LSS, a problem solving skill for graduates and SMEs: Case Study of investigation in a UK Business School curriculum

Purpose - This research aims to investigate the feasibility of a systematic Lean Six Sigma (LSS) education through the curriculum of business schools to respond to the existing gap between the graduate’s expectation of employability and skill requirements by the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Design/approach/methodology - One UK business school has been used as a case study to conduct an extensive module and programme review followed by a semi-structured interview with the potentially suitable core and programme-specific module leaders and also the comparative Analysis between content of these modules and the existing LSS high-street training themes. Findings – The result revealed a high potential of the existing modules in the business schools equivalent to the private sector training providers to increase the level of LSS problem solving knowledge and skill for all graduates and improve their employability and productivity for the SMEs. Practical implications/limitations – This research has been carried out in a single UK–based Business School through a qualitative approach. A further in-depth analysis in a broader scale is required to investigate the practical implications in a better way. Originality/Value – The result of this study highlights the role of LSS to reduce the knowledge and skill gap between the business schools as the source of the explicit knowledge, graduates as the knowledge and skill bearer, and SMEs as the knowledge and skill users

Multigrain indexing of unknown multiphase materials

A multigrain indexing algorithm for use with samples comprising an arbitrary number of known or unknown phases is presented. No a priori crystallographic knowledge is required. The algorithm applies to data acquired with a monochromatic beam and a conventional two-dimensional detector for diffraction. Initially, candidate grains are found by searching for crystallographic planes, using a Dirac comb convoluted with a box function as a filter. Next, candidate grains are validated and the unit cell is optimized. The algorithm is validated by simulations. Simulations of 500 cementite grains and ∼100 reflections per grain resulted in 99.2% of all grains being indexed correctly and 99.5% of the reflections becoming associated with the right grain. Simulations with 200 grains associated with four mineral phases and 50–700 reflections per grain resulted in 99.9% of all grains being indexed correctly and 99.9% of the reflections becoming associated with the right grain. The main limitation is in terms of overlap of diffraction spots and computing time. Potential areas of use include three-dimensional grain mapping, structural solution and refinement studies of complex samples, and studies of dilute phases

Noise Robustness of a Combined Phase Retrieval and Reconstruction Method for Phase-Contrast Tomography

Classical reconstruction methods for phase-contrast tomography consist of two stages: phase retrieval and tomographic reconstruction. A novel algebraic method combining the two was suggested by Kostenko et al. (Opt. Express, 21, 12185, 2013) and preliminary results demonstrating improved reconstruction compared to a two-stage method given. Using simulated free-space propagation experiments with a single sample-detector distance, we thoroughly compare the novel method with the two-stage method to address limitations of the preliminary results. We demonstrate that the novel method is substantially more robust towards noise; our simulations point to a possible reduction in counting times by an order of magnitude

Strategy discourses in public sector organizations. A qualitative focus group study.

Strategic concerns have spread into public management and fueled the growth of strategic practices. The purpose of this study is to examine strategy discourses in public sector organizations. It describes how strategy is articulated and conceptualized with reference to dominant strategy discourses and identifies the structural tension between these discourses.Based on a deconstructive analysis of focus group interviews, the article identifies four strategy discourses: “rationalist” discourse, “structuralist” discourse, “idealist” discourse and “constructivist” discourse. Strategy makers draw on several or all of the discourses in public sector organizations and the body of literature on strategic management related to them. The discourses are different but not incompatible in practice. Rather, they complement each other in strategic practices. Thus, the article suggests a more nuanced way of strategic discourses in public sector organizations and provides inspiration to other sectors as well. The article concludes by suggesting directions for further research

Report on completed/demonstrated rearing system - Farmergødning/Bånlev

Rapport omhandlende kompostering af gødning med fluelarver på prototype

Why do we need strategy in public management? Institutional logics as strategic resources in public management

Strategy has become an essential of public management. Research shows that there are many different approaches to this; however, research has not explored the strategic resources that different approaches provide. This paper contributes to this field of research by applying neo-institutional theory and paradox theory to strategy in public management.Institutional logics form socially constructed patterns of cultural and material practices by which managers define interests and asks and provide meaning to their daily activity. Institutional logics thus accommodate strategic behaviour when managers – and other strategic actors – respond to institutional pressures and expectations.We show that Public administration, Professional Leadership, New Public Management and New Public Governance offer different configurations of strategy in the public sector, i.e. different reasons and resources for doing strategy, which provide public management with different strategic foci, goals and practices. To explore strategy in public management, the institutional logics should be analysed together with an emphasis on the dynamic interaction between them in order to understand how the strategic resources of a particular institutional logic are applied and legitimized as responses to the flaws of other institutional logics