An effective training evaluation plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A compelling preparing assessment plan - Essay Example The advantages of worker preparing frequently come over the long haul after the representatives have completely picked up the aptitudes required. During hard financial occasions when organizations think about cutting on costs, a few chiefs may get a kick out of the chance to get rid of the division of preparing and advancement as it is a n cost for the time being. This anyway is certainly not a decent move since the advantages of having the office are far a lot more noteworthy than the transient expenses. Scratching off the office suggests that the workforce will most likely be unable to upgrade their aptitudes and the association may not thusly have the option to adapt to the adjustments in the business condition, including hard financial occasions. During troublesome monetary occasions such as downturns, organizations and associations need to have a very much educated and talented workforce that is equipped for settling on the correct choices to prop the association up. This isn't an ideal opportunity to get rid of the office. One of the most significant assets of any association is its workforce (Montana, and Bruce, 2000). The more talented and learned an organization’s workforce is, the better the association. An association can guarantee its representatives have the best abilities and information in their callings by having a decent enrollment strategy that guarantees the best applicants are offered chances to work for the association. ... Worker preparing and improvement directly affects the general execution and achievement of an association (William, and Kazanas, 2004). Representatives and top directors are straightforwardly engaged with dynamic procedures that shape the fate of the association and effectively add to the creation of products and enterprises. Through preparing the workers can progress and enhance their aptitudes and information in order to be better positioned to expand their presentation levels and improve the organization’s execution. Advantages of Employee Training Employee preparing and advancement is gainful to both the association and the workers. Among the advantages that representative preparing has to an association incorporate having an inspired workforce, expanded execution levels, expanded benefits, expanded staff dependability and maintenance, and incredible client care (Cohn, Khurana, and Reeves, 2005). Interest in representative preparing encourages the association to have a per suaded workforce. The worker will feel that their boss thinks about them and their vocation and in this way be exceptionally energetic to play out their obligations. At the point when the representatives are persuaded to work, there will be an extraordinary workplace with least encounters between the administration and junior representatives or among the workers themselves. This guarantees there is agreement in the working environment. This is useful for the association since it guarantees the representatives focus on their primary destinations of helping the association accomplish its objectives (Cohn, Khurana, and Reeves, 2005). Worker preparing and improvement is additionally helpful to the association since it prompts expanded execution levels of representatives. This guarantees

The involvement of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War :: European Europe History

The inclusion of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War On the 18 July 1936, driving Generals of the Spanish Army drove a rebel against the justly chosen Popular Front legislature of Spain. Inside days the nation was dove into common war with the Republicans battling the guerilla Nationalists for control of the nation. The different popular governments of the world betrayed Spain's situation and even thwarted the Republicans by supporting non-mediation in the contention. In any case, numerous individuals came to support the Republic. Las Brigades Internacionales, the International Brigades, would in the long run incorporate just about 40,000 people from 53 distinct nations, from all around the globe. The International Brigades started as a thought in July and August of 1936, yet soon its development turned into the fundamental work of the Comintern (the body with the obligation of cultivating the overall spread of Communism). Every Communist gathering was told to raise volunteers who might be sent to Spain via train or vessel. Around 60% of the volunteers were Communists, however non-Communists were likewise invited. The principal gathering of enlisted people came to Spain via train from Paris, and showed up at their base in Albacete, somewhere between Madrid and Valencia, on the fourteenth of October. It was there that the 500 French, German and Polish enlisted people started preparing. The topic of the enlistment promulgation depended on the motto that Spain ought to be The grave of European Fascism, and in view of this volunteers kept on streaming into Spain from France. One of the coordinators of enlisted people in Paris was the future Marshal Tito - Joseph Broz. In Albacete the volunteers were composed into language gatherings and the base was put under the order of Andre Marty. The Brigades were to be driven by General Emilio Kleber and concentrated preparing was to happen in the base before setting off to the front. The International Brigades rite of passage went ahead the eighth of November 1936, when the XIth and XIIth Brigades went to the Madrid front. They numbered around 3,500 men by and large, and were critical to the protection of Madrid. The battling in Madrid in the long run arrived at impasse and the Brigades were moved to different fronts. The XI, XIII and XV Brigades battled at the Brunete hostile of July 1937, where misfortunes were extremely high, and where Oliver Law, the Afro-American authority of the Lincoln Battalion was slaughtered. The Brigades likewise had a significant impact in the Aragon hostile of August 1937, and were officially joined into the Republican Army around this time.

Knowing me, knowing you

Knowing me, knowing you DID YOU KNOW? Kelly Clarkson is the first artist to have five top ten singles from the same album (courtesy Mitra). You all left a lot of lovely comments, which I will respond to in an untimely fashion. Ill let you know when. You can count on me, cant you? I think I eventually come to love all of my professors in a different way. I dont know, call it Stockholm Syndrome. I love the way Frau Jaeger raises her eyebrow and the weird scarves that Frau Bittner used to wear, how Professor Virk compares drag reduction to the AC/DC song Highway to Hell and how Professor Dalzell is like everybodys jovial grandfather at Thanksgiving, how Professor Hatton has a South African accent and how Professor Amon was so pregnant during 7.06 that she was going to explode, how Professor Sadighi would say yall and Professor Movassaghis nervous hand gestures as he was explaining stereochemistry, Professor Lichts awkward humor that nobody ever laughed at because 5.07 is taught at 8:30 AM, Professor Hughess earring, Professor Gheorghius extraordinarily hairy arms, the way Dr. Hughes pronounces rather, and Professor Stephanopolouss impeccable handwriting. But most of all, I think I love Dr. Hamel. His French accent, dedication to teaching undergraduates, and single streak of gray hair all combine to make pretty much the ultimate teacher in my estimation. As if this werent enough, hes also dedicated to finding internships for undergradshe travels every summer to make as many company contacts as possible, hold seminars (with free food!) for interested juniors and sophomores to learn more about industry, and sends out countless e-mails notifying all undergrads of open positions. I got this e-mail from him and I was just so excited that I was going write an entry with just this in it: Dear Student, When you have a chance, can you please update me with your internhip plan this summer, and if you already know where you will work, can you please tell me: * the name of the company, university, research institute (if you will be UROPing, please tell me as well) * where it is located (city and state) * the dates of the internship If things fall in place nicely on both sides, I would like to visit you and as many student-interns as possible. I need to start planning the itinerary and look for flights (especially for the European loop). It would be useful and fun to see you and meet your supervisor, this summer. I look forward to hear from you. Good luck for the rest of the week, and have a great break. Jean-Francois Hamel and it turns out he will have time to make his way down to Leverkusen, Germany. Swoon! BUT THEN, that very same day, two more wonderful faculty/student interactions happened that I thought I could add to this entry. In 10.26: Chemical Engineering Project Lab, one of the teams is doing research into the MerryChef oven, a convection (maybe?) oven thats going to be used at Subway restaurants to heat up sandwiches (among myriad other things). So, we all got invited down to the secret sub-basement of building 66 for free toasted sandwiches! And Professor Colton was chopping tomatoes when we got there. When they pulled them out, he looked at the grill marks on his sandwich (a product of the Maillard reaction, which my UROP studies) and excitedly exclaimed, WOW! Bill, what do you think the q-dot into that was?! Well, have a look at the oven and see if you can figure it out. My own verdict on the MerryChef is that it got the bread nice and toasty (in 45 seconds!) and the cheese evenly melted, but the whole sandwich itself wasnt as hot as Id usually like it. Well, I guess thats a problem for MIT undergrads to solve, now isnt it? And my other one was that I was running 14 miles on Thursday and somewhere around mile 3 happened to pass none other than Professor Richard R. I won the Nobel Prize Schrock! I was actually somewhat befuddledI wanted to say something like: Professor Schrock, you have already won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, do you really need to continue your quest for self-improvement? When I am old, rich, and a Nobel Laureate I will wake up every morning, fry a breast of chicken in a cast-iron skillet, take off the skin, eat it, and throw out the actual meat. But then again, how many catalytic pathways do I have named after me?

The Energy Policy Act Of 1992 - 1607 Words

Energy Policy Act In this final assignment for Environmental Policy, Regulation, and Law, I will discuss the Energy Policy Act. This discussion will be geared toward the current usage of renewable energy with reference to the incentives created in the Energy Policy Act. The introduction into this topic will include a brief synopsis of the act’s history. Following the history of the Energy Policy Act, there will be a discussion and argument for the act and its present incentives for the use of renewable energy sources. In conclusion, the expected future of the Energy Policy Act and the closing argument for its regulation will be covered. Introduction and History of Energy Policy Act The Energy Policy Act of 1992 was amended in 2005 and 2009. In general, the act addresses production associated with energy with in the United States which include, renewable energy, energy efficiency, oil and gas, coal, Tribal energy, vehicles and motor fuels, hydrogen, nuclear matters and security (Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). In addition, the act also covers electricity, energy tax incentives, climate technology, hydropower and geothermal energy (Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). In regards to the Act, a renewable energy system is defined in the as a connection with a residence that transmits or uses solar energy or energy derived from geothermal deposits, biomass or any other form of renewable energy which the secretary stipulates within regulation (Environmental ProtectionShow MoreRelatedWhy Did Lans Join Aseann1465 Words   |  6 Pagespower plant near the border to supply electricity to Cambodia’s north-eastern provinces [8]. Furthermore, the first energy sector in Brunei is oil which discovered in 1910. In the 1970s, the first oil crisis led to increased efforts to explore and produce in Brunei. The Government imposed a strict conservation policy on production at 150,000 barrels per day in 1981 and revised the policy which resulted in an increase of production at availability. Then, Brunei’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) productionRead MoreOverview of Sustainable Industry in Malaysia.655 Words   |  3 Pageshuge success to government which a total 396.61MW of renewable energy approved by the Sustainability Energy Development Authority and its represent a total 466% year-on-year growth. The increase of the renewable energy represent years of planning and execution by relevant authorities to regulate and draft policies that suits Malaysian environment. As sustainable industry and climate change are interrelated, often the regulation and policies are overlapped. The Malaysian governement acknowledge the importanceRead MoreClimate Change Is The Biggest Human Induced Threat On The Environment784 Words   |  4 Pagestry to save themselves from something that was inevitable. This all led to the beginning of many different proposed solutions. In 1955, congressmen in the United States proposed the idea of The Air Pollution Control Act, which later became The Clean Air Act of 1963. The purpose of this act was to mitigate greenhouse gases, more specifically as Grossman explains it [limited] emissions from mobile and stationary sources and imposed other regulatory requirements. This may seem like it would be a primaryRead MoreThe Global Consumption Of Oil904 Words   |  4 Pagesdecades. The use of energy resources all over the world has raised concerns over the consumption of energy resources and its environmental impacts. In this essay, an attempt is made to picture the geographies of energy consumption that increased attention to carbon emissio ns in the G7 and BRICs and countries like India, China, Brazil, U.S.A and Canada and its implications for human society, climate and political or economic dimensions. All the data discussed in this paper about energy use and emissionsRead MoreMacro Economics - Oil and Gas1681 Words   |  7 Pagesgasoline prices follow a trend that sparks mixed reactions from different industry stakeholders in the America’s economy. The trends on oil and gasoline and their stability have immense impact on the performance of the economy based on their primary as energy. The government’s ability to ensure stability in price movement is seen as a key step towards fostering steady economic growth. A variety of factors are at play in the determination of these trends exhibited by the oil prices in America. 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In this paper, committees of federal representatives and senators are discussed. Main focus is given to the legislators’ involvement in health care policy. The paper also discusses how California Action Coalition implements the recommendationsRead MoreGermany s Production And Consumption Of Biodiesel984 Words   |  4 Pagesgoverned by the European Union, their policy was rethought due to costs of food supply and carbon dioxide statistics. The â€Å"European Union proposed a 5.75% cap on the fraction of fuel that is biofuel.† (â€Å"Europe†) The policy changed to â€Å"ensure sustainable production and environmental responsibility, provide enhanced trade between EU member states, and support research and innovation†, (â€Å"Europe†) which are some of the new parts of the biofuel strategy. These policies are also looking into new taxationRead MoreCase Study : Southern Builders Inc. Vs. Shaw Development Llc806 Words   |  4 Pagescode that included energy efficiency requirements for air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps and water heaters that were more stringent than U.S. Department of Energy requirements. The Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (â€Å"AHRI†), along with other industry groups and contractors, sued the City to stop the new requirements from taking effect on the grounds that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, National Appliance Energy Conservation Act and other federal lawsRead MoreFrank Pallone Jr. Shows Up On The Website House943 Words   |  4 PagesStates House Representative for District Three in New Jersey, â€Å"In March 1992, a new Congressional district map for New Jersey was adopted. Portions of the former Third District were merged with parts of two other districts to create the Sixth Congressional District, taking in large portions of Middlesex and Monmouth counties† (hous.org). Therefore, Pallone become the first elected to the Sixth District seat in November 1992. The most recent election for the U.S. House of Representatives was on November

A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner - 1306 Words

In William’s Faulkner story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, vivid imagery is used to describe the mysterious life of Emily Grierson. Emily Grierson, the main character, is portrayed as a mentally disturbed individual who is pitied among her community. In the story Emily Grierson exhibited behavior that would lead one to think she was insane. The main reason to Emily’s behavior comes from how her father treated her when he was alive. Emily’s father felt none of the â€Å"young men were quite good enough† for his daughter, therefore he kept her in the house and under his wing at all times. With this self-centeredness her dad annulled all desires of bliss for Emily leaving her stuck into her dad’s reality with no way out. This sort of family environment for women was normal in southern society. Emily’s constant isolation and deprivation of love contributed to the murder of her lover Homer Barron. Often described as a â€Å"fallen monumentâ₠¬ , Emily is a convention, unfalteringly remaining the same throughout the years withstanding many changes in her town. Although, Emily is distant from the world she is someone people wish to regard and respect. Even though the people in her in community respect her she is mostly seen as a burden with a peculiar lifestyle. As the story begins, Emily has apparently just died, and in this the townspeople are talking about her weird and pitiful life. Emily s intemperate requirement for privacy is tested by the townspeople s extraordinary interest about the truthsShow MoreRelatedA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner923 Words   |  4 PagesA Rose for Emily; A Tale of The Old South William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897 but lived most of his life in Oxford, a small town nearby. After dropping out of high school then briefly joining the Canadian Air Force, he returned home and completed three terms at the University of Mississippi (Fulton 27). During his early twenties Faulkner spent time in New Orleans and Europe before returning to Oxford and publishing his first book of poems. In 1929 he married Estelle FranklinRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1729 Words   |  7 PagesJune 24, 2015 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† In every neighborhood there is always that one house that is a mystery to everyone. A house that everyone wants to know about, but nobody can seem to be able to dig up any answers. It’s the type of place that you would take any opportunity or excuse to get to explore. The littler that is known, the more the curiosity increases about this mysterious place or person. In the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, this mysterious person is Emily Grierson, andRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner949 Words   |  4 PagesIn William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† it is clear how Emily’s gender affects how the individuals in the town perceive her. Emily’s gender particularly affects how men understand her. Throughout the whole piece Emily is seen as a helpless individual who is lonely and has suffered losses throughout her life. When the reader reaches the end of the story the actions that Emily has taken is unexpected because of the way she is perceived by the narrator. In the beginning of the story, when the wholeRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1577 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"A Sarah Markins Dr. Bibby ENG 107 February 11, 2015 â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, written by William Faulkner in 1931, follows a series of peculiar events in Miss Emily Griersons life. Written in third person limited, Faulkner utilizes flashbacks to tell of the period between the death of Emily’s father and her own passing. Split into five short sections, the story starts out with the townspeople of Jefferson remembering Emily’s legacy and how each new generation ofRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1552 Words   |  7 PagesRyan Dunn Mrs. Williams English 11 March 11, 2016 In the short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, the reader is given a glimpse of the internal conflict of the main character, living in the past, and the involvement of an over involved society causing the reader to look into the consciousness of an individual haunted by a past and lack of a future. The story is set in a post-Civil War town in the South. He is able to give the reader a glimpse of the practices and attitudes that had unitedRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1507 Words   |  7 Pages1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He stands as one of the most preeminent American writers of the twentieth century. His literary reputation included poetry, novels, short stories, and screenplays. Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a short fascinating story written by William Faulkner and it was his first short story published in a national m agazine. The story involved an old woman named Emily GriersonRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner883 Words   |  4 PagesIn the timeless classic, â€Å"A rose for Emily† by William Faulkner we are introduced to Emily Grierson, a matured sheltered southern woman; born to a proud, aristocratic family presumably during the American Civil War. Through out the short story William Faulkner uses many literary devices such as symbolism, metaphors and allegory to play with â€Å"time† and how time reflects upon his main character Emily Grierson. Emily being one who denies the ability to see time for what it is linear and unchangeableRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1270 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Faulkner’s short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† thoroughly examines the life of a strange woman name Emily Grierson who lives in the town of Jefferson. If we examine â€Å"A Rose for Emily† in terms of formalist criticism, we see that the story dramatizes through setting, plot, characterization, and symbolism on how Miss Emily’s life is controlled by a possessive love she had for her father and lover. William Faulkner uses Emily’s life as the protagonist to examine from a formalist aspect. In orderRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1780 Words   |  8 PagesIn 1930, William Faulkner wrote a five-part story entitled â€Å"A Rose for Emily† that follows the life of a young woman named Miss Emily Grierson. Faulkner sets his story in the Old South, soon after the ending of America’s Civil War, and represents the decaying values of the Confederacy (Kirszner Mandell, 2013a, p. 244). One of these values which the text portrays quite often in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, is the patriarchal custom of society viewing men as having more importance than their female counterpartsRead MoreA Rose For Emily By William Faulkner1277 Words   |  6 PagesMiss Emily Grierson, the main character in the strange short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† written by William Faulkner. It would be best to examine her in a mental capacity as well as the circumstances that may affect her. Throughout the story, Miss Emily’s unpredictable and eccentric behavior becomes unusual, and the reader, like the townspeople in the story, is left to speculate how Miss Emily has spent years living and sleeping with the body of Homer Barron. An important quote from the story was that

Two Drovers and William Wilson Free Essays

â€Å"William Willson† and â€Å"The Two Drovers† suggest a link between identity and aggression. What threatens a characters sense of self in these stories? Why do certain characters react to perceived threats to their identities as they do? â€Å"The Two Drovers† by Sir Walter Scott focuses on an Englishman and a Scotsman in a tale revolving around nationality. The author characterizes them both as proud individuals, while also noting their individual talents and temperaments, but the most prominent trait in both main characters is pride for their own countries. We will write a custom essay sample on Two Drovers and William Wilson or any similar topic only for you Order Now Hence both are presented as national stereotypes, and it is from this that the author is able to build upon and highlight the growing misunderstanding which is the true essence of the story. It is however, their pecuniary and vocational interests that allow them to find the common ground on which they base a mutual respect for each other. For example, when English and Scottish cattlemen are droving livestock together â€Å"†¦ hey co-operate on the journey with one man as guide and interpreter in the Highlands, and the other in England, Robin Oig and Harry Wakefield form a partnership of mutual advantage. † , when this partnership falls prey to what could almost be described as a comedy of errors, they are then forced to revert to their respective social values and customs to fatally resolve what is essentially a commonplace misunderstanding. These differences, propelled by the force of pride, culminate in a true tragedy. Harry Wakefield, with his short fuse and strong fist and Robin Oig, with his Scottish pride and secret ambitions both possess too much pride to back down from a heated situation, and ultimately die as a result of a simple misunderstanding. On the other hand in Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"William Wilson† shows that every person experiences conflict between their will and their conscience. Reasonable people recognize that both of these are components of their mind, but William Wilson does not, Poe effectively uses the Gothic doppelganger technique to show the violent conflicts within Wilson’s soul. Poe shows that the will and conscience are two distinct, but inseparable, parts of the complex human mind. Wilson never understands that the will and conscience are both within him, but Poe communicates this to the reader clearly. Conscience and will together make a whole person, while the lack of one can create a disturbed individual like William Wilson. William Wilson is a much more complex figure than he himself realizes. In the final battle scene he writes he â€Å"felt within his single arm the energy and power of a multitude†. He feels this because within him are his will, his conscience, and every other part of his soul. Wilson doesn’t understand the bonds tying him to the other Wilson, still he writes: â€Å"Wilson and myself were the most inseparable of companions. † Wilson doesn’t realize the irony in this statement is that regardless of how hard he tries not to be, Wilson will always be his companion. How to cite Two Drovers and William Wilson, Papers

The Joy Luck Club 3 Essay Research free essay sample

The Joy Luck Club 3 Essay, Research Paper The joy fortune nine # 8230 ; Mother girl relationship in The Joy Luck Club is a representation of the relentless tensenesss and powerful bonds between female parent and girl in a Chinese- American society. The book illustrates the adversities both the female parent and girls go through in order to delight the other. Besides, it shows the problems the girls face when turning up in two civilizations. This book reveals that most of the clip female parents truly do cognize best. In # 8220 ; Rules of the Game # 8221 ; we see a female parent girl struggle. Waverly # 8217 ; s female parent is ever demoing her off because she is a national cheat title-holder. Waverly takes this as being exploited by her ain female parent because she was raised in a society with more American influence than Chinese. In a Chinese society a adult female # 8217 ; s societal standing is measured by how successful your kids are and besides how good you care for your partner. We will write a custom essay sample on The Joy Luck Club 3 Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of this, Waverly # 8217 ; s female parent self-praises about Waverly # 8217 ; s command of the game of cheat. Throughout all of the Jing-Mei Woo narratives June has to remember all of the memories of what her female parent had told her. She remembers how her female parent left her babes during the war. June # 8217 ; s mother felt that sinc vitamin E she had failed as a female parent to her first babes she had failed as a individual. When she made June take piano lessons June thought that she was seeking to do her become a child prodigy like Waverly, but her female parent did this because she knew it would profit June for the remainder of her life. Because of the decease of her female parent, June was forced to take the topographic point of her female parent in more than merely make fulling her topographic point at the Mah Jong tabular array. The female parent girl tradition was broken because the lost babes were found after the decease of their female parent. June # 8217 ; s trip to China can be seen as the completion of her female parent # 8217 ; s promise to return, honouring her sisters by trying to reassign what she had absorbed from her female parent and her tradition. # 8220 ; And I think, My female parent is right. I am going Chinese # 8221 ; ( Tan 306 ) . This is what June thinks as she crosses into China. Like the Taoist Yin/Yang symbol, June and her female parent have become two of the same thing. The lone difference being their ideas, June with American, her female parent with Chinese. This has kept the mother-daughter tradition alive but has besides weakened it. This happens frequently, but there is ever something that sticks and is passed down from coevals from coevals.

Hurricane Katerinas worst pain Essays - Atlantic Hurricane Season

Hurricane Katerina's worst pain Hurricane Katerina's worst pain Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, was the most destructive and costliest tropical cyclone to hit States. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, was the most destructive and costliest tropical cyclone to hit the United States. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones which are huge rotating storms which can cause huge amounts of damage. Hurricanes can reach up to 210 mph with heavy rain and stormy seas. The hurricane begins with an area of heated air over the warm seas in the Tropics. The heated air expands and rises, creating an area of low pressure. The surrounding air moves in towards the low pressure and is made to spin by the earth's rotation. Areas affected by Hurricane Katrina were Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida Panhandle and most of eastern North America. The US estimates the death toll to be in the thousands and the damage cost is higher than $200 billion. The mayor in New Orleans, Ray Nagging ordered an evacuation before the hurricane struck on August 28th, He repeated the order on August 31st.The storm started east of the Bahamas, it moved over it and made its way to Miami, south of Florida. It strengthened and turned into a hurricane just before reaching the Florida coast. Hurricane Katrina passed leaving 100,000 people without power. It strengthened further with wind speeds of 100-145mph and curved its way inland, towards Louisiana. When the hurricane reached New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina was at its fullest, at nearly 165mph! It destroyed and flooded most of New Orleans and parts of Mississippi and Alabama. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm when it reached the middle of Mississippi and Alabama. Over 150,000 people could not evacuate because many of the New Orleans' school busses. In addition to residents, tourists were stranded on high pieces of land. Fuel and cars were in short supply and the Greyhound bu s and Amtrak train were stopped On August 28th, many refugees that could not leave the city went to the Louisiana Superdome. It housed nearly 10,000 people including National Guard troops. The Louisiana National Guard delivered three truckloads of water and seven truckloads of food, enough to supply 15,000 people for three days. When Katrina passed, it tore two massive holes in the Superdome roof. On September the 1st, it is reported that over 60,000 people had gathered at the Superdome even with the harsh circumstances. On August 31st, it was announced that evacuees were to be moved to the Astrodome in Texas. There were countless reports of looting and violence when many people were evacuating. There were even shootings on emergency helicopters halting rescues. Much of New Orleans is below sea level, which meant it only took 24 hours for 80% of New Orleans to be flooded when part of the levees was destroyed. Army helicopters dropped massive sandbags in the water to close the gap so that no more water could be flooded in. Trucks filled with big rocks also helped to fill the gap. They then put a sheet steel barrier using a crane beside the rocks/sandbags to stop the water completely. They finally used a giant pump to pump the water out of flooded areas to the river/lake. Experts said that it would take around 80 days before they could drain all the water out of New Orleans.

Rap up the Violence Essays

Rap up the Violence Essays Rap up the Violence Essay Rap up the Violence Essay Rap up the Violence Violence among teens is increasing more and more each day. What is the cause of the violence? The answer to that question may never be fully answered. Many things contribute to this problem, but rap music is taking the blunt of blame for this epidemic? Rap music has many outlets. Music TV, which show rap videos, is the main outlet . In the article The Music of Violence the author talks about how rap videos glorify violence and hatred. Some of these videos send out the message that violence is the answer to all problems. Some rapper associate having material ossessions with being cool or popular . Money is often an issue for teens so they turn to committing crimes to obtain the things they see rapper wearing. In The Music of Violence by John Lantigua , it says, many law-enforcement agents say the rap scene stokes gang life, gunplay and bloodletting. The article also says that the makers of the videos and the music insist culture doesnt cause crime, it only documents it. Rap music and videos became popular in the 80s, and as history has shown violence was running rampant way before rap hit the scene. In todays society gangs are almost the norm. Low income families sometimes rely on the income that is created by gang violence in order to survive. It is a misconception that young people look up or condone the behavior on rap videos, when really its that they relate to it. In Brent Staples article The Hip-Hop Media he states that female rapper Lil Kim went to Jail for not cooperating with the police. When asked about an incident involving members of her record label Lil Kim, according to The Hip-Hop Media, misremembered the events of shootout that took happened at the popular radio station Hot 97 . On the streets not snitching is like an unspoken code. It is not necessarily admiration these teenagers feel, but maybe a sense of being able to relate. Rap music is taking the blame for everything. In the article Study Raps Rap Video It says that young girls try to emulate what they see on rap videos. Fashion magazines , TV, and movies have Just as much of a negative affect on young girls as rap music. Many girls today are harming their selves in order to look like the celebrities. The images that Brittney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton portray are Just as harmful as the lyrics in some rap songs. In the song Ignorant Shit by apper Jay Z he raps Scarface the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me. Still that aint the blame for all the shit that happened to me . Are you say what Im spitting, is worse than these celebutants showing their kitten, are you kidding? Lets stop the bullshitin til we all without sin, lets quit the pulpit-ing. If we are going to hold one form of entertainment responsible for our youths actions and values we should hold them all responsible. The Capital Journal article Hip-Hops Rap Sheet hit the nail on the head by saying rap is a scapegoat for a bigger problem. There are many different kinds of rap music. Some of it is not meant for the immature mind, it is the parents responsibility to determine the maturity level of todays to covet what they see. If rap videos and violent games are all teenagers see, that becomes the role model. With guidance teenagers will distinguish what is reality and what is overdramatized for entertainment value. When raising children parents have a responsibility to plant the seed, water the seed, and nurture that seed until it has matured. If good morals and values are instilled in teenagers by the parents rap usic can have the value it is meant to have, entertainment. Blagrove, Ishmahil. Youth Violence RiceNPeas. Com. 15 Apr. 2008. In this article the author Ishmahil Blagrove, Jr. is states that the term black on black violence, has been change by the media to a more generic term youth violence. as a new approach toward old problem, rather than blaming wayward marginalized communities. He is saying in laymens terms he is saying that this problem has spread from the urban common unities to the suburban communities. Carter, Shawn. Ignorant Sh*T. By Jay Z. Rec. Nov. 2007. Ignorant Sh*T. Def Jam Recordings, November 2007. This song is talking about people hating Oealousy) on Jay Z because of his popularity and success. It also tells how the media says that rap music has a negative affect on the youth. Jay Z states that some movies had more of an affect on him than some rap songs. Also how celebutantes do negative things and the media glorifies it Dotinga, Randy Study Raps Rap Videos. HealthScout News Reporter. 6 Mar. 2006. 25 Apr. 008. This articles talks about how Rap music has a negative affect on teenage girls. It tells that girls who watch a high percent of rap videos are ore likely to get in trouble and to contract STDs than girls who watch little or no rap videos. Hip-Hops Rap Sheet. Capital Journal Online. 24 Jan. 2008. 25 Apr. 2008 . This editorial is talking about condemning Gangster Rap. It also talks on that may rap music is a scapegoat for a bigger problem in society. How prohibitin g Rap music it may create a bigger problem. This editorial hit home because it is written in a newspaper that is close to home, Topeka. Hopkins, Joe C. Gangster Rap. Pasadena Journal. 31 Oct. 2003. 15 Apr. 2008. The editorial is talking about Black on Black crime. How the US was so upset when a white police officer slammed a young black man on the hood of a car, no one gets upset with the daily killings in the big cities of young black men by other black men. It also talks about how some rapper promote their image as thugs or pimps. Lantigua, John. The Music of violence. palmaeachpost. om. 11 June 2007. 23 Apr. 2008 . This article talks about how rap videos that are shot in neighborhoods has a negative affect on that neighborhood. How shooting in low income communities only fed in to the stereotype about urban street violence. McWhorter, John H. How Hip- Hop Hold Blacks Back. City Journal. 10 June 2003. 25 Apr. 2008. This editorial is manly about how Rap evolved from fun loving dance music to gangster music. It also talks a bout how black teenagers, mostly male, live their live according to the lyrics in rap music. Reed, William. Rap, Records, Revenues, and Refrain. The Washington Informer. 3 May 207. 15 Apr. 2008. This editorial is about how more than a decade after C. Delores Tucker complained about the offence language in rap music the language is still there. In this article the controversy is weather rap music is part of the First Amendment. Staples, Brent. The Hip-Hop Media- a World Where Really addressing the imprisonment of the rapper Lil Kim for misremembering fact surrounding a case involving members of her rap label. The article does not say that rap music causes violence among teenagers it talk more about one rapper in particular, Lil Kim Staples, Brent. How Hip Hop Music Lost. New York Imes. 12 May 2005. 25 Apr. 2008. This article talks about how the rap music is not only causing violence among teenagers, but that rappers themselves are dying because of so called beefing. Beefing is when two rappers or rap group make song that speak egatively about another rapper ore group. One of the most popular beefs is the beef between the late Tupac Shakur and the late Notorious B. I. G. Work Citation Carter, Shawn. Ignorant Sh*T. By Jay Z. Rec. Nov. 2007. Ignorant Sh*T. Def Jam Recordings, November 2007 Dotinga, Randy,. Study Raps Rap Videos. Health Scout News Reporter. 6 Mar. 2006. 25 Apr. 2008. Lantigua, John. The Music of violence. Staples, Brent. The Hip-Hop Media- a World Where Really Pays. The New York Times. 8 June 2005. 15 Apr. 2008 . Hip-Hops Rap Sheet. Capital Journal Online. 24 Jan. 2008. 25 Apr. 2008 .

Meniscus of the Knee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meniscus of the Knee - Essay Example The menisci also cup the joint surfaces of the femur and therefore provide some degree of stabilization to the knee. The meniscus itself is for the most part avascular that is it doesn't bleed if cut and doesn't have blood vessels inside. The exception to this is at the periphery where it joins to the vascular knee lining providing the outermost 20% of the meniscus with a blood supply. As a result of this avascularity a torn meniscus doesn't have the ability to heal itself unless there is just a small tear confined to the peripheral vascular zone. Similarly the nerve supply providing pain and sensation to the meniscus is for the most part limited to the zone where the blood vessels are located. In terms of descriptive terminology orthopaedic surgeons divide the meniscus into thirds with three geographical zones;the front third is referred to as the anterior horn, the back third the posterior horn, and the middle third the body. Some people think that only athletes can tear a meniscus. This is not true. Even people who do not consider themselves "athletes" can tear a meniscus. Some menisci (plural) tear during activities of daily living such as getting in and out of a car or squatting. Menisci also tear during participation in recreational activities such as skiing, dancing, or racquetball. There are two different mechanisms for tearing a meniscus. Traumatic tears result from a sudden load being applied to the meniscal tissue which is severe enough to cause the meniscal cartilage to fail and let go. These usually occur from a twisting injury or a blow to the side of the knee that causes the meniscus to be levered against and compressed. Degenerative meniscal tears are best thought of as a failure of the meniscus over time. There is a natural drying-out of the inner centre of the meniscus that can begin in the late 20's and progresses with age. The meniscus becomes less elastic and compliant and as a result may fail with only minimal trauma (such as just getting down into a squat). Sometimes there are no memorable injuries or violent events which can be blamed as the cause of the tear. The association of these tears with aging makes degenerative tears in a teenager almost unheard of. There are many techniques for meniscal repair and these will depend on the location of the tear. The techniques include an open procedure (following arthroscopic examination of the joint) or the arthroscopic 'inside-out', 'outside-in' and 'all-inside' procedures. The open technique has been advocated for vertical tears of the posterior horn of the lateral and medial menisci within 1-2 mm of the meniscosynovial junction, where visualisation with the arthroscopy is difficult. In all cases the torn surfaces of the meniscus are derided of scar tissue and fibrin clot can be placed in situ before the sutures are tied to enhance healing. Repaired meniscal tears heal if there is adequate blood supply and tissue stability. A stable knee is therefore important and increased

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand Essay

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand - Essay Example The essay shall focus on how goods and services’ supply and demand is influenced by consumers, how the changing needs and wants of consumer are met and how the different types of resources are used by firms for the production of goods and services. A market is a place where buyers and sellers meet in order to exchange goods and services. Market structure is comprised of buyers, sellers, buyer and seller entry barriers, size of the firm, product differentiation, market share and competition. With the above characteristics, one is able to determine where a particular firm is classified. Some examples of market structure are; Monopoly-here, companies are owned by the state, and other partner entry is not allowed. Oligopoly-here, the number of buyers is high than the number of sellers, thus competition is high. Monopolistic competition-here there is many buyers and many sellers for same products, different branding and very high competition. Perfect competition-an example is betwe en food bought in the stores and those from the market. The following are other market definitions: Economics is concerned with production, allocation and utilization of goods and services. Economics can be divided into; microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics deals with firms, buyers, and markets. Macroeconomics deals with growth, inflation and policies that affect economy (Wessels, 16, 2006). Consumers are those who benefit from goods and services. They are the users of produced products (Houghton, 20, 2009). Goods are useful items that are required and useful to individuals to satisfy their needs or wants. They can also be classified as tangible, since they can be touched unlike services, and can be stored for the future (Houghton, 15, 2009).  There are three types; inferior goods, which decrease in demand as consumer income increases; normal goods, which demand increase as consumer income increases; and luxury goods, which are non essential and are mostly considered an influence. Services are intangible, cannot be stored and are an activity that is done to an individual from another. Services are the other alternatives to goods. Services are done in order to provide help or as a profession (Houghton, 15, 2009).   Firms are organizations that deal with goods and services and their production to cater for the needs and wants of consumers. Firms can be businesses, corporations, or partnerships that have the main aim of producing goods and services for consumption (Rugraff & Hansen, 119, 2011). Production is the process of manufacturing goods from raw materials. Production is transforming raw materials that in their natural form do not have any benefits to consumers. After processing these raw materials, the products that come out can be used by consumers (Menger, Klein, Hayek, Dingwall & Hoselitz, 161, 2007). Supply is the distribution of goods and services to consumers. Supply is influenced by the demand for goods and services (Adil, 4, 2006).à ‚   Demand is the desire for a certain good or service by a consumer(s) who is willing to buy the good or service at a certain set price. Factors that influence demand are like price; of the good and other related goods (substitute), and also the price of the good and other goods (complementary) (Adil, 5, 2006).   Resources are the sources that products are extracted from. In economics, there are four main types of resources namely; land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship (Mankiw, 538, 2011).

The Nature Based Attraction

The Nature Based Attraction Nature-based attraction is unique. Lang OLeary (1997) stated that nature-based tourists are more interested in nature, travel more often at longer distances and stay longer at a destination. Moreover, they are well educated, with high levels of both individual and household income and are willing to spend more. Laarman and Durst (1987) defined natural-based attraction as a form of tourism activity that combines three elements, namely education, recreation and adventure. Silverberg et al., (1996) stated that nature-based attraction is a phenomenon which represents a new market in the tourism industry and has captured the mind of planners and marketers. Nyaupane et al., (2004), suggested that nature based tourism has been growing rapidly than tourism in general. When the destination managers attempt to attract the growing market, they are faced with a double paradoxical task; in the beginning, there is the need to preserve the resources that attract the tourist and provides a quality travel experience; Backman et al., (1999). It is a challenge which requires a balance between the individuals expectations, preferences and attitudes towards the environment for a successful nature-based experience; Uysal et al., (1992) cited in Silverberg et al., (1996). Buckley, Pickering and Weaver (2003) stated that visitor attractions vary from very small to huge size, from free entrance to expensive fees, and include both natural and man-made or a combination of these two (Prideaux, 2002). According to Valentine (1992), natural-based attraction is mainly concerned with the direct amusement of some relative uninterrupted phenomenon of nature. He suggested that there are three types of activities that come below his definition: experiences which are dependent on nature, experiences which are enriched by nature and experiences for which a natural setting is related. Newsome, Moore and Dowling (2002) pointed out that nature-based tourism may be considered as adventure, wildlife an d ecotourism while McKercher (1998) expands it further to alternative tourism, educational tourism, sustainable tourism, responsible tourism and other forms of outdoor-oriented non-mass tourism. 2.2 Tourism attractions According to Mill and Morrisson (1985), the tourism system is made of four key segments: the market, travel, tourist destinations and marketing. Moreover, Gunn (1988) stated that tourism attractions deal with tourism destinations; highlights the role of tourism attractions (tourist, traffic, attraction, information and signposting). Therefore, tourism attractions forms an essential part of the tourism destinations and they are one of four key segments of the tourism system. Tourism attraction is the major reason why tourist visits a destination. The tourist product includes attractions, services and infrastructures. Gunn (1988) said that tourism attractions are composed of the several components including tourists activities, local scenery, service and entertainment. Together, these features represent the total appeal of natural and man-made characteristics. For example, each historical site or lake has its own uniqueness in its features and appeal and cannot be judged as identical to other tourism resources. All tourism attractions are tourism resources, but all tourism resources are not tourism attractions. It may be impossible to evaluate the attractiveness of the various tourism destinations. Also, Laarman and Durst (1987) use level of interest and degree of physical thoroughness to distinguish between soft and hard nature tourists. Lindberg (1991, cited in Meric Hunt, 1998), moves from twofold typologies to a fourfold categories. He suggested that there are: 1. hard core nature tourists who has high levels of environmental commitment and support for enhance sustainability, want physically and challenging experiences, travel in small groups, take longer trips, demand for fewer services and make their own travel arrangements 2. dedicated nature tourists who take trips precisely to protected areas in order to appreciate local, natural and cultural history; 3. mainstream nature tourists who visit destinations primarily to take an unfamiliar trip; and finally, 4. casual nature tourists who enjoy nature as part of a wider trip. According to Swarbrooke (2000:67), visitor attractions are the heart of the tourism industry; they are the motivators that make people wants to take a trip in the first place. In opposition, Richards (2001) pointed out that it can be argued that attractions do not always attract visitors, however, they certainly do provide an emphasis for much tourist activity, and is a vital weapon of tourist destinations engaged in a competitive edge for tourist industry. However, Eduard kuÃ…Â ¡en (2010) argued that a destination without potential or real tourism attractions cannot be developed into a tourism destination. Potential tourism becomes real only when it provides visitor accessibility like physical access, public access, sightseeing. Only the real tourism attraction can be engaged on the tourism market and be promoted. Also, Hu and Richie (1993), Muller (1994) stated that the classification of tourism attractions into natural and man-made is the main obstacle to an efficient approach to tourism attractions. 2.2.1 Evolution of tourist attractions Consumer tastes and preferences have led to an evolution on the tourist attraction market and have turned it into a diversified market. Tourist attractions are changing in terms of forms, location, style and scale. Kruczek (2011) stated that attractions evolving these days are tied into a new model for the evolution of tourism, the three Es (Entertainment, Excitement, Education), which has succeeded the traditional three Ss model (Sun, Sea, Sand). According to Swarbrooke (2002), it is very difficult to reconstruct the historical development of attractions for two reasons: firstly it is not easy to decide how many people need to visit a given site in order to call it an attraction. For example were the Egyptians Pyramids visited annually as an attraction in Roman times? The second reason is the purpose of visiting an attraction. Most of the sacred buildings accomplish the double role of tourist attractions and place of worship. It is impossible to determine the proportion of visitors who come for religious reasons and others who may come out of curiosity for attractions. During the Middle ages, very few attractions flourished. The religious pilgrims started to take new trends like the famous churches of Arab Peninsula, Jerusalem and became travel destinations. Gradually, the travel arrangement led to the appearance of the ancestor of todays tour leader and sorted out accommodation. In the 17th century, there was revitalization of journeys to take the waters and health resorts established earlier by the Romans (e.g. Bath and Buxton in Great Britain, Wiesbaden and Baden-Baden in Germany and Vichy in France). The visitation of health resorts or spas caused an avalanche of the second-rate attractions occupying the leisure time of guests at health resorts. By the end of 18th century many heritage sites were already developed with tourists in mind. The Industrial Revolution came forward in terms of innovative technologies which facilitated access to attractions. In the mid-19th century there was a fashion for excursions in Poland whereby many coastal resorts were developed and brought opportunities like bathing in the sea. In Great Britain, resorts like Brighton developed very quickly while bath became a fashionable holiday destination especially for Londoners. There was a fast development of attraction such as casinos in France, in the famous Mediterranean Riviera region while in Europe the areas for mountain hiking became well-known. With the arrival of the 20th century, the developments of attractions were mainly on events such as the Olympic Games. The presence of paid public holiday allowances for employers led to a massive growth on interest in local attractions. It offers relaxation, comfort, adventure and entertainment. Curiosity in exotic attraction arises in Africa and Europe such as safari parks. Weekend recreation centers provided cheap, swimming pools, sport facilities and accommodations. When such centers attracted countless tourists, it then became a tourist destination. After the Second World War in 1939, an enormous boom arises in tourist attractions. Most of the tourism investors, associations and governments sponsored tourist attractions. And this was accompanied by huge shopping malls and the preservation of historical heritage sites. The last 20 years of the 20th century brought extraordinary tourist attraction development. 2.4 Theories of tourist motivation According to Solomon (2004), motivation is best described as a driving force that makes us change and explains that it is a process that leads people to behave as they do, and it begins when a need arises and the customer wishes to satisfy it. Tourist motivation, therefore, can be defined as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience (Pearce, Morrison and Rutledge, 1998). Additionally, according to Maslow (1943), the demands of a person do not have ending points but rather other needs and demands raises once the present demands have been satisfied. According to Fodness (1994), most researchers who attempt to define tourist motivation typically develop a list of the reasons for travel. However, Dann (1981) disagree with that argues a motive is distinct from a reason, quoting Browns (1963) viewpoint. In Danns opinion, a reason is a subset of motivation, a type of motive wherein necessary and logical means are taken to bring about a desired end. Even if the reasons given for travel and the benefits sought from the travel experience may represent basic travel motivations (Dann, 1981; Pearce and Caltabiano, 1983). However, although the reasons that people give for their travel behaviour do not equa basic tourist motivations, they stand for some psychological functions (the needs) that serves (satisfies) for the individual (Fodness, 1997). Hence, it is still worthwhile to list of the reasons for travel developed by researchersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Dann (1977) also put forward the concepts of push and pull factors, around which most discussion of tourist motivation have tended to solve. Tourists are motivated to visit a particular destination by the information that they receive and their own motivation Push them to visit a destination where their needs and wants can be satisfied (Leiper 1990). Conversely also stated that the pull factors are the information received and the resources which are provided at the destination. John and Susan (2003) proposed six motives, (e.g. physical, emotional, personal, personal development, status and cultural motives). Precisely, with physical motivation, people prefer to travel to destinations where there are activities which can satisfy their needs. As for emotional motivation, individual might contribute in many activities that can satisfy their needs for pleasure of romance (e.g. night sightseeing on a boat). Persons who travel out of personal motivation might join in night clubs to meet and make new friends, (e.g. tourists bring tourist customer). People who travel for motives of personal development and cultural prefer activities that might increase their knowledge in general. With motivation for status, people are willing to participate in high class activities to please their need for being well-regarded. 2.5 Destination attractiveness Pearce (1979) defined destination attractiveness as the responsiveness to which the destination meet expectations of its visitors in terms of food and accommodation, natural beauty, cultural richness, recreational opportunities and other amenities. The more a destination is able to meet the needs of the tourists, the more it is perceived to be attractive and the more the destination is likely to be chosen. Without tourism there would be no tourist attractions. Attraction is the ability of a destination to deliver individual benefits. Ferrario (1979) stated that it only happened when people are attracted towards a destination whereby the facilities and services follow. Attractiveness is the outline of impressions, ideas and beliefs about destinations based on information from various sources MacKay and Fesenmaier; (1997). In short, the greater the attraction power of a particular destination, the higher will be the number of tourists in terms of their stay and tourist receipts. There are some factors which cannot be categorized as attractions but which plays an important role in the attractiveness of a destination such as infrastructure, exchange rate and political stability; Ferrario (1979). A tourist preference appears to be more precise and is the ultimate decision in defining the level of attractiveness of a destination. Their perceptions about a given area control its success or failure as a tourist destination. Since perceptions are certainty in the travelers mind, it does not matter how many tourism resources are accessible in a specific area when all its attractiveness has already been well-defined; Echtner and Ritchie, (1993); Leyele, (1996). However, the limitation of tourist preferences as attraction measures is that human observations are based on personal and cultural beliefs and are influenced by promotional actions and previous experiences Milman and Pizam; (1995). In addition, factor like bad weather may create a one-sided perception of a tourist destination. 2.6 Culture and Heritage tourism There are undoubtedly conflicting views that exist about what is heritage. Most researchers admit that heritage is linked to the past. Lowenthal (1985) stated that whether it is celebrated or rejected, attended to or ignored, the past is ever-present. Many authors pointed out that it is an element of the past that a society wishes to keep (Fladmark 1998, Graham et al 2000, Hall and Mc Arthur 1998, Tunbridge and Ashworth 1996).

Tqm 6 Sigma

Six sigma and Total Quality Management 1 1 X Six sigma and Total Quality Management Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Chung Yuan Christian University Taiwan, R. O. C. 1. The practices and implementation of Six Sigma In the past two decades, Six Sigma methodology has been widely adopted by industries and non-profit organizations throughout the world. In this section, we demonstrate the development of Six Sigma program, and discuss the features and the five steps of the improvements 1. 1 The introduction of Six Sigma Six Sigma methodology was first espoused by Motorola in the mid 1980s. Antony & Banuelas, 2002; Wiklund & Wiklund, 2002). At that time, Motorola was facing Japanese competition in the electronics industry and needed to make drastic improvements in its levels of quality (Harry and Schroeder, 2000; Linderman et al. , 2003). A Six Sigma initiative ,which is originally focused on manufacturing process and product quality (Harry & Schroeder, 2000), is also design ed to change the culture in an organization through breakthrough improvement in all aspects of the business (Breyfogle III et al. , 2001, p. 32).The Six Sigma architects at Motorola focused on making improvements in all operations within a process—thus producing results far more rapidly and effectively (Harry & Schroeder, 2000). The successful implementation of the Six Sigma program in Motorola led to huge benefits. Motorola recorded a reduction in defects and manufacturing time, and also began to reap financial rewards. Within four years, the Six Sigma program had saved the company $2. 2 billion (Harry & Schroeder, 2000). The crowning achievement was being recognized with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Breyfegle III et al. 2001; Wiklund & Wiklund, 2002). IBM, SONY, and Allied Signal successfully followed Motorola in implementing Six Sigma. Allied Signal began its Six Sigma activities in the early 1990s, It successfully attained savings of US$2 billion during a five-year period (Klefsjo et al. , 2001). Sooner, the impressive results obtained by Allied Sigma induced General Electric (GE) to undertake a thorough implementation of the Six Sigma program in 1995 (Pande et al. , 2000) as a corporate initiative to improve net profits and operating margin (Hendricks and Kelbaugh, 1998).The 1999 annual report of GE showed that the implementation produced more than US$2 billion in benefit (Slater, 2001; Coronado & Antony, 2002, Raisinghani et al. , 2005). Yang, Ching-Chow www. intechopen. com 2 Quality Management and Six Sigma As a result, the impressive benefits of implementing Six Sigma programs in Motorola, Allied Signal, and GE led the Six Sigma methodology being widely adopted by industries throughout the world. American Express, Ford, Honda, and Samsung have all applied the methodology (Klefsjo et al. , 2001; Sandholm & Sorqvist, 2002; Yun and Chua, 2002).The Six Sigma has become the most prominent trend in quality management (Sandholm & Sorqv ist, 2002; Yang, 2004) not only for manufacturing and service industries, but also for non-profit organizations and government institutes. The GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. 1. 2 Some key views on Six Sigma Several prominent researchers have expressed views on Six Sigma. Hahn et al. (1999) emphasized that Six Sigma improvement is a highly disciplined and statistically based approach for removing defects from products, processes, and transactions, involving everyone in the corporation. * Harry & Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and maximum value to the consumer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost. * Harry & S chroeder (2000) also concluded that Six-Sigma is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept hat companies can gain a competitive edge by reducing defects in their industrial and commercial processes. * Pande et al. (2000) commented that Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. It is driven by close understanding of customers’ needs and disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis. * Pearson (2001) described Six Sigma as a program that combines the most effective statistical and non-statistical methods to make overall business improvements. Slater (2001) stated that the Six Sigma approach provides a very specific control program with control techniques that ensure continuation of improved processes. * Lucas (2002) described Six Sigma as a statistical business system and a functional methodology for disciplined quality improvement that achieves successful outcomes. * Treichler et al . (2002) concluded that Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps organizations to focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. It is also, in Treichlers’ (2002) view, a change-acceleration process that focuses on pursuing success and the rapid adoption of change. Yang (2004) asserted that the GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 3 In addition to the major features noted above, other features of the GE-6? program include (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001; Pande et al. , 2000; Treichler et al. 2002). * GE-6? rojects are integrated with the company’s visions and strategies; * all GE-6? projects are rigorously evaluated for finan cial impact; * everyone who contributes to the success of the program receives significant rewards, especially in terms of staff promotion; * significant financial incentives (representing 40% of all bonuses received by employees) are tied to GE-6? projects; * a sound statistical approach to improvement is adopted; * projects are completed rapidly (usually within 3–6 months); and * bottom-line results are expected and delivered. 1. 3 Implementation of GE Six Sigma The main features of GE-6? re discussed above, in this subsection we introduce the implementation of GE Six-Sigma: * improvement steps; * * staff roles; and investment in training. 1. 3. 1 Improvement steps There have been many improvement models for process improvement or re-engineering. Most of these have been based on the steps introduced by W. Edwards Deming, which can be characterized as ‘Plan’, ‘Do’, ‘Study’, and ‘Act’ (PDSA)(Deming, 1993). GE-6? has a five-p hase improvement cycle that has become increasingly popular in Six Sigma organizations: ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Improve’, and ‘Control’ (DMAIC).There is another cycle characterized as ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Design’, and ‘Verify’ (DMADV) (Pande et al. , 2000). Like other improvement models, the DMAIC (or DMADV) model is grounded in the original Deming PDCA cycle. Usually, Six Sigma organizations use DMAIC for process improvement and DMADV for process design (and redesign). Table 1. 1 describes the specific tasks in each step, and the tools and techniques used in the steps. Step Define ? ? ? ? ? ? Map process and identify inputs and ? outputs ? ? Establish measurement system for ? inputs and outputs ? ? Understand the existing capability of ? rocess ? ? ? ? ? Specific tasks Identify improvement issues Organize project team Set-up improvem ent goal Estimate financial benefit Measure Tools and techniques employed Customer complaint analysis Cost of poor quality (COPQ) Brainstorming Run charts, control charts Benchmarking Process map (SIPOC) Cause and effect matrix Gauge R&R Control charts Process capability analysis Failure models and effects analysis (FMEA) www. intechopen. com 4 Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Identify sources of variation in ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Analyze Improve ? ? ? Control projects Table 1. 1 DMAIC steps and tools usage ? ? Standardize the process ? ? Maintain critical inputs in the optimal ? area ? ? Verify long-term capability ? ? Evaluate the results of improvement process Identify potential critical inputs Determine tools used in the improvement step Conduct improvement actions Use experiments Optimize critical inputs Cause-and-effect diagram Pareto diagram Scatter diagram Brainstorming Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Design of experiment (DOE) Quality function deployment (QFD) Process capability analysis Control charts Standard operation procedure Process capability analysis Fool-proofing (Poka Yoke) Run charts . 3. 2 Staff roles Along with the systematic improvement steps described above, the design of specific roles and their effective operations are important factors of the GE-6? program. Senior management is ultimately responsible for the success of the project through the provision of sufficient support, resources, and strong leadership. The implementation of GE-6? is thus top–down. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, and drives the changes.Apart from the critical role of the CEO, other players also have their specific roles (Henderson and Evans, 2000): (i) ‘Champions’ are usually the senior managers, who are the sponsors of the project and responsible for success of Six Sigma efforts, they are fully trained business leaders who promote and lead the deployment of Six-Sigma projects; (ii) ‘Master Black Belts (MBBs)’ are the full-time teachers and consultants, they are responsible for Six-Sigma strategy, deployment, training, mentoring, and results.A master Black Belt in Motorola has leaded as a Black Belt for about ten successful projects at least five years, and needs the recommendation of high managements; (iii) ‘Black Belts (BBs)’ have the key operational role in the program as full-time Six Sigma players, they are fully-trained Six-Sigma experts and lead the improvement teams. They are qualified as they successfully leaded at least two Six-Sigma projects; (iv) ‘Green Belts (GBs)’ are the process owners who, led by the BBs, work on Six Sigma projects while holding down their original job functions in the company. . 3. 3 Investment in training Because training is a key ingredient in achieving success through Six Sigma (Pande et al, 2000), Motorola and GE have invested heavily in employee training for their Six-S igma programs. Motorola invested $150 million per year in Six-Sigma courses, GE also spent $ 500 million per year in the implementation of Six-Sigma program (Sandholm and Sorqvist, 2002), GE has invested more than a billion dollars in this effort (Hahn et al. , 1999). GE has designed ww. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 5 a complete training plan for the various roles described above—from the CEO, to the ‘Champions’, ‘MBBs’, ‘BBs’, and ‘GBs’. In addition, the training program extends to all other employees in the organization. The training courses are comprehensive and cover team leadership skills, measurement and analytical tools, especially statistical methods, improvement tools, planning and implementation skills, and so on.For examples, (i). Champions have one week champion training related to Six-Sigma development, leadership, and the implementation plan. (ii). BBs spend about four to five weeks to receive the intensive, highly quantitative training, roughly corresponding to the five steps of the implementation of Six-Sigma improvement project. Thus, the length of training is approximately 16-20 weeks. (iii) GBs receive the training of six to ten days.The courses include the statistical tools and the use of statistical software, the detailed modules of five steps, the innovative and improvement tools, and the skill of project management. (iv) MBBs then take over the responsibility of the training for all the BBs and GBs. 2. The critical success factors of the implementation of Six-Sigma In this section we want to discuss the critical success factors for the successful implementation of Six-Sigma projects.We investigate the importance degree of the critical success factors in implementing Six Sigma, and their implementation level by using the questionnaire survey. 2. 1 The consideration of critical success factors Table 2. 1 lists the key factors, as asserted in five previous studies. The factors identified by Coronado & Antony (2002) and Antony & Banuelas (2002) are almost identical, with the exception that Coronado & Antony (2002) added one extra factor (â€Å"communication†). Most of the success factors in the other three studies are included in the work of Coronado & Antony (2002).The total twelve critical success factors in Coronado & Antony (2002) are considered in the present study In addition, two additional key factors, â€Å"complete evaluation system of project performance† and â€Å"promotion and incentive for employees tied to the results of Six Sigma projects†, are also considered in this chapter according to Yun & Chua (2002) and Sandholm & Sorqvist (2002). The former introduces the factor of â€Å"accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees†.The later suggests â€Å"focus on results† to assert that the employee promotion and ince ntive compensation are tied to the results of Six Sigma projects. Finally, apart from the above, another key success factor somewhat neglected by previous studies is the application of techniques and innovations. Although Coronado & Antony (2002) and Klefsjo et al. (2001) mention it as a required technique in the progress of Six Sigma projects, and Yun & Chua (2002) asserts that â€Å"linkage with all innovation and infrastructure activities† is also a key factor. We therefore add another key factor: â€Å"usage of innovative techniques and IT systems†.In total, a study is conducted to adopt fifteen critical success factors in the questionnaire to investigate the extent to which they are implemented and their degree of importance from the firms’ perspective. www. intechopen. com 6 Quality Management and Six Sigma The author conducted the empirical study for those enterprises have implemented Six Sigma program in Taiwan, The aim of this empirical study is to inve stigate the importance degree and the implementation level of the critical success factors. Thus, the research design is conducted according to the aim of the research. The Likert-type scale is used in the questionnaire.In the investigation of the importance degree of the critical success factors, a five-point scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) is used. In the analysis of implementation level, a five-point scale from 1 (not implemented) to 5 (full implemented) is adopted 2. 2 The analysis of critical success factors The main focus of this study is to analyze the degree of importance of critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness as perceived by the respondents, and to assess the implementation level of these critical success factors by the organizations (see Table 2. 2).As Henderson & Evans (2000) notes that â€Å"top management leadership and support† should be the critical success factor, our first priority of success factors is â€Å"top managemen t involvement and commitment†. The other critical success factors are prioritized as follows: â€Å"cultural change†, â€Å"communication with all employees to achieve congruence†, and â€Å"training in Six Sigma†, and so on. It should be noted that â€Å"employees’ promotion and incentive tied to the results of Six Sigma projects† is considered as an important factor for the success of Six Sigma in GE (Hendericks & Kelbaugh, 1998; Henderson & Evans, 2000). However, inTaiwan, this practice is not followed in the industries investigated. Hahn et al. , 1999 Key factors for Six ? Quantified functional impact Sigma effectiveness ? Continued top management support and enthusiasm ? The emphasis on a quantitative and disciplined approach ? The value placed on understanding and satisfying customer needs ? Combining the right projects, the right people, and the right tools Yun & Chua, 2002 Success factors for ? Strong proactive support with required S ix Sigma resources provided by top management ? Acceptance and implementation of Six Sigma’s effectiveness basic disciplines by employees ?Linkage with all innovative and infrastructure activities ? Accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 7 ? Management commitment and visible support Sandholm & Sorqvist, 2002 Requirements for Six Sigma success ? Adaptation to an organization’s situation and ? Development of uniform language & ? Prioritization and selection of projects ? Focus on training and its content ? Customer orientation ? Focus on results ? Investment of adequate resources Treatment of Six Sigma as a holistic concept needs ? Responsiveness to external influences. ? Follow-up and communication of success stories ? Cultural change ? Management involvement and commitment ? Development of strategy to introduce Six Sigma terminolo gy Coronado & Antony, 2002 Critical success factors for Six Sigma projects ? Understanding tools and techniques within Six ? Project prioritization and selection Key ingredient for ? Management involvement and commitment ? Cultural change Six Sigma ? Organization infrastructure effectiveness ? Training ? Project management skills ?Project prioritization and selection, reviews and tracking ? Understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools, and techniques ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers Table 2. 1 Critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness ? Project management skills ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Training ? Organization infrastructure ? Communication SigmaAntony & Banuelas, 2002 www. intechopen. com 8 Quality Management and Six Sigma Critical succe ss factor 1. Top management involvement and commitment 2. Cultural change 3. Organization infrastructure 4. Training in Six Sigma 5. Project management skills 6. Project prioritization and selection 7. Understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma 8. Linking Six Sigma to business strategy 9. Linking Six Sigma to customers 10. Linking Six Sigma to human resources 11. Linking Six Sigma to suppliers 12. Communication with all employees to achieve congruence 13.Complete evaluation system of project performance 14. Employees’ promotion and incentive compensation tied to the result of Six Sigma projects 15. The usage of innovative techniques and IT systems Importance degree mean order 4. 808 4. 365 4. 019 4. 192 3. 865 4. 077 4. 137 4. 192 4. 192 3. 725 3. 635 4. 231 4. 135 3. 885 3. 596 1 2 10 4 12 9 7 5 6 13 14 3 8 11 15 Implementation level mean order 3. 885 3. 192 3. 596 3. 981 3. 577 3. 558 3. 667 3. 423 3. 269 2. 882 2. 692 3. 519 3. 481 2. 981 2. 942 2 11 4 1 5 6 3 9 10 14 15 7 8 12 13 To be improved factor * * * * * Table 2. Importance degree and implementation level of critical success factors Most of the organizations paid significant attention to training in Six Sigma. The factor of â€Å"training in Six Sigma† is thus the first priority of implementation level, followed by such factors as â€Å"top management involvement and commitment†, â€Å"understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma†, â€Å"organization infrastructure†, and so on (see Table 2. 2). In Table 2. 2, if a critical success factor has a higher importance degree with a lower implementation level, then the firm should pay more attention on its implementation.In this case, we denote five CSFs as the â€Å"to be improved† factors for the industries in Taiwan: – Top management involvement and commitment – Cultural change – Communication with all employees to achieve congruence – Linking Six Sigm a to business strategy – Linking Six Sigma to customers. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 9 3. The Integrated Model of TQM and Six Sigma By the end of the 1970s, the competitiveness of Japanese industries had equaled or exceeded that of American industries.In large part, this was due to the successful Japanese implementation of company-wide quality control (CWQC) (Powell, 1995). By the 1980s, Japanese CWQC had been replicated in the United States, and total quality management (TQM) soon became the prevailing business strategy adopted by industries around the world. This evolution of TQM has resulted from the development, on a global scale, of a consistent philosophy concerning the relationship between business and customers. At various stages in this development, different ideologies and practices for implementing quality management have been prominent, but the onsistent goal has been to pursue the quality of products and services, to reduce costs, and to raise business performance. The success of Japanese industries in the total and effective implementation of TQM meant that Japanese firms led the way in the production of good-quality products at lower cost. 3. 1 The decreasing adoption of TQM and the increasing trend of Six-Sigma The successful implementation of TQM does indeed result in better business performance, as firms expect (Hendricks & Singhal, 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999; Hansson & Eriksson, 2002).The benefits come in the areas of cost reduction, increased market share, increased profit, and enhanced business competitiveness (Youssef et al. , 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999). TQM has therefore been widely adopted by industries, even in non-profit and governmental organizations (Powell, 1995; Zabaha et al. , 1998). Several critical factors are essential if TQM is to be successfully implemented. These include the support of top management, visionary leadership, effective management of human resources, employee involvement, and a corporate culture of commitment to quality and customer satisfaction (Joseph et al. 1999; Sureshchandar et al. , 2001). However, in practice, these corporate factors are not easy to achieve. As a result, the literature contains reports of several cases in which the implementation of TQM has failed. Hubiak & O’Donnell (1996), for example, have asserted that approximately two-thirds of companies in the United States have either failed or stalled in their attempts to implement TQM. Many of these TQM programs have been cancelled, or are in the process of being cancelled, as a result of the negative impact on profits (Anonymous, 1996).The failure implementation of TQM is due to several factors. Besides the difficult achievement of TQM practices, one of them is that TQM has been a rather diffuse concept, with many vague descriptions but few more graspable definitions, and the management does not have a complete picture of what TQM really means (Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000). Another o ne is that too management teams over the world do not realize that implementation of TQM means a cultural change (Hansson & Klefsjo, 2003). In fact, TQM was one of two workplace trends that recorded a significant decline in 1996 (Anonymous, 1996).Academic discussion of TQM and its implementation has suffered a similar decline in recent years. Is this trend really due to poor corporate business performance as a result of the implementation of TQM, with a consequent decline in the implementation of TQM, as has been asserted (Anonymous, 1996)? It is a contention that this is not an accurate reflection of the current status of TQM. Reports of instances of failed TQM implementation are only part of the explanation for the apparent declining trend in TQM. In reality, TQM has been so prominent for about twenty years that many firms and institutions have incorporated TQM ww. intechopen. com 10 Quality Management and Six Sigma into daily management activities. The result is that a well-estab lished model of TQM has been so much a part of the routine business activities, that the ‘decline’ in discussion and implementation of the TQM is apparent, rather than real. As interest in TQM has apparently waned, interest in the Six Sigma program has increased. Since General Electric (GE) initiated its Six Sigma program (GE-6? ) in October 1995, the results have been far beyond the company’s original hopes and expectations.Based on the remarkable business successes achieved in GE and other large corporations, an increasing number of companies have initiated the GE-6? program as a business improvement and re-engineering strategy (Pearson, 2001; Lucas, 2002). As a result, the Six Sigma program has gained great popularly in recent years (Slater, 2001; Lucas, 2002). It has even been suggested that TQM will be replaced by Six Sigma as the main strategy for successful business management. However, such assertions reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of TQM and its relationship with GE-6?. For example, Pande et al. 2000) have asserted that TQM is less visible in many businesses than it was in the early 1990s, pointing to several major TQM gaffes as reasons for this apparent decline. According to Pande et al. (2000), these problems include a lack of integration, leadership apathy, a fuzzy concept, an unclear quality goal, failure to break down internal barriers, inadequate improvements in performance, and so on. They conclude that Six Sigma can overcome many of the pitfalls encountered in the implementation of TQM and, hence, that Six Sigma’s expansion heralds a ‘rebirth’ of the quality movement (Pande et al. 2000). However, Klefsjo et al. (2001) and Lucas (2002) have a different perspective. Klefsjo et al. assert that Six Sigma is a methodology within- not alternative to TQM. Lucas asserts that Six Sigma is essentially a methodology for disciplined quality improvement. Because this quality improvement is a prim e ingredient of TQM, many firms have found that adding a Six Sigma program to their current business system gives them all, or almost all, of the elements of a TQM program.Lucas has thus concluded that: Current Business System + Six Sigma = Total Quality Management The TQM pitfalls noted by Pande et al. (2000) are not essential features of TQM. Rather, they are caused by incorrect practices adopted by firms, especially the lack of proper endeavour shown by management in the implementation of TQM. 3. 2. Total quality management Since TQM began in the mid 1980s, several gurus, like Deming, Juran and Ishikawa have much contribution on the development of TQM (Boaden, 1997).Besides, many researchers and experts on quality management have been eager to study the essentials of TQM. In the beginning, there was a lack of consensus on the contents and practices of TQM. Now, with TQM having been implemented for more than twenty years, academics and practitioners alike have achieved a degree of consensus on TQM. Tobin (1990) has stated that TQM is a totally integrated program for gaining competitive advantages by continuously improving every facet of organizational culture.TQM programs are usually based on the ‘quality philosophies’– customer focus, employee participation, teamwork, and management by facts and continuous improvement (Brown, 1992). TQM is therefore an integrated management philosophy and set of practices that emphasize increased employee involvement and teamwork, continuous improvement, meeting customers’ requirements, team-based problem-solving, constant measurement of results, closer relationship with suppliers, and so on (Ross, 1993).Short and Rahim (1995) www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 11 have agreed that TQM can be viewed as a set of philosophies and methods used by an organization to guide it in continuous improvement in all aspects of its business. McAdam and McKeown (1999) have concluded that customer focus, employee involvement, empowerment, teamwork, measurement tools, training, quality systems, and top management commitment are all key factors in the successful implementation of TQM.Boaden (1997) also examine the critical elements of TQM based on some early studies. It is worthwhile to refer to the research of Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002), they conduct a huge investigation of elements of TQM survey based on 347 researches published between 1989 and 2000. These views indicate that, although various researchers approach the issues of TQM from different perspectives, there is a general consensus regarding the essential principles, practices, and values of TQM (Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000).On the basis of these various approaches, especially the research of Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002) and Yang (2003a), the present subsection asserts the following to be essential agreed elements of TQM: * customer focus and satisfaction; * training and education; * top management commitment, suppo rt, and leadership; * teamwork; * employee involvement; * quality assurance; * quality information system and application; * continuous improvement; * flexibility * benchmarking and strategy planning; * process management; * product and service design and quality control; * employee management and empowerment; * corporate quality culture; 3. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? As previously noted, the passion for TQM has apparently declined, whereas GE-6? has been receiving increased attention (Anonymous, 1996; Pande et al. , 2000). As a result, there are several assertions related to the relationship between TQM and GE-6? appeared, especially the treatise that TQM will be replaced by GE-6?. However, there are very few studies in the literature that directly compare TQM with GE-6? completely, and in the limited studies that do exist, conclusions on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? have differed significantly.Harry (2000b) has claimed that Six Sigma represents a new, holistic, mul tidimensional systems approach to quality that replaces the â€Å"form, fit and function specification† of the past. However, it is not readily apparent from Harry (2000a) which aspects of this multidimensional systems approach are presumed to be absent from TQM. Breyfegle III et al. (2001) have stated that Six Sigma is more than a simple repacking of the best from other TQM programs. Pande et al. (2000) had already taken a similar approach when they provided a review of some of the major TQM gaffes, and then compared TQM and GE-6? n the light of these problems with a view to showing how successful implementation of Six Sigma can overcome these failures. However, it should be noted that www. intechopen. com 12 Quality Management and Six Sigma these gaffes are principally a result of inappropriate implementation processes, rather than being caused by inherent TQM concepts and practices. In view of a lack of consensus on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? , the present sect ion wants to compare TQM and GE-6? by using complete perspectives.The author reviewed several studies (Boaden, 1997; Hermel, 1997; Goh, 2002), and selected the appropriate criteria used in these researches, and then integrated into 12 dimensions. They are: (i) development; (ii) principles; (iii) features; (iv) operation; (v) focus; (vi) practices; (vii) techniques; (viii) leadership; (ix) rewards; (x) training; (xi) change; and (xii) culture (Yang, 2004). These are presented in Table 3. 1, which represents a comprehensive review of the similarities and differences between the two approaches. 3. 4 Integration of TQM and GE-6?It has been suggested that the implementation of TQM results in an over-emphasis on customer satisfaction, with a relative neglect of the pursuit of profits (Anonymous, 1996). Indeed, several empirical studies have asserted that implementing TQM might not achieve any significant positive effect on profitability (Bergquist & Ramsing, 1999; Harry, 2000b; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). Furthermore, Harry (2000a) has noted that â€Å"What’s good for the customer is not always good for the company†. In contrast, it is argued that GE-6? achieves both customer satisfaction and excellent financial performance.The major problem with TQM is that there is a disconnection between management systems designed to measure customer satisfaction and those designed to measure business profitability, and this has often led to unwise investments in quality (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). It should be recognized that the objective of TQM is to achieve customer satisfaction, in order to increase customer loyalty. To sustain competitiveness and long-term profitability, companies not only devote themselves to attracting new customers, but also to retaining old customers in a continuous business relationship with incremental additional purchasing.For these reasons, increasing customer loyalty should be one of the main concerns of all companies (Gorst et al. , 1998). Any assessment of the effectiveness of TQM thus requires a system to measure customer loyalty. If a management system cannot raise business performance and profitability, it will obviously be abandoned by firms. It is therefore apparent that indicators of customer loyalty and business performance should be added to TQM measurement systems. It is well known that GE-6? pursues both customer satisfaction and high profits.If an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? were developed, synergistic effects could be anticipated. In the integrated model proposed here, two major indicators are included—customer loyalty and high profit performance. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management Dimension 1. Development TQM Started in the mid 1980s, influenced by Japanese CWQC developed in the 1970s GE-6? in 1987. GE adopted Six Sigma program in 1995, Comments at about the same time. TQM was widely and 13 First espoused by Motorola TQM and Six Sigma began resulting in many benefits. uickly adopted, but interest has now declined. The situation with GE-6? is the reverse. TQM over-emphasizes customer satisfaction, and this can sometimes negatively affect profits. GE-6? focuses on both customer satisfaction and financial performance. 2. Principles ? Customer satisfaction (satisfaction of ? Pursues zero-defect, quality customers’ needs) ? Pursues financial ? Focuses on voice of ? Emphasis moved from problem-solving to ? Rapid change problem prevention ? Pursues zero-defect customer performance ? Responsibility for ? Continuous improvements 3. FeatureA systematic approach to quality management by integrating concepts, methods, processes, and systems. Uses project management to perform thorough change and process re-engineering, which are integrated with the company’s vision and strategy. TQM is essentially a system of continuously improving the quality of every aspect of business life. GE-6? focuses on radical change (which is also integr ated with vision and strategy). TQM emphasizes that every person is involved in quality improvement at all levels. GE-6? uses specially designed roles and disciplined training to progress the radical changes. . Operation Continuous improvement through employee involvement and teamwork in total quality activities. Specially designed roles and a highly disciplined training program using statistical methods to perform reengineering of key processes through project management. 5. Focus TQM focuses on all quality Key processes and systems TQM considers every activities, all processes, and are all driven by the voice all systems. of customers. aspect of quality. GE-6? initially emphasizes the key processes related to customer needs, but gradually extends its improvement scope. www. ntechopen. com 14 6. Practices ? QCC, QIT Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Project management TQM methods are more traditional, and are learnt from Japan. GE-6? uses methods that can produce more aggressive r esults. The statistical tools used in TQM and GE-6? are very similar. However, the statistical tools used in TQM are quite basic, whereas GE-6? uses more advanced SQC tools. Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize leadership, especially the commitment and support of top management. However, TQM has a bottom-up management style whereas GE-6? gives emphasis to top-own leadership. 40% of bonuses are tied to the results of ? Promotion dependent ? High status accorded to MBBs and BBs on project results 6? projects GE-6? programs have more motivations and rewards than TQM. ? SPC, TPM 7. Techniques ? Hoshin management ? Seven QC tools ? Daily control ? Project management ? Suggestion system ? Design of structural ? Analysis of variance regression roles ? Benchmarking ? DMAIC or DMADV ? BPR ? Kano’s model ? Managers ? New seven QC tools ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods ? DOE ? Control Chart ? Multiple linear ? DOE ? Kano’s model ? Reliability FMEA, QFD ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods 8. Leadership ? Top management stresses leadership demonstrate best behavior, and influence subordinates by ? Autonomic ? Decentralization and ? Empowerment 9. Rewards ? Promotion ? Motivation delegation management example ? Senior managers are ? Senior managers are ? Top management emphasize the execution of 6? -program mentors responsible ? Manager’s praise and encouragement ? Bonus rewards www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 10. Training ? Education and training for every ? Focus on instilling ?Leaders’ instruction ? Improvement tools ? Gradual and slow on daily basis quality consciousness person ? Vast investment in ? MBBs are the teachers ? BBs have training, combined with the ? GBs have training with the application 11. Change ? Vast change of improvement tools GE-6? emphasizes fast change and significant re-engineering. Change coming from TQM is progressive. TQM brings about a culture change with a quality focus and customer orientation. Th e culture change in GE-6? is fast, with an emphasis on pursuing customer satisfaction and business performance.DMAIC process and mentors training Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, but GE-6? has more investment in training than TQM. In GE-6? , training and its application are combined 15 ? Improvement results are small, and do not bring big changes ? Change is fast, and its scope is large. ? Cultivation of a culture incorporating the concept of pursuing business ? The culture change is caused by the ? Innovation-awareness re-engineering performance ? Re-engineering 12. Culture ? Setting up of a quality culture with ?Employees are autonomous customer focus ? Employees have a team-awareness Table 3. 1. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? 3. 4. 1 Integration of management principles Although the management principles of TQM and GE-6? are somewhat different, there is congruence among their quality principles, techniques, and culture (as was demonstrated in Table 3. 1). As a result, the integration of TQM and GE-6? is not as difficult as it might seem. The critical task is to combine the best aspects of TQM continuous improvement with those of GE-6? re-engineering.Although the activities of a quality Control circle (QCC) and quality improvement team (QIT) cannot achieve significant effects in themselves, they can cultivate quality concepts and team awareness among employees. Therefore, QCC and QIT can be performed by the operators and junior staff members to progress continuous improvements while focusing on daily operations and processes. GE-6? projects can be applied by engineers and senior staff members to the key processes and systems that are related to customer requirements and the provision of performance in products and services.For GE-6? projects, some aggressive goals can be set, in conjunction with rapid project completion times. The target performances can be set according to the criteria of the critical-to-quality (CTQ) of key p rocess—which are, in turn, determined according to the voice of customers (VOC). In TQM, the improvements are based on a customer satisfaction www. intechopen. com 16 Quality Management and Six Sigma survey and an understanding of customers’ requirements (Yang, 2003b). In this fashion, these two ways of understanding customers’ needs and expectations can be combined. See Figure 3. for a depiction of the model. 3. 4. 2 Integration of implementation practices Having discussed integration of management principles, the discussion now turns to the integration of implementation practices between the two systems. Fig. 3. 1 Integrated framework of TQM and GE-6? Employee participation, teamwork, quality management system, human-resources management (HRM), quality principles, objectives, and strategies are the key enablers of TQM implementation. They are also the critical factors in upgrading business performance, www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Managemen t 7 and are therefore also required for the implementation of GE-6?. The practices of GE-6? are project management, role design and operation, statistical quality control (SQC) tools, leadership and motivation, full support from the CEO, and so on. Most of these practices are also integral to TQM implementation. The framework of the integration of these practices and related systems of TQM and GE-6? is shown in Figure 3. 1 (Yang, 2004). Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, and there is only slight difference in the details of such training.Statistical tools and improvement methods are the main ingredients of the training contents for both TQM and GE-6?. Apart from these statistical tools, TQM and GE-6? have other shared training imperatives—including basic concepts, leadership and communication skills, and project management. Apart from these shared elements, in planning training for an integrated model of the two programs, it is necessary to cover th e elements that are not shared in common. This is incorporated into the model. Moreover, a certification system for fulfilling the needs of the GE-6? scale can be developed. 3. 4. Integration of cultural changes Both the implementations of TQM and GE-6? will bring the culture changes of the organization (Boaden, 1997; Pande et al. , 2000; Klefsjo et al. , 2001). However, GE-6? also emphasizes an awareness of speed and innovation, and is heavily performance oriented. These cultural features are the critical factors in pursuing excellent performance, and in raising competitiveness. In contrast, these have been somewhat neglected previously by TQM. In the integrated model presented here, these cultural features will enhance the performance effects of TQM implementation.Summarily, in this integrated model, continuous improvement and 6? -reengineering are the key activities, located in the center of Figure 3. 1, and the customers’ needs and the voice of the customers are the deriv ers of the improvement and reengineering. The initiatives of TQM and those of GE-6? , located in the two sides separately, can be integrated as the enablers of the integrated system. Comprehensive education and training with certification to the employees are the powerful force in the realization of these practices. Finally, the culture changes with the features described in the base of Figure 3. are the fundaments of the successful implementation of this system. The overall objective of this integrated model is to reach both the customers’ loyalty and excellent performance. 3. 4. 4 Practical examples and conclusion TQM and GE-6? can certainly be integrated very well, as the following two examples illustrate. INVENTEC is a hi-tech company in Taiwan that has implemented TQM for many years. Indeed, the company won the National Quality Award in Taiwan in 1995. In addition to its long-standing practice of TQM, INVENTEC also introduced the GE-6? rogram in 2000. It then integrated this with its existing TQM system. The Ford Motor Company in Taiwan is another successful example of the integration of GE-6? with TQM. These two examples confirm that an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? is feasible and practical. The successful application cased show that this integrated model will be a powerful and practical approach with great potential for all industries. This integrated model is also could be a suitable quality management system for the non-profit www. intechopen. com 18 Quality Management and Six Sigma rganizations. The integration of TQM and GE-6? is an important trend, and should receive a favourable response from both practitioners and academics. 4. An Integrated Model of Business Excellence System The integration of Six Sigma into overall business strategy is another important issue for quality researchers and practitioners. Harry & Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and m aximum value to the consumer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost.It is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept that companies can gain a competitive edge by integrating Six-Sigma program with the organization’s vision and strategy. In this section, we want to discuss the integration of Six-Sigma with the strategy management, Hoshin management, and Balanced Scorecard. 4. 1 The issue of the integration of Six-Sigma with other strategic management systems If the implementation of Six Sigma is to be successful, Blakeslee and Jerome (1999) suggested that â€Å"Six Sigma efforts must be integrated with existing initiatives in business strategy, and key performance measures†.They also provided an implementation model by integrating Six Sigma with business strategy. Smith & Blakeslee (2002) emphasized the potential of Six Sigma in helping companies to formulate and deploy business strategies and bring about broad transformat ional change. Thus, strategic Six Sigma principles and practices can help companies to formulate, integrate, and execute new and existing business strategies and missions (Smith & Blakeslee, 2002).A growing number of companies is beginning to realize the full implications of Six Sigma as an engine to accelerate corporate strategy and organizational transformation (Smith & Blakeslee, 2002). It is thus apparent that the implementation of Six Sigma must be integrated with a company’s business strategy. However, in this context there are several issues to be resolved. These include: ? How can the organization’s vision, business strategies, and strategic goals be converted into specific Six Sigma projects? ? How can Six Sigma projects be focused on the ‘voice of customer’ and the organization’s critical success factors? How can the strategic goals be communicated to lower divisions and departments in the organization, and further deploy the strategic goa ls to the Six Sigma projects and organize the project teams? ? How can project teams monitor and control the progression of Six Sigma projects? In response to these issues, businesses are increasingly making use of a variety of management systems, methodologies, and tools—including ISO 9000, total quality management (TQM), Hoshin management, Six Sigma, and the balanced scorecard (BSC). In all of these practices, quality is the main focus.Quality is no longer confined to the actual product or service; rather, the concept of quality is now applied to delivery, administration, customer service, and myriad other aspects of a firm’s business activities (Yang, 2009). Indeed, the concept of ‘quality’ now encompasses all the ways in which a company meets www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 19 the needs and expectations of its customers, its employees, its financial stakeholders, and the community in which it operates (Tan, 2002). The effect ive management of such ‘quality’ is essential to competitiveness in the global market (Scheuermann et al. 1997; Prybutok & Cutshall, 2004). The implementation of ISO 9000 and TQM systems can be used to improve the quality of products and services and to raise the effectiveness of process management; implementation of the Six Sigma program can raise the level of customer satisfaction, process performance, and resources management; the implementation of BSC can improve strategy planning and long-term profitability; and so on. However, choosing and implementing these various programs is complicated by the fact that several of them have closely related concerns.For example, TQM, BSC, and Six Sigma are all involved with an organization’s vision and strategy, whereas quality control circles (QCCs) and Six Sigma are both related to process improvement. These various similarities and differences can create difficulties if a firm implements several of these management sys tems simultaneously in an attempt to improve performance in all quality activities. In these circumstances, employees will become confused by the conflicting demands placed upon them, and this will produce a number of significant problems. For example: * In the mplementation of TQM, a firm is first required to set up quality objectives and action plans; * In the BSC system, a firm must first develop its vision and strategies, and then deploy them in terms of performance indicators in four perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, and innovation and learning); and * In the Six Sigma program, a firm will first consider its key performance indicators (KPIs), before linking them to a Six Sigma improvement project. If a firm were to undertake all of these simultaneously, it would be faced with many objectives to be reached, and many strategies and action plans to be implemented.Given the finite limitations that exist in the resources of any organization, it is practically impo ssible for any firm to perform all of these tasks effectively. The ideal solution would be to integrate these various management systems and methods, thus enabling a firm to concentrate its focus and to navigate a unique course in the right direction. 4. 2 Development of an integrated business-excellence system An integrated model of business-excellence system has been developed in this section, see Figure 4. 1.The critical task in developing a holistic business-excellence system is to combine the best aspects of continuous improvement in TQM with those of GE-Six Sigma reengineering. The improvement processes in TQM and Six Sigma projects can thus be integrated and implemented simultaneously (Yang, 2003b) (see Figure 4. 1). Employee participation and teamwork are the prerequisite of the effective implementation of the continuous improvements. Besides, it is needed to instill the quality concepts and problem consciousness into the employees’ mind. www. intechopen. com 20 Quali ty Management and Six SigmaFig. 4. 1. Framework of integrated model of business excellence system 4. 2. 1 Integration of relevant concepts and systems While implementing these programs, it is necessary to monitor process quality using various methods of statistical quality control (SQC). However, a prerequisite to any quality improvement is effective human-resource management (HRM). The key enablers of TQM implementation are therefore HRM and a comprehensive quality-management system. The concepts, initiatives, and systems described above are also necessary for the implementation of the GE-Six Sigma program.In addition, Six Sigma also has its own unique features, including (Pande et al. , 2000; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001): * the systematic operational processes of ‘define, measure, analyze, improve, and control’ (DMAIC) and ‘define, measure, analyze, design and verify’ (DMADV); www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 21 * the staff role s design of ‘champion’, ‘master black belt’ (MBB), ‘black belt’ (BB), and ‘green belt’ (GB); and * the utilization of advanced tools. It is necessary to integrate all of these into the new model proposed here.In addition, strategic leadership is a key factor in the implementation of Six Sigma. In most cases, QCC or QIT are conducted ‘bottom–up’, but in Six Sigma they are conducted ‘top–down’. In these circumstances, authoritative leadership is required. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, drives the changes, imposes the projects, and motivates the employees. Most Six Sigma projects pursue significant financial benefits from meeting and exceeding the critical requirements of customers.If the organization is to produce and deliver attractive and value-added products and services to customers speedily, it is essential th at business operations be customer-focused and market-focused. Six Sigma projects must therefore be linked to the development of ‘lean production’, in which research and development (R&D) and innovation (product innovation, process innovation, and business innovation) are all key factors. R&D and innovation are also the drivers of productivity. R&D and innovation should thus be covered in this holistic model.In passing, it is noted that these practices are not restricted to the Six Sigma program; they are also important drivers in the implementation of TQM. TQM programs are based on ‘measurement by fact’, and measurement is also a key step in a Six Sigma project. Various data are collected and analyzed, including product data, customer data, business data, technique data, R&D data, service data, and so on. To use the data effectively and efficiently, an organization requires an effective information technology (IT) system.The utilization of such data repres ents an intangible asset, along with other intangible assets—such as skills, techniques, experience, intellectual property, know-how, knowledge, customer relationships, and so on. These intangible assets represent a valuable organizational resource, and they must be managed and applied in an effective knowledge-management (KM) system. The firm’s IT system and its KM system are also powerful tools in the development of new products and services, and in ensuring the quality of the present customer service.Information technology has become an essential element in securing a competitive advantage—by facilitating the development of new products and services, assisting in adaptation to rapid market changes, incorporating new knowledge, and reducing times and costs in reaching customers (Bianchi, 2001). 4. 2. 2 Fundamental principles The objective of integrating TQM, Six Sigma, and several other major management systems is to pursue business excellence (Yang, 2009). Ho wever, the basic decision to be made is determination of the direction of development at the outset.Mission and vision statements set the general goals and direction for the organization, and they assist shareholders, customers, and employees in understanding what the company is about and what it intends to achieve (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). A mission statement sets out the overall reason for existence and objectives of the organization. As Welch asserted: â€Å"†¦an effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business? † (Welch and Welch, 2005). A vision statement is a concise statement that defines the ww. intechopen. com 22 Quality Management and Six Sigma medium-to-long-term goals of the organization. The vision should be market-oriented and should express how the organization wants to be perceived by the world (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). The enunciation of the mission and the development of the vision are usually the respon sibility of senior management (Welch and Welch, 2005). Actually, the vision is linked to the mission. In the realization of the mission and vision, the values, attitudes, and activities of employees are critical.According to Kaplan & Norton (2004), the actions of employees are guided by their values, and it is therefore important that the values proclaimed by the organization are accepted by the employees if those values are to be influential in guiding the thinking and behavior of the employees. Thus, in contrast to the creation of a mission, which is the responsibility of senior management, everyone in a company should have something to say about values (Welch and Welch, 2005).Organizations can use company-wide meetings and training sessions to encourage as much personal discussion as possible in developing organizational values (Welch and Welch, 2005). The vision and values of the organization should thus motivate individuals and serve as a guide for allocating resources (Smith e t al. , 1991). Effective leadership and successful execution are the prerequisites for achieving the organization’s vision. Execution has to be embedded in the reward systems and in the norms of behaviour that everyone practices.So, focusing on execution is not only an essential part of a business’s culture, it is the one sure way to create meaningful culture change (Bossidy and Charan, 2002) Mission, values, vision, leadership, execution, and organizational culture are all linked. Taken together, they represent the guiding principles for the successful implementation of an integrated business-excellence system. 4. 2. 3 Implementation of strategic performance-management system Drucker (1999) stated that the starting point both in theory and in practice may have to be â€Å"managing for performance†.The goal of an integrated business-excellence system is to go beyond mere ‘customer satisfaction’ to achieve customer loyalty through excellent performan ce (see Figure 4. 1). The management systems, programs, and practices of this integrated model are the tools that can be used to achieve this goal. However, an appropriate performance-management system is needed to monitor and evaluate the performance generated by this integrated business-excellence system. Strategic planning and Hoshin management are two popular strategic management tools (Glaister & Falshaw, 1999; Lee & Dale, 1998), and many organizations implement the two simultaneously.Firms commonly perform a SWOT analysis and develop a vision, objectives, and strategies according to the methodology of strategic management, before deploying the organization’s objectives and strategies to the departments or units by the way of Hoshin management. During the implementation process, they commonly conduct a quality audit according to Hoshin management to produce progress reviews and an annual review. These organizations thus use an integrated model of strategic planning and H oshin management to evaluate the performance of TQM (Kondo, 1998).Balanced scorecard (BSC) was launched in 1992 as a framework of performance measurement that was expected to overcome some of the deficiencies of traditional performance measurement. It gives a holistic view of an organization by simultaneously looking at four important perspectives: (i) financial; (ii) customer; (iii) internal process; and (iv) innovation and learning (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The main benefit of the BSC is its www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 23 bility to translate an organization’s vision and strategy into tangible objectives and measures (Kanji & SA, 2002). The process of building a scorecard clarifies the strategic objectives, and identifies the critical few drivers for strategic success. The BSC is thus more than a performance-measurement system, and is commonly adopted as a strategic management system (Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 1996; McClintock, 2000). If a firm ha s adopted other performance management systems or programs before adopting BSC, it is necessary to integrate BSC with any existing systems.Companies that wish to embark on the BSC while continuing to implement strategic planning and Hoshin management need to integrate the three systems. To do so effectively, it is necessary to understand the important features of each of these three performance management systems. They can be summarized as follow: * All three can be used in the development of vision, objectives, and strategies, and in the evaluation of execution performance. * Both strategic planning and the BSC involve strategic analysis, and the linkages among the objectives and strategies. Both strategic planning and Hoshin management impose action plans, and the allocation of resources to support the execution of these action plans. * Both BSC and Hoshin management emphasize goal-setting, the achievement of milestones, and the measurement of progress towards the achievement of s trategic objectives. * Strategic planning focuses on the strategy of business development and competition. In this regard, environmental analysis and SWOT analysis are essential. * BSC emphasizes long-term development, and uses a scorecard of the key performance indicators (KPIs). Hoshin management converts the policies and objectives of senior management to departments, and pays much attention to the daily execution of policies. The features and relationships of strategic planning, Hoshin management, and BSC indicates that it is feasible to integrate these systems, and it is reasonable to expect that such an integrated model will be more comprehensive and powerful than each individual system acting alone. This integrated performance-management system is illustrated in Figure 4. 2. www. intechopen. com 24 Quality Management and Six Sigma Strategic Planning Divisions, Business, UnitsFinancial perspective Customer perspective Process perspective Innovation perspective Do, Check, Actio n Fig. 4. 2. Integrated model of strategic planning, BSC, and Hoshin management In this integrated performance-management system, BSC remains the major construct. According to the model, strategic planning is used to perform an environmental analysis and a SWOT analysis, and to develop the vision and strategies for the organization. Having established its vision and strategies, the firm can then develop a strategy map and performance indicators according to the four perspectives of BSC.The firm can then use the methods of Hoshin management to deploy the strategies and the KPIs of the four perspectives to the departments and units within the organization. In this way, every individual receives the KPIs and a relevant action plan. The audit method of Hoshin management can then be used to manage and monitor the execution of this