Member Value Discussion Groups Assign Dollar Value to Membership in ASQ
How much is an ASQ membership worth? An average of $6,625, according to members who explored that question in two member value discussion groups held in Seattle at ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement.
Randomly selected members attending the World Conference were invited by ASQ to work with Rigsbee Research to participate in one of the two discussion groups. ASQ member leaders were not included in the invitation. The research emphasis was on dialogue with and value assessment work with everyday Regular individual members.
In each discussion group, members listed the benefits they feel they as individuals receive from belonging to ASQ. Using consensus methods, they then agreed on the yearly sustainable dollar value of each benefit listed, and the dollar values for each benefit were added together to arrive at the yearly sustainable dollar value of ASQ membership.
“Having this information will help ASQ members demonstrate the value of ASQ membership to their employers and to potential new members,” said Laurel Nelson-Rowe, ASQ staff managing director. “We will be extending this research activity through online information gathering and other steps to help members understand the wide scope of valuable features, services and benefits available through ASQ.”
Table 1 (Monday, 5/16/05 session)
|
BENEFIT |
VALUE |
1. |
Access to members only website |
$100 |
2. |
Networking |
$2,500 |
|
a. Sharing "war stories" |
|
|
b. Talking to SMEs |
|
|
c. Forums - Live & online |
|
|
d. Partnerships with state quality programs |
|
|
e. ASQ meetings |
|
|
f. Opportunities to become judges (ASQ or state level) |
|
|
g. Friendships/mentoring |
|
3. |
Certifications (each) |
$3,000 |
4. |
Quality Progress magazine |
$100 |
5. |
Employment opportunities (ASQ.org website) |
$0 |
6. |
Section involvement |
$500 |
|
a. Access to tours (local Section level) |
|
7. |
Division involvement |
$500 |
|
a. Division membership - Industry specific |
|
|
b. Division publications |
|
|
c. Division membership - Subject specific |
|
|
d. Technology advancement |
|
8. |
ASQ publications (books) |
$100 |
9. |
ASQ education options |
$100 |
10. |
Seminar discounts |
$200 |
11. |
Team competitions |
$0 |
12. |
Koalaty Kid training |
$0 |
13. |
Volunteer leadership opportunities |
$1,000 |
|
a. Leadership training |
|
|
TOTAL: |
$8,100 |
Table 2 (Tuesday, 5/17/05 session)
|
BENEFIT |
VALUE |
1. |
Recognized certification |
$1,000 |
2. |
Research materials |
$500 |
3. |
Networking |
$500 |
4. |
Job listing service (ASQ.org) |
$0 |
5. |
Information on standards |
$100 |
6. |
Training |
$250 |
7. |
Quality Progress magazine |
$100 |
8. |
Peer recognition |
$100 |
9. |
Comparing quality practices in other industries |
$0 |
10. |
Professional credibility/Salary improvement |
$0 |
11. |
Conferences/meetings |
$1,000 |
12. |
Future of quality awareness |
$0 |
13. |
Sections |
$500 |
|
a. Plant tours |
|
|
b. Discussion groups |
|
|
c. Local cert testing |
|
|
d. Local training |
|
|
e. Opportunity to see speakers at low cost |
|
|
f. Joint sessions with other organizations |
|
|
g. Sharing problems |
|
14. |
International coordination |
$50 |
15. |
Quality Press (books) |
$200 |
16. |
Representation on standards writing committees |
$0 |
17. |
Opportunities for involvement & leadership |
$100 |
|
a. Opportunity to be a presenter |
|
18. |
Chance to help community |
$0 |
19. |
Lobby organization |
$0 |
20. |
Koalaty Kid, etc… |
$0 |
21. |
Baldrige participation |
$0 |
22. |
Technical committees |
$0 |
23. |
Visibility to own company |
$100 |
24. |
Divisions/Forums |
$100 |
25. |
Award opportunities |
$0 |
26. |
Opportunity to influence external to my organization |
$0 |
27. |
Team competitions |
$0 |
28. |
Demonstrating commonality of quality tools |
$0 |
29. |
Influencing educational curriculum |
$100 |
|
a. Support student sections |
|
30. |
Peer support/mentoring |
$200 |
31. |
Quality cultural shift within companies |
$0 |
32. |
Credibility with customers |
$250 |
33. |
"Bundled" quality topics |
$0 |
|
TOTAL: |
$5,150 |
Both groups assigned the highest value return to certification. Other benefits that received high value scores from both groups were section involvement and networking.
Participants mentioned several benefits for which they were unable to assign a specific dollar value. These benefits included:
- Employment opportunities listed on ASQ’s Web site
- Team competitions
- Koalaty Kid
- Lobbying
- Baldrige participation
- Bundled quality topics.
“Since participants did at least recognize these items as benefits, ASQ now has an opportunity to demonstrate their value to all members,” said Rochelle Dickinson, ASQ’s manager of market research, who coordinated the study and compiled the results.
For additional information contact Nelson-Rowe or Dickinson.
