Category: News

Our Country Manager in India, Daniel Ben-Ezra, participated in a panel discussion recently at the Dutch Ambassador’s residence in Delhi.

Daniel represented Pro QC and discussed conducting business in India, including the cultural differences between the Netherlands and India.

The panel discussion took place in front of a delegation of business people from the Netherlands. As the World Bank notes, India has increased in the ranks for a number of key economic indicators, including starting a business. The current leadership of India is implementing sweeping changes to encourage international business in India, from privatization to the liberalization of trade.

A few resources related to doing business with India include:

• World Bank Group
• India Business Etiquette & Culture 
• 20 Cultural Norms You Should Know
• Managing Quality in India w/ 3PQ (Pro QC Newsletter article) 
• Executive Planet: India

(Daniel Ben-Ezra is the gentleman to the left of the man standing. The Dutch Ambassador, Mr. Alphonsus Stoelinga, is the 2nd person to the from the person standing.)

We attended ASQ’s Joint Technical Communities Conference in Orlando, FL this week.  In addition to attending some really insightful and valuable sessions by impressive quality industry leaders, we enjoyed participating in the panel discussion related to SR and the Update of Risk in the New ISO Management Systems Standards.

Risk is highlighted in the recently issued ISO 9001:2015.  Identifying opportunities over threats is inherent. Preventative thinking is thoughtfully applied.

“One of the key changes in the 2015 revision of ISO 9001 is to establish a systematic approach to risk, rather than treating it as a single component of a quality management system.

In previous editions of ISO 9001, a clause on preventive action was separated from the whole. Now risk is considered and included throughout the standard.

By taking a risk-based approach, an organization becomes proactive rather than purely reactive, preventing or reducing undesired effects and promoting continual improvement. Preventive action is automatic when a management system is risk-based.”

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Utilities are the largest variable expense faced by business owners.  In fact, “energy consumption by heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems accounts for roughly 40 percent of total building energy consumption, and in turn, buildings account for 35 percent to 40 percent of total worldwide energy consumption.  Thus, HVAC energy consumption in commercial buildings is a key contributor to total global energy consumption.”

Considering energy use in particular, organizations have an opportunity to incorporate and realize significant savings and other benefits associated with a proactive audit and preventative maintenance plan. Benefits include:

“Every man lives by exchanging.” ~Adam Smith

On average, almost everyone has witnessed the birth of two nations each year of his or her existence. So, if you are 50 years old, then about 100 new countries will have been created since your birth. Membership of the United Nations (UN) grew from 51 original members in 1945 (there were 74 nation-states at that time) to 191 in 2002.

Did you know?

Around 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. There are over 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers of virtually every nationality. (Source)

The top 10 traders in merchandise trade accounted for a little over half (52%) of the world’s total trade in 2013. The top 10 traders in world commercial services represent half of the world’s total trade in commercial services. (Source)