| Mastering ISO: 9000 |
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| John Howard |
| Kentz would like to congratulate John Howard, Saudi Arabia QA/QC Manager, for attaining his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Liverpool on 6th July 2009.
John began his career with Kentz in 1988 as an apprentice electrician and has worked in Ireland, England, Bahrain and Malaysia and more recently in Saudi Arabia. He started his MBA in November 2006 and recently completed his dissertation which was titled A Study of the implementation of an ISO: 9000 Quality Management System in a construction company in Saudi Arabia. |
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Problem Statement: If the use of ISO: 9000 does produce economic value, one would expect improved performance to be realised, therefore Kentz's performance post-adoption would exceed the period pre-adoption.
The hypothesis used to test the economic value of ISO: 9000 for Kentz on construction projects in Saudi Arabia was H1: Kentz's performance post-adoption of ISO: 9000 out-performs Kentz's performance pre-adoption.
Aim: The aim of the dissertation was to present and evaluate the utilisation of ISO: 9000 Quality Management System within Kentz, establishing if its adoption and utilisation had made the construction process within Kentz more effective, and determining if its use was realised in project success.
Summary: The dissertation examined Kentz's performance pre- and post-ISO: 9000 adoption by utilising performance measures for the periods 1995-1997 (pre-ISO: 9000 adoption) compared with the period 1999-2001 (post-ISO: 9000 adoption). In addition the financial performance for same periods were utilised to calculate business ratios, and a comparison between the ratios was carried out establishing if an improved fiscal performance had been realised following ISO: 9000 certification.
Unfortunately due to work commitments, John was unable to attend his graduation ceremony. On behalf of all in Kentz we extend a big thank you to John for his commitment to Kentz and congratulations on his graduation. |
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| Raffle Raising Relief Fund |
On 7th March management at the Kentz office in Qatar held a raffle to raise money for the Kentz Haiti Relief Fund. Hugh O'Donnell, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ran the draw as everyone gathered in the engineering room, eagerly awaiting their number being called. |
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| L-R: Hugh O'Donnell, CEO; Junaid, Driver; Edgar Loyola, Civil and Structural Engineer; Deepak Lazrado, Discipline Electrical and Power Engineer; and Martin Walsh, Qatar Country Director |
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Edgar Loyola won return tickets to his home country
of the Philippines |
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Deepak Lazrdo won QAR1,000 |
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Junaid won QAR500 |
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In addition to this, the different sites in Qatar also held raffles in the hope of raising more money for the fund.
With this raffle, Kentz managed to raise QAR14,400 which will be doubled by Kentz to bring the total raised in the Doha office raffle to QAR28,800.
Thank you very much to everyone who donated money and bought tickets for this very worthy cause. |
| Bringing Education Back to Haiti |
June has been a busy month so far in Haiti as the Kentz/Digicel Foundation team has started work on two new sites. The first is a fabrication yard for prefabricating components for use in constructing schools, and is the construction of a primary school at Leogane, the town at the epicentre of January's quake.
The Kentz/Digicel team, supported by the Digicel Group and their United States (US) Government funding partner United States Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to construct 50 new schools in Haiti. Fifteen of these schools will be transitional or semi-permanent and are scheduled to be completed before the beginning of the academic year in September. The remaining 35 schools will be traditional permanent structures.
Digicel has recently taken possession of a site outside Port-au-Prince where components - roof trusses, wall panels etc. - will be prefabricated for final assembly on site. The first 100 containers delivered to site have been provided by the US Army, these were the last containers used to ship food aid to Haiti. |
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| Destruction in Leogane |
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Applying primer to prefabricated beams under supervision of project staff |
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| Members of the project team at the new fabrication yard |
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Idegen trainees preparing to fabricate steel trusses |
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| Children in Leogane attend class in a UNICEF tent |
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At the beginning of the month, construction began on a transitional 6-classroom primary school in Leogane, two hours west of Port-au-Prince. Most of the buildings in Leogane were destroyed, including all the schools. Classes are currently conducted in tents provided by UNICEF. Kentz/Digicel have undertaken to construct ten schools in Leogane. Digicel has partnered with IDIJEN, a local organisation providing vocational training to young Haitians. These trainees will gain on-site experience on this project.
The next school scheduled for construction is in Cite Soleil, the most deprived area in Port-au-Prince. This slum area has been ravaged by gang violence for many years, with the result that Haitian government departments and many international agencies refuse to undertake any work here. Kentz/Digicel have just received funding of US$92,000 for the reconstruction of the St Jeanne de Chantal School which was destroyed in the earthquake.
John Skelly, Construction Manager, and Mark Ford, Project Manager, extend their heartfelt thanks to everyone in Kentz for their continued support! |
| Clinics Clean Up in Secunda Township |
Kentz employees in South Africa are very eager to help those around them. So much so that some of them recently joined a clean-up operation in local medical clinics in Secunda.
A short while ago, members of a local clinic committee held a "cleaning up" campaign at clinics in Embalenhle Township, Secunda, to ensure a clean environment for patients. Mr. Charles Nethonzhe, Chairman of the committee, stated "residents have a role to play in keeping the clinics in the area clean, and this can only happen if we do something to improve the situation at our clinics".
After hearing this some Kentz employees jumped in to assist local clinics with the clean-up operation, in preparation for health awareness campaigns taking place over the next few months. These campaigns will offer free blood-pressure testing, diabetes screening, body mass index screening, condom distribution and tuberculosis sputum tests. They will also be offering Pap smear tests, health education on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis, as well as alcohol, drug and nutrition awareness.
Well done to these employees from the Maintenance & Shutdown division of the Technical Support Services Business Unit for being proactive. |
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| Kentz employees Charles Nethonzhe and Friday Gwebu mowing the grass at the Extension 4 Clinic during the campaign |
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Jason English hands over a gift in recognition of Friday Gwebu's contribution to the community |
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| Kentz: A Case Study |
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| Takis takes the podium |
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Takis Karallis, Head of Group Human Resources, attended the Henley Business School's 2nd International Action Learning Conference in Henley, England, on 29th-31st March.
The title of the conference was Action Learning: Assessing the Value and it featured a case study on Kentz entitled "Building better futures: leveraging action learning at Kentz Engineers and Constructors". The Kentz case study was one of only a small number accepted from practitioners; Nokia and the British National Health Service being among the others.
The case study was presented by Takis Karallis and Eric Sandelands, Corporate Learning Consultant, to an audience of academics, specialist consultants and senior managers. The conference brought together some of the best known thinkers in the action learning field, including Prof. Mike Pedler of Henley Business School and Prof. Michael Marquardt of George Washington University. Their books, Action Learning for Managers and Action Learning in Action, have informed our practice in Kentz.
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The Kentz action learning case study will be published in the journal Action Learning: Research and Practice. The published journal can be viewed on www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14767333.asp.
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Andrew and Shireen
Congratulations to newlyweds Andrew and Shireen Cox who were married in Hawks Bay, New Zealand, on 5th February. Andrew is a Telecommunications Engineer on the Gorgon Project on Barrow Island, off the coast of Western Australia.
A large media contingent attended their wedding due to Shireen's profession as a camera person for Channel 9 in Australia. The couple honeymooned in the Bay of Islands and the Coromandel, which is in the upper half of the North Island of New Zealand. We wish them all the happiness for the future! |
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Luciano Daniel Vigouroux
Marinella Vigouroux, Regional Financial Accountant, South Africa, gave birth to her son Luciano Daniel at the Kloof Mediclinic in Midrand. He was born on Monday 11th January weighing 3.8kg. Congratulations to proud parents Marinella and her husband Alex! |
Eva Mal-Wolfe
Christopher Wolfe and his wife Neelam would like to announce the birth of their daughter, Eva Vidya Rosemary Mal-Wolfe. Eva was born on 5th March at 4.17pm, weighing 3.4kg. The proud parents already have another beautiful daughter Anya. Congratulations to the whole family and wishing you well for the future! |
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Joserli Balroop Castillo
The staff at Kentz-OJ's in Trinidad would like to extend warm congratulations to Veshan Balroop and his wife Joserli Castillo on the birth of their daughter, Joserli Balroop Castillo. Veshan is a Welder for Kentz-OJ's at the Petrotrin Alky Acid Project. Joserli was born in Venezuela on 25th January weighing 9lbs. We wish them the best as they begin their lives with their new addition. |
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We need you!
If you have a story, announcement or experience to share with your
fellow Kentz people, please send an email along with any relevant picture to
NEWSLETTER@KENTZ.COM | | |
