Acontecimentos

Among this year's winners, António Loureiro and Eliane Hansen of Maison BH, from Angola, received the World Quality Commitment Award in the Gold Category at the BID Quality Convention in Paris. The organization has made huge strides this year as a leader not only within its sector, but also in Angola. The Award came as an ideal way to celebrate this past year's successes while looking forward to putting quality first in the year to come.

Paris, one of the largest cities in Europe, is considered one of the top three most important cities in the world due to its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts. Paris is home to some of the planet's most important international organizations including UNESCO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Chamber of Commerce. The Paris urban area boasts a population of over 11 million people and is home to 37 Fortune 500 companies. Its 3,800 historical monuments and 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites attract more than 42 million tourists per year, making Paris the most visited city in the world and the perfect location for BID's Quality Commitment Convention.

Eliane Hansen and Júlio Fagundes stood before the gathering of international leaders, sharing the company's achievements to date as well as its future ambitions and goals. Despite the difficult current global economic climate, Maison BH strives to excel in quality each day, creating a competitive advantage in its industry. For this reason, Maison BH won the 2014 BID World Quality Commitment Award in Paris. The Award is presented by BID to those companies and organizations from around the world that best adhere to excellence and innovation in their practices, putting quality first at all levels of organization.

Leaders awarded by BID are united by their commitment to quality in their respective sectors. This year, winning organizations include:

QMS International plc, from UK. This quality consultancy has over 20 years of experience and has aided over 20,000 organizations of all scopes and sizes to implement management systems. It offers simple and organized ways to help companies obtain ISO, OHSAS and other certifications which give its clients a competitive advantage in their respective fields. It has worked with British Gas, Buy It Direct and Flexicare, among other clients..

Yedas, from Turkey. Playing a key role in Turkey's privatization of electrical services, it belongs to Calik Holding, which employees 20,000 people and has an annual turnover of almost $3 billion across its different sectors. Yedas currently manages a portfolio of over 5 million customers throughout several Turkish provinces, has 5 ISO quality certifications, and prioritizes customer satisfaction across all of its services.

PRIME Business School, from Colombia. One of the schools of Universidad Sergio Arboleda, this private university has approximately 7,500 students. A leader in academic innovation, the university is known for its state of the art astronomical observatory, which sent the first ever Colombian satellite into space. PRIME offers its students a first class education which combines interactive methodologies, promotion of an international atmosphere and a focus on research and development, among other features.

Edições Novembro - E.P., from Angola. With roots tracing back almost 100 years, this prominent publishing company is responsible for publishing much news material, including Jornal de Angola, Jornal dos Desportos, Jornal de Economia & Finanças and Jornal Cultura. In addition to its newspapers, it also publishes a diverse range of other materials. Throughout all of its publications, it remains committed to promoting a democratic and free flow of information..  

Near East University, from Northern Cyprus. Founded by Dr. Suat I. Günsel in 1988, this University is the largest university in all of Northern Cyprus. It offers extensive higher education and research opportunities to over 23,000 students from nearly 100 countries throughout the world. Additionally, it has 17 faculties, over 100 departments, 28 research centers, and the largest library in its region, comprising nearly 1,000,000 printed sources and 150,000,000 electronic sources..

Northern Engineering Works Ltd, from Tanzania. A leader in offering telecom network infrastructure support, this company provides around the clock standby service. With clients including Vodacom and Airtel, its highly professional staff delivers timely and quality services including maintenance, site management and power transmission. Prioritizing quality throughout its operations, the company is both ISO and OHSAS certified.  

The companies honored in Paris were recognized not only for their entrepreneurial achievements, but also for their dedication to continuous improvement and innovation, key concepts of the QC100 Total Quality Management Model. Seeking to increase customer satisfaction and optimize efficiency, the model promotes an organizational culture of engagement and a proactive approach to improving processes.

All of the winning companies in Paris have expressed their commitment to the QC100 TQM Model, which serves as an excellent example for other organizations in today's rapidly changing business environment. By making customer satisfaction the highest measure of quality, BID award winners set the benchmark in their respective sectors and contribute to the social and economic development of their countries, paving the way for world-changing initiatives. A key example can be seen through Maison BH, whose spirit of innovation and positive growth has overcome and indeed thrived in the challenging current global economic climate.

An ongoing commitment to Quality, one of the core requirements for receiving a BID Award, can be witnessed through the distinguished companies previously honored with a BID Quality Award. Companies which already share BID's corporate seal are present in more than 170 countries and include world-renowned names on the Fortune Global 500 list such as: Operadora VIPS, of Wal-Mart Stores (1) Indian Oil Corporation Limited (88); and Beijing COFCO Plaza Development (357).

Other previous BID winners worthy of mention include Turner Construction (USA); Haki (Sweden); Ansaldo Energy (Italy); Zepter (Austria); RAO-Unified Energy Systems (Russia); Als & Cachou-TBWA (France); Tata Group (India); Plamex-Plantronics (USA); Dogus Holding A.S. (Tukey); Franklin Electric (USA and Mexico); QMS International from the United Kingdom, FSUE VO "Safety" (Russia); and Viking Line (Finland).