Strength-based Lean Six Sigma is a new way of approaching process improvement that combines the best practices of two established methodologies to generate a new approach in order to help you develop and deliver increased high performance in any organization. It is the first book to use approaches in business improvement as well as organizational change for optimum organizational performance and improved agility. Combining the energy and motivation released through a strengths-based approach with the focus on quality and efficiency generated by lean six sigma, it offers practitioners from all disciplines the opportunity to understand each other and work successfully together to drive effective and powerful change programmes.

This is a core text for anyone training to be (or working as) an internal or external quality assurer in the further education and skills sector. It has all the information you need to work towards the quality assurance units for qualifications such as: The Certificate and Diploma in Education and Training, or the quality assurance units of the Learning and Development (TAQA) qualification. The book takes you through all the information you need to know, opening up the topic for learning in an easily accessible way. Interactive activities are included throughout, and real examples of quality assurance in practice are included. The book also includes examples of completed internal and external quality assurance documents. It is a comprehensive text, covering: * principles of internal and external quality assurance * planning quality assurance activities * carrying out quality assurance activities * risk management * making decisions and providing feedback * record keeping * evaluating practice * the role and use of technology * planning, allocating and monitoring the work of others This is your guide to understanding how to use internal quality assurance activities effectively with assessors, and external quality assurance activities with centre staff.

This text has been written for managers in higher education as well as for headteachers and deputy heads in the school sector.;"Total quality management" (TQM) is a philosophy and a methodology that is widely used in business, and increasingly in education, to manage change or other processes. With the pressure for change and quality in education never more acute, this book provides an opportunity for readers in education to acquaint themselves with TQM.;Revised and updated, this edition introduces the key concepts of TQM in the education context. It discusses organizational, leadership and teamwork issues and the tools and techniques of TQM. This text should help educators develop a framework for quality management in their school, college, department or university.

From the best-selling quality management author, David Hoyle, Quality Management Essentials is the perfect brief, yet authoritative, introduction to the fundamentals of quality management. Quality in organizations, large or small, is achieved with intelligent use of various concepts, principles, tools and techniques. For those coming to the subject for the first time, these philosophies associated with quality management can be quite overwhelming. This very readable book provides a fast track introduction and executive level appraisal of the field from a respected and experienced author.

While the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has provided standards and guidelines for the practice of internal audit through the International Professional Practice Framework (IPPF), internal auditors and Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) continue to experience difficulties when attempting to balance the requirements of the IPPF with management expectations. The true challenge for any internal auditor is to appropriately apply the Standards while exerting adequate independence and objectivity in the face of management pressure. In Leading the Internal Audit Function, Lynn Fountain presents lessons learned from her extensive experience as an internal auditor, internal audit manager, and CAE to help internal auditors understand the challenges, issues, and potential alternative solutions when executing the role. The book identifies more than 50 challenges for auditors and discusses potential alternative actions the auditor can take when they experience a similar challenge. The book explains how to: Build a value-oriented function that abides by the standards and supports the objectives and goals of the organization. Execute the many aspects of the internal audit, including assurance and consulting work. Build a risk-based audit process. Develop and sustain the internal audit team. Develop and manage relationships with management and the audit committee. Manage internal audit's role in corporate governance, compliance, and fraud. Leading the Internal Audit Function includes real-life examples, scenarios, and lessons learned from internal auditors and CAEs to emphasize the importance of carefully managing all aspects of the internal audit. The author summarizes her many lessons learned into ten "commandments" for both CAEs and internal auditors. By following the guidelines in this book, you should be well-equipped to gain management support, perform effective and ethical audits, and uphold IIA Standards.

This book helps professionals to turn their own Six Sigma projects into reality. Using a sample project, the book guides readers through all aspects of Six Sigma, from identifying and defining a suitable project topic, to sustainably managing its success in the control phase. By demonstrating all the necessary steps supported by a DMAIC software guide, it makes the application of the sequentially linked DMAIC tools easy to understand and directly transferable to typical Six Sigma business projects. Further, each chapter provides numerous questions and answers, tasks and the framework for an environmental standard project. This book is an essential part of the author's teaching material on the topic, which also includes the software 'sigmaGuide', a template for project documentation and several hours of video content featuring course materials on edX Learning Community.

Risk is the single most prevalent and enduring factor that influences every individual, organization, and society. We often seek protection from negative risk events, but also seek to take advantage of opportunities arising from positive risk events. We may feel overwhelmed by messages encountered in daily interactions with media and society, contributing to a sense of ambiguity over how to act in response to risk-related information and misinformation. We seek to leverage evidence and reason to find our own balance between both positive and negative outcomes in an uncertain world. This ground-breaking book delivers practical concepts and tools that empower readers to leverage innovations in risk science to improve their abilities to interpret, assess, communicate, and handle risk. It provides a practical non-quantitative approach to understanding risk and to making better decisions involving risk. Think RISK covers several key themes in risk science: a) The main goals and strategies for understanding and managing risk b) How readers can inform their risk stances by considering their own individual values and mission c) The difference between risk and safety, and how that difference is critical for managing risk d) The role of psychological factors when understanding and managing risk e) The role of communication when understanding and managing risk, and f) The general importance and incentives for effectively understanding and managing risk. Written for business professionals in all private and public sectors, this book will also be relevant to non-business professionals such as medical practitioners and policymakers and would be an ideal fit for executive education and seminar-style courses in universities, corporate books clubs and training seminars. Because it's based on foundational and scientifically accepted ideas and principles, the book should remain relevant for many years.

Business Excellence and Total Quality Management (TQM) models provide a means of measuring the satisfaction of customers, employees and shareholders simultaneously. A number of such models currently exist, but, the author argues, none of these address all dimensions of TQM. This book introduces the principles of TQM, and establishes their use in measuring Business Excellence in an organisational environment. It comparatively evaluates various TQM and Business Excellence models, and discusses the complexities of measuring success. Presenting important, innovative work by one of the most eminent scholars in the field, this book is essential reading for both academics and professionals working in quality management.

The standard belief in books about Lean initiatives and value stream mapping (VSM) is that VSM works well on transactional processes (which are primarily linear processes where handoffs are well defined and the outcome is known) and it is useful for repetitive projects or products. This book counters these statements by clearly demonstrating how a VSM exercise can be successfully performed in complex, multifunctional environments involving nonrepetitive work, such as aircraft new product development, custom engineering, software development and project management. The methodology described in this book is the result of more than ten years of refinement and is based on practice while working with multidisciplinary teams and helping them achieve their goals. This is a novel approach to capturing the information flow in a VSM by recognizing it as the place where most of the issues are generated, especially for the previously mentioned environments and the fact that classical mapping methodologies (including classical VSM) do not capture it well. The VSM methodology that the author developed goes to the essence of a VSM (activities flow, information flow, timeline), uses conventional VSM icons and some custom information flow icons and helps the following: Quantifying waste (VSM literature gap) Making disconnects visible (VSM literature gap) Making behavioral and cultural patterns visible (VSM literature gap) If the steps are followed thoroughly, then lead time reductions ranging from 60% to 88% are achieved, along with increased availability of resources, more output with the same resources, projects delivered on time and, most importantly, colleagues embracing the Lean mindset, which greatly contributes to maintaining the gains. Essentially, this book helps readers perform a VSM in environments where multiple stakeholders interact with each other to deliver a product or a service with unclear aspects, such as what the product/service is, how all involved can contribute to the product or service transformation and how the interactions between them occur. For example, the products/services targeted in this book include test results, analysis results, a custom design, a process, a methodology, an engineering change, integrated enterprise software and engineering drawings. Concurrently, this book helps readers map behavioral patterns, such as micromanagement, and company culture aspects, such as excessive governance and "decisions by committee."

The standard belief in books about Lean initiatives and value stream mapping (VSM) is that VSM works well on transactional processes (which are primarily linear processes where handoffs are well defined and the outcome is known) and it is useful for repetitive projects or products. This book counters these statements by clearly demonstrating how a VSM exercise can be successfully performed in complex, multifunctional environments involving nonrepetitive work, such as aircraft new product development, custom engineering, software development and project management. The methodology described in this book is the result of more than ten years of refinement and is based on practice while working with multidisciplinary teams and helping them achieve their goals. This is a novel approach to capturing the information flow in a VSM by recognizing it as the place where most of the issues are generated, especially for the previously mentioned environments and the fact that classical mapping methodologies (including classical VSM) do not capture it well. The VSM methodology that the author developed goes to the essence of a VSM (activities flow, information flow, timeline), uses conventional VSM icons and some custom information flow icons and helps the following: Quantifying waste (VSM literature gap) Making disconnects visible (VSM literature gap) Making behavioral and cultural patterns visible (VSM literature gap) If the steps are followed thoroughly, then lead time reductions ranging from 60% to 88% are achieved, along with increased availability of resources, more output with the same resources, projects delivered on time and, most importantly, colleagues embracing the Lean mindset, which greatly contributes to maintaining the gains. Essentially, this book helps readers perform a VSM in environments where multiple stakeholders interact with each other to deliver a product or a service with unclear aspects, such as what the product/service is, how all involved can contribute to the product or service transformation and how the interactions between them occur. For example, the products/services targeted in this book include test results, analysis results, a custom design, a process, a methodology, an engineering change, integrated enterprise software and engineering drawings. Concurrently, this book helps readers map behavioral patterns, such as micromanagement, and company culture aspects, such as excessive governance and "decisions by committee."

The Quality Movement and Organizational Theory provides a framework within which organization theorists may learn from, reflect upon, and contribute to the development of new approaches to organizational change and improvement. The book includes contributions by researchers who have been at the forefront of assessing new quality approaches, how they work, and the conditions under which they are effective. It also draws upon other organizational scholars who reflect on current efforts and findings in an effort to better link them to existing knowledge. The book bridges the world of theory and practice, making academics aware of recent developments to improve organizational performance and exploring ways in which these efforts both contribute to and challenge current theories. Practitioners will profit from the concerns and insights of organizational scholars.

While there is substantial research surrounding manufacturing and design-related product hazards, little has been written about supply chain product hazards and how they impact supply chain quality management. Filling this need, Global Supply Chain Quality Management: Product Recalls and Their Impact draws together key insights and research findings from a global research project on product safety and recalls. The book presents detailed case studies of six extended global supply chains within three industries: toys, food, and pharmaceuticals. These case studies cover U.S. companies with supply chains that extend into China and provide the perspectives of both U.S. and Chinese executives. It includes coverage of several highly publicized product recalls, including Ford Pinto, Extra Strength Tylenol, melamine-tainted milk, Mattel, and Toyota. Presenting detailed examples of both poor and best practices, the text supplies firsthand accounts from key players in well-known product recalls. It outlines an event study methodology that can help readers determine the true financial impact of a product recall announcement. It also describes how to conduct controlled experiments to determine the effect of various recall strategies on consumers. The book describes how alternative product recall strategies can influence consumers' perception of your organization's corporate social legitimacy as well as their future purchasing behaviors. Although the text focuses on product quality within the supply chain, it also sheds light on other sources of product hazards-sharing a wide-ranging perspectives and current methodologies.

In both Marxist and non-Marxist scholarship there has been a remarkable neglect of the managerial control of labour. John Storey s analysis of the modern labour process shows that managerial control is in fact more precarious than has been so far recorded. This book, first published in 1983, reassesses the Braverman theory of the inexorable degradation of work, and demonstrates the need to go beyond not only Braverman but also most of the ensuing attempts to complement or repair his underlying thesis. The book will be of interest to students of the social sciences. "

Offers fundamental theories and practical and more sophisticated applications of Evolutionary Computation in varied industries Provides insight into various platforms, paradigms, techniques, and tools used in Evolutionary Computation for diverse fields Presents an understanding related to optimization, performance tuning, virtualization, deployment models, and their applications Covers a variety of applications for social and essential models and is based on real life examples Useful for decision making based on optimized data through Evolutionary Computation in multi-dimensions

For some organizations, Lessons Learned (LL) is an informal process of discussing and recording project experiences during the closure phase. For others, LL is a formal process that occurs at the end of each phase of a project. Regardless of when they are performed, if you are a project team member, chances are you will soon be required to present an evaluation of your project using Lessons Learned. Presenting new information that updates the award-winning first edition, The Basics of Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned, Second Edition supplies practical guidance on conducting project Lessons Learned. The first edition won the Project Management Institute's (PMI (R)) David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award. Following in the footsteps of its popular predecessor, this second edition provides an easy-to-follow, systematic approach to conducting Lessons Learned on a project. Updated to align with the PMBOK (R) Guide, Fifth Edition Includes three new chapters-PRINCE2 (R), Agile Retrospectives, and Knowledge Transfer- in response to information requests from readers of the first edition from around the world Enhanced with valuable new resources in the Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK) found on the downloadable resources, including a fully functional MS Access Lessons Learned Database The research in this book is based on four years of doctoral dissertation research and is supported by renowned experts in the field of evaluation. The concepts covered are applicable to all types of organizations that implement projects and need to conduct Lessons Learned. Providing tools and techniques for active engagement, the text is founded on the principles of conducting project evaluations as recommended by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world's leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, and PRINCE2 (R) (Project in Controlled Environments version 2), a major governing body of project management. Simplifying and formalizing the methodology of conducting LL in projects, the contents of this book will help organizations, large and small, more effectively implement processes and systems to support effective LL. The text is supported by a Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK), which is found in the downloadable resources.

The quality and safety of the food we eat attracts a great deal of publicity and is high on the list of public concerns. This highly emotive issue is discussed in this timely book, which brings together a group of experts to present up-to-date and balanced overviews on a wide range of topics including GM crops; hazardous microorganisms such as E. coli; the BSE/CJD problem; and cancer-causing chemicals, both natural and synthetic. Thought-provoking and of interest to a wide readership, this authoritative review will be welcomed by food scientists, legislators, government officials and advisors. Students of food science or environmental science will also find it essential reading.

Praise for The Paradox of Excellence

"This book reveals a powerful new formula for every business to become distinct and not extinct!"
--Ram Charan, coauthor, Confronting Reality and Execution, and author, Boards That Deliver

"The Paradox of Excellence is a must-read for any company executive. In today's competitive environment, it is all too easy to become 'invisible' to our customers, which leads to undesired consequences. This book helps put into perspective issues facing many businesses today."
--Garry Betty, CEO, Earthlink

"The Paradox of Excellence is a quick read and an excellent investment of your time. It provides a meaningful guide to improving communications and interactions with your customers."
--Jerry McElhatton, president, Global Technology & Operations, MasterCard International

"The message Mosby and Weissman are delivering is very important to all companies regardless of size or success. In my thirty-four years in business and eight as a college president, I have often seen and experienced the paradox of excellence phenomenon. This is a must-read for all in today's business and service environment."
--Bill Galvin, retired vice chairman, Xerox Corporation, and retired president, Babson College

"A fresh idea made very accessible--definitely worth reading!"
--Ron Okamoto, vice president, Worldwide Developer Relations, Apple Computer

"The Paradox of Excellence teaches a fundamental management lesson nestled in an involving, suspenseful story--operations excellence leading to high expectations coupled with inadequate management of your brand can be a recipe for disaster."
--David Aaker, vice chairman, Prophet, and author, BrandPortfolio Strategy

"I was so impressed with this book. I'm going to order an advanced copy for myself and members of my management team."
--Joan Waltman, president, Wireless Business Solutions, Qualcomm, Inc.

Defines the correct cost optimization process Provides detailed explanation of cost estimating techniques Presents cost estimating techniques for various manufacturing processes Offers cost based negotiation training Explains how to build a cost engineering organization

Quality healthcare is a cornerstone of any healthy society. In the U.S., we have access to sophisticated medical technology, world renowned physicians, highly trained nurses and hospital personnel, advanced pharmaceuticals, and innovations in diagnosis and treatment. But for all of our sophistication, serious problems afflict healthcare systems across the U.S. today - problems that cause severe hardship for families in communities large and small. Considering its impact on society, healthcare is arguably our most important industry. Good health is a key aspect of a productive and fulfilling life no matter what a person's age, cultural background, social status or career. To live well and provide for ourselves and others, we all depend on a strong healthcare system that can help us prevent illness and access effective treatment when we need it. Needless to say, building and maintaining that robust healthcare system is no easy task. According to a report by the Institute of Medicine, up to 98,000 deaths per year occur in U.S. hospitals as a result of adverse events. In other words, errors in hospitals cause more annual deaths than acceptable and are totally preventable. With the healthcare system in such critical condition, Lean is the best possible treatment as it moves to eliminate waste and improve processes. The revised edition of Taking Improvement from the Assembly Line to Healthcare supplies step-by-step guidance on how to implement Lean methods to achieve world-class improvement with the healthcare industry. The updated edition of this Shingo award winner book provides specific examples of Lean implementation in emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging, orthopedic clinics, general internal medicine, administration, and community care. Highlighting quality, safety, and financial evidence as to why immediate change is both possible and essential, the book provides a firm foundation in Lean improvement and the tools used to deliver sustainable solutions. This revised edition presents new and updated client interviews and how the process has changed or been enhanced, what worked and what didn't work. New case studies from U.S. and Canada provide readers with the real-world understanding needed to embark and sustain a successful improvement journey.

It is widely accepted that management concepts such as strategic management, human resource management and management development have a well-defined body of knowledge designed to inform management praxis, however the notion of efficiency has no such body of knowledge to support its application within management praxis. This book proposes the replacement of the generalised term efficiency with the more comprehensive notion of performance efficiency to provide a reliable basis on which to evaluate management behaviour. Given the scope of the investigation, the outcome is not designed to prove the success or failure of the inherent nature of efficiency, but rather to establish a new starting point for yet wider empirical research. At a macro-level, it advances the proposition that the notion of efficiency has become an ideological statement of support for any management intention rather than a practical means to inform or evaluate a range of management actions.

Recent years have seen an upsurge of interest in the activities and significance of the diverse assemblages and networks who define themselves as engaged in resisting neoliberal globalisation and promoting alternatives. They have been variously heralded as representing a nascent global civil society that can democratise contemporary global order, as globalisation "from below," and as offering glimpses of more democratic and equitable forms of social organisation. Whilst this interest in contemporary forms of political dissent has enhanced understandings of world politics, there has been a tendency to romanticise these activities and their transformative potential. What is often missing is consideration of the formal and informal disciplines that operate towards, within and through resistance movements. This volume brings together contributions from scholars in Europe and North America that explore the ways in which contemporary forms of political dissent are disciplined and disciplining. It provides a nuanced series of analyses of the activities, complexities and significance of the anti-globalisation' movement(s) and, in particular, highlights some of the ways in which power in its various forms is implicated in contemporary theories and practices of dissent.

In the business world, especially in manufacturing or quality management, the term Six Sigma usually refers to a set of tools and methodologies developed by Motorola to improve processes by eliminating defects. So why should the HR professional care what Six Sigma is or how it can be applied in the HR function? According to the specialists at Orion Partners, there are ten key reasons: * to create excellence in process delivery; * to reduce defects; * to increase efficiency; * to create a quality focused mindset; * to benefit from best practice; * to bring clarity to the processes of HR; * to use a structured scientific approach; * to speak the same language and improve communication; * to gain control over your processes; * and to strengthen your business case. Mircea Albeanu and Ian Hunter explain some of the basic concepts to show how applying Six Sigma tools and methodologies can be used to manage the practical challenges of improving HR operations to meet your organization's expectations at a lower cost and with greater efficiency. To help illustrate some of the key messages examples are drawn from Orion Partners' work using Six Sigma tools with international organizations over the last seven years. This concise guide is ideal for project and programme managers involved in business transformation, and for HR managers as well as Six Sigma specialists seeking to understand its applications within human resources. About The Gower HR Transformation Series: The Human Resources function faces a continuing challenge to its role and purpose, in many organizations it has suffered from serious under-representation at strategic, board level. Yet, faced with the challenges of globalism, the need to innovate, manage knowledge, attract and retain the very best employees, organizations need an HR function that can lead from the front. The process of transforming the function is complex and rarely linear. It includes the practical challenges of improving HR operations to meet customer expectations at lower cost and with greater efficiency. The Gower HR Transformation Series will help; it uses a blend of conceptual frameworks, practical advice and global case study examples to cover each of the main elements of the HR transformation process. The books in the series follow a standard format to make them easy to read and reference. Together, the titles create a definitive guide from one of the leading specialist HR transformation consultancies; an organization that has been involved in HR transformation for clients as diverse as Bombardier Transportation, Marks & Spencer, Barnardo's, Oxfam, Schroders, UnitedHealth Group, Nestle, BP, HM Prison Service, Transport for London and Vodafone.

While there are a growing number of books based on the Toyota Production System, or lean, focused on healthcare, there are very few that detail the tools that make lean more than just a way of thinking and put the methodology into practice. Based on Hiroyuki Hirano's classic 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace and modeled after the Shingo Prize-winning Shopfloor Series for Lean Manufacturers, 5S for Healthcare adopts a proven reader-friendly format to impart all the information needed to understand and implement this essential lean methodology. It provides examples and cased studies based on the experiences of the principals involved with the Rona Consulting Group, who were responsible for the groundbreaking implementation of the Toyota Production System at the Virginia Mason Medical Center. Written to readily assist with hands-on implementation efforts, this volume offers innovative features designed to improve understanding and support application. This includes helpful how-to-steps and practical examples taken directly from the healthcare industry.

In the tradition of Taoist philosophers and Zen masters, Steve Hoeft tells the stories he learned from his Toyota Production System (TPS) master teachers. Sometimes enigmatic, sometimes funny, but always powerful and enlightening, these stories of continuous improvement and Lean implementation are organized around the Toyota House framework. After covering historical and foundational aspects of TPS, the stories go on to illustrate a wealth of essential topics encompassing the timeless, unchanging principles of Just-In-Time, Built in Quality, and Respect for People, and delves into specifics on many tools like kanban, Quick Changeover, and A3 Problem Solving.

Winner of a 2011 Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize

More than entertainment, the telling of stories is a way that human wisdom is handed from one generation to the next. It is a gentle but memorable way to learn the lessons of failure without suffering the personal pain of misdirected efforts; a way to find the best path without having to personally experience hundreds of dead-end journeys. It is a way to gain understanding that goes deeper than definitions.

"When Steve writes about the TPS house, it is not just an abstraction. It is something he lives. He can vividly picture it in every operation?. Steve's stories?bring the house to life."

--From the Foreword by Jeffrey K. Liker, author of The Toyota Way

TPS is more than just a manufacturing blueprint and a set of business rules. It is a tradition, a learned and shared cultural legacy that imbues each ensuing generation with ethics and a sense of purpose that goes far beyond the punching of a clock and the filling of a ledger. It is far better taught by stories than by rulebooks. Ideal for individual learning and reflection as well as for use with groups, Stories From My Sensei provides key insights into how and how-not-to implement TPS principles. Reflection questions accompany each story to help readers apply the lessons to their own situations?situations that will ultimately become the basis of stories handed down to the next generation.

In 2001, we gathered a group of researchers in Nice, France to focus discussion on performance measurement and management control. Following the success of that conference, we held subsequent conferences in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009. This volume contains some of the exemplary papers that were presented at the most recent conference. Though the conference has been generally focused on performance measurement and management control and has included presentations on many facets of the topic, each year we have also focused on a particular theme of current interest. This year's theme was directed at innovative concepts and practices. This includes creative approaches to solving management challenges of performance and management control and improving organizational performance. It also includes the innovative use of empirical, analytical, experimental, and case based research. The contents of this book represent a collection of leading research in management control and performance measurement and provide a significant contribution to the growing literature in the area.