- Peter Grossi (2023) Artificial Intelligence, presentation to the CQI Slides, September 2023
A presentation given to the Charterered Quality Institute (Wales) introducing Artificial
Intelligence to an on-line audience of managers.
- Grossi, P.C. (2022) The Cashless
Society
This report looks into the prospect of the UK becoming a cashless society.
Over a number of years, but with increasing frequency, many articles have been published on this subject, and a
selection of these are reviewed to determine
the various viewpoints, pros and cons. No doubt there are many more commercially confidential reports considered
by financial institutions, but these are not
available for review by the author.
- Peter Grossi (2022) Miniature Railway magazine issue 57, Autumn 2022 "Ultrasound Wireless Signals" Front cover
The article is extracted from a report on developing a robust system for measuring the speeds of miniature (ride-on)
railway trains. Detecting trains reliably with only track-mounted equipment is a perpetual problem across the world. Various
solutions have been tried but have not been entirely satisfactory.
The report provides technical details of an ultrasound-based solution which is published in the Projects section of this website.
- Peter Grossi (2019) A Mechanical Horse project, presentation to the CMES Slides, September 2019
A presentation given to the Cardiff Model Engineering Society introducing the design and demonstration of a
50% scale mechanical horse leg. This is based on a 4-jointed architecture with artificial tendons permitting
realistic movement using only two motors.
- Grossi P.C. and Smith, R (2014) "Creative Adaptations", Quality World, June 2014: pp 30-37
Following the dramatic rule changes in Formula 1 this season, this article looks at how such changes
can help the less well funded teams to compete against the leading marques. A Causal Loop Diagram is used to
illustrate the iterative relationships between sponsorship, funding, creative opportunities and race results.
- Nasir, U and Grossi, P.C. (2013) "Strong management is the key to Lean", QW Express, March 2013
Shows that the problems with improvement initiatives so often experienced, can be overcome if the
programme is addressed from the position of sound management instead of textbook process.
- Smith, R and Grossi, P.C. (2013) "V for Victory", Quality World, January 2013: pp 22-27
A look at how Formula 1 technology and supercar innovations influence the mainstream. System-V is
discussed as an example of a new generation of engineering development process control systems that meet the
demands of parallel and concurrent development in a virtual environment.
- Grossi, P.C. (2011) "Driving Down Quality With Costs", Quality World, January 2011: p 10
Defining the word "Downgeneering" in relation to the unfortunate trend in the motor industry to
sacrifice product quality, as evidenced by the recent product recall incidents among top global marques.
- Grossi, P.C. (2010) "Flushed With Success", Quality
Progress, September 2010: pp 34-39
While implementing ISO9001, ISO14001 and Lean, the author has worked with a number of engineering
companies that
use oils and other biotoxic materials. With increasing attention to the environment, through legislation as well
as social pressure,
safe disposal of these materials is of mounting concern. The disposal problem is related to the quantities
required, not only of the
materials themselves but also of the agents used to clean the equipment. So this is a situation where
environmental responsibility
and commercial advantage are entirely compatible as they converge on a single requirement to minimise the use of
cleaning agents.
This article shows that great savings can be made by thinking carefully about the effectiveness of cleaning and
the efficiency of
use of cleaning agents. It has shown that, with some basic mathematics, coupled with a willingness to invest in
some inexpensive,
re-usable tools, a substantial difference can be made to both a company's cost base and its ecological footprint.
- Grossi, P.C. (2010) "Why Continuous Improvement Initiatives Fail", Quality World, July 2010: pp 32-35
Continuous improvement has become firmly established as a necessary strategy for the success, even the
survival, of
most organisations. It can take a number of forms, such as building on the principles of kaizen, total quality
management, ISO
management standards and lean. There are innumerable textbooks and training courses prescribing and describing
continuous improvement
in one form or another and of course they generally cite favourable case studies. However, case studies don't
necessarily represent
the whole truth. Much the same problem arises with seminars and presentations: "successful" projects often turn
out to be incomplete
or a projection of anticipated results not yet achieved. This article analyses survey data from a LinkedIn
discussion group, and
if we take away the lessons that this survey teaches us we will have already gone a long way towards improving the
liklihood of a
successful outcome.
- Grossi, P.C. (2009) "Cruise to Success", Quality
World, August 2009: pp 34-38
While large companies can afford to employ an IT department, this is not often the case with small-
and
medium-sized enterprises. For large companies it should not be a problem to integrate administrative processes
with internet resources,
but SMEs usually keep internet resources separate. But for one SME in the leisure sector this was beginning to get
in the way of efficient customer relationships.
For a successful internet strategy the company took a step back from the detail and pictured the whole
customer/administration loop,
both as seen by the company and by the customer. This picture then had to be matched or overlaid by a robust and
reliable implementation that
focused on the business issues with minimum technical distraction.
- Grossi, P.C. (2009) "Prepared for Battle", Quality
Progress, June 2009: pp 18-23
The current condition of the global economy has many organizations scrambling to cut costs by
any means necessary. During these difficult times, there is less money circulating, income is harder to maintain,
and there is
increasing pressure from customers to lower prices. What organizations need to keep in mind, however, is that
while the impact of a recession may be significant from a psychological perspective, in reality the application of
sound quality
management principles has a much more significant effect on an organization�s success than the state of the
economy.
- Grossi, P.C. (2009) "PDCA or K9P? Even my dog can manage PDCA", Quality World, March 2009: p 14
Discussing the simple and obvious virtues of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and how it resonates with
natural intuition.
- Grossi, P.C., Rowlands, H. and Harwood, D.J. (2006) "Modelling Organisational Performance Using Stakeholder
Objectivity", Presented at Performance Management Association Conference, Henley, 2006
A number of models exist to help managers measure and control the performance of their organisations.
Among the most widely used are the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence model, and the
Balanced
Scorecard. This paper looks at those and other models, as well as standard accounting measures, and considers
their
weaknesses from performance management and modelling viewpoints. Taking these issues in relation to stakeholders,
a set
of criteria is established for a more effective performance modelling system. A multi-layer model is then
presented, which
is tested for compliance with the proposed criteria.
- Grossi, P.C., Harwood, D.J. and Rowlands, H. (2005) "Culture Club", Quality World, September 2005
The freedom, or lack of it, to discuss cultural issues in an organisation is an important feature of
the
cultural mechanism as it solidifies cultural development and can lead to the perpetuation of inappropriate beliefs
and behaviours. This is plainly in direct contradiction to the widely accepted requirement of a management system
that
is continually improved by feedback and review.
- Grossi, P.C., Harwood, D.J. and Rowlands, H. (2005) "Determining Organisational Success Through Stakeholder
Analysis", Presented at Philosophy of Management 05, St. Anne's College, Oxford, 2005
Financial factors, such as turnover and return on investment, are found not to be reliably predictive
and
don't usefully apply to not-for-profit organisations. This paper is based on the premise that the success of any
organisation depends on its ability to create value, and that value extends beyond the expectations of
shareholders
into a much broader range of interested parties, or stakeholders. These therefore have legitimate claims on the
management
focus of the organisation, and these claims have to be reconciled and balanced. Such a balance, coupled with the
measurable expectations of each stakeholder group, can be defined as a structure for measuring overall
performance. By
deploying this as part of a strategic feedback loop, problems and opportunities can be identified early and
addressed
promptly. These concepts are supported by field research described in this paper.
- Grossi, P.C., Harwood, D.J. and Rowlands, H. (2005) "The Stakeholder Model as a Performance Standard", Presented
at British Academy of Management Annual Conference, Said Business School, Oxford, 2005
The research reported in this paper discusses the nature of stakeholders, and how their relationships
can
be developed as a general model for a quantifiable framework of organisational values. A standardised list of
stakeholder
groups is defined, and a method of determining the relative importance of those groups is reported. The results
and
analysis of a field sample comprising a widely varying selection of organisations demonstrates the feasibility of
this
method. It is found that, while organisations vary greatly in their relationships with the different stakeholder
groups,
the field research indicates that it can be used as a structure for defining measurable strategic objectives for
organisations of all types. The model is therefore found to be robust and can be applied generally. The model is
further
developed into a structure for defining operational performance indicators which supports a new method of
deploying
strategy within a process oriented organisation.
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