half Yearly Staff Party

Conducted in June/July. All staff is invited to the

Half Yearly party held in Five Star Hotels. HR

explains the criteria, results and behaviors of the

winners, and the award is personally distributed

by the General Manager.

3. Monthly Staff Meetings

Conducted on first Thursday of every month. All

staff based in Dubai attends, HR revisits the

criteria, results and behaviors of the winners, and

are congratulated by the General Manager.

PPuubblliiccaattiioonn//CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn aabboouutt tthheeAAwwaarrdd WWiinnnneerrss

Acer recognizes the importance of disseminating

the information regarding the Awards and the

corresponding winners across Acer Middle and

East and Acer Europe and Africa.

The following media are used for this purpose:

1. Acer Commune:

All awards winners are featured in the staff

newsletter “Acer Commune"

2. HR Portal:

All award winners names are hosted and archived

in the HR portal.

RReevviieeww ooff RReeccooggnniittiioonn PPrrooggrraammss,, PPoolliiccyyaanndd CCrriitteerriiaa

The Programs are systematically reviewed by HR

every year taking into consideration inputs from

the General Manager and all Functional Managers.

For instance, the 2003 review indicated the

necessity of the following changes:l Introduction of team awards, in addition to

the individual awards. l The awards criteria were changed to reflect the

results related to Key Business Results Areas.

This was done to eliminate the perceived

element of subjectivity and to introduce

objectivity.

l To foster teamwork to achieve the common

goals beyond individual excellence.l To support the transition towards Customer-

centric and Sales and Marketing organization.

The chart below depicts the evolution of the

Awards from person-centric to team-centric, from

special appreciation (Exemplary Behavior like

100% Attendance, Punctuality etc) to key business

results areas (Product Market Share, Revenue,

Profitability etc, from key business results to

market leadership areas ( Over All Market

Leadership like No 1, 2 etc) which resulted from

the continuous review process.

Acer Computer (M.E.) Ltd

21

2007

20

Nominated Good Practice

RReecciippiieennttss bbyy AAwwaarrdd CCaatteeggoorryy

Cross-Functional Recognition Program

As the graphs indicate, it has recorded continuous

growth in the total number of recognition and also

moved from individual to Team orientation.

During 2004, we introduced the Key Business

Result Areas and hence discontinued some

categories from this segment. In 2006, we

introduced the “SPOT award” to motivate and

recognize performance instantaneously, and over

19 people received the recognitions.

KKeeyy BBuussiinneessss RReessuulltt AArreeaass

To complement the business growth and also the

transition of organization towards more sales and

customer-centric, in 2004 the Special Achievement

category was reviewed to the key business result

recognition. As the graph indicates, the robust

growth is also due to the fact that these awards

were essentially team awards and also that

working as team you get awards multiple times.

The categories of awards are constantly reviewed

in line with the business growth to make the

criteria challenging and inspiring. For example:

Product Market Share initially was given to top 3,

later reviewed to top 2 and now it is only for No 1

position.

IInnddiivviidduuaall AAwwaarrddss VVss TTeeaamm AAwwaarrddss

The recognition program is clearly moving

towards more towards the team awards but still

maintaining the individual awards to duly

recognize performance wherever more deserving.

BBeenncchhmmaarrkkiinngg

Acer Middle East has also benchmarked its

Recognition Programs with similar entities within

the Acer Group such as Acer Germany, Acer South

Africa, Acer Italy and another Acer Sister concern

Esplex in UK. Based on the benchmarking, Acer

Middle East currently offers the most

comprehensive Recognition Programs and has the

second highest number of awards and people

coverage in comparison with the Headquarter

program.

Acer Middle East has won the following awards

over the years in the Head Quarter program:

l Desktop No. 2l Low Operating Expense No. 2 l Highest Profit Achievement No. 3 l Customer Service No. 1

TThhee RReessuullttss ccoonnffiirrmm tthhee EEffffiiccaaccyy ooff PPeeooppllee RReeccooggnniittiioonn pprrooggrraamm..

l Growth of Revenue CAGR since

2002: 68%l People Productivity Growth Rate: 56%l Work performance Recognition

satisfaction growth as per EOS: 48%l Increase in understanding of Acer’s Goals

as per EOS: 16% l Over All EOS Satisfaction Growth

Rate: 8%.l Teamwork Survey Results: Over 81%l People Attrition level less than Industry

Standard

Quantitative Qualitative

l Creates role models in the

organization.

l Builds self-esteem of people.l Creates atmosphere of

appreciationl Helps to review the competency frame

work l People feel proud to receive the awards in

front of their families.l Helps in loyalty and retention of people.l Helps in image of employer by choice.

Acer Computer (M.E.) Ltd

23

2007

22

Profile

In a city of contrasts, the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

caters to both leisure and business guests. Located

on the golden mile of Jumeirah Beach, the hotel

provides an ideal destination for holiday-makers

seeking to enjoy the exotic luxury of Dubai’s sun

soaked beaches, while business travelers delight in

the convenient location nearby to business hubs

such as Jebel Ali, Knowledge Village, Internet City,

Media City and the newly built Dubai Marina.

The hotel’s location affords guests beachfront

splendour with the majority of the 389 deluxe

rooms and suites offering sea views, each boasting

their own private balcony.

Hi-tech rooms are one of the highlights. Guests

enjoy free satellite TV and movies, high-speed

internet access complete with an infrared wireless

keyboard.

Guests enjoy the choice of five restaurants and six

bars, each with dedicated outdoor terraces on

which to relax and savour the sultry warmth of

Dubai’s autumn and winter evenings. The two

signature outlets, BiCE and Pachanga, are popular

with in-house guests and Dubai residents alike.

BiCE Dubai is one of 22 restaurants sharing the

same name worldwide, offering the best of Italian

cuisine in a contemporary setting. Pachanga

brings the delights of Latin American cuisine from

Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, to your table. Both

venues, together with the hotel’s other outlets

feature promotions and seasonal themed dining.

Dubai’s business areas, world-class shopping malls

and sporting venues are easily accessible from the

resort and Dubai International Airport is

approximately 30 minutes drive from the hotel.

Guests staying on Hilton’s executive floors enjoy

the convenience of private check-in,

complimentary use of the executive clubroom and

access to all of the hotel’s business facilities. State-

of-the-art meeting and conference solutions are

available, all supported by a fully staffed business

centre. Seven meeting rooms, ranging from an

executive boardroom to a 300-seat banquet hall,

can be tailored to the individual needs of corporate

professionals.

Those in search of the ultimate leisure destination

or business travelers looking for some rest and

relaxation during their stay, can make the most of

Dubai’s year-round sunshine on the hotel’s

expansive private beach or lie back by the pool in

the midst of the resort’s exotic gardens. A wide

range of water-sports including sailing, parasailing

and windsurfing, awaits those looking for action

and adventure. The health club and fully

equipped gymnasium enable all to keep trim,

while the sauna and massage rooms await those in

need of relaxation.

Dubai is renowned for its captivating blend of hi-

tech and tradition. A global business centre and

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

hub of the region, the city is also famed for high

profile international sporting events which attract

visitors in their thousands. Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

reflects the eclectic character of the city by offering

a superb choice for both business and leisure

travelers.

BBeenneeffiittss ooff aappppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaii QQuuaalliittyyAAwwaarrdd

l Assurance of Hilton Dubai Jumeirah unstinted

efforts to pursue goals in its Quality journeyl Identifying the areas of improvementl Identifying as well our best practices.l Provide a wholistic self-assessment to balance

our business.l Receive an outside assessment reviewing our

processes to identify areas of improvement.l Make all departments and teams work together

and understand the value of team work.

AAddvviiccee ttoo ffuuttuurree aapppplliiccaannttss

l Use the guidelines provided by DQA Secretariat

and attend as many seminars as you can

specially those organized by the DQA

Secretariat.l Ensure the whole project is lead by the most

senior person in the organization to give support

and value to the achievement. It also ensure that

all team members are participative.l Use the R.A.D.A.R. mechanism to assess your

organization.l Look beyond winning the award, but rather

focus on areas of continuous improvement or

growth.

25

2007

24

Nominated Good Practice

TTrraacckkiinngg tthhee GGuueessttss SSaattiissffaaccttiioonn aannddwwoorrkk oonn iimmpprroovviinngg iitt..

The hotel aspires to be the most preferred brand in

every area of the world in which Hilton operate

and continuously ask customers how they rate the

service and how it can be improved. There are

many ways in which this can be done, however

with technology moving forward a system called

eGSTS has been introduced, which is an online

guest questionnaire.

Guest Satisfaction Surveys are sent out randomly

by E mail (which is a major improvement from the

previous method of using the post) to guests

following their visit to the hotel. The surveys are

sent to the guest by an independent company, and

this third party also compiles a monthly report for

the hotel detailing the tabulated results of the

surveys and guest feedback.

In 2006 a total of 2,274 questionnaires were sent out

and we received 504 completed questionnaires.

QQuueessttiioonnnnaaiirree aanndd RReeppoorrtt

Market Metrix CLICK TO LOG IN

SurveyID: U14815534

Hotel: Dubai Jumeirah

Guest:

Completed: Apr 16 07 - 11:09:16 AM GMT

Check-In: Apr 1 07

Check-Out: Apr 5 07

HHonors No: 463756747

HHonors Tier: G

ExternalSurvey: No

Language: English

On your arrival at the hotel, how satisfied were you with the:

Car parking facilities? Not Applicable

Friendliness and helpfulness of the doorman? Very Satisfied

Overall condition and appearance of the hotel? Very Satisfied

At check in, how satisfied were you with the:

The time taken for you to check-in? Fairly Satisfied

Availability of the type of room you had reserved? Completely Satisfied

Courtesy and helpfulness of the reception staff? Completely Satisfied

Friendliness and helpfulness of the porter? Not Applicable

Was your registration card pre-completed prior to your arrival? Yes

If you have stayed at this property before, were you welcomed back to the hotel by the receptionist? Not applicable

Was an HHonors check-in/check-out area available? Yes

If the stay was paid for with HHonors points were you able to book the exact dates that you wanted? Not applicable

Were you given an upgraded room? Yes

Taking everything into consideration, how satisfied are you with the delivery of HHonors at the [Hotel]? Completely Satisfied

Which of the following is most important to you (Please tick one option)? The benefits associated with your tier

Hyatt Gold Passport member [No Answer]

Intercontinental Priority Club member [No Answer]

Marriott Rewards member [No Answer]

Starwood Preferred Guest member [No Answer]

Other member [No Answer]

Why did you choose a Hilton Hotel for this trip (Please tick one option)? Hilton HHonors

programme membership

What is your preferred Hotel brand (Please tick one option)? Hilton

With regard to your room, how satisfied were you with the:

Overall quality of the room and furnishings? Completely Satisfied

Cleanliness of the room and bathroom? Completely Satisfied

Overall comfort of the room? Completely Satisfied

Heating and ventilation systems? Fairly Satisfied

Lighting in the room? Very Satisfied

Quietness of the room? Fairly Satisfied

Room being free from unpleasant odours? Completely Satisfied

Ability to work in the room? Completely Satisfied

Entertainment facilities (e.g. TV, Radio)? Not Applicable

Other electrical appliances (e.g. Hairdryer, Kettle)? Completely Satisfied

During your stay did you access the internet? [No Answer]

In your room? [No Answer]

In the hotel lobby or other public area? [No Answer]

In a meeting room? [No Answer]

When using the internet during your stay how satisfied were you with:

The ease of connecting?

In your room? (ease) Very Satisfied

The speed of the internet service?

In your room? (speed) Very Satisfied

Did you experience any problems using the internet?

In your room? (problems) [No Answer]

OS Score:

1 0 0HH Score:

1 0 0

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

27

2007

26

Nominated Good Practice

How satisfied were you with the technical support that you received?

In your room? (support) Completely Satisfied

Did you use the hotel's restaurants or bars? Yes

How satisfied were you with the:

Service in the restaurants at breakfast? Not Applicable

Range/variety of food available in the restaurants at breakfast? Not Applicable

Quality of the food in the restaurants at breakfast? Very Satisfied

Service in the restaurants at lunch/dinner? Very Satisfied

Range/variety of food available in the restaurants at lunch/dinner? Very Satisfied

Quality of the food in the restaurants at lunch/dinner? Very Satisfied

Value for the price paid in the restaurants? Very Satisfied

Service in the bars/lounges? Completely Satisfied

Quality of food and drinks in the bars/lounges? Completely Satisfied

Did you use the hotel's leisure/sports facilities? No

How satisfied were you with your general feeling of safety whilst in the hotel? Very Satisfied

Did you use the hotel's business facilities? No

Considering the hotel staff and the service they provided, how satisfied were you with:

Their friendliness? Completely Satisfied

The way messages were passed on to you? Completely Satisfied

Meeting your requests with a positive ('can do') attitude? Fairly Satisfied

At check out, how satisfied were you with:

The time taken for you to check-out? Completely Satisfied

The accuracy of your itemised bill? Completely Satisfied

Please give us your overall opinion of your stay at this hotel:

Taking everything into consideration, how satisfied were you with your stay? Very Satisfied

How satisfied were you with the value Hilton provided for the price you paid? Very Satisfied

Did any aspects of your stay exceed your expectations? Yes

Reflecting on your stay at this hotel, would you say that you felt:

Comfortable? Completely Satisfied

Welcome? Completely Satisfied

Important? Completely Satisfied

If you came back to the area would you stay at this hotel again? Definitely Would

How likely would you be to recommend this hotel to someone who might be staying in the area? Definitely Would

Did you encounter any significant problems or difficulties? No

What was the main purpose of your stay at this hotel? [No Answer]

Was this your first stay at this particular Hilton hotel? Yes

Did you make the decision to stay at this hotel yourself, or was it chosen for you? I Chose It

How important do you regard the choice of which hotel you stay at? Extremely Important

In any hotel on business? 25 or more

In a Hilton hotel on business? 3 to 6

In any hotel on leisure? 13 to 24

In a Hilton hotel on leisure? 3 to 6

Are you... Female

Which of these age groups applies to you? 35 to 44

Please use this space to provide any additional information about your stay that you would like to tell us

aboutThere were 3 staff at the Hilton that were particularly helpful and courteous during my stay; Anamaria in

the exec lounge/reception and Rowena and Ly in the pool area for quality of customer service.

The implementation of this system, using online

issuance and response to the surveys generates

reports in real time, meaning they can be viewed

immediately via a matrix system rather than

waiting for a monthly report.

Once a guest has completed the online

questionnaire, a copy of the questionnaire is

automatically E Mailed to key personnel in the

hotel. This means that the relevant department

head can look into any issues a guest has faced,

and can take the appropriate action with the

necessary areas. The system allows the hotel to

update each profile for guests that have

experienced a problem, whereby we can log the

reason for the incident, action taken to avoid any

reoccurrence, as well as a log of the response to the

guest.

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

many improvements have been made within the

hotel in order to improve the guests experience.

The hotel’s target for 2007 is 82%, and the target for

2006 was 80% which the hotel achieved, the

company then sets the next year’s target based on

the following calculations:

80% - 100% = 20%

20% / 10% = 2%

80% + 2% = 82%

29

2007

28

Nominated Good Practice

Reservations:- Ask for preferences…. smoking or non

smoking - Ask for Hhonors Membership- Find out arrival time- Complete Special by Special

Room Allocation:- Special by Special (i.e smoking, extra bed)- According to arrival time- Upgrade

l Team members to be given a standard list of what to offer when guest not happy with roomcategory

l Business cards to be collected to ensure registration cards/profiles and correct and E Mail addresses are obtained

l Ensure that guests are asked at check-in their “check out time”

l List to be printed on a daily basis for the departures in the next week.

l Guests where the departure time is missing need to be contacted.

l Routing report to be carried out every day by nights for the following day’s arrivals. Any missing back up needs to be reported to Reservations and follow up

Revenue

Mgr, Res Mgr

FDM

FDM

FDM

FDM

FDM

FDM

FDM, Res

Mngr

Check in Time

Time taken to

check out

Daily

Daily

1 March

Daily

Daily

Daily

Daily

Daily

Front Desk and Reservations

* Sample of the action plan created from the Team Building Exercise to improve the GSTS on 2006.

One of the areas which was highlighted through

guest feedback was that there was a "general lack

of management presence in the lobby out of office

hours." Meaning that any issues could not be dealt

with immediately to the guest’s satisfaction. The

following steps were then followed:-l Brainstorming between the management team

took place, and it was agreed the best process

would be the implementation of a Duty

Manager systeml A team building exercise was held in order for

working groups to be put together to ensure the

new Duty Manager system was a success and

covered many areas to improve our guest

satisfaction.l A procedure was then put together which

consisted of specific checklists for each Duty

Manager to complete throughout their shift.

Duty Manager Checklist :

An example below of the areas checked by the Duty

Manager

The checklists which were put in place, not only

increased the presence of Management on duty in

the evenings, it also improved our guest

satisfaction score in all areas. The checklists

enables us to check standards on a daily basis, and

again the findings are logged and discussed the

following day with the management team at the

daily briefings.

All in all we have seen a major increase in guest

satisfaction since the implementation of eGSTS.

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah

30

Profile

31

2007

Al Khaleej Sugar Company (L.L.C) , Dubai was

established in 1992 to set up a sugar refinery to

cater to the ever growing needs of high quality

refined sugar for the domestic and the

international markets. Engineering design of the

sugar refinery located at Jebel Ali Port, Dubai was

started in 1992 and construction of the refinery was

completed in 1994. Commercial Production of the

refinery commenced in July 1995 with an installed

capacity of 2,400 tons per day of Refined Crystal

Al Khaleej Sugar Company, Dubai

Sugar. Being located in a country devoid of sugar

cane production, the refinery was designed to

process available raw sugar of different qualities

from different sugar cane growing regions of the

world.

The company added substantial capacity for raw

sugar storage in 2004. The total storage capacity of

raw sugar is about one million tons.

A team of qualified technical professionals have

developed innovative means to achieve production

capacity exceeding the installed capacity. The

refinery has already achieved a capacity of over

5,000 tons per day (as of July 2005), which

incidentally is the largest sugar refining capacity in

the world.

Dynamic leadership, vision and hands-on

approach of the management of the company have

been the main factors behind the growth of the

organization. Experienced marketing professionals

continuously strive to develop new markets as well

as expand the existing ones. Our products are

regularly exported to over 40 countries, including

the regional countries in the Arabian Gulf Region.

Today, no other refinery around the world can

match the capacity and the degree of automation

achieved by this state-of-the-art sugar refinery.

The refined sugar products meet the EEC-2

Specifications. To cater to the specific needs of end-

users in different market segments, refined sugar

of various grain sizes have been introduced viz.

Coarse, fine and extra-fine refined sugar. Coarse

grain sugar is mainly preferred as table sugar

adding visual delight when sprinkled on biscuits

and other confectionery products. Fine grain and

extra-fine grain sugar are mostly consumed by the

industrial sector for direct processing. These

versatile products can be used as an everyday

sweetener for direct consumption, as well as a

sweetening ingredient for all kinds of beverages

and soft drinks, confectionery and processed food,

pharmaceuticals and industrial products.

Quality is the focus in all spheres of activity at Al

Khaleej Sugar. A fully equipped laboratory with

experienced professionals ensures compliance

with the relevant international standards. The

company is dedicated to the primary objective of

meeting and exceeding the needs and expectation

of its customers. In 1998, the company was one of

the first in the manufacturing sector in UAE to

receive ISO 9002 accreditation. In April 2004,

the company received the new ISO 9001:2000

accreditation. In the same year i.e. 2004, the

company received the HACCP Certificate for Food

Hygiene from TUV, Essen, Germany. Concern for

the environment has propelled the company's

efforts towards ISO 14000 Environment friendly

certification. The company has been awarded

Dubai Quality Award 2006.

Apart from the standard pack sizes, the company

provides its customers various packaging options

to suit their requirements. High quality packing

materials are procured and tested at our refinery

prior to usage. Standard bag printing as well as

customized multilingual printing is available to the

buyers. The regularly available options include

woven polypropylene bags with single

polyethylene inner liner and standard printings are

50 kg and 25 kg. Specific orders in 10 Kg and 30 kg

have also been supplied by the company. Jumbo

Bag packing in sizes of 1000 kg; 1250 kg; 1500 kg

and 2000 kg are also available.

Sugar Syrup, a superior product compared to

molasses, is a by-product of the refinery which is

mainly used for the animal feed industry and the

construction sector.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l Improve the business and imagel Motivate AKS staff to outperforml To evaluate our level of excellence

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Take the DQA winners as model of excellencel Strive for continuous improvementsl Make sincere effort

3. Attempt to get contribution from all the

participants by getting them involved and

4. Participants can build on ideas.

TThhee PPaarrttiicciippaannttss::

This meeting is at the refinery premises where

most of the staff are from technical background

(Engineers, Sugar Technologists and Technicians).

The presence of the Managing Director is essential

in such meeting in order to empower the meeting

and the participants. Decisions are easier and

approval is faster, while the routine and the

bureaucracy are cutout.

The list of participants who attend the meeting are:

Managing Director, General Manager, Deputy

General Manager, Production Manager, Electrical

and Instrument Manager, Maintenance Manager,

Quality Manager, Projects Manager, Health Safety

and Environment Manager, Animal Feed and

Development Manager, Technical Manager,

Purchase Manager, Shift Managers, Boiler

Engineer, Instrument Engineers and Safety officers.

RRoolleess ooff tthhee PPaarrttiicciippaannttss::

The role of the participants is divided into:

A- Leader

B- Scribe

C- Team members

A - Leader’s Role is to:

1- Lead the discussion and challenge the ideas.

2- Exhibit right behavior at the right time.

3- Understand the group behavior.

4- Encourages both pro’s and con’s of the subject

under discussion.

5- Ability to take decision after the discussion

occurs.

6- Most important that is to reserve his decision

to the end in order to avoid group shift.

7- Practice no blame policy.

8- Promote creativity and provide adequate

resources.

9- Exercise risk-taking attitude.

33

2007

32

Nominated Good Practice

IInnnnoovvaattiivvee BBrraaiinnssttoorrmmiinnggAAtt AAll KKhhaalleeeejj SSuuggaarrAl Khaleej Sugar (AKS) has emerged from a design

capacity of 2400MT/day to become the world

largest refinery with a production capacity

exceeding 4800MT/day (and increasing), with an

efficiency parameters considered by world refiners

to be by far the best efficiency figures in this

refining business.

The uniqueness in this matter lies in line with its

vision; AKS continuously seeks to be a Pioneer in

the Sugar Refining Industry at the Global Level.

In order to achieve this, AKS has itself an objective

of implementing at least two innovative projects

per year.

TThhee WWeeeekkllyy BBrraaiinnssttoorrmmiinngg MMeeeettiinngg

The need for a new subjective technique to

approach this implementation of at least two

innovation projects per year has led AKS to review

its conduction of the refinery weekly meeting.

From the discussion of: Breakdown, consumption

figures and solving inter-departmental conflicts, to

Weekly Brainstorming Meetings conducted in a

casual way, every Thursday, immediately after

having lunch with the Managing Director and in

his presence, senior and middle managers are

gathering to focus on the following:

1. Define what Innovations or problem to work on.

2. Diagnose the problems.

3. Instigate a project by coming with possible

solutions and identify a possible resistance to

proposed solutions.

TThhee GGrroouunndd RRuulleess ooff tthhee BBrraaiinnssttoorrmmiinnggMMeeeettiinngg ((bbaacckk ttoo bbaassiicc))..

1. All the ideas are welcome and there is no

immediate judgment of ideas.

2. Creativity in contribution, always involves

risk taking.

The leader should have the following essential

qualities:l An ardent listener.l Have a conflict resolving skills. l Not to pass remarks and take them seriously if

received from others.l Exhibit self -confidence.l Provide original and creative ideas.l Receive well the criticism of his fellow

members.l Resist the group pressure.

B - Scribe’s Role:l Present the progress of the previous meeting’s

decisions.l Note down the meeting’s decisions.l Follow up the progress in between meetings.l Remind the teams of the responsibilities and

the projected targeted dates.

C - Team member’s role:l Provide valuable ideas related to the topic of

discussion, which can be critical and useful to

the topic.l Contribute his knowledge and experience.l Bring new problems or subjects of interest to

the group.l Invite new ideas/technology from experts in

their fields.

Framework for Innovation

The brainstorming technique is to have an

approach to a common problem or to study a

project improvement through innovative ideas and

come up with solution suitable to the company

technically and financially.

The framework adopted in AKS for approaching

these innovations is categorized as follow:

1 - The identification of needs:l Collect data from various processes areas

under different condition and circumstances

for analysis and reviews.l On many occasion the process machineries

run at a near failure situation in order to find

the unknown bottlenecks preventing the

growth in the production.

2- Utilization of capacity:

“A hidden capacity is available in every

machine or equipment” and what is

commonly known as rated capacity is far less

than the real capacity that can be achieved

through:

A - Improvement of the equipments: l In pumps; Change an impeller, motor or add a

variable frequency drive can increase the

pump capacity sometimes by 100%.l In screens; to change a mesh size or increase

the vibratory force can double the screens

capacity. l In conveyors, change a pinion in a gearbox

gives a faster rotation and consequently higher

speed and higher capacity.l ……. and many others.

B- Modification of the equipment:l In filters; automate the filter or enlarge the

inlet or the outlet for faster filling and

discharge can lead to a more efficient filter.l In Dryer; by tilting the machine, allowing

more airflow and a large hood give an increase in

capacity of more than 120%.l In the decolorizing columns; add more screens

contribute in higher capacity exceed 100%.l ….and many others.

3- Selection of the right equipment:l In looking at the capital investment and the

payback period: the mechanical vapor re-

compressors were an investment of more than

ten million US$ and payback did not exceed

two years. l In designing concepts to fit the existing

processes: the wet scrubber was integrated in

high complexity around various equipments.l In selecting a reliable manufacturer for

partnership: ABB for electrical motors and

control, GE for compressors and LIEBHERR

for shore cranes.

4- Implementation of the changes: l The need to incorporate such changes in a

running process where idle time virtually does

not exist due to demand on production is a

challenge, for this, dedicated teams from

various departments (Projects, mechanical,

Al Khaleej Sugar Company, Dubai

CCaassee SSttuuddyy

One of the ideas was to improve the clarification

stage in the refining process. The team outsourced

a new technology called “Richter tubes mixing”

(never before used in clarification), and

implemented it successfully.

This clarification process time was reduced from 18

minutes to 10 minutes with power reduction from

300kw to 14kw.

AAcchhiieevveemmeennttss

AKS has undertaken at least 29 Innovations over

the last six years. All of them were aiming to

upgrade the infrastructure, equipments materials

and environment protection. Among others, here

are some of major Innovations:

1. A dome shaped Raw Sugar Store with a

diameter of 176 meters and a height of 84

meters, is the largest structure in the World for

such usage.

2. Building the 110k MT refined sugar

conditioning silos.

3. Upgrade of the Bagging Capacity from 4500

MT per day to 8000 MT per day.

4. Upgrade of the Raw Sugar Unloading

Capacity.

5. The implementation of the Mechanical Vapor

Recompression (MVR) to the entire Refinery

aim to recycle the vapor and thus reduces the

fuel oil used in the boiler and gas emission

harmful to the environment. This has

contributed to the attainment of the lowest

consumption of total energy per MT of

produced refined sugar in the World (1330 MJ

which is an improvement of 42.4 % over the

35

2007

34

Nominated Good Practice

electrical and instrumentation) were

established in-house to prepare and execute

such changes in a short time when permitted.l Design, implement and commission the

project is the team responsibility.

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt

Most of the ideas generated are assigned to a

representative team. Their task is to collect data,

analyze possible solutions and to conduct trial and

cost benefit analysis before reporting to the

meeting.

Based on the team feedback report and after

lengthy discussion and brainstorming, the same

team is assigned the implementation and will have

to report back the progress to the meeting.

The teams are selected from various departments

to insure good implementation, smooth

commissioning and to achieve better results. One

group leader directly responsible for the project

coordination leads the team.

Carbonator _ reaction/ retention time 20 Minutes 25 minutes (exceeds)

Melt liquor brix 66 Bx 68 Bx (exceeds)

CaO% of liquor filtrate <300 ppm +200 ppm (exceeds)

Sugar Boiling Optimization skip #2 Min. achieved 75 minutes Avg. 150 minutes (below)

Sugar loss in final Sugar Syrup Target 0.65% 1.09% (below)

Presence of raw sugar starch 150 ppm 50 ppm (exceeds)

Carbonation tank residence time 40 minutes 40 minutes (matches)

Decolourisation of liquor Up to 70% 75% (exceeds)

Carbon Losses during Decolourisation 3% 3% (matches)

Lime Consumption (CaO on melt ) 0.6 to 0.8 % 0.52% (exceeds)

BBeenncchhmmaarrkkss

Issue Industry Best/ Benchmark/ targets

Al Khaleej Sugar

last 3 years). The industry benchmark is 3200

MJ.

6. Recycling of sewage water for landscaping

use. This has led to the reduction of water

consumption by 40 M3 per day.

7. Relocation of the Raw Sugar Melter close to

the Raw Sugar Warehouse to reduce power

consumption and dust emission and thus

protect the environment. This has led to the

reduction of power consumption up to 255

KWH per ton.

8. Relocation of the Vapor Condensing System to

below the ground level from the height of 17

Meters reduced consumption of power. The

total power saving is estimated at one MW per

hour.

We are please that due to the above mentioned

initiatives and through continuous improvement,

AKS has been successful in cutting the fuel

consumption by more than half in a span of 3 years

(from 47 kg per MT of refined sugar to 20 kg per

MT).

AKS has the lowest consumption of water per MT

of refined sugar in the world: 150 litres per MT of

refined sugar. All this is translated into the

protection of the environment.

Success of Al Khaleej Sugar is attributed to:

l The clear vision of the Managing Director and

the clear understanding of the senior

management.l Good planningl Commitment and dedicationl Leadershipl Teamwork.

As the above graph shows, the brainstorming

sessions have led to the attainment of AKS

objective (number of innovative projects).

The impact of the innovations can be seen on the

production capacity are shown below as follow

RReessuullttss

Al Khaleej Sugar Company, Dubai

37

2007

36

Profile

With over 311 outlets and more than 39

international brands to boast about and a race to

the 1000th outlets till the year 2010, Apparel

Group as one of the leading Fashion Retailers

worldwide, had a rather modest start.

Commencing its operation with just one brand in

1996, the Apparel Group was just rearing to gather

momentum in the Retail industry. Setting a strong

foothold in the Gulf, the Apparel Group has

crossed the regional boundaries and embarked in

the Global market.

In 1996, under the Patriarch of the Mr. Nilesh Ved,

the Apparel Group initiated its successful journey

with 3 outlets of Ninewest – a U.S. brand

commenced its first exclusive operations in Lamcy

Plaza. The success brought by the launch of a few

stores allowed a clear understanding of the retail

market apparent in the Gulf, thus allowing

Apparel to concentrate on its business strategy of

further introducing new labels and expanding its

reach to the consumer.

Building a firm ground-work with the first three

outlets, from 1996 to 1998, the Apparel Group

consummated the next phase by absorbing many

international brands under their sleeves and

opening outlets in every important location in the

country. As of date 2006, Apparel had 164 outlets in

UAE and 147 outlets across the borders. This

exponential growth was due to the ground-work as

the Group had mastered the complex science of

warehousing and logistics, operations, IT and

Financial Management systems, Employee training

and integration, Customer Service betterment and

comprehensive real time management.

Today, the group stands tall with over 39 brands in

its ever-increasing portfolio with brands

originating from U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia

and Far East. The drive is to bring together all the

top Fashion brands from across the world under

the Apparel Umbrella and to become the “Best

Global Retailer”. Currently, the group has

operations in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman,

India, Poland, Singapore, Jordan, Thailand and

Malaysia. Additionally, clear strategies are in place

to enter emerging markets such as Saudi Arabia,

Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia,

Pakistan and Philippines.

Coming from the new school of management, the

Apparel Group believes in “SPEED” (Service,

Productivity, Efficiency, Effectiveness and

Dedication/Commitment). With the retail industry

growing at a fast pace and the competitors focused

to make a mark, these beliefs the Group has not

only supported in sustaining these conditions but

to overcome it with an ever-increasing market

share to prove it.

Being the primary motive of the Group, Customer

Satisfaction is integrated into organizational

thought process and imbibed at every level of the

organizational hierarchy. A complex result-

oriented customer feedback system is followed to

gauge the satisfaction levels and Zero Tolerance

system is maintained

“Together..we can do better” is the motto which

has contributed to the standing of the Group in the

international arena. Investing in the employee is

the paramount and as per Apparels philosophy, its

greatest assets are ITS PEOPLE. It’s strength of

1700 retail savvy employees consisting of industry

experts, professional sales staff, and consultants

who continuously provide essential analysis on the

functioning of the group. This is continuously

bolstered with strong in-house training by the

senior managers themselves, for its staff training

and customer service. Training is provided on

various aspects to Apparel Sales Staff for

implementing a Best Customer Service platform

via in class-room guidance and preparation,

Mystery Shopping, On Floor Training, Product

Knowledge Training, and through the re-

investment in our Employees by the means of

recreation.

The Apparel Group puts the theory of Corporate

Social Responsibility in every aspect possible. Be it

Blood donation camps, Cleanliness drives, Dubai

clean-up campaign, a member of EEG and

Emiratization drive. The Group have initiated and

successfully executed all the tasks and given

something back to environment in which it exists.

Setting the perfect example of organizational

excellence, the Apparel Group is crossing all

barriers and making new benchmarks in the retail

industry.

BBeenneeffiittss ooff aappppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaii QQuuaalliittyyAAwwaarrdd

l It help us to achieve our mission and vision

thru implementation of EFQM modell It gives us worldwide reputation in the retail

market and help us to acquire more

brands/franchisel It makes our customers and vendors feel

confident with our services as well as our

companyl It increase awareness and helping us to direct

quality as a way of doing business

AAddvviiccee ttoo ffuuttuurree aapppplliiccaannttss

l Top management commitment, HODs

contribution and TEAMWORK will leads you

to achieve DQAl Correct planning and choosing competent

team to lead the program and assessment is

very importantl Be open for any constructive criticism and

accept beneficial changes for continual

improvement.

Apparel LLC

39

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38

Nominated Good Practice

VViissiitt oouurr GGeemmbbaa -- SSttoorree PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee RRaattiinnggBuilding customer satisfaction is our most

important corporate objective and our daily

purpose. We believe that focusing on our

customers is the fastest, the most positive way to

create and sustain meaningful change in our

organization. As our vision, which is to be the

number 1 retailer globally and to be truly a

successful organization, we look externally

focusing more and more on gathering real-time

information about our customers and the

competition.

APPAREL acquired understanding of the

requirements necessary for becoming customer-

focused when it joined the journey of Dubai

Quality Appreciation Program and through the

implementation of EFQM model within the

organization. Over a period of time, it

dramatically influenced our organization’s vision,

mission, business plan and key business objectives.

Following ISO 9001:2000 standards as our base

line, we defined our customers sensing process

that helps the company to focus on all operational

aspects by connecting People, Process and

Customers.

RReessuullttss PPllaannnneedd

Mission 2010 – To operate 1000 stores globally with

better quality of services and to achieve 100%

customer satisfaction. This gives us inspiration to

design a comprehensive process based approach of

monitoring and identifying customer’s focal

improvement areas.

We developed the Store Performance Rating

program to identify our strengths and weaknesses

and to give motivation to our employees and to

accord them the feeling that their importance and

efforts have led the organization to achieve the

expected results which have been recognized and

rewarded.

We are aware that improving customer service is

an ongoing process, starting with understanding

what our customers wants, collecting data to

develop a service vision, engaging and motivating

our staffs and measuring the results to continually

improve and refine behaviors and processes.

AApppprrooaacchh DDeessiiggnneedd

We believe that our people are our greatest asset

and believe that they will do what is right for the

business. This gives us implication to ideally

implement “Gemba” approach in our organization.

“Gemba” is a Japanese term which means the

workplace where all activities are actually taking

place, the place where value is added and the most

precious place for our management which is our

retail outlets in different malls/ locations.

We have several Gemba visits in our workplace

and one of those is our participation in DSES

Mystery Shopping Surveys. We would like to see

and realize the whole picture on how our services

are used, what is the reaction and interaction of our

staffs and customers under different situations

from the framework of identifying different

scenarios and a methodology of Question and

Answer.

We also have our Internal Mystery Shopping (IMS)

which is conducted by some of our newly joined

Senior Managers, volunteered friends and

suppliers. And the most inspiring effort is the

regular Store Visit of our Quality Team and Senior

Managers involved in Gemba on their Friday and

Holidays Duty (SVR).

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt

Good processes develop the right services and the

right process approach develops a comprehensive

tailor made set of procedures and standards. Upon

identifying customer focus Key Performance

Indicators to improve the quality of our services,

we have set our APPAREL Service Standards from

the feedback derived from the Employees and

Store Appearance surveys. Every KPI parameters

are then categorized and divided into groupings of

metrics by which Employee Standards and

Appearance Standards are measured as shown in

Table 1 and Table 2.

EMPLOYEES STANDARD DSES SVR IMS

5% 10% 4%

2% 5% 4%

50% 20% 54%

3% 5% 3%

10%

5% 5%

65% 50% 70%

Neat and Grooming (faces/make-up, hair style/hair-cut, nails, cleaned in uniform)

Complete Uniform (pants, shirt, jacket, name tag/badge, shoe)

Politeness and Enthusiasm(greetings, energetic, initiative to assist the customer/ colleagues, happyin doing work)

Punctuality / Attendance(Coming and closing on time, signing the attendance sheet, taking correctbreak time, limit timing in washroom, sufficient number of staffs on thefloor, staffs schedule)

Other (Overall Comments)

Mission, vision, Quality, Return Policy Awareness(Interview one or two staffs to know their awareness)

TOTAL

From the methodology of Question and Answer in

the DSES and IMS (Mystery Shopping) format, all

questions are answerable by Yes or No and the

level of conformity was classified by a scoring

matrix depends on the Mystery Shopper

assessment, and this has been incorporated in our

Employees Standard and Appearance Standard.

Source of Scoring in Store Performance Rating:

1. DSES – Dubai Service Excellence Scheme

2. SVR – Store Visit Reports

3. IMS – Internal Mystery Shopper Reports

EEmmppllooyyeeeess SSttaannddaarrdd

The distribution of scores or the grouping for every

criterion shown in Table 1 has been distributed as

per given questionnaires of Mystery Shopping

(DSES and IMS) and decisive factor of Store Visit.

AAppppeeaarraannccee SSttaannddaarrdd

Understanding and implementing 5S methodology

(Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain),

we defined our Appearance Standards and

evolving it as the basic step of improving our

workplace that leads our Gemba to achieve the

desired results of customer satisfaction.

Table: (1): Emplotees Standard

Apparel LLC

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Nominated Good Practice

APPEARANCE STANDARD DSES SVR IMS

3% 15% 6%

15%

15% 5% 10%

5% 10%

5% 5% 6%

7% 8%35% 50% 30%

Sales Floor Cleaned and Organized (Floor, table, racks, seats, mirror, fitting room, etc are cleaned and merchandise properly displayed)

Store Properly Equipped (All necessary equipments and requirements available like mirror,seats, computer printer, ladder, music, M/V/Q.P./DSES/RefundPolicy etc.)

Other (Overall Comments)

Labels and Tags are Visible(Items/ merchandises are labeled for easy identification andtraceability, Merchandise tags are visible and clear)

TOTAL

Stock Room Cleaned and Organized (Floor, table, racks, other equipments are cleaned, Merchandise isarranged according to its kind, trash is not overflowing, clear segregation of items).

Health and Safety(All safety signs are visible (no smoking, fire extinguisher, switchbox) Electrical wiring must be arranged, no open wires, socketw/covers, free of any obvious health and safety risk)

Considering the efficiency of every store in-charge

and managers; all administration requirements

such as: Attendance Report, Petty Cash Statement,

Daily Sales Report, Daily Purchase Statement and

Training Records in stores are monitored for on-

time submission to avoid delays from the

administration transactions and this also reflects in

the monthly Store Performance Rating Reports.

AAppppaarreell AAnnnnuuaall SSeerrvviiccee EExxcceelllleenncceeAAwwaarrdd ((AASSEEAA))

We introduced our Apparel Annual Service

Excellence Award (ASEA) and we classified it into

four awarding categories such as Appreciation

Award, Silver Award, Gold Award and the

Platinum Award based on the set scoring targets

(95%) from the results of Store Performance Rating

(the overall average scores derived from the KPI of

every parameter- DSES Mystery Shopping

Surveys, Store Visit Reports and Internal Mystery

Shopping Reports) and monitoring the achieved

sales growth from the given sales target of every

stores/brands. This award is base on the Group

Teamwork of each brand with various retailing

outlet in UAE.

QQuuaarrtteerrllyy SSttaarr AAwwaarrddss

Also, we have started to launch our quarterly Star

Awards for individual store base on the target

Store Service Standards such as:l Average scores of 95% and above from the

result of Mystery Shopping (DSES and IMS)

for three consecutive monthsl Average scores of 95% and above from the

result of regular Store Visit (SVR) for three

consecutive monthsl Employees Standard - Average scores of 95%

and above from the result of DSES, IMS and

SVR for three consecutive monthsl Appearance Standard - Average scores of 95%

and above from the result of DSES, IMS and

SVR for three consecutive monthsl No Non-conformance from the result of

Internal Audit, Store visits and Mystery

Shopping for three consecutive months

l No Customer Complains for three consecutive

monthsl Submit Administration requirements on time

for 3 consecutive months.

On the quarterly Store Performance Rating report

and the target Store Service Standards, we

categorized the service level of our stores depends

on their achieved marks (i.e. if the store achieve

any of the above three standards, then we consider

the store as Three Star Store, similarly if they

achieve all the seven standards, we will consider

the store as Seven Star Store)

AAsssseessssmmeenntt aanndd RReevviieeww

All the scoring results of every parameter are

reviewed by the Quality Team and each point is

identified for improvements. Any stores who have

failed to achieve the given set standards receive the

Corrective Action Request and are given deadline

for the completion and implementation of

Corrective Actions.

Customer complains are given priority, we

investigate the root cause accordingly and

immediately find solutions and corrective as well

as preventive actions. Analyzing different

scenarios from the results of Store Performance

Rating, we have identified the Worse Scenarios or

the Critical Control Points where customer

complains are by and large happening.

We treat our customer complaints as a challenge to

improve our business and customers loyalty. Our

management believe that “unless we give

customers what they want they will go elsewhere”

and this is what we aim to avoid. Therefore, we

response quickly, get it right and ensure that our

customers are fully satisfied.

From the APPAREL set standards (Employees and

Appearance Standards), we also analyze and find

the gaps for improvement. Upon identifying their

weaknesses (as shown in Figure 1), we conduct a

brainstorming Session using the Cause and Effect

Analysis or Ishikawa Diagram (see Figure 2) and

create measurable improvement programs and

targets, identifying training needs and future

requirements.

Figure 1 - Sample report to show how we identify store weaknesses and areas for improvement from the

result of Store Performance Rating.

Table: (2): Appearance Standard

Apparel LLC

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Nominated Good Practice

We decided to use the Ishikawa Diagram for the

visualization of identifying the root cause of the

problems. We found out that this method of

analysis is simpler to use and it encourage the team

to participate during Brainstorming Session.

When the brainstorming session is completed and

Figure 2 – CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS (Ishikawa Diagram)

the Ishikawa Diagram is finished, we go through

data analysis using Pareto Diagram. This way-out

of looking at the data to help find the root cause of

a problem and to identify areas of improvement,

we gather all the identified causes and verify the

main weaknesses of the team.

TTrraaiinn tthhee TTrraaiinneerr

As a result of the brainstorming session supported

by Ishikawa and Pareto Diagrams, the “Train the

Trainer” program for all Store Managers was

developed. During the program the store

managers were made to understand that they are

the leaders in their stores. They are responsible for

their stores.

We identify our main topics to be discussed on

morning training session in the stores such as:

l The 7 Golden Rulesl Grooming – Impression we make on othersl The 5 Steps of Service – You make the

differencel Basic of Product Knowledge – Why? Who

should have good product knowledge/

Features / Benefits?l Handle Difficult Customers – 4 Steps of

Handling Difficult Customers

They are given examples of the different scenarios

to identify the critical control points and the points

for improvement. This helps them make their

training understood by their staff.

The effectiveness of this program is monitored and

analyzed based on the results of mystery shopping

(DSES and IMS), store visits and customers

Feedback reports.

If we are not satisfied with the results within the

given timeframe to improve (3 months), we would

thereafter conduct a further competency test for

the Store Managers and Sales Associates.

RReessuulltt AAcchhiieevveedd

Through implementation of the Store Performance

Rating, it impacts the behavior of front-line staffs

that has the greatest target to reach 100% customer

satisfaction. Senior managers give more attention

and do more fieldwork to achieve desired results.

Open communications are promoted, explaining

what they learnt from experience, involving the

staff in giving their input from their experiences,

listening from feedback, demonstrate willingness

to learn and working together. Building

“TEAMWORK” and open culture of sharing and

communication has been established.

Benchmarking between each Brand has been

promoted since Senior Managers are given a

chance to rate every store of different brands

during their store visit. In this way, they are able to

compare, examine and identify their strengths and

weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Furthermore, employees become more responsible

and responsive to customer needs and

Apparel LLC

45

2007

44

Nominated Good Practice

expectations. Operational controls become more

efficient and effective and it creates awareness and

finds opportunity of the needs for training and

encourages operational problem solving.

The results of DQAP and ASEA programs became

the major tool in increasing awareness and helping

APPAREL to direct quality as a way of doing

business. This improvement shows a great impact

from the result of DSES Mystery Shopping and the

Customer Satisfaction Survey (see graphs).

We are proud that our Quality Team has developed

this program for continual improvement and we

believe that this is really one of the Best Practices of

APPAREL.

Through implementation of the Store Performance

Rating, it creates consciousness to be more

customers focused in our Gemba and we expect to

beat 100% Customer Satisfaction.

47

2007

46

Profile

UAE Exchange Centre LLC (UAEEX), an ISO

9001:2000 company and the premier exchange

house of the Middle East, is a leading name in the

world of money transfers. Every day, thousands of

UAEEX employees work towards a common goal,

Spreading Smiles through the betterment of service

delivery standards, through innovation that

simplifies and personalizes products, through the

way it works closely with associates and partners,

through business expansion, and reaching out to

more customers in 15 countries across 5 continents

stretching from North America to Australia.

UAEEX is a member of the nmc Group, one of the

largest business conglomerates of the Middle East

region engaged in multifarious activities ranging

from healthcare to hospitality. Since 1980, UAEEX

has fuelled its growth from a single office business

to a network of over 340 direct offices. The

company has a wide network of 43 branches in

UAE and a correspondent bank relationship of

more than 115 banks worldwide. UAEEX currently

employs 5000 people globally of which 1600

employees are in UAE.

UAEEX has always excelled over its competitors in

all aspects of business with several firsts to the

name, being the first and only exchange house in

the UAE to have the prestigious SWIFT

membership, the first to have an overseas branch,

the first to open a branch in the Emirate of Fujairah,

Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and the only

exchange house having branches in all the seven

Emirates of UAE.

UAEEX offer comprehensive solutions to the entire

fund transfer and foreign exchange needs of the

market, and it strives to add value by offering a

host of allied services including credit card

settlement services, airline ticket payments etc. The

truth that market leadership could be maintained

only by understanding the psyche of the market

and the changing preferences of the customer led

the leaders in framing its policies over the years,

resulting in the introduction of products and

services which were ahead of the times vis-à-vis

the market.

UAEEX success stories are woven around the

sincere and unified efforts of its employees and the

vision. This solidarity in realising the goals is

firmly based on Corporate Governance principles.

UAEEX believes in mentorship than in leadership

and a shared vision than in confined vision. At

UAEEX the leaders play the crucial role of mentors,

inspire and propel the team in rendering the

shared vision into well laden strategies, policies

and practices which are in turn translated into the

much expected positive performance results in all

spheres of its business and operations.

UAEEX lives by its motto ‘Service is our Currency’

through its commitment to deliver extraordinary

service to its customers by employing state-of-the-

art technology and systems to deliver and support

its product and service lines. The introduction of

multi-lingual kiosk machines in all its branches

stand testimony to the importance the Company

assigns to the privacy of its customers and their

transactions. The service levels has further been

enhanced with the introduction of PDAs, whereby,

service personnel approaches the customer to

execute the transaction from any point within the

UAEEX branch, far from the days when the

customer stands in queue at the counter to

complete the transaction. The entire information

system development, testing and support are

managed by an in-house technology team.

Most of all, ‘Quality thinking’, ingrained in each

and every member of our organisation has

undoubtedly percolated from the leaders, and

always gets reflected in the products, services and

operations since inception.BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l Efforts taken towards Excellence Initiatives

streamlinedl Initiatives which have already been taken are

being taken to the next levell Identification of areas for improvementl The mark and stamp of Quality associated

with DQA is also associated with us now

UAE Exchange centre LLC

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l The DQA preparation and assessment process

is to be taken as a overall journey towards

improving quality rather that as an Award

processl The DQA process will throw a lot of light on

the areas of improvement in the company

49

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

IImmpprroovviinngg QQuuaalliittyy ooff SSeerrvviiccee tthhrroouugghhBBrraanncchh GGrraaddiinngg SSyysstteemm ((BBGGSS)

‘Quality in everything we do’ and ‘Service is our

Currency’ these are the two major tag lines of UAE

Exchange since its inception way back in 1980 and

we have been relentlessly working towards

reflecting them in every thing we do. This gets

reflected in every decision we take, every

association we make and in all our operations.

Over the years, UAE Exchange has carved a niche

for itself in the Money Transfer Industry in the

Middle East by ensuring timely and quality service

to its customers through periodical re-engineering

and establishment of new policies and procedures

whenever required.

However with its burgeoning branch network

spread across all the emirates of UAE, the need for

a more scientific system was felt to ensure the

following in the branches:

l Excellent Customer Servicel Consistent Performancel Effective control over Operations and Internal

Controlsl Development of People skillsl Standard upkeep of the branches

To achieve the above objectives the management

came up with a Branch Grading System (BGS). The

manner in which the system works is explained

below:

BBrraanncchh GGrraaddiinngg SSyysstteemm TTeeaamm

As a first step towards the implementation of the

system a Branch Grading System Team was

formed. The Branch Grading System Team

comprises of functional/Departmental heads from

various functions/ departments of the company.

The Branch Grading System Team is responsible

for the following:l To fix one person amongst them to coordinate

the project. The said person is responsible for

conducting the entire process.l The criteria on which branches are gradedl The manner in which the assessment is

conducted and the branch graded

l The frequency of assessments and number of

awardsl The manner in which the awards are declared

and distributed

CCrriitteerriiaa

The Team felt that in order to be a good branch, it

should balance all its activities in the under

mentioned criteria:

Criterion

1. Performance

2. Customer Service

3. People

4. Operations and Internal

Controls

5. Upkeep

Key Review Areas

l Consistency in Target Achievement based on quarterly

achievement of targets i.e., how many times branch could achieve

the targets set. l In case of a tie between branches based on the consistency in the

targets, the achievement over and above the targets (in real terms)

will be taken into consideration for deciding the best performing

branch. l Performance will be measured for each target set.

l Customer Comfort Level at Entry Pointl Customer Support at the Branchl Staff Presentability l Easy Access to Customer Enquiry/Grievances Cell at the Branchl Telephone Service Levell Customer Suggestionsl Number of Service Championsl Inactive Customers and Customer Complaints.

l Generall Product Awarenessl Job Rotation and Organization Awarenessl Creating future leaders

l Complaints /Enquiry Analysisl Funding Procedures- Opening and Closingl Rate Boardsl Internal circularsl Recovery of Claimsl Cash management and Cash Holdingl Cheque Depositsl Compliance with specific product requirements, AML, QMS and

Internal policies, procedures and manuals.

l Display of Working Hoursl UAE Exchange Signagel Fixed Asset Managementl Preventive Maintenancel Cleanliness of the Premises, Posters and Stickers, l Accessibility of Cash Counters, Notice Boardsl Security Aspects

UAE Exchange Centre LLC

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2007

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Nominated Good Practice

FFrreeqquueennccyy aanndd tthhee NNuummbbeerr ooff AAwwaarrddss

The branch grading assessments are conducted

every quarter. The assessment is applicable only to

those branches that have completed 3 months of

operations at the time of declaration of the

assessment.

The awards are as given below:

On a Quarterly Basisl Region wise best performing branch under

each criterionl Region wise overall best performing branch

On a Annual Basisl Best performing branch in the whole of UAE

under each criterionl Best performing branch overall for the year in

the whole of UAE

CCoonndduucctt ooff AAsssseessssmmeenntt

l The assessment of the branches is conducted

by a team of assessors selected from within the

company. In order to ensure independency

and avoid favoritism, the assessors are

selected from amongst competent staff outside

the purview of branch operations.

l The assessors are given a Questionnaire. There

is a separate Questionnaire for each of the

criterions. The assessors have to follow the

questionnaire for the assessment. The

assessors are given a basic training on the

areas to be covered and also on the manner in

which the assessment is to be conducted.

l To ensure standardization of assessment

reference keys are provided for each of the key

review areas.

l On completion of the assessment, the

assessors submit their reports to the BGS

Team. The Team meets and deliberates about

the findings of the report, and based on the

points given by the assessors in the report, the

branches are awarded marks.

After the meeting, the reports are forwarded to the

Branch Heads for necessary action to be taken from

their side and actions are monitored using the

corrective action tracker which will be reviewed by

the Branch Grading System Team on a quarterly

basis.

A flow chart of the conduct of the assessment is

given below:

AAwwaarrdd DDeeccllaarraattiioonn aanndd PPrreesseennttaattiioonnss

l Award Declaration

In order to provide motivation to the branches, the

quarterly results are declared at the Quarterly

Review Meeting held in each quarter. The Annual

Best Branch Awards are declared and presented at

the function held every year called “Achievers

Day” presided over by the Managing director and

CEO of the company.

l Presentation

The Annual Best Branches are given certificates

and Plaques

RReessuullttss

The implementation of the Branch Grading System

has had a considerable effect on the manner of the

functioning of the branches. The results are visible

from the feedbacks received from several quarters

some of which are given below:

Feedback Source

DSES (Dubai ServiceExcellence Scheme)

ISO internal audit

CustomerSuggestions/Surveys

Financial Performance

Remarks

The ratings of the branches covered under the DSES have increasedconsiderably.

The number of Non Conformities (NC) related to customer serviceand Operations raised by the internal auditors have come down

The customer suggestions/complaints on upkeep and services issueshave come down

Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) rose over the period

The overall financial performance of the company has gone up sincethe introduction of the Branch Grading System

Figure Ref

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

UAE Exchange Centre LLC

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2007

52

Profile

Since its incorporation in February 2001,

Interactive Insurance Brokers fully concentrated on

its Core Competence (Insurance Broking and

Consultancy) catering for insurance needs of

Corporate clients as well as individual needs

within the Corporate clients.

IIB is dedicated to offer creative services and meet

the demands of customers by systematically and

continuously evaluating their insurance and

service needs.

IIB is the first ISO 9001:2000 certified locally

registered Insurance Brokers in UAE by IQNet and

QMI in February 2005.

Interactive Insurance Brokers offers its team

members the adequate training, education and

technical know-how to enhance their ability to

handle their given responsibilities efficiently,

creating by that an empowered team striving to

achieve core concepts of offering the “Best

Protection and Best Service” to its valuable clients.

OOuurr VViissiioonn

To become a Model Insurance Brokerage Firm

focusing on creative and meaningful Services and

aligning all resources, systems and people to

maximum Protect our Clients.

OOuurr MMiissssiioonnl Implement International Quality Standards

and Excellence Modelsl Develop strong organizational culture to

continuously offer Creative solutions/service

to protect our clients.l Build a Dedicated, Educated and Trained,

Creative, Motivated and Passionate Team.l Utilize Technology continuously and improve

our IT systeml Promote business through Creative

Distribution Channels

Below are the Services Interactive is capable of

providing to its clients:-

Insurance Services (For all classes of insurance)

TTEECCHHNNIICCAALL

l In-depth study of all the existing classes of

Insurance and recommending new Classes of

Insurance.l Prepare and Design quotation slips.l Negotiate rates and benefits with Insurance

companies.l Submit proposals on comparative basis, for

easy decision-making including placement of

risk.l Continuous technical review. l Renewal process.

CCLLAAIIMMSS

l Claims handling starting form the notification

of the loss,l Correspondence and filtering.l Complete follow up until the claim is settled.

OOtthheerr SSeerrvviicceess

Internet Services “www.iibcare.com”

24 Hours Customer Service

Pick up and Delivery Service

Documentation

Risk Management Service

Portfolio Analysis and Technical Gap Reports

Regular Visits

Customized Service

TThhee FFoouurr LLaayyeerrss ooff SSeerrvviiccee

Service should be a different menu for different

customers depending on business volume

transacted. This does not affect the level of

technical attention given to any customer.l Layer ONE (the base level): designed for

customers with relatively small portfolio. Our

qualified and trained team will assist them in

all aspect and will always make sure that they

are well looked-after. l Layer TWO: It is a customer with large

portfolio that requires to be serviced through a

special team. This dedicated Team services

only this category of clients. l Layer THREE: The size of the business is large

enough that necessitates a dedicated

employee(s) whose job is to only serve this

specific client. This setup is controlled and

lead by our department Managers. We are able

to allocate the employee(s) in the premises of

the client if service volume necessitates such

arrangement.l Layer FOUR: It is were we enter in a special

arrangement with our client, a form of a Joint

Venture or Profit Sharing, similar to having an

in-house brokerage firm to serve the client and

all its affiliated companies.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AApppplliinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd::

l Applying for DQAP has proved to both IIB

management and team that IIB was on the

right track to becoming a leader in Insurance

brokerage field.l Winning the award has given IIB a

competitive niche in the U.A.E market as well

as being prepared to succeed in future

business challenges.l During the preparation stage, we learned that

Financial results are not the only factor

reflecting the success of the organization.

The scientific thus practical knowledge

contained in the model made us give great

attention to every activity in the business

regardless of how simple it may be.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss::

l Any company, no matter the size, is always

capable of applying and following excellence

modules, adding the flavor of Quality and

Excellence to all its activities as an entirety.

Excellence and Quality is an attitude.

l Apply the excellence module as part of your

culture and not as something you are

obligated to do, then only you can harvest the

fruits of success.

l Involve your employees in all stages, from

initial preparation to final submission, as their

feedback, suggestions, commitment and

support is one of the key factors to ensure the

application and cascading of the excellence

module throughout the organization.

l Many think that complying with excellence or

quality standards is a tedious job. The amount

of professional knowledge and successful

modules that is acquired is worth the effort.

Interactive Insurance Brokers Co. LLC

55

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

TThhrreeee BBuuiillddiinngg BBlloocckkss AApppprrooaacchh --ssyysstteemmaattiicc aapppprrooaacchh ttoowwaarrddssssuussttaaiinnaabbllee ggrroowwtthh..

Research has proven that business will continue to

flourish during economy growth, stagnation or

even recession. This approach is an application of

the methodology detailed in a best seller by Jim

Collin; “Good to Great”.

The approach starts with a Foundation Phase

followed by Acceleration Phase:

l People l Flywheel effectl Basic Concept l IT acceleratorl Culture

The Escalation Phase The Foundation Phase

PPBBuuiillddiinngg BBlloocckk II:: PPEEOOPPLLEE

The key factor for success is having the right team

within the organization. At Interactive we recruit

for Attitude and train for Skills. More than 60% of

our team had no insurance experience prior to

joining Interactive but were chosen for their proper

attitude.

Attitude we look for a candidate who is:l Team playerl Dedicatedl Pleasant manneredl Fast Learnerl Loyal

In 2002 Interactive started looking for the right

people. In the beginning, the new recruits helped

the company in performing multi tasks and

worked in different areas concurrently. Soon, the

team started working with the management on

shaping the organization; departments started

forming and responsibilities were clear through the

introduction of “Job Description”. At that stage the

team understood the philosophy of Interactive and

what kind of attitude is accepted and encouraged

and what is not. As a result, the team filtered itself;

the right people stayed, others were ejected by the

Team itself! Then the entire team helped the

management in retaining future right people and

rejecting people with wrong attitude.

Interactive works on reducing the chances of

loosing key employees. This is achieved by:

1. Proving all employees with a comprehensive

Employee Benefits Scheme (Family Medical

Insurance, Life Insurance, Disability Insurance

and Pensions)

2. Generating a motivating and respectful

environment

3. Delegating responsibilities and authorities

4. Introducing an inspiring reward program and

suggestion scheme.

Several surveys over the years were conducted

addressing many issues such as salary, benefits,

management fairness, work environment, team

spirit, organization values and management

leadership. The output of these surveys were

seriously analyzed, reviewed and discussed with

the concerned employee.

As a result of the above, Interactive has a

motivated, trained, skilled, focused and productive

Team.

The charts above show the investment made by

Interactive to establish a team who is highly

motivated. Interactive believes that in the service

industry where the company’s employees

continuously interact with customer and suppliers,

it is crucial to build a highly productive, satisfied

and skilled team.

BBuuiillddiinngg BBlloocckk IIII:: BBAASSIICC CCOONNSSEEPPTT

Others name it the “Hedgehog Concept”: It is an

idea, concept, theme, strategy that an organization

is so good at, so passionate about that also has

business sense. Moreover, it defines the purpose of

the organization. It is a focused undiversified

strategy that the company resources and activities

–internal and external- are clustered around.

When Interactive was incorporated in 2001, there

was a very critical question: what should we do

everyday and fully focus on that we are good at

and will yield financially with time? The other

question was; what does the client really wants us

to deliver? The answer was to sincerely concentrate

on our core competence; Protection and Service.

This might sound too basic, but glory lies there.

Management was devotedly committed and

determined to communicate this culture to the

team and to make sure that every aspect of the

organization is infused with the Basic Concepts of

Interactive. The Concept was communicated

through training, incidental appreciation,

objectives, Mission and Vision statement and

Quality Policy. It is even displayed as screen savers

on all personal computers, until the point of time

where every team member has absorbed this

strategy and business philosophy.

While creating the Quality Management System,

the Management made sure to incorporate the

Company’s Basic Concepts in every corner of the

System, which is continuously reviewed and

improved to include new ways to Protect and

Serve clients.

Interactive Insurance Brokers Co. LLC

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Nominated Good Practice

The graphs above show the number of service

introduced that lead to

1. higher insurance protection reflected in the

percentage of claims paid to our client by the

insurance companies

2. lower number of complains while business

increased in volume

3. Higher customer satisfaction resulting in

higher percentage of client retention.

BBuuiillddiinngg BBlloocckk IIIIII:: CCUULLTTUURREE

Realizing the competitiveness and attractiveness of

the UAE market it was extremely vital to develop a

culture that, by itself, is a competitive niche for

Interactive to compete effectively by

distinguishing itself among the crowd.

When Interactive started building its culture,

which along with its Basic Concept, influenced its

Quality Policy, Mission, Vision and Values, it

involved its team members to crystallize its values.

The team completely absorbed it since it is

practiced in every aspect of the business and

became a prevailing ambiance. The saturated

atmosphere of the Company with its culture made

it easy for newly-joining members to adapt fast to

our method of working.

Interactive’s culture consists of

Customers:

l The Team should strictly follow the

procedures set in our “Quality Management

System”l The Client is not a part of our business, the

client is our business.

l Before we exceed their expectations, we need

to first define their expectation level.l “No”, “Cannot do”, “Not possible”,

“Impossible” and similar negative words are

not to be used when communicating with a

client.l Under promise – over deliver.l Keep the work system hidden. The client is not

interested in details, the client it interested in

results.l It is our job to anticipate our clients’ present

and future needs.l The client needs to work with friendly, polite,

and receptive employees. But not at the price

of not getting the client’ work done on time.l No communication with a client without a

passionate opening. We empathies whenever

required.l It is our daily job to make sure that the client is

well protected and well served. The entire

company will be built around this concept

Employees:

l Continuously looking for the right candidates,

regardless of an available opening.l Treating our employees with utmost respect

and trust.l Offering a friendly and professional

environment filled with empowerment and

motivation. Awards are given to positive

thinking and actions, initiative and creativity.l Promoting and supporting continuous

education and skills training.l Provide an attractive employee benefits

schemes.l All employees and given authorities and

responsibilities. Employees are encouraged

and supported to make decisions.l We realize the concept of “Loyalty to

employees” along with “Employees’ Loyalty”.

Suppliers (Insurance Companies):

l Working with our suppliers to establish a

constructive long-term business partnership.l Continuously reviewing our suppliers’

performance and communicating the same to

them.l Rewarding best performing and supportive

supplier on yearly basis.l Continuously looking for suppliers who

understand the focal concept regarding

serving and protecting our employees.

Society and Local Community:

l Promoting insurance as an option for

education and employment among UAE

nationals.

The Duel Approach:

As a part of its culture “what cannot be measured

cannot be managed”, Interactive follows the duel

approach to evaluating partnerships.

Interactive Insurance Brokers Co. LLC

FFLLYYWWHHEEEELL EEFFFFEECCTT

After having completed the Foundation stage, the

company has now established the professional and

productive team, found its purpose (what and how

to offer the service) and generated a positive and

defined atmosphere in which the company fulfills

its mission.

During this stage the company’s growth takes a

sharper slop. More business is being generated.

This reflects the customers trust and satisfaction.

As an example Interactive introduced a new

approach to Insurer (Supplier) Evaluation:

The evaluation is based on a 21 criteria that

enabled Interactive to measure Insurers’

performance as well as provide the foundation for

more constructive business relationships with

these Insurers.

59

2007

58

Profile

International Rubber Co. LLC established in the

year 1994 with the philosophy of “For

Performance Beyond Expectations“ and an

objective to produce and market Synthetic

Polymeric Rubber and Plastic products catering to

the requirement of high quality weather-strip and

associated products required in UAE and other

GCC countries.. In this vision of excellence, IRC

quality system has been certified with ISO

9001:2000 in the year 2001 and is a proud winner of

Dubai Quality Appreciation Program in year 2006.

IRC management has always been progressive and

a step ahead to realize the vision and mission of the

business. In this continuation, we have merged

with M’Sharie group, a wholly owned subsidiary

of Dubai Investment Group, in the year 2006.

Our company focused on the highest product

quality and customer service from the project

inception stage itself. We, at IRC, offer not only just

the product but provide complete solutions to the

customer needs, no matter how determining that

may be. Quality is built into the product right from

the planning and development stage. Today IRC is

perhaps the only company of its kind in the Middle

East that can manufacture industrial profiles

competing with the finest from Europe and

America in terms of Quality and range. This ultra

modern plant is equipped with the most up-to-

date, most efficient, clean and environmental

friendly microwave technology for continuous

vulcanization of EPDM rubber profiles.

With the TQM well in place, IRC profiles meet

relevant international standards like ASTM C864,

ASTM C1115, BS 4255, DIN 7863, ASTM D1056. We

have fully equipped Quality Lab to test and

evaluate our products on regular basis as per

international standards and have short response

time to new developments with the in-house Tool

Room equipped with state of the art CNC wire cut,

EDM, Lathe, Surface grinder etc. These all

elements ensure IRC products to be meeting

customer requirement and provide the kind of

products that we set out to be a winner.

JJoouurrnneeyy ttoo EExxcceelllleennccee √√ MMiilleessttoonneess

1. ISO 9001:2000 certification in year 2001 and

recertification in year 2004

2. Approved supplier for Dubai Municipality

Projects

3. Approved supplier to SCHMIDLIN,

Switzerland; TECHNAL SA, France; MBT

Degussa; SCHÜCO, Germany

4. Appointed approved distributor for GE Bayer

Silicone Sealants for U.A.E. region in year 2005

5. Approval of Sewerage Planning Commission,

Abu Dhabi for supply of elastomeric seals for

0GRP pipefitting in year 2005

6. Approved supplier for Reynaers Aluminium,

Belgium in year 2006

7. Winner of Dubai Quality Appreciation

Program’2006

The IRC product range caters to the following

applications:l Structural Seals: To cover all major American

and European Aluminium systems fully

vulcanized frame, EPDM gaskets, Silicone

rubber gaskets and Neoprene rubber gaskets.l Container Seals: EPDM and Silicone rubber

door seals for marine and cold storage

applications.l Construction Seals: Mostly used for staircases,

etc.l Building Protection Systems: Column

protection guards, wall guards, speed

breakers.l Automotive Seals: Glass run applications for

automobiles.l Molded Rubber: EPDM and Silicone molded

products in Aluminium system, EPDM door

stopper and D-Fender, EPDM pipe seals for

potable and non-potable water pipe line and

joints, Metal-to-rubber bonded products.l PVC Water Stops: For concrete structures like

foundation, roof, slab, parking, reservoir,

storage tank and retainer walls, etc.l Braided Profile: For shutter and garage doorsl Self adhesive Tapes: To meet requirement of

switchgear and Fiberglass industryl GE Bayer Silicone Sealants: For structural

glazing applications l LJF Butyl Sealant and PU Sealant

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l The preparation for submission in ittself is

highly challenging and rewarding in the way

that it helps to critically analyze the

organization’s internal processes in relation to

EFQM/ DQA framework and set clear, time

bound objecives and targets.

l The feedback report provides further value

and advantage by giving professional, neutral

and external view of the business. It also helps

in bench marking the organization with the

business community at large. The

organization can draw benefit from this report

by taking appropriate actions.l The successful application of the learning

derived from this process helps to deliver

higher standards of product / service to our

customers and better ROI to the stakeholders.l This model provides a framework of continual

improvement and a thorough understanding

of the various interactions and linkages

between various dynamics driving the

business.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l the complete involvement and support of

the top Management.l Identify the results and start collecting data for

all the results. Do not wait for last minute for

the data.l Make the team and inovlve everyone for the

preparation of DQA, however, designate only

one person for co-ordination and document

writing for the benefit of consistency of the

document.l Apply the model criteria with full conviction,

identify the improvement areas and develop

plan with clear time bound responsibilities

assigned.

International Rubber Co. LLC

61

2007

60

Nominated Good Practice International Rubber Co. LLC

LLeeaann MMaannuuffaaccttuurriinngg aattIInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall RRuubbbbeerr CCoommppaannyyToday’s business environment can be defined by

following characteristics:

1. Competition is now global,

2. The focus has shifted from Customer

satisfaction to customer delight,

3. Customer has become increasingly

demanding and wants better quality at less

price

4. Many of the customers wants substantial price

reduction every year.

In order to remain in business and retain the same

profit level, organization has to develop plan to

reduce their costs to become competitive.

Lean Manufacturing is a strategy for achieving

significant continuous improvement in

performance through the elimination of ALL waste

of resources and time in the total business process.

The term “lean” is coined by John Krafcik and

Toyota Manufacturing system is the best example

of Lean Manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing is a

powerful manufacturing strategy to make what the

customer wants, when the customer wants it, at a

price the customer is willing to pay. In Lean

Manufacturing, focus is placed on the Value

Adding Management & reduce non value adding

activities.

The lean manufacturing uses “less” :l labour in the factory, manufacturing space, l capital investment, l materials, l lead time (time lapsed between customer

order and product shipment).

The Lean Manufacturing is a synergistic

combination of :l 6 Sigma activitiesl Kaizen/ JIT/ Lean Toolsl Lean Design/ Advanced Manufacturing

Technology;l Employee Involvement.

The purpose of Lean Manufacturing is to make the

organization strong (high and repeatable

performance) & fast (rapid adoption to the market

fluctuations). Reduced operating costs & improved

customer satisfaction are the direct results of being

lean.

RReessuullttss PPllaannnneedd

Manufacturing is one area which is of increasingly

importance as it has the longest lead time of any

production segment, ties up the greatest

concentration of assets (people, inventory, floor

space, equipment etc.) & reducing manufacturing

lead times create a pull on the other production

segments to improve. The key issues faced by

manufacturing are :

l Quality : How to improve it,l Cost: How to control it; l On time delivery: How to ensure it.

With the rapid growth that the company has been

achieving over the years, the market growth and

competition, need is felt to strategize and improve

our processes to remain ahead of competition and

maintain profit level. In this continuation some of

the results planned are:

l Quality :

- To measure & reduce Product Return on

Sales Value (ppm)l Cost:

- To reduce Inventory Holding days on

sales value: Inventory is a major area which

shows non-value added activity and holding

of capital. It also increases the lead time for the

organization to re-finance itself.

- Break down Hours reduce by 10% than

previous year: Break down reduces the

effective and efficient use of machines for

the value added activities.l Employee Involvement ≥ 85%

- To achieve 5S level 4 in year 2006

- Significant improvement in Employee and

Customer satisfaction

AApppprrooaacchh

In order to meet the above results, it is decided to

use the lean manufacturing methodology to

consolidate and systematically implement actions.

For the implementation of lean manufacturing, key

performance areas are identified and key

initiatives are developed. The overall approach

developed is based on the Total Quality

Management principle and is depicted in the

following picture.l A long-term plan was developed which, in

turn, broken down into medium-term and

long-term strategies.l Focused & time-phased plans were developed

to deploy strategy, passing it down the

subsequent levels of management until it

reaches everyone on the shop floor.l Policy deployment is the implementation of

this top management’s vision of the

organization in the future.l Clear targets were established to guide

everyone and provide leadership for all kaizen

activities directed towards achieving the

targets.

The approach is in line with the vision & mission of

the organization and supports the Organization’s

Quality Policy of meeting customer expectations

through continual improvement. The approach

supports the integration of various other

approaches implemented in the organization like

productivity improvement, Kaizen activities,

63

2007

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Nominated Good Practice International Rubber Co. LLC

process mapping, customer satisfaction, trainings

& employee involvement etc. In this approach,

stakeholder needs are addressed by the

development of flow of the process right from the

supplier to the customer.

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt

The approach is deployed by dividing the products

into product family and inter linkages were

developed between different production activities.

The following five principles were used to direct

action:

1. Specify Value By Product Family

(Focus On The Customer; Not Your

Organization!!!)

2. Identify Entire Value Stream For Each Product

Concept To Launch

i. Order To Delivery

ii. Raw Materials Into The Arms Of

The Customer

iii Focus On Value Stream Rather

Than The Existing Organization!!!

3. Make Value Flow Continuously By Linking

All Processes Along The Stream; Reconfigure

Organization As Necessary, Throughput Time

Is Key Indicator Of Flow

4. But Flow Only At The Pull Of The Customer:

Inventory Is The Key Indicator

5. In Pursuit Of Perfection: Absence Of Fire-

Fighting Is Key Indicator

The main results were further divided into sub-

activities to achieve the overall results. The targets

were developed for each sub-activity & these sub-

activities were assigned to individuals as a part of

their Personal Business Plan at the start of the year.

For example, to achieve cost reduction, Inventory

Management, Productivity improvement,

reduction in break down hours etc. were identified

and year on year targets were established for all

these activities. To achieve Employee involvement,

trainings, suggestion scheme & kaizen activities

were identified. This way the approach is deployed

through out the organization.

The basic approach adopted for Kaizen activities

are as per PDCA cycle. The approach adopted can

be depicted pictorially as under:

One Example of key initiatives taken is the “5S”

project implemented at IRC. For this project

following actions were developed & implemented

for systematic deployment through out the

organization:

Step 1:

Project is taken for work place organization &

house keeping. Top Management commitment is

actively involved in this project. In the beginning,

project implementation methodology and target is

developed. After development of the methodology,

implementation team is formed and methodology

is shared with the team.

Step 2: Development of Small Improvement

Areas

The plant is divided in 6 small areas for

improvements in the beginning, some of these

areas are clubbed in one at later stages. This was

done to put more focus on the individual area and

to encourage people involvement. Small

improvement teams are formed and areas are

allocated to the teams. Teams have selected their

leaders and selected the names of their individual

teams e.g. Ace for Rubber line team, Light house

for Tool Room team, Tiger for molding team etc.

Step 3: Training & Awareness

Regular meetings are organized at the shop floor

with operators in the concerned area & training is

conducted for operators for the awareness and

technique of 5S. These trainings are organized on

the shop floor at Gamba i.e. in the concerned area

and are attended by the top management.. Care is

taken that these meetings are of only 15 minute

duration only. Meetings are organized on daily

basis in different areas. At later stages of the

project, progress, improvements and new targets

are discussed in these meetings.

Step 4: Implementation

The project was started from S3 i.e. Seiso or Shine

and improvements are identified to facilitate and

maintain the clean & tidy work place.

This is followed by S1 i.e. Seiri (Sorting). Items are

segregated into useful & not useful. Area is defined

for keeping the not useful items and decision for

the disposition of these items was taken later on.

Storage locations are defined for useful items and

items are stored at their allocated space.

This is followed by S2 i.e. Seiton (Systematic

arrangement). Inventory levels are defined for

65

2007

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Nominated Good Practice International Rubber Co. LLC

required items and storage space is designed to

accommodate the required inventory or vice-versa.

Identification is done for every item for easy

traceability. Improvements identified at every

stage were recorded and classified in relevant

category like S1, S2 etc. A separate engineering

team is formed to support all the teams for

fabrication jobs. All the improvement suggestions

are prioritized for implementation.

AAsssseessssmmeenntt && RReevviieeww

The progress of all the projects is reviewed at

regular intervals against the action plan developed,

for example, Customer complaints were further

analyzed by sub grouping into type of problem

and corrective & preventive actions were identified

andimplemented. Results of all the activities were

also discussed in the Management Review

Meetings. Employees were also recognized for

their achievements by the Managing Director at the

get to-gather organized at regular intervals.

For Example, the progress of 5S project is

monitored on regular basis with the help of

separate 5S audit. 5S audit is based on the

questionnaire developed for each step of 5S and

scoring is done on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 stands

for non-existence. Co-ordination and audit

responsibilities for implementation of 5S were

assigned to Quality Manager. These audits are

conducted on the weekly basis in the start up and

on every month basis at later stage. Results of these

audits are displayed on the shop floor and winner

is declared.

In addition to this for impact communication,

photos are taken of the individual areas for before

and after improvement and displayed on the shop

floor. In the start up, photos were taken where

house keeping is not good and at later stages these

photos were clubbed with improvements

anddisplayed as Before and After improvement.

BeforePlastic Bins For Chemical Storage, Occupying More Space,House keeping not good.

AfterMetallic Bins Fabricated For Chemical Storage, Less StorageSpace Required & house keeping improved.

The winner team of every quarter is selected on the

basis of running average and is recognized and

token amount is given to the team for their

celebration & in recognition of their efforts.

RReessuullttss AAcchhiieevveedd

At the year end, following results are achieved for

5S activities:

l Total 190 new improvements were

implemented on the shop floor for 5S.

l Involvement & awareness of all the employees

for the house-keeping.l Achieved internal target for house-keeping

(level 4.0).l House keeping has become a part of daily

routine of the workforce.

Results of some of other areas focused as a part of

Lean Manufacturing initiatives are depicted in

following charts:

67

2007

66

Profile

IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn

National Cables Industry (NCI) was established

in the Emirate of Sharjah during 2001. The Head

Office and manufacturing facility of NCI are

located in Sharjah and a customer service centre

has been established in Dubai. NCI has grown in

line with the booming UAE economy with sales

turnover for wires and power cables passing over

AED 600 million in the year 2006.

MMaarrkkeettiinngg AAccttiivviittiieess aanndd AApppprroovvaallss

NCI has a large technical sales team who manage a

broad customer base of over 300 customers. Clients

in the region are further a field served by a network

of distributors and agents. The focus of NCI is

within the UAE and the regional export markets

such as Yemen, Qatar, and Bahrain. As the NCI

brand became well established, export activities

have broadened further to a field such as Sudan,

North Africa and East Africa.

NCI has been approved as a supplier by numerous

local and foreign government Facility and Utility

companies such as, Sharjah Electricity and Water

Authority, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority,

Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Public

Electricity Corporation –YEMEN, and Electricity

Distribution Directorate – BAHRAIN.

PPrroodduuccttss aanndd FFeecciilliittiieess

NCI’s Range of Products includes:

1. Drawn Wires (Copper and Aluminum)

2. Wires

3. Overhead Transmission Line Conductors

4. Low Voltage Cables

5. Medium Voltage Cables

6. High Voltage Cables

All the above products comply with International

Standards such as IEC, BS, ASTM, DIN and VDE

etc. A range of alternative designs, to meet more

specialized customer needs is also available.

MMaaiinngg PPrroojjeecctt

NCI has supplied wires and power cables to some

of the most prestigious projects within the UAE,

including the,

1. Dubai Autodrome

2. Arabian Ranches

3. Dubai Festival City

4. Ibn Battuta Mall

5. Madinat Jumeirah

6. Palm Island

7. Park Hyatt

8. Bab Al Shams

9. Sharjah Industrial City

10. Health Care City

11. The Old Town Dubai and the

12 Green Community to name just a few.

MMiissssiioonnThe mission of NCI is to “Power the Nation” by

manufacturing excellent quality cables. The

mission is based on strong technological base,

continuous improvement and maintaining high

quality standards.

From its beginning, NCI has been totally

“Committed to Quality”. NCI has only one

ambition, to be seen as best by our customers.

CCoorree VVaalluueess

The Values of National Cables Industry are a set of

deeply held beliefs that govern and guide our

behaviour in meeting our objectives and in dealing

with each other, our stakeholders, our customers

and society as a whole.

l We have trust and respect for individuals. l We do our business with uncompromising

integrity.l We achieve our common objective through

teamwork.l We encourage flexibility and continuous

improvement.

BBuussiinneessss EExxcceelllleennccee

NCI’s progress has been acknowledged by

prestigious awards such as the “Sharjah Economic

Excellence Award – 2004” for Industrial Sector

(Large Firms), the “Mohammed Bin Rashid Al

Maktoum UAE – Business Award – 2005” Industry

Category, the “Gulf Excellence Award – 2006”, and

most recently the “Dubai Quality Appreciation

Programme 2006”.

Participating in these prestigious and prominent

events has helped management sculpture NCI’s

organization and its culture. Adopting the

Business Excellence Models like EFQM and BHP

Model is part of NCI’s management leadership

objectives helping drive continuous improvement

in an environment where change is welcomed and

customers delighted.

With all the encouragement, guidance, and

celebration of success, NCI is not just geared to be

the BEST CABLE MANUFACTURER in the region

but a shining example on the global stage of what

application of best practices can achieve.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l Increase awareness in the Business excellence

programs through the assessment process and

interviews by the DQA Assessors.l Feedback is given to the applicants noting the

organizations strengths and areas of

improvement, which can be very useful for the

continuous improvement in the organization.l The EFQM Model provides a proper

framework for assessment and continuous

improvement in all areas of the organization,

actually the application process is a great

learning experience in itself.l It inculcates the quality driven culture in the

organization and involves processes not only

within the organization, but also, those that

include the partners, suppliers, clients,

customers, government and the society as a

whole.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Conduct regular internal self-assessments

within your organization using the DQA –

EFQM Model.l Gather relevant and meaningful data.

Nevertheless, remember it takes time and

patience to make turn it into a winning

submission.l Involve people, make a team, agree on a

project plan, and be organized and

methodical.l Apply the RADAR as a tool for continual

improvement, on all processes in the

organization.

National Cables Industry

69

2007

68

Nominated Good Practice

NNIICC BBeesstt PPrraaccttiiccee ≈≈EEmmppllooyyeeeeSSaattiissffaaccttiioonn SSuurrvveeyy PPrrooggrraammmmee∆∆As an outcome of internal assessments for the

Business Excellence Projects since 2004, NCI

established a procedure (HR/A/P/05) to carry out

an Employee Satisfaction Survey annually, to

identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in the

work environment. The survey measures critical

factors of employee morale, understand the

employee’s satisfaction levels, and take necessary

actions to improve business performance. It

ensures that upper management is aware of

employee issues, concerns and provides a process

for continuous improvement for NCI.

The overall purpose of the Employee Satisfaction

Survey is to improve NCI as a work place. It

provides the organization an opportunity to

evaluate its success in managing its people, by

hearing directly from the employees. It provides

the information intended to identify areas in which

changes or improvements are needed. Employees

are asked to complete a survey with questions

concerning management, the work environment,

and programs and policies. Employees participate

in the survey anonymously to ensure a candid

evaluation. All employee responses are

confidential so it is not possible to establish how an

individual responded.

The employee satisfaction survey is a tool for

assessing job satisfaction, over-all workplace

productivity and work culture. It gives an insight

into employee perception and attitude towards the

job as well as the organization. The contents vary

widely and it includes almost all important aspects

that impact on the business, such as

communication, leadership, rewards and

recognition, interpersonal relationships, and

responsibility.

To ensure maximum benefits and proper use of the

survey, the following guidelines are followed,

l The survey is targeted for more that 50% of the

employees, who will be selected on a random

basis from all departments.

l The frequency of the survey is at least once in

a year.l A meeting is called up for the employees and

the employee satisfaction forms are

distributed and explained thoroughly to the

participants the importance of conducting

such a survey and feedback session.

The questions are based on the employee’s attitude

towards work, employee’s perception of the

organizations commitment and climate. Also the

data presented represent shop floor operators and

supervisors and not senior management.

Job Satisfaction 84% 88%

Job Understanding 87% 84%

Job Independence 87% 91%

Job Commitment 66% 63%

Survey on attitude towards work generally

indicated that they were satisfied on the kind of

work that they do, showing effectiveness on NCI’s

recruitment process in choosing the proper

candidates for the job. Most have a clear

knowledge of what employees are expected to as

new comers undergo an induction training

programs.

Annual training plans are also done for all

employees for their competency development and

objectives are set by their immediate superiors for

a given period. Employees are also given necessary

freedom to ensure that they can carry out their

duties independently to perform their job function.

Spending a bit more time after work hours were

also reasonable for the employees as indicated in

the survey, showing their commitment in finishing

their duties ahead of time.

Organizational Commitment Assessment

Job Security 56% 89%

Fair Compensation 58% 70%

Employee Retention 75% 89%

Job Accomplishment 78% 84%

Company Loyalty 53% 79%

2005 2006

Figure 2: Organizational Commitment Assessment 2005 - 2006Attitude Towards Work Assessment

Figure 1: Attitude towards Work Assessment 2005 – 2006

Organizational commitment employee survey

indicated that generally almost all feel secure in

their jobs and agree that they are paid fairly based

on their education and experience.

Survey results also show the compassion

employees have to the organization as most of

them increasingly feel that the organizations

problems are also part of their responsibilities.

Employees are also satisfied in the type of work

they do and have a sense of pride in their

contributions and accomplishments.

Organizational Climate Assessment

Fair Treatment 63% 63%

Safety and Well being 75% 76%

Management Interest 60% 70%

Communication Channels 63% 79%

Professional Development 59% 82%

2005 2006

Figure 3: Organizational Climate Assessment 2005 – 2006

The organizational climate employee survey

during 2005 gave management a strong indicator

that action was needed to improve employee

perception with regards concern over their welfare.

Safety came out on top, accordingly a Safety and

Training Manager was appointed and safety and

training programs were conducted. There have

been improving communication channels between

the employees and management.

After the survey feedback is gathered and

analyzed, the results are made available to top

management through a report submitted by the

Human Resources Department. The results are

then discussed during the monthly management

meetings which are attended by all respective

Departments Heads regarding the employees

concerns and develop actions to address those

concerns. The management team also looks to

recognize and build upon the areas indicated as

strengths during the meeting.

During the meeting the management evaluates and

explores the reasons for and consequences of the

changes that have occurred within the

organization and develop necessary actions as

appropriate.

At no time management is allowed to question

their employees in an effort to determine exactly

how an individual responded during the survey.

Any one who violates the policy regarding the

anonymity of the employee will be disciplined up

to and including dismissal. Under no

circumstances are any members of management to

take punitive action against employees because of

undesirable survey results or comments made in

the survey or management meeting.

2005 2006

National Cables Industry

71

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Nominated Good Practice

As part of the feedback from the employee

satisfaction survey, various welfare activities have

been carried out to clear misconceptions between

the employees and the management. The

discussion during and after the survey covered

various topics including communication channels

between employee and management, policy and

system for salary review, reviewed bonus systems,

improved staff welfare activities such as

playground for sports activities, food complaints /

canteen services, and increasing weekly trips to

the city etc. As it can be seen by the survey results,

the employee satisfaction levels improved in 2006.

There has been an improvement in NCI’s Key

Performance Indicators due to the direct and

indirect effects of the Employee Satisfaction Survey

Programme.

1. Revenue per Employee is a standard measure

on which the productivity of each employee is

measured against total revenues. Achieving

higher revenue per employee shows the

effectiveness on of the steps towards the

improvement taken due to the feedback form

the employee satisfaction surveys.

2. The annual production of the various types of

wires and cables increased for the three year

period, which includes NYA wires, Flex cables,

Drawn wires and LV cables. There was an

increase in production output form 15,194 Km

in 2003 to 57,927 Km in 2005.

3. Sales Revenue increased from 187 milllion

AEDs in 2003 to 350 million AEDs in 2005.

4. The customer base increased from 32

customers in 2003 to 345 by 2006.

4. The Scrap percentage was reduced from 2.56

percent in 2003 to 1.18 percent in 2005..

The Employee Satisfaction Survey Questionnaire

has been reviewed and there shall be few more

questions added in the coming years ranging from

20 to 30 questions in the Employee Satisfaction

Survey Questionnaire.

The success of the Employee Satisfaction Survey

programme depends on the honesty and openness

of the employees who participate in the survey.

Management should be responsible and

accountable for addressing the areas of concern

and areas of improvements to lead to better

employee satisfaction levels which would lead to

improved business performance results.

73

2007

72

Profile

Established in 1969, HSBC Middle East Finance

Company Limited (HSBC MEFCO) is regarded as

the leading provider of vehicle and asset finance in

the country and is the official representative of

International Fleet Services Limited in the Middle

East.

HSBC MEFCO is principally engaged in hire

purchase and leasing of motor vehicles and

moveable assets and offers these products through

a number of distribution channels. Core to our

growth strategy has been the enhancement of our

access points for customers’ convenience. Our

products are distributed through our flagship and

head office in Dubai, our branches in Abu Dhabi,

Al Ain and Ras al Khaimah and through sales

advisors based in dealership showrooms. Over the

past four years, the Call Centre, Internet and most

HSBC Middle East Finance Co. Ltd.

importantly, HSBC branches were added as

distribution channels.

With the aim of adding value to customers, HSBC

MEFCO has introduced to the market new

products which complimented its full suite of

finance solutions. We were the first multinational

finance company to introduce to the market in 2002

HSBC Amanah Vehicle Finance, a Shariah

compliant vehicle finance product. We were also

the first to introduce Financial Lease (rent-to-own),

designed for affordability, to provide customers

with a manageable monthly payment structure.

This finance facility allows customers to use an

asset while paying for it over an agreed period.

Another product is Operating Lease that provides

off-balance sheet finance to companies. In addition,

our customers can also apply for Hire Purchase,

which is the traditional method of financing a

vehicle, by which the customer has ownership of

the vehicle on an installment plan, and a balloon

payment structure to pay for their cars.

HSBC MEFCO has built up a leading market

position and a substantial customer base with the

successful implementation of its strategies. We

meet the financing needs of individuals, small-

medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as larger

corporates. Our staff are specifically trained to

assist these customers with finding the options that

would suit their requirements best. Relationship

Managers are individually assigned to support the

larger companies from a business perspective and

business for individuals and SMEs is handled by

experienced sales officers.

In addition to its commitment to increasing total

shareholder return, HSBC MEFCO recognises its

obligation to the development of the community.

The Emirates Centre for Special Needs (ESCN) and

Manzil, a school for special needs children are two

organisations which the Company supports

actively. A bus for children was donated to ESCN

and parents or staff of the organisation are offered

a special finance rate. Employment has also been

given to individuals with special needs.

HSBC MEFCO has now won the coveted Dubai

Quality Appreciation Award and has pledged to

continue its journey towards excellence.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm aappppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDQQAAPP

l High motivation and involvement from all

levels of staff l A series of improvements in work practices

AAddvviiccee ttoo ffuuttuurree aapppplliiccaannttss

l Ensure all 9 criteria are addressed and apply

for the DQAP firstl Involve middle and junior level staff

throughout the process, the energy they

generate is amazing

75

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

AAnn eennhhaanncceedd aapppprrooaacchh ttoo ssuucccceessssiioonnppllaannnniinngg

A resource that remains unique to an organisation

is its people. Given the criticality of good

leadership, we at HSBC Middle East Finance

Company set a goal of maintaining a dynamic

succession plan for our top management at a

strategic meeting three years ago. The approach

decided focuses on the development of a top

caliber team through giving junior staff

opportunities to formulate for themselves and

deliver their vision for the company. Exceptional

talent is identified and invested in through this

process, to take their place as future leaders.

An innovative programme was specifically

conceived and developed by HSBC Regional

Training Centre for the company along these

guidelines. Called the Officers Offsite Programme,

it has a clear rationale of improvement and

achievement and aims to provide an opportunity

for growth and recognition to all staff. Through the

various activities of the programme, people who

have leadership qualities and enthusiasm are

motivated to contribute their best to the company.

Held every year, the programme starts with a two-

day seminar. On the first day, management trainers

focus the programme on the range of opportunities

available for attendees to benefit in their own

careers through taking ownership to bring about

changes in the organization and intersperse this

with team building. By the end of the second day,

the attendees are asked to list suggestions which

they consider would be of great benefit in

improving customer service, employee satisfaction

and overall performance of the company. The

suggestions are grouped together into common

themes and the participants choose groups based

on their own value propositions.

Once back at the office, the different groups

organize their own internal sessions and meetings,

obtain input from their colleagues and present

their key recommendations to the top

management. They are given a period of three

months to do this. The groups are trained to use the

elements of RADAR: identify the results they

require, the approach they would like to adopt,

how and to what extent the approach will be

deployed and how they plan to monitor and assess

success. The methodology used is expected to be

robust and decision-making tools like cost benefit

analysis, fishbone analysis and GANTT charts are

employed to bring structure and clarity to their

analyses.

The top management give the go-ahead for

implementation at presentations made by the

groups with no delay, thus ensuring that

momentum is maintained and participants are

motivated to continue with their project work. This

is a key consideration in encouraging people to

contribute, as it makes clear to them that the

organisation respects their views and time.

The teams work on putting their proposals into

place over another three months. The programme

concludes with each team summarizing to the

senior management details of the new processes

and the benefits actually witnessed.

Future leaders are clearly identified throughout the

process. They take on the roles and responsibilities

of leading meetings, taking decisions and

communicating with other teams. They are the

ones with the beliefs and the commitment to follow

these through to completion.

The programme adds a different dimension to

succession planning, putting the spotlight on those

who have leadership ability, have the analytical

skills to understand drivers of performance and

have the enthusiasm to convince their colleagues

and implement their ideas. The new programme

we have adopted is a completely different take

from the earlier practice of choosing as our

successors those who had the most experience or

technical knowledge to run the job in their

managers’ absence.

The approach was first deployed by us during the

last quarter of 2005. A group of thirty individuals

attended the first Offsite session and formed teams

to research their key areas of interest.

Subsequently, these teams analysed various

options and obtained agreement on their proposals

through formal presentations to the top

management team in January 2006.

The topics the teams worked on dealt with

communication and training, improving process

efficiencies, ways to delight customers and

improving the MEFCO culture. Providing equal

opportunity for growth to the entire junior

management team, the programme showed actual

results in terms of their increased confidence and

ownership, quick and effective changes to policies

and processes and increased motivation of staff to

support improvement.

CCoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn

The need for enhanced staff communication

between senior management and staff members

was one concern addressed. The team’s

presentation noted that while there was a lot of

post-facto communication of subjects such as

financial results and new joiners, there needed to

be a forum to pro-actively share information on

planned strategic changes such as organisation

restructuring as well.

To address this, the team implemented a quarterly

Open House forum, giving the company staff an

opportunity to be updated on current strategy,

raise concerns and suggest improvements. Minutes

of the Open House are communicated across the

company and put up on staff notice boards. Plasma

screens are installed for showing weekly broadcast

messages by senior management.

Another initiative introduced is the use of feedback

forms, used to raise concerns on a one-on-one basis

with the Managing Director. Confidentiality is

maintained and answers to specific queries are

provided during team briefings.

TTrraaiinniinngg aanndd ddeevveellooppmmeenntt

A formal process for encouraging and recording

training across departments was introduced with

the objective of ensuring better understanding of

process flows as well as constraints that each

department worked under. A nomination and feed

back form was put into place and the officers met

with senior executives at the Bank’s Training and

Human Resource Departments to give staff credit

for this as additional achievements each year. A

process for drawing up a formal training plan by

department heads has been agreed, with staff

members getting the opportunity to enhance their

knowledge and build relationships with their

colleagues.

HSBC Middle East Finance Co. Ltd.

77

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Nominated Good Practice

IInnnnoovvaattiioonn aanndd pprroocceessss iimmpprroovveemmeenntt

With regard to improving processes, the

achievements include improving the turnaround

time for deal processing and reducing customer

waiting time through enhancing the limits of

authority for junior staff, changing a field on the

system to record the source of introducing new

business and amending the credit policy to

balance risk and reward for different types of

customers. The initiatives have generated

additional revenue of over AED250,000 per year.

Issues were analysed and specific actions

suggested and implemented for each area. A

training session for new joiners amongst sales staff

has been developed by the processing team to

ensure that customer delays due to policy errors

and lack of knowledge are minimised. The staff

designed the training material, delivers the

sessions and provides ongoing feedback to the

sales managers.

To ensure that the critical area of tracking and

responding to customer complaints was given due

attention, one particular team has taken on the

ownership for monitoring responses to all

complaints. This is a great improvement from the

previous method where complaints were

dispersed to all departments for their action.

The team also reviews these complaints for

changes in processes and takes on the onus of

implementing them, obtaining inputs and

approvals from different business heads on their

own.

To encourage innovation, monthly sessions similar

to staff focus group / coffee mornings have been

organized. The forum is used to highlight

problems and suggest solutions and a quarterly

summary is submitted to senior management on

achievements. Any process improvements

suggested and agreed are discussed with

concerned departments, piloted and then formally

communicated by the relevant department

manager. Another step forward has been a Wall of

Fame to record achievements : this has a

photograph of the staff member and is put up at all

branches.

BBeesstt pprraaccttiiccee

The results from the first Offsite programme more

than repaid the time that had been invested in it by

the management. Of those who had started the

programme, 16 participated actively and at the

culmination in July 2006, four people stood out as

exceptional individuals. The organisation

continues to invest in their future and provide

them

The success of our programme in terms of the

original objective for identifying the right kind of

successors, but also in terms of increasing

motivation and encouraging continuous

improvement, has ensured that we will continue to

deploy this best practice in the coming years..

79

2007

78

Profile

Company Profile - Main products or services

offered in the UAE (max. 400 words): Dubai Oil

Mills (DOM), commissioned in the year 2003, is the

flagship unit of Al Ghurair Foods engaged in the

extraction and marketing of quality Soybean and

Canola edible oils and protein rich animal feed by-

products. The importance of the project to the UAE

economy can be gauged from the fact that the

foundation stone of the project was laid by H.H.

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice

President and Prime Minister of UAE and the

Ruler of Dubai, in the year 2001. Being one of the

largest manufacturing facilities in the Middle East,

it has established itself as the largest supplier in the

region. The Dubai Oil Mills, which was initially

named as Al Ghurair Oil Mills, is a strategic

investment of Al Ghurair Foods that has put UAE

on the map as one of the major Soybean and

Canola oil supplier to the world. With a capacity to

crush 4000 tons of soybeans or 2800 tons of canola

per day, it is the largest and the most modern

crushing facility in the Middle East.

The plant was established with an investment of

AED 250 million using state of the art technology

to supply quality edible oil and meals. The plant

uses only the finest quality Soybeans and Canola

seeds imported from US, Australia, Canada,

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay etc. providing the

customers Oils and other products of

uncompromised quality. With a customer base

spread as far as Vietnam and Australia in the East

and France in the West, the plant within one year of

its commissioning was able to reach full capacity

utilization. Keeping in view the future business

potential the company is already implementing an

expansion plan for enhancing its capacity.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l It provides an opportunity for Self

Assessment.l The application process enables the

management to address each and every aspect

significant to the overall company

business.l It helps us to know our weaknesses and our

strengths. l It provides the self confidence required to

perform better.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Apply for the DQAP award as early as you can

(without waiting to achieve perfection) as you

will not lose anything but instead you will

know your weaknesses to improve upon and

your strengths to sustain in future thus the

entire process would help you to improve

continually. You will be a winner even if you

did not win DQAP/DQA in the first attempt.

Dubai Oil Mills Co. LLC

The variable cost in a crushing plant is the figure

that represents how efficient the plant is running

and this constitutes 50 to 60 % of the total

conversion cost. As shown, DOM is clearly in an

advantageous position in comparison with Bunge

Europe, the top worldwide crusher in oilseeds.

DOM is clearly better off for all the parameters.

These excellent values were possible through the

use of latest technology and by putting in place an

excellent team focused to improve the efficiencies

on a day to day basis.

CCuussttoommeerr FFooccuusseedd AApppprrooaacchh aatt DDuubbaaii OOiillMMiillllss

Dubai Oil Mills is the latest jewel in the crown of Al

Ghurair Foods. Being just three years old, it has

already made a name for itself as a technologically

advanced, world scale, multi product

manufacturing enterprise. It enjoys multi-million

dollar turnover and a market presence in over 25

countries.

Today, Dubai Oil Mills is a name to reckon with in

the world edible oil market. This has happened

because of the commitment of our people to

enhance and continually improve quality

standards in everything we do.

Our Chairman said, “We take pride in being

customer focused, socially responsible,

environmentally friendly, and in

the fact that we support

initiatives that enhance and

enrich the quality of life of the

people around us.” This is

basically the inspiring force that

keeps us improving continually

in whatever we do.

DDeessiirreedd RReessuullttss::

The Vision of DOM (Dubai Oil Mills) is to be the

Number 1 food business in the local market and a

preferred supplier in international market by being

world class in everything we do. This visionary

statement is the driving force for setting

exceptionally higher standards for ourselves and

challenging our own self to achieve world class

results through continuous improvement in

quality, productivity and customer services by

virtue of the state –of- the- art technology and

highly professional work force that we enjoy.

AApppprrooaacchheess AAddoopptteedd::

1. Benchmarking the best in class companies for

focused improvements.

2. Using Suggestion Schemes to encourage

improvements.

81

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

3. Flexible production processes to meet

customer requirements.

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt ooff AApppprrooaacchheess::

1. Benchmarking the best in class companies for

focused improvements.

DOM always benchmarks the best in class

companies, its competitors and the market leaders

for its own improvement. The benchmark

company ‘Bunge’ Austria was surveyed in the case

of canola by a plant factory visit to Austria. Bunge

Company is considered as the worldwide leader in

seed crushing. Good relations are maintained with

the benchmarked organizations, as information

exchanges are beneficial for the health of both

parties.

Plant Capacity MT/day 6000 3500 4000

Electricity consumption KW/H 35 37 39

Fuel/gas consumption Kg fuel/gas/T 23.5 26 19.5

Water consumption m3/T 0.5 0.6 0.37

Hexane consumption Lt/T 1 1.3 0.75

BungeArgentina

BenchmarkingParameters

Unit measure ADM Brazil

In case of Soybean extraction, most of the

parameters are better than that of the competitors,

except for electricity consumption. The climatic

conditions in the gulf and the strict regulations in

Dubai regarding emissions require more use of

chillers and to achieve environmental compliance,

use of multiple bag filters are needed for the

control and elimination of particles emission.

DOM

22.. UUssiinngg SSuuggggeessttiioonn SScchheemmeess ttooeennccoouurraaggee aanndd ffaacciilliittaattee iimmpprroovveemmeennttss..Suggestion Scheme is one approach that we in

DOM use for idea generation for carrying out the

improvement activities. Our Leaders are

personally involved in promoting innovative ideas

and improvement schemes. The management team

has created an environment of continuous

improvement through a suggestion scheme at the

Plant Capacity MT/day 1000 2000

Electricity consumption KW-H/T 70 62

Fuel/gas consumption MegaCal/T 170 142

Water consumption m3/T 0.55 0.45

Hexane consumption Lt/T 1.5 1.25

Bunge Austria(benchmark)

BenchmarkingParameters

Unit Measure

DOM

Benchmarking Bunge, Austria for Canola Seed extraction

Benchmarking Bunge, Argentina and ADM, Brazil for Soybean extraction

Dubai Oil Mills Co. LLC

83

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

plant level where all the DOM employees are

encouraged to suggest their improvement ideas in

their respective work areas. To facilitate this

process, exclusive computer access has been

provided for employees to log in and enter ideas

and suggestions. The suggestions given by the

employees individually or as team of members are

recorded in to the system. These records are used at

the time of annual appraisals , increments and the

promotions The suggestion activity is not

restricted to just the plant level but our CEO

initiated and heads a paralel suggestion scheme

called ‘STAR Suggestion scheme’ that encourages

employees to think and give suggestions out of the

box. This scheme is not just limited to the DOM

company but is deployed wide across the Al

Ghurair Foods group of companies that comprises

of 9 companies. To encourage the employees for

participating in the suggestion scheme and to keep

the employees motivated, the employees with best

suggestions are recognized and rewarded in the

annual iftaar party by the Chairman and the CEO.

33.. FFlleexxiibbllee pprroodduuccttiioonn pprroocceesssseess ttoommeeeett ccuussttoommeerr rreeqquuiirreemmeennttss..

The state-of – the art technology installed at the

DOM plant is capable of extracting oils from

different oil seeds like Soybeans and Canola to

yield Soya Oil, Canola Oil, Soya meal and Canola

meal. The meals are used in the animal feed

industries. To meet the growing customer

demands, the highly skilled and experienced

production staff has developed and improved

efficient skills of change-over of the production

from Soybeans to Canola and vice versa in the

shortest possible time of 12 hours which none of

the other companies in the world could achieve.

This has also resulted in improving the plant

capacity utilization from 33% in the year 2004 to

85% in the year 2006.

The following graphs demonstrate the the

achievement of both the significant parameters of

the production management.

Besides the flexibility in supply/ delivery options

Products Packaging and Quantity Options

Crude Oils 200litre drums 1 ton IBCContainers

10 Tons Flexitanks 40 Tons Container Any quantity ship loading

Meal for feeds 25kg bags7 1 Ton in Jumbobag

18-20 TonsContainer

24-26 TonsContainer

Any quantity shiploading

Our achievements in being able to shift from one

product to another in record timing of 12 hours has

put us in drivers seat as compared to our

competitors. We also improved in providing

flexibility to our customers in supply dates,

quantity and packaging options and above all a

better Competitive pricing.

All these have resulted in achieving enhanced

customer satisfaction as per the customer

satisfaction survey carried out in 2006 by an

external survey agency.

AAsssseessssmmeenntt aanndd RReevviieeww::

1. The performances against the bench marks are

reviewed periodically during every monthly

and quarterly meetings depending upon the

nature of the activity. The benchmarks are also

studied and verified through various sources

of information viz through personal contacts

and through the published reports and

magazines. The senior leaders kept close

watch on all the KPIs and KRAs. The

operational issues were reviewed and

resolved in the weekly operational meetings

lead by VP-Operations.

2. The suggestions received through the

suggestion schemes are analysed monthly and

implemented wherever applicable. The best

Dubai Oil Mills Co. LLC

and flexible pricing policy, DOM also provides

much wider flexibility in terms of packaging

options and quantity options as follows.

85

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

suggestions implemented are rewarded in the

annual iftaar dinner by the CEO.

3. The deserving employees are annually

recognised and rewarded for their suggestions

and performances.

Achievement: The improvements achieved as a

result of focused customer approach are manifold.

Significant achievement were achieved in terms of

sales volume which improved by 7% over the last

year, net profit improved from net loss of 22.8 M to

26.7 M net profit which shows a positive

turnaround of 49.5 M Dirhams. This excellent

business result was possible because we met our

customers expectations and served them to their

satisfaction. This can be well supported by the

findings of a neutral third party customer survey

which shows that the overall customer satisfaction

index achieved in the year 2006 was 82% against

the benchmark of 84% (as shown in the figure

below).

Learning: Customer focused approach has helped DOM to become a customer oriented company

where Customer Satisfaction has become one of the main corporate values to live with.

Dubai Oil Mills Co. LLC

87

2007

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Profile

Dubai Women’s College (DWC), which was

founded in 1989, has developed a formidable

reputation in Dubai, the UAE and internationally.

The College has more than two thousand four

hundred working graduates. The percentage of

recent graduates in employment ranges from more

than 70% to just fewer than 80% across Diploma,

Higher Diploma and Degree programs.

DWC’s mission is to provide a learning

environment for young women to ‘Practice the

Future’ by developing confidence, professional

excellence and an ethical commitment to

leadership roles in a rapidly developing local and

international economy.

The College provides a range of programs of study

from Diploma to Masters Level. Opportunities

available lead to qualifications in Business,

Communication Technology, Education, Health

Science, and Information Technology. These majors

have been developed in response to the demands

of the marketplace.

’Keeping Pace with Dubai’ is one of DWC’s

strategic priorities. This has been achieved through

developing new programs and enhancing existing

programs with international study tours and

student run businesses.

Some recent new programs:l MBA through Strathclyde University, UK;l Masters Degrees in Education and Health Care

Management in partnership with Deakin and

Edith Cowan Universities;l Higher Diploma for Paramedics in

partnership with Dubai Ambulance Center;l Advanced Diploma in Jewellery Business

Management in partnership with Damas and

the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for

Young Business Leaders;l Advanced Diploma in Insurance Services

Management, in partnership with the Higher

Insurance Committee;l Dental Nursing, in partnership with

Department of Health and Medical Services

(DOHMS);l Bachelor Degree in Early Childhood

Development, in partnership with the

University of Melbourne.

DWC is staffed by dedicated professionals from

more than 22 countries who provide a global

perspective on student learning. DWC has been

the subject of international reports by Cisco, Intel,

IBM and Apple for its exemplary use of

educational technology including development of

a wireless campus and student laptop learning.

The College regularly hosts international

conferences, and has instituted, in conjunction

with Mt. Holyoke College in the US, an active

Student Parliament.

DWC’s market is inclusive of plans to recruit high

school students and to produce nationals who can

successfully compete for jobs in today’s tough

global business environment in the UAE. To

guarantee such results, our student recruitment

process covers major high schools while DWC’s

courses assure our students have the most relevant

professional training before graduation. Most of

our graduates are employed in the government

and semi- government sectors with emphasis

given to increase employment in the private sector.

BBeenneeffiittss ooff aappppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaii QQuuaalliittyyAAwwaarrdd

l Improved capacity for quality assessment.l Team building in academic and support

service departments.l A process of achieving excellence through

identification of strengths and weaknesses.l Recognition of student, staff, partners and

college achievements.l Promote the culture of continuous

performance improvement measures across all

employees.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Appoint a dedicated coordinator to manage

the process.l Clearly communicate the purpose and benefits

of the application process to all staff.l Plan for long term business excellence

framework at the institutional level.l Involve everyone in the process of setting the

strategy and the implementation phases.l Reflect and self assess throughout the process.

Dubai Womens College

89

2007

88

Nominated Good Practice

IITT GGrraadduuaattee RReeccrruuiittmmeennttSSttrraatteeggyyMMiissssiioonn SSttaatteemmeenntt

Dubai Women’s College goal is to provide an

exceptional learning environment for young

Emirati women that enables them to “Practice the

Future” by developing:

l Confidencel Professional Excellencel Ethical Commitment

for leadership roles in a rapidly developing local

economy, characterized by Emiratization and

globalization.

SSttrraatteeggiicc DDiirreeccttiioonn

Linking to this Mission Statement, the primary

objective of the IT department is to induct

nationals into the IT workforce, both in the

Government and Private sector.

The key objective of this strategy is to develop

graduates who are technically skilled, confident

and are armed with a very professional attitude

towards their careers. Our industry partners are

vital to this process. We leverage our strong

industry ties to involve our partners very early into

the process. This knowledge and experience also

has a direct impact on our ability to tailor our

curriculum to the needs and demands of the

market.

We are building a source of skilled, motivated and

professional candidates. Our partners get the right

person for the right job who are ready to contribute

from day one and are already familiar with the

company’s culture and expectations. This, in turn,

reduces job attrition and therefore maximizes the

investment made by our partners in our students.

RReessuullttss PPllaannnneedd

To achieve the desired result of 100% employment

amongst our students, this program will increase

our students ‘employability’ and competitiveness

by enhancing their technical competencies with

leadership skills, business professionalism and

superior work ethics.

This program is a true ‘win-win’ proposition for

the employer, the college and the students.

Employers benefit by reducing their risk of hiring

incompatible employees while having the

opportunity of identifying, shaping and

monitoring the development of high achievers at

an early stage in the academic cycle. The college

achieves its objective of maximizing student

recruitment while forging new and valuable

relationships with the industry. In addition, the

student benefits by starting a promising career in a

familiar work environment with strong support

from industry mentors.

As a premier educational institution in the region,

one of the biggest challenges that we have is to

align our curriculum to reflect industry trends and

needs. To ensure industry satisfaction in our

student’s technical competencies, the strategy

should also provide avenue’s for industry

involvement in designing our curriculum to reflect

industry needs and trends. The plan is to reach out

to a wider community by using our existing

alumni to form new alliances to collaborate in this

strategy.

OOuuttccoommeess AAcchhiieevveedd::

As a result of the strategy, 95% of all students who

have participated in this program had jobs

immediately after graduation, 80% of whom had

actually started working even before graduation.

5% of graduates were unable to work due to health

restrictions or relocation to other emirates.

The strategy is student and employer focused.

Student progress is constantly evaluated and

industry feedback is utilized at every step of the

strategy. The milestones in the strategy are very

clearly defined and student progress in gaining

skills that enhanced employability was assessed

and rewarded. Industry partners involved in this

process are felicitated at the end of every academic

year.

PPQQAA AAnnaallyyssiiss aanndd RReeccoommmmeennddaattiioonnRReeppoorrtt ((SSttuuddeenntt FFeeeeddbbaacckk oonn IInndduussttrryyIInntteerrnnsshhiipp PPrroocceessss:: 22000055--0066))

This report includes an analysis and a summary of

22 surveys from final year IT students during their

internship period in the academic year 2005-06.

The names of the companies that were evaluated

and the student names are hidden for purposes of

privacy.

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

Q9

Q10

Q11

Q12

The work plan was discussed with me and my mentor at thecollege

The work plan was relative to my area of study

The work plan was challenging me to learn new skills

The work place had all the resources ready for me (H/W, S/W,others)

The team on the project was supportive and helpful

My mentor helped me to adapt to the new environment

The organization inspired me to achieve greater impact

The working environment was professional

The feedback process was fair

The job offer attends to my career progress

The job offer meets my expectations

The organization is recommended for future students

8 10 2 1 1

15 4 3 0 0

18 2 2 0 0

10 10 1 0 1

14 6 0 2 0

16 4 1 1 0

9 11 2 0 0

10 10 2 0 0

10 10 1 1 0

8 11 1 1 1

12 9 1 0 0

14 5 1 1 1

The statistics above indicates that the IT students

were well prepared for the final phase of the IT

recruitment strategy i.e. the work placement

period where they have to be placed in the targeted

organizations for more than 12 weeks. The

recommendation was to collaborate with more

organizations with proactive national training

policies in place.

One of the objectives is to increase private

industries in the country’s emiratization program

through voluntary participation (as opposed to

mandated quotas in other GCC states)

This strategy has introduced a healthy balance

between public and private sector organizations.

This has changed the mindset of our students

towards a more competitive and multinational

environment offered by most private sector

companies.

Dubai Womens College

Phase 1 - Career Induction

Program commences in Year 2

The objective of this phase is for

students to identify their target

employer and develop

relationships with key

personnel of the concerned

organization.

The Career Induction Program

comprises of five processes –

1. Student Profiling

2. Family Involvement

3. Industry Profiling

4. Field Trips to introduce

students to targeted

organizations

5. Research Projects with these

organizations to build student’s relationship with

the organization

Faculty mentoring is vital at this stage to ensure

that students are developing the necessary skills to

cope with the industry. We also identify possible

Industry Mentors at this stage of the process. Using

our Alumni network gives us a tremendous

advantage, as most of them are now successful

professionals in the industry. They effectively

bridge the gap between the academic and the real

world.

Phase 2 – Commences in Year-3, their

final year of graduation.

This phase has three vital processes – l Develop real life projects to enhance

technical and soft skillsl Job shadowing program at least

eight months prior to graduation to

implement systems at the client’s

site. Job interviews are conducted

during this periodl A four month internship program

prior to full time employment

The objective of phase 2 is to extend their

experience in dealing with customers. To

91

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

A salient feature of this strategy is a dynamic and

responsive course curriculum, which evolves in

line with industry needs and technology trends.

This is achieved by constant evaluation and

enhancement of our existing curriculum by our

industry partners who assess our projects as well

as mentor and advise our students.

The feedback from industry indicates their

satisfaction in our technical curriculum. We need to

add more business courses to our current matrix to

meet industry needs.

AAsssseessssmmeenntt aanndd RReevviieeww

The entire graduate recruitment framework is

dependent on a continuous process of review and

feedback.

l Student’s performance is internally reviewed

by faculty and externally by industry mentors.

Feedback from these reviews result in

enhancing both the individual development

plan of the students and in updating key

process where required.

l Faculty in turn, conduct bi-monthly reviews of

their students with department heads where

key challenges and critical success factors are

discussed.

l Best practices to enhance employment is

frequently shared amongst team members and

documented in department meetings.

l In addition to this, faculty also need to

document their individual progress in a

performance appraisal tool called the APET

[Action Plan and Evaluation Tool]. The

managers conduct a mid-year review on team

and individual performance.

l The framework is further supported by key

performance indicators for each process that are

constantly monitored to ensure that student

success is measured at all times.

FFuuttuurree PPllaannss aanndd TTaarrggeettss

l Develop an automated system to gather and

store business intelligence from student

alumni.

l Create a formal process of assigning

relationship managers to individual

corporate entities to

maximise our penetration in those

organizations.

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt AApppprrooaacchh

Our students attain a Higher Diploma in various

disciplines of IT after two years of specialization.

The strategy commences with Year 2 students, two

years before graduation.

The strategy is comprised of two key phases, each

of which has a number of processes. Phase 1 is

implemented in Year 2 and Phase 2 in the final year

of graduation.

further enhance their relationship with the

organization, students develop real-life software

systems that are assessed by their industry mentors

and, if successful, are deployed into commercial

operation. By taking them through the complete

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle),

students develop their business and technical skills

as well as vital soft-skills such as Project

Management, Teambuilding, Leadership,

Negotiation and Problem Solving. The relationship

is further enhanced with Co-teaching sessions with

Dubai Womens College

93

2007

92

Nominated Good Practice

TThhee ddiiaaggrraamm bbeellooww sshhoowwss tthhee rreellaattiioonnsshhiippbbeettwweeeenn tthhee vvaarriioouuss pprroocceesssseess

industry mentors on key topics of the curriculum.

This practice enables students to discuss and

analyze real-life implications of academic concepts.

By leveraging our existing relationships and

forging new alliances with strategic players in the

business community, we have built a more

concrete database of industry contacts. We have

also been able to make substantial inroads into the

private sector by building relationships and

becoming an integral part of the organization’s

recruitment strategy.

We have ensured that this process achieves

sustainability by constantly evaluating and

evolving our course curriculum in line with market

needs and trends and leveraging our ever-

increasing alumni network.

We believe that the industry does not employ our

students just because they are nationals. They

employ them because they are professionals.

95

2007

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Profile

Dubai Medical College was established on

August 1, 1986 as the first Medical College in the

Gulf by Al Haj Saeed Bin Ahmed Al-Lootah, the

well known business personality and visionary.

He is the first philanthropist in the UAE who

realized that the Emirate woman should play equal

role in the society by becoming professionals to

participate in the welfare of their respective

communities. It was initiated as a not-for-profit

social responsibility project of the S.S. Lootah

Group of Companies.

The first class of students graduated in May 1991.

With the re-organization of the Higher Education

Department in the UAE, in 1994, the Ministry of

Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE

accorded licensure to the DMCG. In the year 2000-

W.H.O. enlisted Dubai Medical College for Girls in

the March 2000 (7th) edition of World Directory of

Medical Schools as one of the recognized and

accredited medical schools.

Now, with nearly 600 graduates practising

medicine across the world and a campus that

includes professors and students from more than

25 different countries, DMCG has earned

reputation as one of the best centres for medical

education.

During the last few years, the standing of the

college in the community of Dubai has improved

tremendously. The increasing demand is apparent

from the substantial increase in the competition for

admission to the college. Considerable progress is

evident from several indicators of quality.

The college has received the support of the

DOHMS by opening its hospitals to train the

students in the clinical phase. The college in turn

has supplied the Department with interns and

residents, some of whom end up as distinguished

physicians and surgeons serving the Department.

This unique partnership between the private and

government sector has nurtured an environment of

education in the DOHMS Hospitals which function

as teaching hospitals of DMCG.

TTeeaacchhiinngg SSyysstteemmss

To meet the needs of the society, the doctors, who

graduate from the college, need to have a sound

basis in the knowledge, skills and ethics. Therefore,

a very strong integrated curriculum is provided

according to a structured teaching plan using the

most appropriate facilities. Moreover, self-learning

is inculcated in the student to prepare them to be

life-long learners.

The college follows a program of intensive

teaching, for a period of five years. The College

adopts a method of student centered learning by

which, students prepare themselves for discussion

circles, academic sittings and seminars with the

help of the teaching staff.

Clinical training is carried out in the hospitals,

wards, clinics and diagnostic facilities belonging to

the DOHMS, by the clinical faculty who are

appointed to teaching positions in the college.

After passing the final examination the newly

qualified doctors have to undergo an Internship

before being allowed to practice medicine

independently.

AAddmmiinniissttrraattiivvee aanndd oorrggaanniizzaattiioonnaallssttrruuccttuurree

In the early years, the final authority of the college

was the Board of Trustees, which formulated the

policies of the college.

A new organizational chart came into being with

the renewal of MOU with the DOHMS in 2004. The

new two tier administration board was formed-

The Executive board and the Faculty boards with

clear roles and responsibilities.

SSeellff AAsssseessssmmeenntt PPrroocceessss

The commitment to excellence and self assessment

for improvement is embedded in the mission of the

college. The accreditation norms of the Ministry of

Higher Education have been used as the self

assessment guideline ever since it was introduced

by government.

The mission, vision and objectives of DMCG

clearly reflect the educational role of the college

and its commitment to the faculty who are the

building blocks of the institution. DMCG has

developed a structure, which involves continuous

review, evaluation and modification. This has laid

the foundation for a very strong program,

consistently producing excellent outcomes year

after year.

BBeenneeffiittss ffrroomm AAppppllyyiinngg ffoorr tthhee DDuubbaaiiQQuuaalliittyy AAwwaarrdd

l The DQA application process helped our

college map its initiatives and results around

the nine criteria helped us see the linkages

between our initiatives and their results. l It was a very good internal communication

tool by which staff was able to understand

various initiatives in the college with greater

clarityl It built teamwork and real feeling of excellence

with in the staff of the college.l It was a bridging tool between education

institutions’ related process and business

process.

AAddvviiccee ttoo FFuuttuurree AApppplliiccaannttss

l Get commitment from Top Management team

early and start the self assessment process at

least a year in advance.l Undertake awareness session, training around

the DQA criterion so that there is uniform

understanding. l The use of self assessment should be clear to

every one and reasons why the company is

doing it should be communicated to all.l Create a project team for the application

process and empower them to carry out

improvements projects as they identify gaps

(improvement opportunities) within the

organization.

Dubai Medical College for Girls

97

2007

96

Nominated Good Practice

TThhee UUssee ooff RRAADDAARR iinn OOuuttccoommeessAAsssseessssmmeenntt PPrrooggrraamm ooff DDuubbaaiiMMeeddiiccaall CCoolllleeggee ffoorr GGiirrllss

In higher education, outcomes assessment usually

refers to a process used to gather, analyze and use

information for the purpose of continuous

improvement. In other words, it is the systematic

and ongoing process used by faculty and students

to gather, analyze, and use information to improve

student learning.

The outcomes assessment of DMCG was derived

from the need to clearly articulate and measure

accomplishment of goals. It has been found that

when assessment is done in a structured manner, it

is more effective in achieving continuous

improvement.

When viewed in a larger context, an educational

institution is a system of interlocking processes

that must all work to achieve a common set of

goals. Assessment should explore the contributions

other systems could make to improving student

learning. In 2003, we re-examined our traditional

assessment approaches in view of the quality

principle to emphasize prevention, not inspection.

BBaacckkggrroouunndd

From inception, DMCG had a specific program

with clear objectives and the culture of self-

improvement was present. As is found in most

institutions, the cascading of information from the

individual departments was not structured and

was not shared or linked together for the whole

institution. Hence improvements made at the

institutional level were not significantly effective in

achieving the goals. There was an overwhelming

need to measure if goals were achieved at the

process level as well as at the institutional level.

We therefore, introduced a well-defined and

integrated approach in charting a quality

management system that reflects an excellence-

based model. One of our goals was to develop a set

of guidelines for assessment so that we have a

common definition, work toward shared

understandings and document what the College’s

expectations are in regard to assessment.

We adopted a form of outcomes assessment

program, which has been followed by many

educational institutions abroad to measure student

learning outcomes. The difference is that our

program extended it to the key processes and

departments of the college using SMART

objectives. In addition, it was designed to ensure

that the information is fed to the College Strategic

Planning process.

AApppprrooaacchh

The College has appointed an Institutional

Effectiveness Unit for the purpose of monitoring

this process. The objective of this unit is to

emphasize the results of education and to focus on

the extent to which the institution uses assessment

information to re-evaluate goals, to make essential

improvement, and to plan for the future.

The following measures were taken to ensure

systematic assessment of outcomes.

l Organising units with clear accountability

Each key process of the college is managed by

a team of faculty members. These are

designated as functional units. The

departments of academic subjects form the

instructional units.

l Collective Alignment with institutional goals

The purpose of assessment should be aligned

with an institution’s mission. The worth of

alignment seems self-evident, but lack of

shared focus and direction probably

represents the most serious obstacle that

higher education institutions face today.

Hence we laid emphasis on aligning the goals

and objectives of the units with that of the

college. We would expect the specificity of the

learning outcomes to increase as we move

from the macro to the micro level.

l Developing and sustaining competencies of

people to perform assessment efficiently

The competencies of people responsible for

the units were developed through several

hours of training, leadership meetings and co-

ordination meetings. This enabled them to

understand their processes, to do objective-

setting and devise methods of measurement. It

will also help them to identify and prioritize

improvement opportunities through self-

assessments using results of outcomes

assessments.

l Cascading of objectives from units to

institutional level

The assessment carried out by the individual

departments should be integrated and fed to

the strategic planning process of the college.

The College evaluates the effectiveness of the

program at two levels. Therefore, assessment

of institutional effectiveness may be broadly

divided into

1. Assessment of Effectiveness of Each Unit

2. Assessment of Effectiveness of the Program

or Institution

Each Unit revises and formulates new objectives

that support the institution’s purpose and goals.

Intended outcomes are formulated from the

objectives and procedures implemented to

evaluate the extent to which these goals are being

achieved in each unit. The results of the

evaluations are used to formulate plans for the next

semester. These reports are summarized in unit

annual reports.

The same steps are followed by Institutional

effectiveness Unit in the case of college-wide

performance indicators. Additional inputs for

college-wide assessment come from the units’

outcomes assessment forms and annual reports.

The IE unit collects the annual reports prepared by

the units. In accordance with these and other

outcome measures it prepares an outcomes

assessment matrix. The actions planned will be fed

to the strategy review report of the college.

The loop is closed by communicating with the

individual units for implementation and goal-

setting for the next year. The documentation and

institution-wide cascading of this information from

micro level to the macro level and then vice versa

has been very effective.

Fig 1. Cascading of objectives using Outcomes

assessment (SP-Strategic Planning, IE- Institutional

Effectiveness Unit)

Fig. 2 Outcomes Assessment Program of DMCG

DDeeppllooyymmeenntt

DMCG has deployed the Outcomes assessment

Program through the Institutional Effectiveness

Unit (IE Unit) from early 2004. The departments or

instructional units perform assessments every

semester and while the functional units every year.

Analysis is done by the process owners using

appropriate tools and where objectives are not

achieved, they carry out root cause analysis and

improvement action plans are suggested in the

Dubai Medical College for Girls

99

2007

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Nominated Good Practice

Outcomes Assessment Report.

Each unit forwards their summary as annual

reports to the Institutional Effectiveness Unit.

The Outcomes assessment matrix tabulates all the

steps of assessment at the institutional level. The

action plans are now used for reviewing the

Strategic Plan for the coming year.

MMeetthhooddss uusseedd ffoorr ppeerrffoorrmmiinngg aasssseessssmmeenntt

1. The most basic component of any institution

of higher education is student learning. Hence

groups. However, what education strives to satisfy

is not the student, but the student’s lifelong need

for knowledge and skills.

3. DMCG engages in a number of assessment

activities at the institutional level for outcomes

assessments. Some indicators are specifically used

for institutional levels and others for unit levels.

The institutional assessment relies on information

gathered centrally through the Institutional

Effectiveness Unit.

The goal of centralizing some of the assessment

efforts is to avoid redundancy, reduce overall

workload and to capitalize on available

information sources. The following table

summarizes current and projected information

sources.

RReevviieewwiinngg tthhee eeffffeeccttiivveenneessss::

The outcomes assessment process is systematically

reviewed and improved periodically. Every OA

form is reviewed by the Chief academic officer

who also assigns faculty members to do peer

review (audit) of the submitted document using a

checklist to assess if they are complying with the

SMART criteria. These audits reports are analyzed

by the IE unit in the context of effectiveness in

achieving the mission and vision of the college.

Fig 3. Outcomes Assessment Cycle for Departments

many objectives are related to student

learning outcomes.

2. Quality systems place tremendous stress

on understanding the needs of

“customers”— students and stakeholders in

higher education — and finding out whether

those needs are being met, or satisfied. So we

had to confront the meaning and

measurement of sometimes slippery and

educationally unfashionable concepts like

satisfaction. Perception measures are

evaluated using Questionnaires and focus

The IE unit collates the information in the annual

reports and prepares an Outcomes assessment

matrix at the institutional level. The efficacy of

reviewing the effectiveness of the process

framework in delivering the organization’s policy

and strategy can be elucidated in this matrix

prepared by the IE unit.

The DMCG outcomes measures are being

reviewed on an ongoing manner through the

Institutional effectiveness process. The report of

the IE department is released as quarterly reports

and then later complied in the annual report. The

strategic review process along with the situation

analysis report takes this into consideration while

reviewing and updating the strategy.

Results: The process transparency that set in

helped change the viewpoint of members towards

the organization, thus bringing about desired

results.

A similar outcomes assessment model has been in

use in various institutions of Higher Education.

We have used this model to provide a framework

to fit all levels of the organization and coordinate

the network of institution-wide assessments and

2. Acquisition ofknowledge in the fieldof medicine andsurgery to a level thatenables them to pursuetheir profession withability and distinction

2.1. DMCG graduatesmust demonstrateknowledge of basicand clinical medicalsciences.

2.2. DMCG graduatesshould have the skillsand attitude necessaryto use the medicalknowledge effectivelyas a physician.

2.1.1. 80% of ourstudents will obtain agrade of “GOOD” orhigher inexaminationsevaluated by externaland internalexaminers.

2.2.1. 90% of DMCGgraduates shouldobtain a grade of“VERY GOOD” orhigher and 40%should get “Excellent”in theinternship program.

1. Analysis ofcumulative resultsof M.B.B.S course.

1. Analysis ofInternship report ofDMCG graduatesby DOHMS in thelast 5 years.

Everyyear

Everyyear

83.4% of studentsobtained Good orhigher grades.

All internsobtained betterthan “VERYGOOD” grades.Out of them47.1% haveobtained“EXCELLENT”grades. (See attached Fig:at the end of thearticle)

Maintain thesame methodsof teaching.

Improvedteaching planwith greaterutilization oftime.

Encouragestudentresearch.

ProvideContinuingMedicalEducation forInterns.

Fig 4: A part of the Outcomes Assessment Matrix of DMCG as an example (abridged for clarity)

ResustsCollege Mission Program Objective Intended Outcome Methods/Instruments

Periodicity Action

Dubai Medical College for Girls

101

2007

100

Nominated Good Practice

use it to improve the college. We are proud to have

achieved the difficult task of getting people to buy

in to the idea and developing their competencies in

this area.

A number of constructive changes have been made

in the college as a result of such a program.

Fig. 5 Percentage results of DMCG graduates in

internship at DOHMS

Fig. 6 Average Student satisfaction scores of 1-5

calculated as a percentage of maximum possible

score.

Fig. 7 Average Student satisfaction scores of 1-5

calculated as a percentage of maximum possible

score