September 1996 € Volume 6 € Number 9
Letters
To the editor:
I recently read an article in a major metropolitan newspaper that reported
the detailed account of a company's effort to win the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award. In four different sentences the author misspelled Baldrige
as "Baldridge." I discounted the misspelling of the late Secretary
of Commerce's last name as one that is easy to slip by the best of editors.
I was really surprised to see the same error occur in APICS-The Performance
Advantage.
The June 1996 edition of our magazine features an article (page 36) about
agile response. The beginning paragraph mentions ... "You have Baldridge-ized
the organization ..." There it is again, that second "d"
that does not belong in Baldrige. Some readers will obviously question this;
they are invited to review the definition of the national quality award
as found on page 47 of the eighth edition of the APICS Dictionary for the
correct spelling of Mr. Baldrige's last name.
-Thomas A. Sutterfield, CPIM
Up until the June issue, I believe APICS-The Performance Advantage
could boast of a perfect record on the spelling of Baldrige. We apologize
for the mistake.
To all APICS members and staff:
I feel it would be appropriate for you to take pen in hand and write to
your representative on the 1995 APICS Board of Directors and thank them
for a job well done. Under the leadership of Selim G. Noujaim, CFPIM, the
1995 President and CEO, a downward trend in fiscal performance has been
reversed. I am confident that there were many difficult decisions made during
the course of 1995 to effect this change in direction.
I am sure throughout 1995 that each and every expenditure was reviewed with
a jaundiced eye. What would the impact be on the membership if an expenditure
was or was not made? After careful review, discussions and disagreements,
the specific programs or projects were approved or disapproved. As far as
the membership was concerned, the decisions made by the Board were seamless
(not seen or known), and there has been little or no impact on APICS' ability
to provide the best of programs and educational material available amongst
the professional educational societies.
For those of you accustomed to taking physical inventories, the term "absolute
deviation" should be a familiar term. The absolute deviation for the
1995 unaudited year-end results is $1,287,220. That is to say, APICS has
gone from ($458,088) to $829,132 in one year, a positive reversal of $1,287,220.
So from one who was so critical when the trend was on a downward, negative
path, let me say to Mr. Selim G. Noujaim, CFPIM, 1995 President and CEO;
to the 1995 Board of Directors; and last, but certainly not least, the APICS
staff who has to endure the constant change of leadership from year to year,
yet performed admirably: Thank you. Job well done.
To the 1996 APICS Board of Directors, keep the trend going in a positive
direction, while continuing to provide outstanding service and material!
Let the 1995 Board be your benchmark.
-Paul E. Sheehan, CPIM
Note: The letter above was inadvertently omitted from the June 1996 issue
of the magazine, which included the APICS 1995 Financial Statement.
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