Slavko Dolinsek

Implementation of the ISO 9001: from QMS to business model

Purpose – The ISO 9001 quality management systems standard is widely accepted around the world. This is the standard that is also widely acquired by companies in Slovenia, where the number of certificates per million inhabitants can be compared with France, Canada, Germany or Finland. Motivation for the introduction of this standard differs considerably and is most often connected with demands, requested by customers in supply chains. Companies that implemented the standard keep asking the question whether it was worth it to maintain the quality system and what added value it brought. Based on the empirical analysis, this contribution proves that positive effects can be noticed in different business activities stemming from the implemented quality system. In addition, the research confirms that all advantages are strongly connected with the sufficient positive energy of employees or with the satisfactory level of maturity of the quality system.Design/methodology/approach – Empirical research has been done...

Competitiveness and performance development: an integrated management model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the usefulness of the combination of the European Foundation for Quality Management excellence model and the balanced scorecard integrated into the management model for competitiveness and performance development.Design/methodology/approach – The presented model is the result of a business research where comparative analysis of the two models has been carried out. Both models have been thoroughly studied from different points of view. Such an approach enabled one to define the strengths, weaknesses and similarities of the two models.Findings – On the basis of the robustness of both models a combination was formed integrated into the management model, which is likely to be better, more effective and simpler to use in practice, and which will support an increase in competitiveness and performance development.Research limitations/implications – Within the research the aim has been focused on close research into interactions presented in the integrated managem...

In a search for competent engineers… Competence framework in the field of sustainable manufacturing

In response to a growing need to provide engineers with knowledge and competences in the field of sustainable manufacturing, this paper will present the preliminary results of the ongoing research within the European FP7 Integrated Project TARGET on competence identification and development. The main objective of this paper is to present the developed competence framework in the field of sustainable manufacturing. The proposed framework can assist engineering education institutions to accommodate their curriculum and education programs so that graduating engineers will be able to function effectively in complex environments meeting future sustainability requirements and objectives in manufacturing. It can furthermore serve as a starting point for defining relevant building blocks for designing technology enhanced learning environments for rapid competence development.

Scenario planning for climate strategies development by integrating group Delphi, AHP and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps

A hybrid approach to scenario planning by integrating group Delphi method, AHP (analytic hierarchy process) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps is proposed in the paper. The group Delphi method is employed to help group of experts to identify which worldwide forces have a major impact on climate related issues and how they interact together. In the second phase is assessed the value range that different variables of the proposed system can achieve and the impact that they have on each other. Assessment of the impact is done by use of the multiplicative AHP. During this phase the expert group also identifies which mathematical function (e.g. linear, sigmoid, concave, convex etc.) most properly describes relation between different forces. Based on this data a fuzzy cognitive map is developed as a base for a dynamic simulation of the world climate development. The simulation aims to serve as a source of guidelines about future organisational and technological changes, which can deliver a superior competitive position based on sustainable development strategy.