Annual Report 2009 - Asian Productivity Organization

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
64
African Program
Basic Training Course for Productivity Practitioners
Productivity and quality improvement has assumed a
new sense of urgency in the context of globalization
and extensive competition. The pursuit of higher
productivity requires a cadre of productivity practitioners
fully equipped with the skills and knowledge
to identify problems and develop and implement
improvement plans. Productivity practitioners should
act as champions of productivity within organizations
and industries. The training of productivity practitioners
in APO member countries has been repeatedly
requested by NPOs, and the APO therefore has
designed projects aimed at providing multidisciplinary
skills to participants who will become facilitators for
productivity and performance improvement efforts.
These projects for APO member countries take the
form of multicountry courses as well as in-country
ones that are individually tailored to meet specific
needs.
Group exercise during the third Basic Training Course for
Productivity Practitioners
The current African Program, which is specially funded
by the Japanese government, has been designed for
PAPA member countries to strengthen and upgrade
the staff capability of NPOs on the African continent.
This effort is based on the collective experience of the
APO and its member countries in assisting African
countries to raise their productivity. In association
with PAPA and Productivity SA, the APO organized
the third Basic Course on Productivity Practitioners,
7 September–22 October, in Johannesburg, South
Africa. The main objective was to develop the competencies
of participants in the promotion and application
of basic productivity and quality techniques in
organizations and industries. A total of 28 participants
from African NPOs attended the course, and five
resource persons were deputed by the APO.
Program coverage: Business organizations and
productivity; Organizational culture and development;
Productivity awareness survey; Productivity
and quality improvement techniques; Process skills;
and Application of learning. The participants visited
Productivity SA to study the role of the NPO in
disseminating and promoting productivity at the
national level. For in-plant diagnostic activity where
participants practiced the techniques learned in the
course, the two host companies were Ogilvy’s Lodge
and Conference Centre, Midrand, Johannesburg,
a small hotel; and Sheltered Employees Factory, a
garment factory owned by the Ministry of Labour of
South Africa.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION