Member(Elected), Beta Gamma Sigma
I have rekindling my love for computers after years on the periphery. In 1999 I started teaching more computer courses taking me into the Internet, Web Page and Site Design, Information System Management, Desktop Publishing and most recently E-commerce and Customer Service Management, and Expert & Decision Support Systems. I have used a personal computer at home for over 20 years; my computer studies however go back 42 years. I prefer to let others program the basic applications while I get on and learn a variety of applications that suit my varied interests. I have used high-end word processors, spreadsheets, and databases continually throughout the period. I produced newsletters for local computer clubs and our local chapter of our logistics society (see below). I kept books for local scout groups and monitored personal finances using spreadsheets. I used databases to prospect for business clients and correlate information from a variety of sources. Most recently I have used web authoring tools to create this and other web sites.
Logistics Management & Transportation
I am an experienced long-, medium- and short-range planner and programmer. I worked for 11 years in retail, wholesale, international and collaborative logistics in the USAF. I have served as detachment and wing transportation officer as well as a transportation planner and worked with all modes of transport. Since retiring from the USAF, I also have worked in sales, distribution and marketing as agent for a Swiss company. I first taught logistics and transportation 18 years ago and continue my interest in the subject. Dr. Ken Kovach, UM and ERAU, and I recently conducted independent research on the use of business and corporate aviation by the Fortune 500 companies.
Certified Professional
Logistician (by exam - 1978), International Society
of Logistics (formerly the Society of Logistics Engineers)
Quality Management
I am an advocate of the late W. Edward Deming's management philosophy, his System of Profound Knowledge and the related Kaizen process of continuous self-improvement. My interest stems from my years teaching Statistical Quality Control in the late 1980's and from a lifetime of self-improvement, leadership and team building practice, training and teaching as well as more recent study and teaching of both Total Quality Management and Statistical Process Control.
I am a planner by training and perhaps inclination. I cannot remember when I was not a leader and I always seem to volunteer to pick up orphan projects at church and in the community. I enjoy being a part of vibrant, focused team.
My study of chaos theory which is the mathematics cum physics of non-linear dynamic systems has convinced me of its applicability to management. I know that we have much chaos around us - disorder within an unknown and unspecified order -- and am convinced we have much to learn from such a sideways look at management. One of the lessons of chaos theory for dynamic systems (which include organizations since they are driven to produce and are simultaneously being held back by numerous internal and external factors) is that during times of change the next event is unpredictable. I draw a tentative inference, supported by real-world observations, that it is much better to have managers on the ground, skilled in both details and general philosophy, who can guide an organization through change than it is to try to program and control each change centrally or in advance. Thus, as Dwight Eisenhower said, it is the process (the analysis and synthesis) of planning which is much more important than any plan itself. Notice Dr. Deming also emphasized the need to focus on the 'process.'
I am now more concerned about the entire system of business and management including the broad external environment. In particular, I am actively supporting efforts to put global justice and sustainability at the heart of corporate, economic, social, technological, and political policy agendas in the decades to come.
My small business interests go back a long way. As a clerk in a small rural store in the 1950's, I saw the owner twist and turn trying to stay profitable in business and still be a valued member of the community. I also helped my parents in their paper delivery business. Later I investigated other part-time possibilities, but eventually settled for supporting my wife's Mary Kay business in the late 70's. Following retirement from the USAF, I gained experience in the education and the computer industries before more recently working in family network marketing businesses.
After years of teaching and practicing business and management, I became involved in business consulting to small and medium sized businesses in East Anglia.
Biographic Sketch | Business Consultancy | Personal Interests
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| Phil Richardson; prichard@faculty.ed.umuc.edu |
Revised
2 Apr. 2005
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