Cariri used in Best Management Practice workshop

Staff of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) took part in a workshop recently that dealt with the implementation of Best Management Practices at the Institute. Fourteen staff members, selected from across the board, identified and proposed solutions on the theme: “Challenges we face in our efforts to increase the profitability of CARIRI’s services.” Workshop facilitator was Mohammed-Aminu Sanda, a PhD candidate at Sweden’s Lulea University of Technology, Department of Human Works Sciences. His prior position was that of design manager at the Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology and Industrial Service.

Benchmarking is a process of continuously measuring and comparing an organisation, product or process against leaders anywhere in the world, to gain information which would help that organisation take action to improve its performance. In other words, it could be a powerful tool for transforming an organisation. Sanda’s project addressed factors which impede  implementation of best management practices. He believes that in any research and technological organisation (RTO), his “future workshop” methodology could be used as a tool to guide management toward continuous improvement. CARIRI is one of three RTOs selected for this benchmarking/best practices study. The others are in Ghana and South Africa. The exercise is sponsored by The Swedish Institute and Lulea University’s Department of Human Work Sciences.