BY MIKE BOYER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Lost among the contributors to the economy's health over the last decade has been U.S. businesses' commitment to quality improvement, says the head of one of Cincinnati's oldest management-consulting firms.
"There's no question in my mind the economy is in the shape it is today in no small part due to what's been done over the last 20 years with regards to quality," said Michael F. Guibord, principal of the Cumberland Group.
"Look at your car today," he said. "Compare the car you drive today with the auto you drove in 1975."
The West Chester-based Cumberland Group has a unique perspective on the evolution of America's quality-improvement thinking. Begun as the in-house quality and productivity staff at then-Armco Steel in the early 1980s, Cumberland - spun off as a privately held consulting organization in 1988 - has literally grown up with the quality movement in the United States.
"When we started this, industry was interested in a quick fix. Lets just put in quality circles and everything will be better," said Daniel J. Sack, one of the firm's original associates.
"It's taken this amount of time to evolve into a new way of doing business."
Over the last two decades the buzzwords on quality improvement have changed from quality circles to total quality management to world class manufacturing, but Mr. Guibord said the fundamentals haven't changed.
One of the keys to improved quality then, as now, is teamwork and getting employees involved. But Mr. Guibord said teamwork may be increasingly threatened in the future by the evolution of telecommuting and concepts such as the virtual office, which allow organizations in different locations and time zones to function as one entity.
"One of the challenges in the future is how organizations will adapt to the virtual office," he said.
"One of the dangers I see in the future is you never have to talk to a real person. How many organizations do you call today and you get voice mail? I believe successful organizations in the future are those that keep their people personality, if you will."
Mr. Sack said, "Technology will ease and improve communication, but the challenge is: Is it better communication?"
Employee involvement was a key part of Cumberland's approach from the start.
Peter Trepanier, the now-retired Cumberland chairman who led the formation of the organization as an Armco executive, was a believer in getting the work force involved.
"When Pete would talk to some of the (quality) gurus," Mr. Sack said, "he'd ask tough questions of them - things they'd never thought of before that revolved around employee involvement. He'd get into some healthy arguments with folks who hadn't thought of that before."
As the emphasis on quality improvement has grown so has the number of firms offering expertise.
"What's made us a little unique is that we were all experienced managers that had been there and done it in our own operations," said Mr. Guibord, who started at Armco as an engineer. "We had instant credibility. We could say,'I know exactly what you're facing. I know your fears.' "
Cumberland Group doesn't follow any particular approach in its consulting work. It's typically designed around the organization's needs.
"Our approach is leadership needs a vision of where it wants to go," Mr. Guibord said. "You have to have some way of determining where you are now, and you need to involve your work force."
Over the last decade, the Cumberland Group has grown from 11 principals and a half-dozen staffers to a staff of 30 principals and associates who serve as consultants, planners, facilitators and project managers.
Its client list includes national organizations from General Motors to NASA. Local clients include Milacron Inc., Hixson Architects & Engineers and Middletown Regional Hospital. The firm also has offices in Chicago, Albuquerque, N.M., Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, D.C.
