Information technology and performance management for build-to-order supply chains

En las siguientes líneas se plantea un artículo de reflexión que tiene en cuenta parte del marco teórico que sustenta la investigación titulada “Prácticas pedagógicas que promueven la competencia argumentativa escrita (CAE) en niños campesinos de los grados 4° y 5° del Centro Educativo Municipal La Caldera, Sede Principal de Pasto”, desarrollada en el año 2012. En él se contemplan los aportes de las ciencias del lenguaje y la comunicación, la teoría de la argumentación, la didáctica de la lengua escrita y los géneros discursivos, que dan cuenta de la necesidad de desarrollar la capacidad crítica en los estudiantes a través de la argumentación, lo cual implica transformar las prácticas pedagógicas para que se alejen de la transmisión de conocimientos y den paso a la comunicación, para que la palabra escrita sea apropiada de manera significativa

Measuring customer satisfaction and understanding customer effort in a B2B context

Our members asked us to investigate a number of aspects of Customer Satisfaction measurement in a Business-to-Business (B2B) context. Specific questions were:- What are the different metrics of customer satisfaction that are measured in a BTB relationship? Which are used the most? Which are the most effective? Do they vary by type of company? Are there new ways to measure customer satisfaction that more closely reflects their customer experience? What does customer effort mean in a B2B relationship? How do we identify where we are not easy to do business with? What do we have to do differently? Our approach to the subject was to review existing literature and previous research and then to conduct an exploratory qualitative review into the subject by conducting interviews with a range of B2B companies and a sample of their customers. The purpose behind the interviews was to try to answer the above questions and to identify if there were opportunities for more in-depth research in the future. The project demonstrates that the B2B companies compile and use a customer satisfaction rating for their business-to-business relationships but that there is little commonality between companies in both the full range of questions asked and the scales used for the individual questions. All of the companies use a mixture of global and dimensional measures (see literature review in section 2). There is some scope for manipulation of the customer satisfaction process in most companies so the results have to be treated with a degree of caution. However, the companies believe that they are getting good positive and negative feedback from the process so they see significant value from it. Where the customer satisfaction rating falls below an acceptable level, which differs by company, responses are shared with the customer as part of the regular relationship meeting and a monitored action plan is the normal result. In addition, in most cases, common issues are identified at company level and considered for improvement programs. The questions about customer effort showed that companies in general consider themselves more difficult to do business with than their customers do. Analysis of both company and customer views of what was ‘easy’ and what was ‘difficult’ about the relationship identified a number of interactions that could potentially be the subject of process improvement initiatives. It appears from this research that the inclusion of customer effort questions would benefit the customer satisfaction process for B2B companies and a number of best practise approaches were identified from this and previous research

Applications of lean thinking: a briefing document

This report has been put together by the Health and Care Infrastructure Research and Innovation Centre (HaCIRIC) at the University of Salford for the Department of Health. The need for the report grew out of two main simple questions, o Is Lean applicable in sectors other than manufacturing? o Can the service delivery sector learn from the success of lean in manufacturing and realise the benefits of its implementation?The aim of the report is to list together examples of lean thinking as it is evidenced in the public and private service sector. Following a review of various sources a catalogue of evidence is put together in an organised manner which demonstrates that Lean principles and techniques, when applied rigorously and throughout an entire organization/unit, they can have a positive impact on productivity, cost, quality, and timely delivery of services

Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Social and Business Results

Measuring shared value allows companies to maximize opportunities for innovation, growth, and social impact at scale. This article explains the specific purpose of shared value measurement and offers a step-by-step process and pragmatic approaches to measurement with examples from leading companies

Sentara Healthcare: A Case Study Series on Disruptive Innovation Within Integrated Health Systems

Examines how integration and ties with health plans, physicians, and hospitals helped protect against revenue volatility and enabled experimentation; factors that facilitate integration; innovative practices; lessons learned; and policy implications

Energy Transparency in the Multifamily Housing Sector

Mirroring recent trends in other real estate sectors, the multifamily housing sector is subject to an increasing number of rules and regulations related to energy-performance benchmarking and performance disclosure. State and local governments are moving rapidly to institutionalize benchmarking and make energy performance information available in the real estate marketplace, while major lending institutions are taking initial steps to factor building energy performance into financial products. The goal of these new rules is to enable transparent building energy-performance information to drive energy efficiency improvements in multifamily housing that lower energy bills for residents; contribute to greater local housing affordability; and new jobs and services related to energy efficiency. Many multifamily owners and operators have never benchmarked the energy performance of their buildings, while other parties -- including state, local, and federal policymakers, tenants, utilities, and lenders -- have little or no access to building energy-performance information that can help shape real estate decisions or inform the development of policies, incentives, and financial vehicles to advance energy efficiency. This critical shortage of information about building energy performance has prevented property markets from valuing energy efficiency and severely undermined both public and private efforts to increase the energy efficiency of multifamily housing.While energy benchmarking and disclosure policies are an innovative approach to overcome energy-performance information gaps in the multifamily sector, several challenges must be addressed. The multifamily sector is fragmented and resists a one-size-fits-all approach, ranging from low-income public housing to luxury properties, all with varied sources of public and private financing. Policies must reflect and accommodate the diversity of both the building stock and its stakeholders. In many cases, underlying barriers continue to limit the ability of many multifamily owners to conduct benchmarking and other energy-performance assessment measures. This report is intended to serve as a guide for policymakers and multifamily stakeholders on benchmarking and disclosure rules and regulations. It provides an introduction to the multifamily housing sector, followed by a thorough review of existing benchmarking and disclosure policies and an assessment of continuing policy challenges and opportunities

Winning customer loyalty in an automotive company through Six Sigma: a case study

Six Sigma is a disciplined approach to improving product, process and service quality. Since its inception at Motorola in the mid 1980s Six Sigma has evolved significantly and continues to expand to improve process performance, enhance business profitability and increase customer satisfaction. This paper presents an extensive literature review based on the experiences of both academics and practitioners on Six Sigma, followed by the application of the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) problem-solving methodology to identify the parameters causing casting defects and to control these parameters. The results of the study are based on the application of tools and techniques in the DMAIC methodology, i.e. Pareto Analysis, Measurement System Analysis, Regression Analysis and Design of Experiment. The results of the study show that the application of the Six Sigma methodology reduced casting defects and increased the process capability of the process from 0.49 to 1.28. The application of DMAIC has resulted in a significant financial impact (over U.S. $110 000 per annum) on the bottom-line of the company

Pull and Push: Strengthening Demand for Innovation in Education

Examines policy, information, and cultural barriers that minimize the "demand pull" for educational innovation. Calls for encouraging early adopters, bolstering smart adoption, providing better information, and rewarding productivity improvements