Making the Case for Quality

August 2010

Building a Culture of Quality

By Janet Jacobsen

Jeff Balaban was 15 years into his career before he discovered

At a Glance . . . his interest in the quality field. Then a few years later upon
joining Southern California Edison in 1997, he was immedi-
As he established a quality ately put in charge of establishing a quality assurance (QA)
assurance program in the program in the electric utility companys information technol-
information technology (IT) ogy (IT) department. Fast forward to the present and Balaban
department at Southern
has not only built a successful QA program, but hes also
California Edison, Jeff
Balaban was also building helped foster a culture of quality within his organization.
a culture of quality.
About Southern California Edison
He mentored several
colleagues and
encouraged them to Southern California Edison (SCE) provides electric service
seek ASQ certification. to nearly 14 million people in some 180 cities in central,
With its recent focus on coastal, and southern California. With approximately 15,500
continuous improvement, employees, the utility delivers reliable power to residential,
Southern California Edison commercial, industrial, and nonprofit customers.
Jeff Balaban, general manager, business
obtained two ASQ Site
operations support services, information
memberships to provide At SCE, the information technology and business integra- technology, Southern California Edison
benefits to its IT staff.
tion (IT&BI) unit, composed of 1,800 employees, supports
organizational effectiveness by ensuring that work is executed in a consistent, repeatable, and efficient
manner, all while maintaining regulatory compliance. Within the IT department is a business opera-
tions center, which provides support through process management, quality assurance, and regulatory
compliance activities.

Getting Involved With Quality

Balaban caught the quality bug after reading an article about QA and realizing that the financial
industry, in which he was employed as an IT testing manager, had a much different definition of this
activity than what is typically agreed to in quality circles. He soon learned of ASQ, joined the orga-
nization, and started reading more about quality methodologies. I got excited about the whole field
and shifted my professional direction and that just took off, recalls Balaban, an ASQ Senior member.
Shortly thereafter, SCE hired him to establish a formal QA program in the IT area.

To demonstrate his knowledge of the quality field, Balaban earned ASQs Manager of Quality/
Organizational Excellence certification in 1997, followed by certifications as Software Quality Engineer
in 1998 and Quality Auditor in 2001. Hes enjoyed many benefitsboth personal and professional
stemming from these credentials. From the business perspective, he says they provide credibility
because people prefer to hear about quality issues and solutions from someone who has earned

ASQ www.asq.org Page 1 of 2

 credentials in that field. Balaban believes that his certifications
provide him with that standing. From a personal perspective, he They [ASQ certifications] signify that
says, They [ASQ certifications] signify that Ive reached a mile-
stone in my professional development and attained a certain level
Ive reached a milestone in my professional
of industry knowledge and experience. The certifications have development and attained a certain level of
given me the confidence to reach for things that I may not have industry knowledge and experience. The
otherwise felt comfortable striving for.
certifications have given me the confidence
Encouraging Staff Development to reach for things that I may not have
As a manager Balaban is well positioned to serve as a role model otherwise felt comfortable striving for.
for staff development and as quality mentor to his staff. In fact, Jeff Balaban
hes encouraged all of his
quality analysts to pursue
Make Your Organization Part of Joining ASQ as a Site Member
ASQ certification.
a Worldwide Quality Community
Jody Donaldson, qual- With the IT department more and more involved in organization-
ASQ Site membership allows ity assurance manager, wide continuous improvement activities (see a related case
organizations such as SCE to become earned her Certified study article, Electric Utility Deploys Powerful Approach for
part of a worldwide quality community. Continuous Improvement), SCE leaders began considering the
Quality Auditor creden-
This type of membership covers one benefits of an ASQ organization membership. As we began a
business location, with all employees in tial in 2001, shortly after
joining ASQ. She values year of improvement in process and metrics for IT&BI, we felt it
that location eligible for a wide range
of benefits such as: her certification for many was a good time to increase our involvement with ASQ, recalls
of the same reasons as Steven Bussard, IT planning and performance monitoring at
Certification discounts, as employees
of Site members receive member Balaban, particularly the SCEs business operations center.
prices on all certifications, saving credibility it confers. It
up to $180 per certification. He notes that while some employees have held ASQ mem-
lends a lot of credibil-
Quality Progress magazine, as well berships for decades, site licenses, or memberships (see the
ity when others see that
as electronic access to seven other sidebar, Make Your Organization Part of a Worldwide Quality
youve gone through the
ASQ magazines and journals. Community), are an economical way to open up the value of
certification process and
Sustaining Excellence e-newsletter. ASQ to new people. The first site license was purchased for the
you are held to certain
Access to resources and research Westminster facility in 2006. Then in November 2009, SCE
ethics, says Donaldson,
services from the Quality Information purchased a second license to cover its Irwindale, CA, loca-
who began her career at
Center, ASQs library, and the tion. Now, the two site licenses cover everyone working in
online Knowledge Center, www.
SCE 18 years ago.
the companys main IT locations. Those employees can now
asq.org/knowledge-center. take advantage of many of the items on the ASQ site, such as
Another member of
Discounts on ASQ courses, the quality tools, Quality Progress magazine, and the Quality
conferences, books, training,
Balabans department,
Linda Renaud, became a Information Center, Bussard says.
and additional memberships.
Certified Quality Auditor
For More Information:
in 2004. She says the cre-
dential provides a great foundation for the auditing field. I refer
To learn more about Southern California Edison, visit the
to it constantly, just those basic principles of planning, establish-
companys website at www.edison.com.
ing an audit, interacting with people, preparing draft and final
Read a related case study article about Southern California
reports, and whats so importantthe follow up, notes Renaud,
Edison, Electric Utility Deploys Powerful Approach for
a 25-year employee at SCE.
Continuous Improvement, at www.asq.org/2010/08/
Monica Jain, an IT project manager, finds everyday value in her continuous-improvement/electric-utility-powerful-approach.pdf.
ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt certification, which she earned in Details on ASQ certifications are available at
2006. Jain was interested in learning more about process optimi- www.asq.org/certification/index.html.
zation and improvement so she began investigating Six Sigma Further information about the benefits of ASQ organizational
training options. She says that the Black Belt training and certi- memberships is located at www.asq.org/organizations.
fication is beneficial as it provides both theoretical and practical
applications. Fortunately, in my work we are always looking for About the Author
areas of process improvement, so I use the Six Sigma concepts
Janet Jacobsen is a freelance writer specializing in quality and
by habit now, Jain reports.
compliance topics. A graduate of Drake University, she resides
in Cedar Rapids, IA.

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