Why AttendInternational Team Excellence Award
Testimonials
Team award participants and judges list the benefits of the award process.
To gain Master Black Belt certification, CSX has instituted the pre-requisite that each candidate prepare a submission for the ASQ ITEA competition. This venue allows our process excellence leaders the opportunity to demonstrate subject matter expertise to others in the process excellence arena and to learn from others who have acquired project and team excellence.
Herb Schubert
CSX
Through the Team of ASQ's International Team Excellence Award Committee and its many volunteers, I have a continuing opportunity to encourage and enhance the effective use of teams all over the world … and that's a very good reason to support the ITEA process.
Berry Bickley
Master Black Belt
Bank of America
Supporting ASQ's International Team Excellence Award allows me to give back to the ASQ community in an area of great interest to me personally.
Kim Aglietti
IT Service Manager
Hewlett Packard Company
ITEA is a great process for driving competitive Quality Improvement Process (QIP) globally among top- rated companies committed to QIP. The other great part of the process is to the networking opportunity it affords participants. I have met great professionals from all walks of life contributing to product quality in diverse field of study. This knowledge transfer opportunity is priceless.
Adetunji Akano
Senior Auditor, Quality Assurance
Virbac Corporation
The ITEA process emphasizes excellence from a personal and professional perspective. Networking with people often reminds me of the need to continually improve personally and professionally as ideas and insights are shared. The ITEA process supports Lockheed Martin's company goals and objectives to be the best aircraft manufacturer in the world. Team Excellence enables companies from all over the world to share strengths and opportunities for improvement as a beneficial benchmark to each other. In this time of financial uncertainty, it is critical that companies lean processes and focus on Quality at every level of their infrastructure. The ITEA process allows those in positions to foster change an avenue to share their vision across business platforms.
Scotty Arrington
Quality Principle Engineer
Lockheed Martin
It is not just about the award, it is the process that allows teams to strengthen their department and ultimately their organization. In supporting the ITEA process we allow the process to continue on and perpetuate resulting in additional learning's and reaching more and more organizations. It is an honor to be selected as a judge for this process showing support to the teams and to the process of continuous improvement and teamwork.
Michael Barber
President
P-3
The ITEA process provides an opportunity for industry peers from diverse backgrounds to evaluate process improvement processes and enhance company performance. Consensus feedback is a powerful tool for individuals and teams.
Cynthia Bergs
Assistant Director
Florida Hospital Transplant Center
It is an excellent opportunity to benchmark with other industries on common quality and team issues.. After each round, I return equipped with new ideas and best quality practices, which I implement at my current job. The energy and enthusiasm of the teams is truly infective and I would not miss it for the world. The participation in the ITEA is a truly rewarding experience as I play an integral role in team development.
Roland Bizanek
Principal Scientist QA
Biogen Idec.
I have been rewarded by meeting some smart lean practitioners and being able to study how other lean teams have met and successfully solved complex business problems in their companies. I learn something every time I judge a team presentation, and I have to say, I get jazzed every time when I see how an effective a team has formed, stormed, normed, and performed for their own company. Performance is key in the successful company. And, we need more successful companies!
Deborah Blackmon
Genentech, Inc.
Manager, Corporate Facilities Services Document Control
I find the ITEA guidelines and process are important tools for industry in learning to set-up and manage improvement teams. Over time it has been rewarding to see companies make the commitment to continuous improvement and for those teams to improve as they return. The lessons learned and the experience of presenting to a panel of judges in a different environment challenge the participants to really study and condense the team activities to the very important few points that can led to project success or failure.
Bob Bodemuller
Manager, Supply Chain Quality Engineering
Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp.
I was inspired to support the ITEA process when I first witnessed the teams parading in to ‘We Are the Champions' at the first AQP conference I attended. I remember the energy in the room and I had goose bumps knowing the pride and joy these teams must have been feeling to be recognized in such a special way. The company I was working for at the time was into teams, but we were not doing anything at this level. This single event inspired me to start an internal competition within my own organization and become involved with the ITEA.
Mindy Corcoran
Senior Quality Improvement Consultant
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
The team approach for problem solving has been proven over time to be the best environment for new ideas and concepts to emerge from the workplace, the working personnel rising up to the levels of competence to both solve the problems and present them to management is the best environment for growing leadership within a company there is, the solutions discovered rise from the people involved in the system the gains from these types of improvement are more sustainable and are usually longer lasting than those of some of the more directive approach, and it is just a lot of fun to see people so enthused about solving problems and making improvements and seeing them share their solutions with others how can you not get excited about the program.
Larry Crabtree
Senior Quality Engineer
Calsonic Kansei Corp.
I believe there is a tremendous potential in organizations that remains untapped due to a lack of employee engagement and involvement. This lack of engagement negatively impacts nearly every aspect of organizational performance including those performance areas most important to the longer-term success and sustainability of the organization. The ITEA promotes and rewards team-based, process-focused performance improvement which I believe may be one of the most effective ways for an organization to involve and engage its employees by giving them a stake in the outcome and a chance to make a positive difference in the work they do.
Ray Emery
Senior Performance Excellence Consultant and President
Achieve LLC
The ITEA encourages individuals, teams, and organizations to excel in quality through participation practices, which in turn pays off for all stakeholders. Some of the most rewarding moments of these competitions is to see the sprit and excitement team participants and organizations receive from their involvement. To me this is truly building a shared-leadership work environment.
Robert Finkelmeier
Faculty/Mentor
Western Governors University
Want to learn more about and reinforce learning about the ITEA process; enjoy learning aabout how effective team's function; curious to see whether the process is any easier when you can listen to the team rather than a read script; want to contribute to effective team activity and see judging as one means of doing that; see practical examples that made a difference.
Kathie Gilbert
University Ombudsperson
Western New Mexico University
This program takes theory and show's application through each team's experience in using quality tools and principle's to drive business success globally, as team are represented from a variety of countries, such as India, Singapore and U.S. This program truly showcase's how team's "Make Good, Great."
Hope Gonzales
Senior Manager Marketing Services & Operations
Abbott
The ITEA process provides a structure for teams that will allow them to be successful. How exciting to be able to participate in this process, where teams get to tell their story; show off their successes and shortcomings, big and small; demonstrate quality in action; and receive recognition beyond the workplace. Organizational success is key to our world's economic recovery. With this process, the potential for benchmarking and improving quality throughout the world is evident. Being a judge allows me to support Quality above and beyond my small place in this world.
Angela Grovenstein
Principal Quality Auditor
American Red Cross
She believes that the work these teams do shows what having passion, vision and a willingness to take risks can do to make a difference for both the individuals involved and their organizations. The ITEA is one way of recognizing this dedication to excellence.
Carol Harris
Business Strategy Planning Consultant
BlueCross BlueShield of MN
I am thrilled to support the ITEA process to help recognize and promote innovation and continuous improvement in global manufacturing & service industry. Creating effective recognition opportunities has been an ongoing challenge, and benchmarking success internally can be limited by the size of the company, budgets, geography, organization, etc. The ITEA process offers improvement teams from around the world the opportunity to benchmark their success and creates a platform for global recognition.
Tom Hines
Sr. Group Leader, Process Quality Improvement
Access Business Group
The ITEA incorporates the notion of quality as a team effort, rather than just the department at the end of the hall. It reminds everyone that in order for a process to be successful, quality must be the job of every member! As an international competition, ITEA showcases the best and brightest ideas from around the world. Competitors learn how quality initiatives are shaping other industries in other countries, take that knowledge and apply it to their industries in new and innovative ways.
Loreene Kemperman
I support the ITEA process and wish to judge the finals for two reasons: to give back and to bring back. Many quality practitioners have a working knowledge of standards and understand how to implement a quality program. I also want to bring back lessons learned and insights received to share with my fellow members of ASQ.
Eugene Krisch
Manager, Quality Services
Booz Allen Hamilton
I believe in Teams. The Team competition itself is a tremendous morale booster. The live competition is enthusiastic and great fun. When you couple those things with the ability to use the criteria to evaluate and improve the Team performance in your internal organization… well, the experience has been great.
Ken Leeth
Division Quality Manager
Elkhart Products Corporation
Where does one go to really see how your pears think of your QMS? As diverse as the company's products and processes are as diverse as they're QMS. ITEA encourages that diversity but brings things down to core Quality practices in Opportunity resolution. Those who have been doing a great job year over year might not qualify for Baldridge or the Canadian PEP. At ITEA they might win.
Steven Martin
Director of Quality
Canadian Bank Note Company, Ltd.
I support the International Team Excellence Awards as I believe the process is beneficial in recongnizing those teams that work toward engaging the principles of Continuous Improvement. In addition, I believe the process and paramenters used for judging help teach CI principles as well. By serving as a Judge, I believe my skills as a mentor/facilitator of projects and events at the Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane are inhanced.
Jack May
Department of the Navy Master Black Belt
Naval Surface Warfare Center - Crane Indiana
I enjoy and support ITEA process as it is an excellent way to keep updated in the Quality community and is also a good way to meet some great people and work in a Team environment. I believe the Judging process helps keep me active in Quality related issues and aides in benchmarking of today's businesses and processes as well as networking.
Patricia Mazurek
CQE/SQE
R.Reininger & Son
(An Orchid International Company)
It offers opportunities to harness my personal skill-sets in non-work related environment while exercising my interest of global citizenship. Further, it is enjoyable to meet with professionals across various industries within and outside of USA.
Gopal Mohanty
Director, Corporate Quality
Baxter Healthcare International
Teams are essential for competing in today's global arena. Diversity of thought, perception, background and experience enhance the creativity and innovation. To face today's complex challenges, we need to incorporate a wide range of styles, skills, and perspectives. Teams are the means to manage social collaboration and concept creation. Teams are proven to improve an existing process/ product and or to reduce/ eliminate the root cause of its deficiencies.
Dak Murthy
Director of Quality Assurance
NJ Transit
The process is a real reward for the teams, introducing them to the structure of the criteria, helping them fine tune their processes and giving them feedback emphasizing some specific areas for improvement. It's actually a reward for everybody, though. We all see the different methods teams use in problem solving and continuous improvement and the networking possibilities are phenomenal. Everyone has a chance to see varying views on evaluation and analyses of different processes and get introduced to different fields of expertise. It's a "win-win" situation with “sounding boards” all around and topped with a fantastic amount of enthusiasm. It's a good thing!
Keith Nelson
Command Training Systems Manager
Dept of the Air Force
Each team brings to the competition the hopes of their team and their organization, the success of a project well completed, and an enthusiasm that is infectious. You cannot walk away from a team presentation not having experienced the emotional roller coaster that the team experienced during the project, preparing for the presentation and standing up there in front of their peers to present their knowledge to the world.
Pat Noonan
President
Noonan & Associates
The attitude and dedication of the competing teams are an inspiration. The excitement of the competition and the potential for the team awards are an inspiration for the teams that compete; but ultimately the benefits that can be realized by the organizations from understanding and applying the ITEA criteria can be significant. The ITEA process provides an excellent path for individuals and organizations in better understanding the objectives of team work and process improvement for improving an organization.
Jonathan Olson
Principal Consultant
The Engineering Process Group LLC.
I strongly believe in the power of teams. I want to be a final round judge again because I strongly believe that the only by focusing and applying the power of teams will the world be able to pull itself out of the current financial problems. In presentation after presentation have seen teams from around the world solve problems with less time and money then was thought possible. I have seen businesses buoyed by a teams efforts to rise up to many challenges. I have seen employees who have been empowered by their teams to reach, and achieve, more then their critics thought possible. Just the emotional exuberance of a team is enough to instill faith in the power of teams.
Michael Paquin
Advisory Project Manager
IBM - Global Technology Services
Teams are an effective approach to deploy quality within all types of organizations. Without getting people involved in the development and improvement of work processes, many organizations only experience short-term results from their efforts. By using the ITEA criteria, teams “hardwire” their processes to achieve desired results and reap greater synergy within work units by developing effective teams.
Theron Post
Principal
APEX Partnerships, LLC
Judging these awards has proven to be a valuable experience for her both at work and in her personal life. Being able to look at the subject matter and learn if it follows the guidelines has been a challenging and rewarding task.
Danielle Pugh
Quality Assurance Manager, Vice President
JP Morgan Chase
Relying on diverse team skills and continually testing ourselves and opinions against the criteria, consensus develops more quickly than it would seem possible. I also have a great curiosity about the teams that choose this path to seek recognition for their accomplishments. My personal and company vision state is “a better world through better organizations” and teams working together to produce extraordinary results meet my definition of a better world! I am proud to be a part of the process that validates and rewards excellence.
Dawn Reed
President
Human Strategies, LLC
I'm looking forward to meeting enthusiastic team members who have struggled to overcome technical as well as organizational problems and in the end produce successful problem solutions. Their efforts translate into the reduction of waste and cycle time as well increased customer satisfaction and cost savings for their companies.
Eric Richter
Senior Engineering Specialist
The Aerospace Corporation
The process is an excellent way to promote organizations' process improvement initiatives and get recognition. I will also meet with top quality professionals from all over the world including other judges to learn and share knowledge.
Safieh Samuels
If it isn't already obvious why these moments are so memorable, let me state that the ITEA evokes the highest potential from those committed to its value, and if this "can do" voluntary attribute extended to politics, we'd have world peace and inclusive, global remedies for every malady that causes pain.
Roberta Sappington
Program Manager
Center for Mgmt. Development, Federal Aviation Administration
It is so exciting to see companies who have taken the feedback they received from prior teams and used it to make subsequent teams more successful. I had the opportunity to judge a team in the preliminary round my first year as a judge that had a lot of opportunities. Several years later, I saw the same company do another team excellence presentation and it was so obvious that they had taken feedback from the judges from previous ITEA submissions to substantially improve their teaming processes. The excitement from the companies who have been invited to present their teams at the finals is so contagious.
Debbie Schmidt
Director Communications and Performance Excellence
Harland Clarke
This venue allows our process excellence leaders the opportunity to demonstrate subject matter expertise to others in the process excellence arena and to learn from others who have acquired project and team excellence.
Herbert Schubert
Director Process Improvement
CSX
I believe it is important for those who have had the privilege of leading teams and organizations to share their knowledge related to leadership, team excellence, and performance improvement. Participating in the ITEA process is a worthwhile endeavor to help organizations and teams on their journeys as well as to demonstrate personal commitment to performance excellence.
Doug Serrano
Managing Partner
Quiet Excellence, LLC
The Team Excellence Award process is an excellent way to attain recognition for an organization's team-based improvement efforts. Interacting with many people from all areas of interest of the Quality discipline is a rewarding chance for me to absorb their experiences and wisdom to make my company better. The spirit is truly one of collaboration and when consensus is reached the feeling of contributing to the overall success of the process is very gratifying.
Pete Stanke
Director Quality Assurance& Organizational Excellence
Deutsch - Defense Aerospace Operations
The ITEA framework provides a fundamental discipline for driving improvements and solving problems in any environment, and uniquely creates an avenue for more positive results by globally showcasing your business practices.
Patti Trapp
Application Development Engineer, Process Support Technical Lead
Brunswick Corporation - Mercury Marine
The ITEA competition challenges all of us to examine the problem-solving processes and teamwork we use to further our organizations. Every year I can see the team competition improving and that helps me improve.
Gary Turner
President
Turner Consulting
The International Team Excellence Award process is an outstanding opportunity for companies to showcase the positive impact that Quality can have on a company's bottom line. Especially during these difficult economic times, it is important for Quality to play more of a role of improvement, rather than inspection, testing or monitoring.
Stephanie Williams
Quality Assurance Manager
Aisin Light Metals, LLC
I experienced first-hand the impact competing organizations and ASQ have in furthering quality initiatives. I am passionate about sustainable continuous improvement and am inspired by the organizations' support of their teams and the results/accomplishments they achieved.
Petra Yurchich
Manager, IS Quality/Corporate Support
BloodCenter of Wisconsin
With a global outreach the ITEA attracts organizations from all corners of the world. As such it provides me with an opportunity to enhance my understanding of the role culture plays in the success of organizations outside of the USA and what we, in the USA, can learn from other cultures. I have gained a valuable insight into the mind and souls of the organizations and its respective leaders that we have had the privilege to work with and I am happy and proud supporter of one of many of ASQ's great initiatives.
Doron Zilbershtein
Chief Visionary Officer
Winnovation Solutions, Inc.
