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

Marketing mix of a beer company Essay

Introduction It was in October 1992 when The Black Sheep Brewery beers first made an appearance in pubs in and around the Yorkshire Dales. The delivery of those first casks of beer over ten years ago began a new era for Paul Theakston, whose family has brewed in Masham for five generations. It also allowed him to put behind him the heartache left by the often acrimonious battles that culminated in the â€Å"old† family firm of T & R Theakston Ltd ending up as part of Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. The events that led to the loss of the Theakston brewery had rumbled on since the early 1970s, with Scottish & Newcastle finally seizing power in 1988. Although they offered him a position, Paul decided corporate life wasn’t for him. What’s more, it would have meant him leaving his beloved Masham. Determined to stay in Masham and being a long, long way from retirement (both age-wise and financially!! ) it didn’t take long for Paul to conclude that it was brewing that he was best at. The decision was made, create a â€Å"new† brewery in Masham. Now Black Sheep Brewery has invested ? 3 million in more production facilities and has boosted by 20 per cent. The company is on course for doubling by 2006 and a new distribution depot is being constructed for completion by the end of 2004. 1. 0 The Marketing Mix on The Black Sheep Brewery The marketing mix is looking at the right product, at the right price, what media to use and to use the right place. These are known as: Product Price Promotion Place Or the four P’s 1a Product Product is defined as a physical good, service, idea, person or place that is capable of offering tangible and intangible benefits that individuals or organisations regard as necessary or that they are prepared to exchange money or something of value for it. Peter, J. Paul, ‘Marketing management: knowledge and skills’ Boston; London: McGraw-Hill). If the product does not provide the services or covers the expected needs from the customer or does not deliver the expectations created by other elements of the marketing mix, then the whole project is not going to work. The name of Black Sheep Ale does not have a marketing reason, and named after thinking and having discussion for long time. A name was needed to reflect the area and history of the place. Sheep have always figured largely in the history of the area. Masham was once an important centre for sheep trading and famous for its sheep fair. However, Sheep Brewery seemed a bit tame. In a timely stroke of inspiration Sue, Paul’s wife, coined the name Black Sheep Brewery. Black Sheep has some different slogans, but has stuck mainly with the slogan of â€Å"Black Sheep Brewery is a modern day miracle†. This is saying to the target market that The Black Sheep Ale is the best, and that there is no bitter beer this good. Although, this has been on since 1992. Also there is a second slogan. The one is also their aim â€Å"a traditional country beer†, which could be linked with the first one, showing that The Black Sheep Ale truly is the one of the best bitter beer. The logo for Black Sheep goes with the name of black sheep and a traditional cottage house. The logo shows that they are focusing on a traditional country beer. Even the font on the bottle is Elizabethan type. It is written with old way, which shows that it is of class and is very traditional. Although the logos and slogans are giving off the appeal that the rich mainly drink Black Sheep Ale, the product (and most other ales, bitter) are mainly consumed by people in the lower classes. Black Sheep, in my opinion, is marketed to men, aged between 35 and about 65 in socio-economic groups not very high. I thought that it would be marketed in these groups because these are the most likely to go down to the pub and drink beers and bitter such as Black Sheep Ale. The packing of Black Sheep is really for marketing purpose. Because of this, there is something about the packing. Black Sheep is sold only in bottles and cash ale. It is not sold in cans. It shows that their quality and their marketing purpose about packing. The Black Sheep Brewery have been brewing since 1992 and now have five Ales on sale. I think that The Black Sheep Brewery has five different of product because of they want to keep always selling the product. In my opinion, they need to focus on younger people as well, with brewing a new beer to get young people attention. Like â€Å"Ice Beer â€Å"two companies named Tetley and Carlsberg formed a partnership in 1993 to make a new product for young people. It was â€Å"Ice Beer†. 1b Promotion Promotion is the direct way in which an organisation attempts to communicate with various target audience. Promotion consists of five main elements: Advertising, Personal selling, sales promotion, Public Relations and Direct Marketing. Sales Promotion As Black Sheep is sold in many different ways, they can have numerous different types of sales promotions. They can offer price reductions and Buy One Get One Free, such as at supermarkets, happy hours at pubs, and added value, e. g. extra free. They have also done charity promotions; see Public Relations, and competitions. They don’t actually do many sales promotions, but they sell lots of merchandising. With over 1,000 different items there is definitely something for everyone. They sell numerous items, such as caps, T-shirts, bottle openers. Most of the things that they do is to make more people buy their product over any other beer or ales. The merchandising is a bit different, because most people who choose to wear a caps with the logo of their favourite beer do not look cool, and end up looking stupid. (such as logo of black sheep). I think if they sell something like beer cooler to stock them in it. It will make the consumer feel as if they have the Black Sheep cooler and need to fill it with Black Sheep Ale, this makes them sell more Black Sheep Ale. It’s like they’ve caught them in a net, buy this, and so you can also buy all of these. Sponsorship The Black Sheep sponsors a number of different things. These mostly consist of local events. There are at the Black Sheep Brewery Visitor Centre and in around Masham area. The Black Sheep also sponsors of local drink and food festivals which shows that they are not trying to become popular around UK or the world. It is obvious that the things that The Black Sheep Brewery sponsors event, which are mainly viewed by local people and old people. This shows that The Black Sheep is clearly marketed to people who live in that area and old people. They should be sponsor of some events which known by everyone. As Budweiser does (they are sponsor of Manchester United, the BMW Williams F1 team. ). The events which are viewed, not only by people there, also by people watching at home. Advertising In the beer industry, the beer is bought by beer lovers which mean that advertisements in this case, should be targeted to the beer lovers and makes them understand the qualities of the beer. Normally this kind of product is advertised on TV or some times in undergrounds, sport events like football, rugby or car races. Short-term promotions could be placed in the package or even create brochures of discounts. 1c Place The Black Sheep is sold in different ways (bottle, cash ale). So it is difficult to say what type of distribution method is used. It can be sold in cans, multi-packs, kegs, bottles, from the tap at a pub, etc. The method that is sold by shops or supermarkets would be form the produce, to the shop/supermarket and then on to the retailer. It can also be sold via a wholesaler to a shop, which means that the price goes up 3 times. When sold in a pub, it could even be sent straight from the producer to the pub. The sale of the Black Sheep takes place in lots of different outlets, such as pubs, supermarkets, alcohol stores, off licences, and over the Internet. This means that it can cost a lot to supply it in all the ways that they do. But it also means that they may sell more, because some people are only able to buy it in one way, and if people can’t buy Black Sheep in a way that they would like to, the Black Sheep Brewery won’t make as much money as they could have. So they should try to be found even in a corner shop by customers. 1d Price As I have mentioned before, Black Sheep is sold in a number of ways, so for the Price part of this study, I will look only at the price of their best seller amount sold, which is the Black Sheep Ale 4. 4% of 500 ml. For a bottle of 500 ml, Black Sheep uses completive pricing, which involves giving a price similar to the competitors, psychological pricing, which is pricing to the nearest whole number e. g. ?1. 29. I think that they can also use promotional pricing, which is like free amounts such as 25% extra free or Buy One Get One Free. I think that these types of prices are used so that Black Sheep is bought more than the competitors. Even if the price of Black Sheep is only a few pence cheaper, people tend to buy it rather than another brand, and vice versa, this is because they are always after a bargain, and companies always have to make their prices cheaper than their other competitors to win the competition. Task2 2. 0 Logistic Facilities on Black Sheep Brewery. The Black Sheep Brewery Company should realise that they will need to improve their logistic facilities. Because of the company is on course for doubling production by 2006. In my opinion, they should describe that what mode of transport is appropriate for them and whether is the best for firms to operate their own warehouse and fleet of delivery vehicles or to sub contract all aspect of distribution to a specialist firm. Paul Theakston says that they will probably be working more with wholesalers and the pub companies who continue to buy up the independent pubs in the future. Brewers maintained a high level of control over the market by controlling distribution and routes to market. This was particularly true of draught beer, where brewers maintained a high-cost infrastructure operated on a dedicated basis to maintain control over the supply of The Black Sheep’s own beers from brewery to pub. This operated against the public interest. Brewers marginally-coasted such activities when pricing this service to direct customers, and recovered the costs in margin on beer sales. This excluded wholesalers and independent distributors from supplying beer to such outlets. Inefficiency and extra cost was built into the market with pubs receiving multiple deliveries from brewers with beer and from wholesale suppliers with wines, spirits and other products. Control of distribution provided brewers with the leverage to negotiate solus supply with direct customers restricting market access for other draught beer suppliers and limiting choice for the consumer. Place is trying to get the right level of distribution in the right types of outlets. This is one of the most difficult, yet important marketing activities. In simple terms physical distribution involves getting a product from A to B. Logistics has a very important role to play in the process of distribution. This is because they start off the process and plan it from beginning to end. If they don’t do their job probably then they could end up with no beers in the shops and pubs, which loses sales and therefore profit. Logistics monitor demand for goods and co-ordinate the process from ordering raw materials through to the timely delivery to the warehouse. Physical distribution must balance the need for customer service against the need to minimise costs. It is necessary to plan a physical distribution system carefully taking into account the need for warehouse space, stock, staff etc in order to maximise efficiency. On the other hand it is necessary to keep down costs and get the correct balance between these inputs and outputs and therefore provide an efficient but profitable service. The Black Sheep Brewery. This is the distribution channel that I would advise The Black Sheep Brewery to use: This is the distribution channel that The Black Sheep Brewery already uses, so I think they should also use it for the new products for the future. I think this because it is already set up and working well for their other products and is already in a good area, with experienced staff and known by their existing suppliers. They would need to incorporate this new product into their existing set-up, therefore keeping costs down as their will be no initial start up expense. Because it is already an up and running distribution channel the experienced staff should be able to get it up and running quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. If the Black Sheep Brewery becomes a big success then they might have to build an extension to their already existing warehouse, but if this is necessary it should finance itself. The only slight disadvantage to this type of distribution channel would be that the distribution centre is a middle stage and extra staff would be needed but I think that this is necessary in a large company. I would advise The Black Sheep Brewery to sell their products in a number of different retail outlets: Supermarkets Corner shops (news agencies) Petrol stations Hotels Stadium (e. g. Wembley) TASK 3 3. 0 International operation on Black Sheep Brewery There are over 200 countries around the globe; companies such as The Black Sheep Brewery should consider the key environmental factors before entering new country markets. These factors are known as the C and SLEPT factors, Social/ Cultural, Legal, Economic, Political, Technological, and Competitors. These are the uncontrollable factors that will affect the companies’ decisions, as well as the success of a company. 3a Social/ Cultural A single country may sometimes comprise several nations and independent cultures, and within each of these groups, there may be different religions, languages and attitudes. An example is Canada, where the main language is not just English, but as well as French. These factors affect the buying behaviour of a consumer. There are four categories in social/ cultural factor which marketers should consider before entering new country markets. Firstly, habits and conventions can influence the behaviour of a consumer. For an example, some individuals may not be interested in foreign goods/ products. Secondly, there is the attitudes which affected by religions/ culture. This is considered as an extrapolation of the past, which is a learned behaviour rather than innate behaviour. For an example, some people may only be interested in doing businesses within their own cultures/ groups. The next category is the naivety and ignorance of countries/ cultures. Languages are one of the main factors, some words may have different meanings in different languages, and some of their meanings may be incomprehensible or insulting. Lastly, demographic aspects within a country are to be aware of. The number of population and their growth trends, ethnicity and education level of a country can be used to determine one country’s lifestyle or buying behaviour. 3b Legal Since there is no actual body of law known as international law, there are various legal systems around the globe. Examples are common law and Islamic law. These legal systems concern the pricing of products, import/ export limitations, types of advertising and product safety. For an example, In United States, every state has its own laws. The Black Sheep Brewery should be aware of the laws where they are marketing. 3c Economic Paliwoda suggests that â€Å"Macro-environment is created when trade and transactions take place across, rather than within, national frontiers; but it is important to note that there may well be greater economic environmental differences between different parts of the same country than between countries belonging to the same geographical region. † in his book, â€Å"International Marketing†. This means a single country may have different economic level. For an example, in some rural part of China is suffering from poverty, whereas in some parts of China, such as Hong Kong is to be considered as one of the richest cities in East Asia. Other factors to be aware of are, currencies used, where some countries may have weak currencies due to inflation or recession, also the kind if payment, some countries such as Columbia may pay by coffee beans. Secondly, the general economy, which can be determine by the average income of the public. 3d Political Politics is a very important factor, it can either bring trading partners together or tear them apart. Government policies and attitudes towards imports are different around the globe. Some may set up trade barriers such as high tariffs, high import tax, in order to protect their own brands/ economy, or due to some tensions between countries. On the other hand, some may lower the import restrictions by setting up trade agreements between countries to minimise trade tariffs in bilateral trade exchanges, or to create job opportunities for their public. The Black Sheep Brewery should also be aware of the stability of the host country’s regimes, also the level of government control of company assets. 3e Technological This factor concerns the technological level of a country, such as the existing facilities and infrastructure; some countries may be more â€Å"high tech† than the others. Also the labour skills and training, some countries may have highly skilled labours, some may not. There may be a huge cost of new technology; also some government policies such as green issues may limit the use of some technologies. 3f Competitors Since The Black Sheep Brewery is not the only company around the globe that supply beer there are various alternatives for consumers to choose from. Competitors such as Budweiser and Stella may have taken at least 90% of the consumers in some countries. Marketers should consider whether it is worthwhile to enter such countries. In marketing audit, SWOT analysis suggests that companies should minimise their weaknesses/ threats, and turn them into companies’ strengths/ opportunities. When entering new country markets, there are weaknesses/ threats exist within and outside the company. These are the lacking of time, lacking of internal/ external knowledge and risks of competitors. By using methods of entry such as acquisition or merger can often minimise the weaknesses/ threats and turn them into possible strengths/ opportunities within and outside the company.

Mark Twains Personality Revealed in His Writing Essay

Mark Twains Personality Revealed in His Writing Literary artists refuse to be categorized, defined, and completely fathomed by any standardized paradigm, but a writers work exhibits his or her personality traits. Though authors are incapable of being defined by mere personality traits, literary accomplishments, and literary criticisms, an authors personality can be used to sketch a limited definition of his or her literature. Mark Twains literature manifests his personalitys candor, graphicness, humor, and criticalness that William Dean Howells describes in My Mark Twain. These attributes are evident in Old Times on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,†¦show more content†¦Although the theme of deception pervades Twains work, truth always emanates from both the plot and characters. While many Romantic authors elevate their childhoods to idealistic terms of good or bad, Twain walks the line between Romanticism and Realism. After romantically heralding the position of a steamboatman in Old Times on the Mississippi, a young Mark Twain realizes and expresses his new belief on the unfairness of life because of his recent knowledge about the rise of an ungodly boy to the position of a steamboatman. Twain writes, This thing shook the bottom out of all my Sunday-school teachings (275). Instead of glossing over his young selfs questioning nature, Twain acknowledges the ability to question the authority of the church, even if it is based on jealousy. Similar in honesty and naivete to the young Twain is the forthright Huckleberry Finn. He will not accept societys conventions about both religion and history, and he denounces the Widow Douglass story about Moses and the Bulrushers. Huck states, so then I didnt care no more about him, because I dont take no stock in dead peo ple (26). Huck ceaselessly disdains efforts to civilize him, but the Widow Douglass continues to try to change him. 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