Six Sigma method to assess the quality of the service in a gas utility company

A method to evaluate the quality of service of a customer service centre is proposed based on Six Sigma, and through an empirical and rational approach that allowed an objective perspective during the development of the study. The quality dimensions that structure the service were identified to consolidate their valuation and to analyse the results in terms of defects per parts per million, sigma level and yield. As a result, it was found that the performance of the service quality dimensions was satisfactory due to the results obtained by all the calculated metrics, obtained an average yield percentage above 97% in the two periods, and all dimensions of quality were above the critical sigma value with a level above 3.43 which shows that the centre provided a satisfactory service process during these periods. Finally, the proposed method associated with the contextualisation of the quality dimensions of the service is significantly innovative and important for the scientific and business community

A Design for Controllability Methodology for PEM Fuel Cells including the effect of Material Surface Defects on the Dynamic System Performance

Electric power has become indispensable for the development of society. Our quality of life is entirely dependent on the availability of electric energy in the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors. Most of this energy is currently obtained from non-renewable sources (oil, natural gas, and coal mainly). Unfortunately, the continuous combustion of these fuels has severely impacted the environment due to the continuous emissions of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the need to explore alternative energy sources in a wide array of applications is essential for the sustainability of our way of life. Hydrogen is one of the promising fuels of the future, which would allow a transition to a cleaner generation matrix. Although hydrogen is mostly obtained from reforming of natural gas, different pathways from renewable resources are developed and being researched. Therefore, the study of devices operating with hydrogen contributes to the construction of a sustainable future. Fuel cells are one of the most effective ways to transform hydrogen into electrical power. By definition, a fuel cell is an electrochemical device capable of producing electrical energy from a fuel and an oxidant. For Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells the fuel is hydrogen, which is supplied to the anode, and the oxidant agent is oxygen (or air) supplied to the cathode. In this research, a methodology is developed for the selection of fuel cells materials, considering how their properties influence the cell dynamic response. To achieve this, a test bench was designed and constructed to characterize the PEM fuel cells dynamic response, and laboratory tests were developed to perform defect characterization. Different membrane assemblies were tested to analyze the impact of their properties on the cell settling time, and therefore, determine its effect on the controllability of the system

Methodology of classification, forecast and prediction of healthcare providers accredited in high quality in Colombia

This research presents a methodology for classification, forecasting and prediction of healthcare providers accredited in Colombia. For this purpose, a quantitative, descriptive and predictive analysis was carried out of 27 institutions accredited in Colombia by 2016. Consequently, the machine learning techniques cluster analysis and artificial neural networks were used to define business profiles of the institutions under study. The method classifying, forecasting and predicting the membership of a healthcare provider to a business profile, previously created based on the high-quality patterns of accreditation. The input variables were assets, account receivable, inventory, property and equipment and the output variables health service sales and net profit. The cluster analysis defined two main groups. 1) accredited institutions in the process of financial consolidation; 2) accredited institutions financially sound. The process of forecasting and prediction through the creation of an artificial neural network yielded a 95% CI (088, 0.9975) precision in the classification, and 100% and 80% for sensitivity and specificity values respectively. The results evidence the capacity of the proposed methodology to recognise the characteristics and association patterns of HCP accredited in high quality

Administrative efficiency of IPS providers of health entities accredited in quality in Colombia

This study evaluated the efficiencies of the IPS health providers accredited in quality in Colombia. The normative framework associated with the Mandatory Quality System, the quality accreditation standards for the IPS and the Data Envelopment analysis models, related to the purely technical or administrative efficiency were used as theoretical support. As an epistemological conception, we worked with the logical positivism paradigm, with which the scientific verification and the logical analysis for the development of all the research were sought. The research type had an evaluative approach. As a population, 27 accredited IPS health service providers were taken, which lent their financial statements to the superintendence of health in 2015 and 2016. The inductive and deductive method was used. The information generated by the health superintendence and the Ministry of Health were used as primary sources. The DEA BCC-O model focused on the optimization of outputs was used as an analysis technique. As a result of this research, a method to evaluate the efficiencies of high-quality accredited IPSs in Colombia was provided. Likewise, it could be demonstrated with empirical evidence that the implementation of high-quality standards in the IPSs studied has a significant impact on administrative efficiency. The research showed that the best IPS accredited in Colombia was the Pablo VI Hospital in Bosa. © 2019 International Business Information Management Association (IBIMA)

Developing oral skills through collaborative tasks in a group of pre-service english teachers

Becoming an efficient English teacher requires developing a communicative capacity to express ideas with coherence, cohesion, and above all fluency both orally and in writing. Hence, the importance of the development of these communicative skills contributes to facilitating the language teaching process. Future foreign language teachers must develop effective speaking skills during their pre-service studies. Teacher educators, then, need to be aware of the importance of providing future language teachers with opportunities to develop these skills. This study aims to determine the extent to which the implementation of collaborative tasks promotes the development of speaking skills in a group of pre-service English teachers. This interpretivist action research was carried out in a public university in Valledupar (Colombia) with 12 students at the intermediate English level. Data was collected through the application, before and after the intervention, of two instruments: a survey and an observation process. The survey helped to identify information about the student's perspectives regarding the development of their speaking skills. While class observation was used to characterize the way, speaking was taught in the classroom. The finding showed that the implementation of collaborative speaking tasks affected positively students’ perceptions about the development of their speaking skills while the survey showed that, after the intervention, students were more motivated, more confident, and had a better self-perception of their oral capacity. Some areas like vocabulary development and the use of Spanish in class should be more deeply explored in classes in terms of the development of speaking.MaestríaMagister en la Enseñanza del Ingle

Assessing and forecasting method of financial efficiency in a free industrial economic zone

: Industrial free zones are key to the economic progress of developing countries, making the evaluation and forecast of efficiency in these organisations relevant. This research proposes a three-phase method to evaluate and forecast the financial efficiency of the business profiles of companies belonging to the free economic zone of Cartagena – Colombia. The first phase consisted of a cluster analysis to determine representative groups among the companies analysed. In the second phase, financial efficiency is measured for each of the clusters found in phase 1. Finally, in phase 3 a machine learning model is trained and validated to predict the belonging of a company to a category of financial efficiency – cluster. The results show the creation of two business clusters, with an average efficiency of 49.8% and 14.6% respectively. The random forest model has an accuracy of 95% in the validation phase