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College sets up chair for quality guru Dr Juran

A declaration of Intent in this regard was signed yesterday at the Dubai Police Headquarters by Lt-Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, and Dr James Harrington, a noted TQM personality and Chairman of the Advisory Board of e-TQM College, on behalf of Dr Juran.

The Chair will serve as an effective catalyst for educating and developing managers in all sectors of the Middle East and North African (MENA) economy.

The ceremony also featured the announcement of "James Harrington Best Thesis Award" for the best body of research written about TQM issues in the region.

Besides James Harrington, the ceremony was attended by Mohammed Zairi, Dean of e-TQM College and Head of European Centre for TQM, and Mohammed Mansour Al Awar, Director of the e-TQM for Total Quality and Performance Management in Dubai.

Lt-Gen. Dhahi Khalfan said: "It is an honour to associate ourselves with the work and philosophy of one of the most respected figures in the field of TQM. We will use the Juran Chair as a prize for the improvement of society and for creating better understanding between people, by exchanging the experiences of quality and transfer of best practices. It is our goal to promote the use of TQM in the Arab world through awareness, education and advisory interventions in both public and private sectors."

Dr Al Awar said: "The chair will serve as an effective catalyst for educating and developing managers in all sectors of the Middle East and North African (MENA) economy.”

The idea of establishing the Juran Chair was first discussed by the e-TQM College Advisory Board Members during a meeting in 2003, and later Dr Juran was officially approached. However, Dr Juran took seven months to give his consent, during which he engaged the services of the Juran Institute and an outside agency for e-TQM before granting his approval.

Dr Harrington commented: "The establishment of the Juran Chair is a significant step taken in the direction of implementing the principles of Total Quality Management in the Arab World. The Chair will go a long way in plugging the prevalent knowledge gap due to the implementation of TQM principles in the region that are bred elsewhere in the world, by generating indigenous knowledge in TQM, through fundamental and applied research. The Juran Chair will enable its principles that are native to the Arab World and uniquely attuned its cultural realities."

The e-TQM College has 39 enlisted MBA students and are expected to graduate in 2005. Dr Al Awar also mentioned that they have received several applications for the January and they have accepted 25 for the upcoming semester.

"I believe electronic education is the education of the future. That is why several countries are taking this step into consideration," he said.

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