We are delighted to announce that Julio González Bedia  FEBI (Spain) and Neal Traynor FBEI (Ireland) have been elected Fellows of the Institute.

Julio is an excellence professional and healthcare consultant who is currently the Chief Executive of C&B Business Management Consulting, a company he co-founded in 2015. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering (Universidad de Vigo), a Masters in Total Quality management (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and a PhD in People Development from the Faculty of Medicine (Universidad Complutense de Madrid).

Neal has a financial services and entrepreneurial background and for that last 7 years has served as the Institute’s COO. In addition to his operations work, he created the Institute’s Ethics course which is offered by our delivery partner Dalhousie University. Neal holds a BA in Psychology (University College Dublin). He is a Prince2 Project Manager, a Certified Excellence Assessor, a Recognized Excellence Expert, and a Chartered Business Excellence Professional.

Note: Once elected a Fellow, people remain Fellows for as long as they are members in good standing. For more information see: Institute Fellow.

We are pleased to announce the publication today of Quality of Life An Interdisciplinary Perspective edited by Shruti Tripathi, Rashmi Rai, Ingrid Van Rompay-Bartels with a chapter based on research by the Institute’s president, John Bourke, Ole Petter Anfinsen of AEHP, and James Baker of Jaguar Land Rover.

The book – which is written for researchers and practitioners in the fields of management, behavioral science, public health, psychology, and politics – explores quality of life from many perspectives and highlights the importance of cultural differences in determining what people think of and about Quality of Life can be used as a guide for global wellbeing and future research.

The chapter written by John, Ole, and James is based on their research into the key factors that determine work-life balance. It discusses why work-life balance matters from an organizational perspective and presents some ideas on what organizations can do to nurture it.

Quality of Life An Interdisciplinary Perspective (ISBN: 978-0-367-43399-4) is published by CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group) and is available for purchase online here.

We would like to extend our congratulations to the winners of the Business Excellence Institute Awards in SciFest 2021.

Athlone Institute of Technology
Killian McGrath and Evan McGreal of Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, Co Westmeath for their project:
P.A.S.S.T – Pedestrian Alert Safety System for Trams

Dublin City University
Viya Aramalla of St Mary\’s Secondary School Glasnevin for her project:
Rewise: The All-In-One Study Application for Students During Remote Learning

Dundalk Institute of Technology
Claudia Durkan & Ellen Birmingham of Scoil Mhuire, Trim, Co Meath for their project:
The Impact of Feed Quality and Meal Quantity on the Weight Gain of 6-month-old Calves

Galway Mayo Institute of Technology
Cian Mangan of Coláiste Cholmáin, Claremorris, Co Mayo for his project:
Tyrex

Letterkenny Institute of Technology
Grace Masterson of Abbey Vocational School, Donegal Town for her project:
A reusable biodegradable solution for coffee on the go

Munster Technology University Cork
Cathal Cronin & James Considine of St. Brogan\’s College, Bandon, for their project:
A Seed of Hope

Munster Technology University Tralee
Adam Dineen & Michael Guerin of Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Tralee, their project:
OnlineOffline

NorthWest
Maeve Stillman of St Mary\’s College Derry/Londonderry for her project:
Investigating the effectiveness of various face masks against COVID -19 virus (and aerosol droplets)

Technological University Dublin, Blanchardstown
Nicole Lander of Belmayne ETSS, Dublin, for her project:
Lunch n Learn

Technological University Dublin, Grangegorman
Stephen Flynn of St Joseph\’s Secondary School, Rush, for his project:
Advanced Screening & Trouble Assessment (A.S.T.R.A)

We were delighted to see such a diversity of projects winning the award in the various SciFest regions. It is a great achievement by students supported by their teachers and a big thank you for the great work done by the SciFest judges. Congratulations one and all!!

About The Business Excellence Institute

The Institute is a membership body, headquartered in Dublin, with members on 6 continents. It is dedicated to promoting business excellence as a multi-disciplinary profession, excellence in management, and the pursuit of results for all stakeholders. To learn more visit: BusinessExcellence.org

About SciFest

SciFest, now in its sixteenth year, is a series of one-day STEM fairs that take place locally and regionally across the island of Ireland. SciFest 2021 regional fairs were held online. To learn more visit: SciFest.ie

Dublin, 1 February 2021

The Business Excellence Institute, the only global membership body for business excellence professionals, is delighted to announce that SciFest – Ireland’s largest and most inclusive STEM fair programme for pre-third level students – is introducing an award for projects with the greatest potential for business impact. The Business Excellence Institute Award, will go to the project with the greatest potential to positively impact organizations, industries entered in each of SciFest’s 16 regional fairs.

Speaking about the launch of the new award, John Bourke, the Institute’s President, said:
“This is our 7th year sponsoring SciFest. We’re happy to see that it has gone from strength to strength and that it is successfully addressing the challenges of Covid-19. This year, we’re delighted with the introduction of the Business Excellence Institute Award which aligns closely with our values.”

Other SciFest awards include the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award and the Intel Technology Award.

About The Business Excellence Institute

About SciFest

Last year, we posted about how innovation in the public sector brought postage to the general public, facilitating the introduction of Christmas Cards. The year before, we were happy to report on a Christmas Crises Averted. In 2017, we published a tale of a journey to excellence in Dickens\’ Christmas Carol having previously looked at The Excellence behind Rudolph in 2016, and a Case Study on Santa in 2015.

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This demanding trinity of courses provides learners with the opportunity not only to learn about leadership, strategy, and ethics but also to learn how to lead, how to be strategic, and how to make ethical decisions. All three courses are learner-centric and take a constructivist approach to learning that combines active, experiential, social, and problem-based learning with more traditional pedagogical approaches.

People who successfully complete all three courses, achieving a grade of at least 80% in each, will qualify for a professional certificate of Leadership Excellence from The Business Excellence Institute.

Commenting on the Dianne Tyers, Dean of the College of Continuing Education, said that:
“the College of Continuing Education at Dalhousie University is delighted to partner with the Business Excellence Institute to offer the three courses leading to a Certificate in Leadership Excellence as, together, the courses provide learners with the core knowledge, skills, and critical thinking required to become effective leaders who are able to make informed, ethical, strategic decisions in complex, dynamic situations… and that’s the kind of leader that all types of organizations need right now.”

John Bourke, president of The Business Excellence Institute, noted that Dianne and the College of Continuing Education were well known to the Institute’s board and that they were happy to enter into partnership to provide the courses as they respected Dalhousie and the work Dianne was doing to progress the College of Continuing Education on its journey to excellence.

Both organizations look forward to providing these three impact-driven, rewarding, relevant learning experiences to people to help them develop as leaders who can navigate and adapt to today\’s ever evolving challenges. Leadership Dynamics and Ethics in Action launch next week. Mastering Strategy launches in January.

About The Business Excellence Institute

Headquartered in Dublin, The Business Excellence Institute has members on 6 continents and is the world’s only global membership body for business excellence professionals. It is dedicated to helping people and organizations achieve outstanding results for all their stakeholders and, in addition to facilitating professional development, it helps organizations, ranging from small family businesses to federal governments, on their journeys to excellence.

About Dalhousie University College of Continuing Education

Dating from 1818, Dalhousie University is one of the oldest universities in Canada. Its College of Continuing Education develops and delivers innovative educational programs to assist individuals to prepare for and succeed both academically and professionally. The college has delivered innovative, quality education and training need to its students and their employers for almost 40 years.

We are pleased to announce the induction of Andrew Kakabadse and Teresa Kemppi-Vasama into the Excellence Hall of Fame. Due to the ongoing battle against COVID-19, their induction will be celebrated next year in combination with 2021’s inductees.

Andrew Kakabadse

Professor of Governance & Leadership, Henley Business School

Andrew is one of the world’s foremost experts on governance, boardroom effectiveness, top teams, and government. He has been listed in the world’s Top 50 business thinkers on two occasions (in 2011 and 2013). After starting his career as an environmental scientist and working both in the public sector and with an engineering consulting firm, Andrew joined the faculty at Cranfield University’s School of Management (where he is now an Emeritus Professor). His research has focused on governance and the performance of boards and executive teams. He has been a visiting professor at many universities around the world and has been a Visiting International Fellow at the Centre for Creative Leadership. You can learn more about him here.

Teresa Kemppi-Vasama

Executive Chair Kemppi OY & Board member of Cargotec and LUT University

Teresa started her career in Andersen Consulting (Accenture). She then moved to the Finnish Red Cross where she grew her role and worked her way up to management. After over a decade with the Red Cross, she started to work in her family’s welding equipment business, Kemppi (an innovative pioneer in the wielding industry). In 2014, she was appointed as its Executive Chair. She was honoured as a Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year in 2015 and, in 2017, she was awarded with one of the ten first “Finland 100 Years Medals” by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce. She serves as on the board of Cargotec and of Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University), is Chair of the Association for Finnish Work, and she serves as Vice Chairman of the Industrial Society of Lahti. You can learn more about her here.

About The Business Excellence Institute

Headquartered in Dublin, the Business Excellence Institute is the only global membership body for business excellence professionals in the world. With members on 6 continents, it promotes excellence and works to help organizations, from small family businesses to federal governments, achieve it.

About the Excellence Hall of Fame

The Excellence Hall of Fame was established in 2016 to recognise and celebrate people who bring excellence to life and have made outstanding contributions to the organizations in which they have worked, the discipline of management, or to society at large. Previous inductees include Henry Mintzberg (world-leading thinker on management and business strategy), Clara Shih (Founder of Hearsay Systems and Board Member of Starbucks), Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch (CEO of US-China Education Trust), Raomal Perera (Serial entrepreneur and INSEAD professor), Eileen McDonnell (CEO and Chair of Penn Mutual), Feargal Quinn (Founder of Superquinn) and Martin Naughton (Founder of Glen Dimplex).

We are delighted to announce that David Paige (USA) has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute.

David is a seasoned legal and insurance professional and founder of Legal Fee Advisors, a firm dedicated to ensuring people only pay fair ethical legal fees. He has lectured internationally and, since 2016, has worked along other Institute members conducting public sector excellence assessments. During COVID-lockdown, he shared online recordings of his piano recitals for “seniors in lockdown”.

He holds a BA and MA in Special Education (from Syracuse University and Michigan State University respectively) and Juris Doctorate in Law (Syracuse University). He is licensed to practice law in New York.

We are delighted to announce that Krisztina Rozgonyi (Austria) has been elected as a Fellow of the Institute.

Krisztina works with a wide range of international organizations including UNESCO, the UN’s ITU, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the World Bank as well as with governments, regulators, and companies. She is currently Assistant Professor in the University of Vienna’s Department of Communications.

She holds a Masters in Communication Sciences and a Doctor Juris in Law and State Sciences (both from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest), an MBA from the Central European University) and PhD in Communication Sciences from the University of Vienna. Krisztina was appointed to the Institute’s Advisory Board in March.