Mohamed Zairi

Professor Mohamed Zairi
Born	September 17, 1956(1956-09-17)
Occupation	author, lecturer, consultant

Professor Mohamed Zairi BSc MSc (Aston) PhD (CNAA) is a British academic and expert in Total Quality Management (TQM).

He is Professor of Best Practice Management and Executive Chairman of the European Centre for Best Practice Management in Keighley, England. He was previously held the title Professor at the University of Bradford for nearly 13 years. He first of all was appointed to the Sabic Chair in Best Practice Management in 1995, which he successfully held until 2004. He was subsequently selected for the prestigious Juran Chair, which is funded by the Government of Dubai in the form of a Consortium. He currently hold the position as Emeritus Professor at university of Bradford.

Professor Zairi is recognized as one of the main pioneers in the fields of benchmarking and best practice management. He is accepted globally as a leading researcher in this field and an authority on the application of these powerful concepts. He represents a very unusual breed of academics who have, from an early stage, demonstrated how knowledge can put to work. He has helped bridge that gap between academic thinking and the application of practical solution to problems by translating novel ideas and innovative concepts into useful and purposeful guidelines and blue prints that can be used by mangers in all sectors of industry and commerce.

Professor Zairi has influenced Management Thinking both in the UK, Europe and the rest of the Globe. Firstly through his relentless efforts to research problem areas and disseminate knowledge and secondly through his prolific contribution to academic thinking through his presence at conferences and his publications in internationally refereed journals. He has to his name, over 300 publications, including 17 books in the fields of quality and related topics. He has also actively participated in well over 250 conferences nationally and internationally. Since the mid 1980s Professor Zairi has been active in supporting organizations in the UK adopt Best Practice Management thinking. He has worked very closely with hundreds of organizations covering a wide spectrum of public and private sector interests. His work in the 1980s in the field of Advanced Manufacturing Technology has helped pave the way for SMEs in particular to contemplate the introduction of sophisticated technological systems without having to encounter the types of difficulties and problems faced by large organizations. The demonstration of how Quality and Best Practice thinking can be applied in the public sector in health care for instance, Health & Safety and Schools was a unique contribution.

The development of the European Benchmarking Best Practice Award was a revolutionary contribution that has encouraged the sharing and transfer of best practices in both the UK and Europe and it later became a blueprint for similar schemes developed in other parts of the world. Professor Zairi’s recent contributions in the setting up of the Excellence in Yorkshire Award, the SME Knowledge Network and most recently the Excellence in Schools Initiative is a true demonstration of his commitment to the dissemination of Best Practice Management Thinking and his desire to see progress in performance improvement in all sectors of the British Economy taking place.^{[citation needed]} Internationally, Professor Zairi has been extremely active in promoting British‐led research and Application Methods and the adoption of Management Thinking developed in the UK is pervasive and as widely applied as possible. These significant efforts have brought back a lot of benefits of both tangible and intangible nature.

Being pioneer by helping start the Benchmarking and Best Practice Movement in the UK since the mid‐1980s:

• First of all by working very actively in the area of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) and in support of the scheme which the government of the time launched in 1985/86.
• Played a unique contribution, by studying the reasons for the slow uptake of the AMT Technological Innovation.
• Created an industrial network for the exchange of Best Practices, and developed methods and guidelines useful to companies when considering the introduction of complex technologically‐based innovations.
• The work was carried out at the then West Midlands Regional Management Centre (Staffordshire Polytechnic) from 1986‐ 1989
• The work done in the UK became a benchmark and was used in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and India.
• In 1991 He published a Book on The Management of Advanced Manufacturing Technology which became a key reference in many libraries.
• In the late 1980s and early 1990s in support of the Enterprise Initiative Scheme, he became involved in the area of Innovation Management.
• was the first academic professional to be sponsored by Unilever PLC in the area of Quality and Innovation Management in Europe and his work has impacted on the whole Unilever Group and hundreds of organisations covering the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector, Engineering, Aerospace, Automobile, Communications and computer industry;
• He has conducted extensive research on Best Practice Innovation Management on a global basis;
• He has published several reports on UK. Practices and has developed blue prints and guidelines which were used by many organisations covering the aforementioned fields;
• He became interested in Quality Function Deployment (QFD) a powerful tool for the effective management of innovation which was developed in Japan and led a project sponsored by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) in 1993 on the use of QFD in Europe. This was to become the first ever project done in this important^{[says who?]} area and the report was widely distributed throughout Europe;
• He held the Unilever Sponsorship from 1990 to 1995 at the University of Bradford, School of Management.
• In the early 1990s Professor Zairi was the first British academic professional to help pioneer and promote the use of benchmarking in the UK;
• He chaired and gave hundreds of presentations and keynote addresses for senior management teams working in the public and private sectors;
• He has written the first book on benchmarking in 1992.
• He trained thousands of managers in both the public and private sector in the use of benchmarking tools.
• He helped set up the European Best Practice Benchmarking Award in 1994–95 for which he was appointed as Chairman.
• He helped set up the first International Journal of Benchmarking in the World in 1994, became its European editor and then immediately the chief editor until 2000. He is currently its Director of Editing.

The benchmarking journal has become a key reference for practitioners and academics alike and is internationally adopted by most libraries.^{[citation needed]}

• In 1995 Professor Zairi was rewarded by being appointed to the First Chair in Best Practice Management in the World, a prestigious^{[says who?]} sponsorship by SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation). He still occupies this important^{[says who?]} post.

Some of the most significantly important work carried out by Professor Zairi in the field of Best Practice Management include:

• The development of a benchmarking tool for World Class Marketing (WCM). This was sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and has served the purpose since for assessing thousands of organisations in the UK and the transfer of best practices;
• Conducting the first piece of research in Europe on the link between Quality Management Practices and Business Results. This study has made a significant contribution not only in proving that Quality Management can be demonstrated to produce positive outcomes to organizations that adhere to its principles but also in assisting organisations make the case for implementing this powerful philosophy. This

study became a key reference internationally and is often quoted in various publications;

• Carrying out the first national pilot on the use of quality management in Primary Care General Practices and proving its relevance and applicability;
• Conducting a major piece of research sponsored by The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) on Performance Management in Health & Safety and producing a blueprint for organizations both in the public and private sector to adopt;
• Developed an audit tool for the assessment of organizational effectiveness in the NHS and conducted a national study to demonstrate its usefulness and applicability;
• Conducted a major study on Best Practice Application and The Transfer of Knowledge,which involved 21 countries and the report and its findings were disseminated internationally;
• Recently conducted a major study on Best Practice in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems Implementation which culminated in the development of a unique^{[says who?]} methodology which is adopted by several organizations;
• Conducted the first piece of research on organizational values and their inculcation which involved contributions from 13 different countries and is now serving as a useful benchmark;

Initiatives

Some of the most recent initiatives that Professor Zairi was instrumental in supporting and help launch include:

• The development and launch of a Regional Award Scheme for Yorkshire and Humberside. The Award is called Excellence Yorkshire; it was launched in 2000 and is intended for encouraging the uptake of quality management principles in both public and private sector organizations operating in Yorkshire and Humberside. Excellence Yorkshire is supervised by a Board of sponsors and run by a team of volunteers. Professor Zairi is currently a Board Member;

• The launch of the SME Knowledge Network in 2001. This forum is to help small and Medium Sized Enterprises with the adoption of Best Practice Concepts and to facilitate the sharing and transfer of useful ideas. The scheme has so far been extremely successful and is attracting hundreds of organisations within West Yorkshire;
• The launch of The Excellence in Schools Initiative in September 2002. This scheme is to encourage schools to adopt the principles of quality and excellence through self assessment and the use of the generic model of Excellence. The scheme was supported by Lloyds TSB who, through their Quality In Education scheme have been assisting thousands of schools throughout the country. The scheme has generated a lot of interest amongst the 600+ schools targeted and a network of Best Practice Exchanges is in the early stages of establishment;

Recognition

In addition to being internationally recognized as a leading guru^{[citation needed]} in the fields of benchmarking and Best Practice Management, Professor Zairi has been uniquely recognised for his efforts in the promotion of Best Practice management worldwide and his significant contributions in the research and knowledge development in the fields of Quality and Best Practice Management:

• He is a Visiting Professor in over 20 prestigious Universities in various parts of the World;
• He is a key member of international advisory committees for Quality and Best Practice Management;
• He is invited to participate in several major annual events as a keynote speaker and which take place on annual basis;
• He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
• He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Quality Management Association.
• He is a Fellow of The Chartered Quality Institute.
• In 2001 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in the fields of Quality and Performance Management.
• In June 2002, he became a member of The International Academy for Quality (IAQ), a very prestigious institutions which recognizes unique contribution in the promotion of quality management throughout the World. Membership of the IAQ is by nomination only and there are, at any point in time, only a maximum of 50 people invited to become academicians of IAQ.
• In 2005 He received The Harrington/Ishikawa Medal for his contributions in the growth,development and dissemination of Knowledge related to Total Quality management in Asia;
• He is The Founder of The Middle east Quality Association and currently acts as its First President.
• In 2007 (May) he received the Lancaster Medal for his Leadership in The Development and Dissemination of Quality Management globally.

References

• Bradford University: Mohamed Zairi
• e-learning Excellence in Middle East
• Professor Mohamed Zairi of e-TQM College's Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs awarded 'Grand Master' title by Harrington Institute
• IMJ Editorial Advisory Board
• Professor Mohamed Zairi of e-TQM College's Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs awarded 'Grand Master' title by Harrington Institute
• International Journal of Excellence in Healthcare Management
• Chairman of zairi institute
• Director European Center for Best Practice Management
• Mohammed's Zairi books
• PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR BEST PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
• Quality Guru
• e-TQM College launches the first virtual platform of research in the Arab World and five international e-journals of excellence
• e-TQM College Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs awarded the prestigious E. Jack Lancaster Medal
• Quality Guru Professor Mohamed Zairi
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Persondata
Name	Professor Zairi, Mohamed
Alternative names
Short description	British academic
Date of birth	17 September 1956
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death