Gregory H. Watson

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION
Quality Renaissance – A New Definition for the Coming Age
The formal definition of quality has evolved since the time of Aristotle.  At times it has been an abstract definitions while at other times it has been a practical definition.  Sometimes the definition has focused on objectivity while at other times it has been subjective.  The problem is that the word “quality” is both a noun and an adjective – both a subject (an actual entity) and also a characteristic of a noun.  Dealing with this problem has unleashed a myriad of definitions.  However, in modern times – since 1987 – and the emergence of three approaches to quality (as embodied in the ISO9000 standard, Business Excellence and the Lean Six Sigma movements) there has been a conceptual convergence on the meaning of quality.  In this keynote address, Mr. Watson will present an integrated approach to quality definition that combines the concepts of quality as a disciplined process with the idea of quality as the characteristics of products and services.  He will trace the historical roots of these definitions and present a consolidated model that merges the processes of doing quality and being quality to present a new challenge for the future – stimulating the emergence of a renaissance in quality.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mr. Watson is a quality consultant with over 40 years’ experience in technical and managerial quality applications. He has served in a leadership capacity in the global quality organizations of Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer and Xerox prior to starting a consulting career in 1994. His clients have included many of the world’s leading organizations: Nokia Mobile Phones, Toshiba, ExxonMobil, RIM, ABB, and Monsanto are a few of the more well-known companies. Mr. Watson has been an active volunteer for quality-related groups and he is a past-Chairman and Fellow of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), past-Chairman and Honorary Member of the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) as well as Fellow and past International Senior Vice President for the Institute for Industrial Engineers. Mr. Watson has received over 30 international awards, including the first award to a foreigner of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) Deming Distinguished Service Award (Overseas); ASQ Distinguished Service, Crosby and Lancaster Medals; IAQ Kondo, Massing and Founders Medals; American Productivity and Quality Center’s Grayson Medal, Russian Organization for Quality’s Ilyin Medal, and the Gold Medal of the Finnish Society for Quality. Mr. Watson is the author or editor of ten books and has published over 200 papers on topics related to quality. He currently resides with his family in Espoo, Finland and teaches Lean Six Sigma in the Scandinavian and Baltic states.