Análisis de programas de mejora continua. Un estudio longitudinal en una empresa industrial

Las empresas han utilizado diversas herramientas que permiten que los operarios contribuyan al proceso de mejora continua. Entre las herramientas más usadas podemos destacar los sistemas de sugerencias tanto individuales como en grupo. En esta comunicación haremos un repaso de las principales características de ambos sistemas y los modos habituales de implantación. Nuestra ponencia pretende intentar responder a estas preguntas de investigación. ¿Qué resultados se derivan de la implantación de sistemas de sugerencias individuales o en grupo? ¿Cuál de los dos sistemas es más beneficioso para la empresa? ¿Qué problemas surgen durante el funcionamiento de estos programas? Para ello, analizaremos los datos de un caso de empresa industrial donde hemos recogido los datos históricos de 5 años de aplicación de un programa de mejora continua. Ambos programas han demostrado ser provechosos para la empresa, aunque las posibilidades de los sistemas de grupo parecen ser significativamente mayores

Psychiatric, business, and psychological applications of fundamental measurement models

This chapter is a collection of four studies applying probabilistic models to problems outside of education. Denmark's Allerup, Bech, and Loldrup present the calibration of the Visual Analogue Scale, used for measuring pain, and the use of this scale for measuring the reductions in pain brought about via the administration of three different treatments. Alvarez and Bañegil's study is a calibration of the criteria by which implementation of Just In Time and Total Quality Management techniques are recognized in Spain. Styles tests the assertion of sociologist O.D. Duncan that the reason for low correlations between measures of attitude and behaviour may be because these variables may not involve separate constructs but simply differing amounts of the same construct. Her conjoint measurement study of data from an Australian survey shows just how much harder it is to do than to say. Finally, from Israel, Tenenbaum presents the results of two studies involving the relationship of anxiety to performance among athletes, showing that commonly used instruments do not produce data of the consistency needed for fit to probabilistic conjoint measurement models in these applications

Integrated reporting in action: mobilizing intellectual capital to improve management and governance practices

In management studies, the relevance of intellectual capital (IC) in value creation processes has been a research topic for many years. Several attempts have been made to develop measurement and reporting systems for this relevant source of value, but managerial literature has highlighted the limits and difficulties of some of those endeavors. Integrated reporting, the general purpose of which is to provide transparent and integrated disclosure, has also entered this field with the aim of improving disclosure of intangibles, along with a strategic perspective on communication. An accurate description of a company’s IC is indeed one of the focal elements of an integrated report. This paper describes an exploratory study based on the case study research method of three companies, all of which have applied the integrated reporting IIRC framework and are operating in different business contexts. Following a performative approach, the first aim of this work is to verify the ability of integrated reporting to support the mobilization of IC and to encourage companies to take advantage of this process. This should lead to positive effects on management and governance practices, with respect to both external and internal users. Additionally, from a critical and performative perspective, this research investigates how business context influences the processes of measurement, management, and reporting of IC

Clinical risk assessment of organ manifestations in systemic sclerosis: A report from the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group database

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem autoimmune disease, which is classified into a diffuse cutaneous (dcSSc) and a limited cutaneous (IcSSc) subset according to the skin involvement. In order to better understand the vascular, immunological and fibrotic processes of SSc and to guide its treatment, the EULAR Scleroderma Trials And Research (EUSTAR) group was formed in June 2004. Aims and methods: EUSTAR collects prospectively the Minimal Essential Data Set (MEDS) on all sequential patients fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria in participating centres. We aimed to characterise demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of disease presentation in SSc and analysed EUSTAR baseline visits. Results: In April 2006, a total of 3656 patients (1349 with dcSSc and 2101 with IcSSc) were enrolled in 102 centres and 30 countries. 1330 individuals had autoantibodies against Scl70 and 1106 against anticentromere antibodies. 87% of patients were women. On multivariate analysis, scleroderma subsets (dcSSc vs IcSSc), antibody status and age at onset of Raynaud's phenomenon, but not gender, were found to be independently associated with the prevalence of organ manifestations. Autoantibody status in this analysis was more closely associated with clinical manifestations than were SSc subsets. Conclusion: dcSSc and IcSSc subsets are associated with particular organ manifestations, but in this analysis the clinical distinction seemed to be superseded by an antibody-based classification in predicting some scleroderma complications. The EUSTAR MEDS database facilitates the analysis of clinical patterns in SSc, and contributes to the standardised assessment and monitoring of SSc internationally