Lancaster Medal – Mohamed Zairi

The Lancaster Medal is presented to an individual in recognition of dedication and outstanding contributions to the international fraternity of quality professionals.

Lancaster Medal presented to Mohamed Zairi
For his outstanding leadership, dedication and contributions to the European Centre for Total Quality Management (ECTQM); for spearheading the quality management concepts in various countries around the world; for being pioneer in Benchmarking practices in the United Kingdom; and adopting best practices in management thinking

Acceptance Speech:

I am greatly honored to be presented with this prestigious medal which I accept with a lot of pride, extreme joy, a sense of duty, and a clear determination to continue the work I have been doing for the last 25 years or so in the development of quality thinking and its dissemination in various parts of the world.

I am first and foremost grateful to the nominating committee for having considered me to be a worthy recipient of the Lancaster Medal. I am also indebted to my mentors, colleagues and friends who have confidence in me and my work, including Dr. Val Feigenbaum, Professor Yoshio Kondo, Dr. James Harrington, Dr. Tito Conti, Mr. Spencer Hutchens, Dr. Charles Aubrey, Mr. Navin Dedhia, and Mr. Greg Watson.  I also wish to include in my thanks all my friends and colleagues who are pioneering, steering, and making quality happen in various parts of the world.

I would also like to present my thanks publicly to Dr. Joseph Juran whose thinking and philosophy have influenced my work over the years and who has, through the Juran Chair, allowed me to be associated with his name in order to continue his work and to ensure that quality will continue to live on in the 21st century and beyond. I am also indebted to my sponsors, employers, and in particular, the eTQM College in Dubai and the University of Bradford in the UK.

I believe that Quality is bringing the world together. Quality has become the language of politics, management, competitiveness, philanthropy, social responsibility, cultural heritage, and much more. This global bonding is an exciting phenomenon. There are excellent manifestations of caring, knowledge transfer, common values, and shared vision despite the very many adversities and problems we are facing in different parts of the world.

We are all responsible for the future of Quality and we can all contribute to its growth.  The pursuit of Quality and excellence is a necessity that is brought on us by our common sense of responsibility, duty, and care for others. As Juran has been advocating for years, we are all indebted to Society for what we have been getting.

Here I would like to quote Charles Murray:
“My conclusion regarding science (including social science) is that where scholars do not have allegiance to ideals of truth, the work tends to be false. That much is not open to much dispute. But I also conclude that where artists do not have coherent ideals of beauty, the work tends to be sterile, and where they do not have coherent ideals of the good, the work tends to be vulgar. Lacking access to either beauty or the good, the work tends to be shallow.“

I would also like to quote Coach Vince Lombardi who, in relation to the pursuit of excellence, has said:

"The difference between a successful man and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will, because character, rather than education, is man's greatest need and man's greatest safeguard, because character is higher than the intellect.”

Finally, I cannot forget my beloved family, who have made everything in my life possible and who have continuously supported me and encouraged me.

Thank you.

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