524 research outputs found
ISO 9000/1994, ISO 9001/2000 and TQM: The performance debate revisited
The debate about the impact of ISO 9000/1994 on performance has been waging since its inception. While there is a general agreement regarding the positive impact of TQM on performance, there has been less agreement among the academics about the impact of ISO 9000/1994. Perhaps in response to such debate, the new ISO 9001/2000 has appeared purporting to be more in line with the TQM philosophy. As of now, how this 2000 version actually affects performance is yet to be explored. In this study, we compare the implementation of ISO 9000/1994 and ISO 9001/2000 as representing two different efforts to implement quality management practices. We evaluate its impact on company performance with a sample of 713 Spanish industrial companies. We also examine if the 2000 version of ISO is taking us closer to the implementation of TQM. Further, we depart from the past studies methodologically by considering performance as a formative construct rather than a reflective construct. Based on the mean and covariance structural (MACS) analyses, we conclude that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies do not perform noticeably better than ISO 9000/1994 or non-certified companies. However, we find that ISO 9001/2000 certified companies apply TQM at a higher level than ISO 9000/1994 certified companies, but whether they actually perform better is less clear.We would like to thank the Fundacio ÌnSe Ìneca andFundacio Ìn Cajamurcia for financial support. We alsoacknowledge two anonymous referees and the associateeditor for valuable comments and insight
Fragmented institutional fields and their impact on manufacturing environmental practices
In the extant literature, manufacturing environmental practices have been attributed to institutional pressures. This study extends this view by observing how different levels of the institutional field (national level vs. regional market level) would have varied effects on manufacturing environmental practices. We empirically investigate, using structural equation modelling, how different types of the manufacturing environmental practices react differently to pressures from a fragmented institutional field. Two distinct types of manufacturing environmental practices occur at the administrative planning operation and technical core operation. Our results confirm such manufacturing environmental practices at different operations lead to different performance benefits â the administrative environmental planning (AEPs) benefit market growth, whereas the technical core environmental practice (TEP) benefit the environment. National-level pressures do not lead to manufacturing environmental practices. Instead, the findings show that institutional pressures at the regional market level influence both types of manufacturing environmental practices. In the contribution, our study has offered an empirical examination of a fragmented institutional field and the impact on two types of manufacturing environmental practices. Further, we also explicitly identified AEPs that lead to market growth and TEPs that create environmental improvement
Neutron beam test of CsI crystal for dark matter search
We have studied the response of Tl-doped and Na-doped CsI crystals to nuclear
recoils and 's below 10 keV. The response of CsI crystals to nuclear
recoil was studied with mono-energetic neutrons produced by the
H(p,n)He reaction. This was compared to the response to Compton
electrons scattered by 662 keV -ray. Pulse shape discrimination between
the response to these 's and nuclear recoils was studied, and quality
factors were estimated. The quenching factors for nuclear recoils were derived
for both CsI(Na) and CsI(Tl) crystals.Comment: 21pages, 14figures, submitted to NIM
Upravljanje silom miĆĄiÄno-koĆĄtanog manipulatora pogonjenog spiralnim motorom
This paper presents force control of musculoskeletal manipulator driven by spiral motors. The kinematic and dynamic properties are shown to address the presence of ennvironmental contact with the manipulator. From this contact, the force control schemes were explored, by comparing between monoarticular-only structure and biarticular structure manipulator. Force control schemes were divided into independent muscle control, end effector step force command, and muscular viscoelasticity control. The results show advantages of biarticular actuation compared to monoarticular-only actuation in the feasibility of magnetic levitation (gap) control alongside force control.U ovome radu predstavljeno je upravljanje silom miĆĄiÄno-koĆĄtanog manipulatora pogonjenog spiralnim motorom. KinematiÄka i dinamiÄka svojstva prikazuju prisutnost kontakta manipulatora s okolinom. Na temelju kontakta istraĆŸeno je upravljanje silom usporedbom jednozglobne i dvozglobne strukture manipulatora. Upravljanje silom podijeljeno je u neovisno upravljanje miĆĄiÄima, upravljanje alatom manipulatora (eng. end effector) i upravljanje miĆĄiÄnom viskoelastiÄnosti. Rezultati pokazuju prednost dvozglobne strukture u odnosu na jednozglobnu u smislu izvedivosti upravljanja magnetskom levitacijom pored upravljanja silom
Creation and annihilation of topological meron pairs in in-plane magnetized films
Merons which are topologically equivalent to one-half of skyrmions can exist only in pairs or groups in two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic (FM) systems. The recent discovery of meron lattice in chiral magnet Co8Zn9Mn3 raises the immediate challenging question that whether a single meron pair, which is the most fundamental topological structure in any 2D meron systems, can be created and stabilized in a continuous FM film? Utilizing winding number conservation, we develop a new method to create and stabilize a single pair of merons in a continuous Py film by local vortex imprinting from a Co disk. By observing the created meron pair directly within a magnetic field, we determine its topological structure unambiguously and explore the topological effect in its creation and annihilation processes. Our work opens a pathway towards developing and controlling topological structures in general magnetic systems without the restriction of perpendicular anisotropy and DzyaloshinskiiâMoriya interaction. © 2019, The Author(s).1
First limit on WIMP cross section with low background CsI(Tl) crystal detector
The Korea Invisible Mass Search (KIMS) collaboration has been carrying out
WIMP search experiment with CsI(T)crystal detectors at the YanYang
Underground Laboratory. A successful reduction of the internal background of
the crystal is done and a good pulse shape discrimination is achieved. We
report the first result on WIMP search obtained with 237 kgdays data
using one full-size CsI(T)crystal of 6.6 kg mass.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Physics Letters
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
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