Measurement of Quality-Based Risks In The Bulk Material Supply Chain

The audience will learn about the process used to identify, quantify, and evaluation quality risks in the bulk material supply chain. Use of the process map will be discussed from a quality management perspective. Implications for industrial practice will be shared

Measuring the Relationship Between Employee Trust and Quality Decision-Making

Quality is one of several workplace goals and several factors influence the quality climate of an organization. One factor believed to play a role in quality climate is trust. Although limited research has examined the relationship between trust and quality climate, no previous inquiry has examined the role worker trust levels play in quality-related decision-making in a workplace setting. Because workplace quality outcomes depend heavily on the decisions made by employees, an understanding of the factors which influence the decisionmaking process of employees is an important component of workplace quality initiatives

Measurement and Analysis of Safety and Quality Decision-Making in the Workplace

Human factors play an important, but often overlooked, role in the management of safety and quality in the work environment. One of these factors is trust. Little research has been done to explore the linkages between trust and safety or quality workplace outcomes. Safety and quality programs depend heavily on the decisions employees make on the job, therefore, an increased understanding of factors influencing their decision-making process is an important component of safety and quality educational intervention

Formation and Development of Effective Student Teams to Facilitate Team-Based Learning

The ability to work in an effective team has been identified by employers as a key skill for students entering the work force. Furthermore, a desire for active learning by both students and faculty has also increased the use of team-based learning. However, team-based learning also has its drawbacks – notably, managing conflict among team members, reconciling differing levels of effort by students, and the construction of a fair and effective method of assessment for teambased work. Highly developed and cohesive teams allow the focus of the classroom to be on engaged and transformative learning, yet previous research has focused mostly on the learning outcomes of such teams rather than on the formation and development processes. The application of team-based learning in a third year, large enrollment course for engineering technology and engineering students will be discussed. Specifically, strategies used to select and develop teams and methods used to optimize the team-based learning processes will be highlighted. Student performance on key team-based learning activities and student evaluation of team-based learning will be shared. Suggestions for using team-based learning with engineering and engineering technology students will conclude the paper

Creating and Sustaining High-Quality Senior Capstone Experiences

The 2011 Outcomes Assessment Model for accreditation by the Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) requires coursework in both management and technical areas of technology, with a “reasonable balance” between the practical application of “how” and more conceptual application of “why” (ATMAE Outcomes Assessment Model, 2013). One way to meet this requirement is with a senior capstone course. Capstone courses focus on the integration and application of technical skills and knowledge along with consideration of multiple realistic constraints. A high quality capstone experience has many positive outcomes for the student, faculty, and department. However, capstone courses can be challenging for both students and faculty

Role of Senior Capstones in 21st Century Technology Undergraduate Programs

To provide a summary of current thoughts and practices on undergraduate capstone courses, this white paper will contain three major portions. Positive student outcomes and potential institutional uses of capstone courses will be discussed in the first portion of the paper. The second part of the paper will discuss the challenges of implementing a high-quality capstone course in a technology-based curriculum program. Specifically, considerations for sourcing student projects, student team formation and management, and fair and consistent assessment of students will be discussed. Implications for technology faculty who wish to embark on the development of a senior-level capstone course will conclude the paper

Effective Systems Depend on Informed Decisions

Someone once told me that if you can solve a problem with money, it‘s not a problem. Using this logic, I would classify the human elements in food and agribusiness systems as a potential problem. Poor management of a highly complex system can doom the system to failure. This is not an engineering failure but rather a failure to account for the effect that user behavior has on a system

Professional Advisers in Engineering and Technology Undergraduate Programs: Opportunities and Challenges

The basis of high quality academic advising is a strong relationship between the student and the adviser. Historically, these relationships have been cultivated between faculty advisers and students. Increasingly, the “faculty-only” model is declining, as institutions have chosen to hire non-faculty staff to serve the role of academic advisers. These “professional advisers” focus solely on advising, with limited research, teaching, and governance duties. This article summarizes the research on the use of professional advisers as compared with faculty advisers, and outlines challenges inherent to the professional adviser model in an engineering and technology department at a research-intensive land grant institution. Information on the use of professional advisers in an engineering and technology department may be useful to other engineering and technology-oriented departments, specifically those managing large enrollment increases. Factors considered in measuring advising effectiveness for professional and faculty advisers will also be discussed. As administrators in engineering and technology departments add to the list of tasks required for faculty, the use of professional advisers shifts the faculty mentoring focus toward disciplinary and career pursuits, roles faculty have indicated they are comfortable assuming

Measurement and analysis of the relationship between employee perceptions and safety and quality decision-making in the country grain elevator

Human factors play an important, but often overlooked, role in the management of safety and quality in the work environment. Workplace safety and quality are two of several competing organizational demands. The relative priority of these demands is formed by perception, based in part on employee experiences and practices. One human factor believed to influence employee perceptions of workplace safety and quality is trust. Links between trust and safety outcomes and safety perceptions and safety behavior have been explored by researchers, but little research has examined the relationships between trust and quality perceptions or between employee perceptions and employee decision-making, an important precursor to employee behavior. Because safety and quality depend heavily on decisions employees make, an increased understanding of factors influencing employee decision-making processes provides information helpful to those wishing to improve organizational safety or quality. This research examined the predictive relationships between employee perceptions of trust, safety, and quality and employee decision-making in safety and quality. Data were collected in two parts. First, 180 workers at a three grain handling facilities were surveyed on three aspects of organizational climate: trust, safety, and quality. Each survey instrument asked for employee perceptions concerning two levels of administration: supervisors and management. Next, employee decision-making was measured using two computerized decision-making scenarios. The safety decision simulation asked employees to decide whether to take a safety shortcut that would save time but present a higher safety hazard. The quality decision scenario asked the employee to choose between following company policy and handling the product in a manner that preserved its quality. Decision software tracked both the final decision choice and the factors employees used to make the decision. Using regression analysis and bi-variate correlation, the relationships between variables were calculated at the management and supervisory level. Significant positive relationships were noted between supervisory and management trust and employee perceptions of a more positive safety climate. Although trust in management did not significantly predict a more safety-oriented decision choice, a significant relationship was observed between trust in supervisors and a more positive safety decision choice. Results from the quality decision data demonstrated a positive significant relationship between trust in management and a stronger quality climate as well as a higher inclination to use the factors of customer service and company policy when making quality decision choices. At the supervisory level, trust significantly the decision choice, but did not predict a stronger quality climate or any factors in the decision process. The increased role of supervisors in employee decision-making is not a surprise, given most supervisors\u27 increased interaction with employees; however, perceptions of management clearly influence how employees perceive the workplace climate. Implications of this research are important for supervisors and managers who wish to better manage safety and quality at their organization and for those who wish to develop more targeted workplace intervention and training programs

Use of Risk Mapping Tools to Identify Hazards in Bulk Material Handling

The identification, assessment, and mitigation of risk in complex systems are challenging tasks. Risk analysis is often used in complex systems to reduce the probability of negative events occurring in such systems, and to enhance the decisions made under uncertain conditions (Clemons & Simmons, 1998). The conventional risk analysis framework includes three sub-components: assessment of risk, management of risk, and communication of risk (Codex, 2007). Mapping the risk analysis process within a specific system allows for the identification of the most high-stakes hazards, allowing an efficient application of management and mitigation activities (Clemons & Simmons, 1998; Stamatelatos et al., 2002)