Measuring Expertise Learning Rates for Nonrepetitive Project Work

Research on learning has largely centered around workers repeatedly performing a specific set of tasks. However, in service functions like management consulting, jobs are seldom repetitive. Nevertheless, expertise is acquired with practice. This paper proposes a model to quantify learning when a consistent methodology is applied to a wide variety of projects, and introduces an associated ‘expertise learning rate’. The model is illustrated using panel data tracking 56 newly trained process improvement project leaders completing 233 projects over five years. Applications where trained personnel must work on nonrepetitive jobs or projects are common in services, e.g., insurance claims settlement, cost estimation in construction, and tax return preparation in accounting

The MITF family of transcription factors: Role in endolysosomal biogenesis, Wnt signaling, and oncogenesis

Canonical Wnt signaling influences cellular fate and proliferation through inhibition of Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK3) and the subsequent stabilization of its many substrates, most notably β-Catenin, a transcriptional co-activator. MITF, a melanoma oncogene member of the microphthalmia family of transcription factors (MiT), was recently found to contain novel GSK3 phosphorylation sites and to be stabilized by Wnt. Other MiT members, TFEB and TFE3, are known to play important roles in cellular clearance pathways by transcriptionally regulating the biogenesis of lysosomes and autophagosomes via activation of CLEAR elements in gene promoters of target genes. Recent studies suggest that MITF can also upregulate many lysosomal genes. MiT family members are dysregulated in cancer and are considered oncogenes, but the underlying oncogenic mechanisms remain unclear. Here we review the role of MiT members, including MITF, in lysosomal biogenesis, and how cancers overexpressing MITF, TFEB or TFE3 could rewire the lysosomal pathway, inhibit cellular senescence, and activate Wnt signaling by increasing sequestration of negative regulators of Wnt signaling in multivesicular bodies (MVBs). Microarray studies suggest that MITF expression inhibits macroautophagy. In melanoma the MITF-driven increase in MVBs generates a positive feedback loop between MITF, Wnt, and MVBs

A method for analyzing the characteristics of purchasing quality costs using a probabilistic model with random input parameters

This dissertation develops a technique for predicting purchasing quality costs and studying their behavior as random variables. The resulting model extends prior research which treated purchasing costs deterministically and it thereby provides management with a valuable decision and planning tool. This is important because the trend is for companies to place an increasing reliance on purchased components. Expressions for the expected cost of three alternative policies are developed: incoming evaluation of components, evaluation of components at the supplier, and waiving of product evaluation with a review of supplier data only. The cost of off-site evaluation (at the supplier), as an alternative to incoming evaluation, has not been considered in previous literature. Important quality cost inputs are treated as random variables with frequency distributions estimated from company historical data. In critical applications where safety of the end user is the primary concern, it is desirable to detect faulty components at the earliest possible stage in the production flow, and some form of product inspection will always be desirable. The model proposed in this dissertation is particularly suitable under these conditions. The model enables the management practitioner to justify switching between policies based on expected costs. Cost data from a small U.S. Government contractor demonstrates the usefulness and application of the model. A computer simulation is used to illustrate the application of the model and a method for developing probability distribution functions from empirical data is discussed and demonstrated. The simulation results suggest that an evaluation policy based on management consensus or intuition may not always be the lowest cost policy