Food for Thought

May 2006 
Could an effective QMS have prevented the U.K. Home Office Foreign Prisoners release fiasco? Could an effective QMS have prevented the U.K. Home Office Illegal Immigrants fiasco ? On being questioned about this, the then Home Secretary John Reid said "Our system is not fit for purpose. It is inadequate in terms of its scope, it is inadequate in terms of its information technology, leadership, management, systems and processes".
 

June 2006 

Could an effective QMS have prevented the U.K. company Cadbury recalling million chocolate bars from all the stores amid fears of salmonella poison contamination ?

Late 2007

Could responsible corporate governance through effective use of tools such as Quality Management Systems (QMS) as well as effective regulatory bodies have prevented the U.K. building society Northern Rock fiasco ?

24th January 2008   

Last week, three teenagers were convicted of murdering Gary Newlove, 47, who died in an attack outside his home in Cheshire, England, U.K. after being set upon by drunken youths. "While a small proportion of young people commit crime, some of them go on to become prolific offenders and cause great suffering and misery in our communities," the Chief Constable of Essex police said in a statement. "It is vital that we have processes in place to identify these young people early in their criminal careers and develop the best youth justice practice to divert them from crime into more positive activities and lifestyles".

5th February 2008

Bank of France governor Christian Noyer endorsed the government's criticism of Societe Generale (SocGen) on Tuesday as the man the bank blames for its record trading losses spoke out against his former employer. On January 24, SocGen unveiled 4.9 billion euros (3.6 billion pounds) of losses which it said were caused by rogue deals executed by Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year old junior trader at the French bank. Noyer said last week he warned SocGen less than a year ago to improve its market control systems. French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said France would seek stricter risk controls for financial institutions and impose far tougher penalties on banks that failed to police them effectively.

July to November 2008                                                                                                                                           

Could responsible corporate governance globally through effective use of tools such as Quality Management Systems as well as effective regulatory bodies have prevented the global meltdown of financial institutions, moving the world towards financial Armageddon ?

Late November 2008 (Mumbai, India terrorist attack kills over 150 innocent people)

Could an effective communication system communicating known warnings delivered to the right places, to the right people, at the right time have prevented or reduced casualties ?