ASQ 509 General Membership Meeting  

ASQ Section 509

Washington, DC and Maryland Metro

 

Presents

"Soft Systems Methodology: Benchmarking for Transformation"

 

By

Donald J. Duggins

Sr. Risk Management Consultant

 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

At the 

Normandie Farm Restaurant

In 

Potomac, Maryland

 

Registration & Networking:  6:00 p.m.

Dinner: 7:00 p.m

General Announcements and Introductions:  7:45 p.m.

Introductions and Opportunities to connect

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Program:  8:00 p.m.

Adjourn 9:15 p.m.

 

The cost is $25 for members and students or $35 for non-members.

 

Registration: Please register here or by contacting Programs Chair Heather Reis ().  

 

Speaker Biography: Don Duggins

 

Mr. Duggins is President/CEO/Founder of Aspire Consulting Services, LLC, a Maryland-based Industrial & Systems Engineering, Operations Research, Management and Organizational Science company.  Mr. Duggins provides project management and advisory support to government and private industry in relation to enterprise transformation, international economic development, human capital management, and supply chain management.  Mr. Duggins is a senior strategy and operations management consultant with over 26 years professional experience and a strong background in ISE/OR.  He holds a BS/ISE from North Carolina A&T State University and performed his MS/ISE work at Purdue University and has applied these methods in a broad range of industries.  

Mr. Duggins is a technologist by trade, with a foundation in electronic data systems, quality engineering, and applied management science techniques.  He specializes in improvement and analysis of human - technology interactive systems from a performance management and sustainability perspective.   Examples of his current or past clients include: the U.S. General Services Administration, Grant Thornton LLP, U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Auditor General's Office, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Prince George’s Community College, University of Maryland University College and several others.  As a result of his vast toolbox he developed innovation, which by request was presented to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the Executive Office of the President of the United States in March of 2012.

Prior to founding Aspire Consulting Services, LLC, Mr. Duggins held senior roles in business transformation, operations, and engineering for Fortune 500 organizations in the consulting (Accenture LLP), logistics (UTi Worldwide, Inc.), and automotive (Ford Motor Co.) sectors and served his country honorably as a Marine Aviation Logistics Officer for the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

Presentation Overview: Soft Systems Methodology: Benchmarking for Transformation

A vital aspect to the development and execution of successful strategic initiatives is first understanding the core purpose of the organization and problematic situation (or business context) in which the organization is developing its strategic direction.  Benchmarking has proved to be an invaluable information source that helps public sector and private industry develop pragmatic ideas for viable actions that can be taken to achieve strategic outcomes.  Findings from benchmarking are more likely to be accepted by stakeholders because they are viewed as empirical solutions rather than speculative or theoretical. However, the manner in which benchmarking is conducted can make the difference between merely defining the gap between the target and benchmarking organization or describing the set of pragmatic activities needed to close this gap.  Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) provides a powerful set of paradigms and research approach that leads to the exposure of a number of tacit insights critical to transforming an organization.  

Learn how Section 509 leveraged SSM to unlock the door to advance to a whole new level.  Learn what this now means for you as a member of Section 509.