Diagnosing total quality management - Part 2

From extensive literature research a total quality management (TQM) model is developed. This model describes the basic elements of the concept of TQM. It also provides the way in which the basic elements can be made operational in practice. Based on this model a quality-diagnostical instrument is developed to establish the actual TQM-situation in an organization. The instrument has been tested in two cases in an existing company and the results look promising for purposes of using the instrument in the process of realizing TQM and 'measuring' and stimulating continuous quality improvement

Quincy Pugh retiring after 42 years working in public libraries

Quincy Pugh, Film & Sound Manager of Richland Library, has announced that he is stepping down this summer. Pugh is Richland Library’s first film and sound librarian and he shares his vision for libraries

Collaborative improvement as an inspiration for supply chain collaboration

The battlefield of competition is today moving from the level of\ud individual firms to the one of the extended enterprises, that is, networks of customers and their suppliers. This paper discusses how learning and continuous improvement today take place in processes based on daily collaboration at intercompany level, i.e. Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EMEs). The purpose of the paper is to present a preliminary theory on Collaborative Improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature review on Supply Networks, and Continuous Improvement and on evidence from two explorative case studies, the paper proposes a model for Collaborative Improvement in EMEs and discusses a research approach based on Action Research and Action Learning to further develop preliminary theory and actionable knowledge on how to foster and sustain CoI in EMEs

Factors affecting the development of collaborative improvement with strategic suppliers

The research presented in this paper was aimed at increasing the current understanding of the process of developing collaborative improvement in Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EME). Theory suggests a number of factors to affect that process, including shared sense of direction (i.e. vision), trust, power, and commitment. Based on action research of three EMEs involving a total of thirteen companies from five European countries, the present study identifies a number of additional factors. Factors exogenous to, but impacting, the collaboration are joint history and culture. Endogenous factors are approach to establishing the collaboration, project organisation, change and improvement competence, ways and modes of communicating, and political behaviour. Not only do these factors influence each other, they also strongly affect the development of collaborative improvement

A Pore Water/Solid Phase Diagenetic Model for Manganese in Marine Sediments

A steady state diagenetic model is developed which accounts for changes in both the pore water and solid phase manganese profiles in marine sediments as a result of advection, diffusion, and redox reactions. The model is applied to observations on two cores in the E equatorial Atlantic in which pore water and solid phase manganese data are available. In situ reaction rates for manganese oxidation and reduction are estimated. The oxidation rates calculated here are in good agreement with rates measured in laboratory studies. In addition, the calculated manganese oxidation and reduction rates are compared with other estimated rates for these processes in natural environments

Driving collaborative improvement processes

Continuous improvement is a consolidated concept in theory and practice, mainly in the context of stand-alone companies. However, the battlefield of competition is increasingly moving from the level of individual firms to that of organizational settings based on loose company boundaries and collaborative relations among different units, such as the extended manufacturing enterprises (EMEs). The concept of continuous improvement has hardly been applied in inter-organizational settings. The purpose of this paper is to propose preliminary theory on collaborative improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature study on supply networks and continuous improvement, evidence from an in-depth case study of a large Dutch system integrator in the automotive industry and three of its suppliers, a model of CoI is proposed, explaining how collaborative improvement takes place within the EME context