Managing upgrade to lean: an empirical investigation of work practices and organizational culture effects.

Although human capital has recognised as an important factor for the effective implementation of lean, current research lacks sufficient empirical evidence to support and identify direct linkages between certain work practices and lean production (LP). Using data from 126 managers employed at a global company, which recently upgraded to lean, this study contributes empirical evidence to examine the role of training, knowledge acquisition and organizational culture in upgrading to lean. Results indicated that from the aforementioned selected variables, only organizational culture might holistically affect LP in its multidimensional nature. Training and knowledge acquisition offer partially effects on LP with training to contribute mostly to predicting continuous improvements. Knowledge acquisition alone, however, has significant yet negative impact on LP. Even more, when training is combined with knowledge acquisition the results are different. The study findings provide useful implications for both theory and practice and discusses its limitations

Adsorption of Water on a Cesium Covered SrTiO3 (100) Surface

The paper describes the adsorption of water on cesium covered strontium titanate SrTiO3 (100) surface. The interaction of water with the substrate is investigated by AES, TDS and work function measurements. The results show that water does not dissociate or react with cesium on surface. In contrast when simultaneous adsorption of water and cesium takes place on surface, interaction between the co-adsorbates occurs resulting in cesium oxide formation

Synchronization in Complex Systems Following the Decision Based Queuing Process: The Rhythmic Applause as a Test Case

Living communities can be considered as complex systems, thus a fertile ground for studies related to their statistics and dynamics. In this study we revisit the case of the rhythmic applause by utilizing the model proposed by V\'azquez et al. [A. V\'azquez et al., Phys. Rev. E 73, 036127 (2006)] augmented with two contradicted {\it driving forces}, namely: {\it Individuality} and {\it Companionship}. To that extend, after performing computer simulations with a large number of oscillators we propose an explanation on the following open questions (a) why synchronization occurs suddenly, and b) why synchronization is observed when the clapping period ($T_c$) is $1.5 \cdot T_s < T_c < 2.0 \cdot T_s$ ($T_s$ is the mean self period of the spectators) and is lost after a time. Moreover, based on the model, a weak preferential attachment principle is proposed which can produce complex networks obeying power law in the distribution of number edges per node with exponent greater than 3.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure