Saturday, August 22, 2020

87.5% / 1116 words / Cocos Review Coco is full o Essay Example For Students

87.5%/1116 words/Cocos Review: Coco is full o Essay Cocos Review: Coco is loaded with life in the Land of Dead Barely any film creation organizations would picture that an enlivened film with death as its middle would engage overall crowds. The inquiry presented at the core of Coco, the most recent Pixars film is if an individual can respect his family alongside seeking after his fantasies. The film spins around a yearning 12-year-old Mexican kid Miguel Rivera (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) who fantasies about turning into an artist, against the way that his family prohibited music after his incredible extraordinary granddad left his family for music. In spite of the familys disdain for music, Miguel secretively plays guitar and pines for to turn into a famous performer like Ernesto De La Cruz. On Dã ­a de Muertos(Day of the Dead), Miguel battles with his family about acting in a neighborhood music ability appear, which doesn work out in a good way for music-detesting Riveras and particularly his abuelita(voiced by Renee Victor), who gets upset and crushes Miguels guitar like a piã ±ata. In the wake of battling with his family, Miguel gets himself a guitar in the tomb of his godlike object, Ernesto De La Cruz(voiced by Benjamin Bratt), a notable performer. Without understanding a thing, Miguel burglarizes a guitar from the sepulcher and plays it, which gets him moved to the Land of the Dead. The films about how he returns back to the universe of the living and his experiences in the place that is known for the dead. Dazzling visuals with adroitly requested and seriously striking narrating being the trademarks of the best motion pictures of Pixar Animation Studios, Coco will likewise excite the crowd with Pixars common verve and style. The place where there is the dead with skeletons strolling and chatting with a coating of fluorescent blossom petals cleared upon the boulevards is outwardly engaging. This entire inventive excursion in the place where there is the dead is brimming with incredible sights and animals which merits losing all sense of direction in. The splendid, bright visuals and a secretive chain of experiences that occur all through the film is the thing that makes Coco fascinating like other Disney-Pixar films. In the wake of remaining in the place where there is simply the dead for quite a while, Miguel winds up transforming into skeleton parts by parts and becomes more acquainted with that hell be dead on the off chance that he doesn make sense of an approach to return to the place where there is the living before sun-up. To come back to the universe of the living, he needs to get endowments from progenitors, which none of them will consent to until and except if Miguel is prepared to leave music and doesn plan to follow his fantasies about turning into an artist. Maybe the most powerful similarity of this story may be that passing ends up being doubtlessly another pattern of life where the demised can remain and sprout inasmuch as they are not overlooked by a living cherished one. Over yonder in the place where there is the dead, Miguel meets the keen skeleton Hector (voiced by Gael Garcã ­a Bernal) who is in urgent need of guaranteeing that his inheritance despite everything stays in the realm of the living. Miguel and Hectors organization winds up the plot some more, adding to the incidents, pursues, antiquated mysteries, mixed up personalities and it experiences each turn like a crazy ride directing through another spin. Their discussion and their excursion together is the wellspring of a large portion of the Cocos humor. There are just a couple of motion pictures which can engage both youthful and old crowd simultaneously, Coco is one of them. As indicated by an article titled A Night to Remember distributed in Computer Graphics World, it says that Coco respects Mexican culture and has a ton to state about Mexican music, culture making watchers glad to be Mexicans. Being discharged on the since quite a while ago adored Mexican blessed day of the dead, Coco remarkably grasps the Mexican occasion and transforms it into an arresting anecdote about family, heritage, and memory. Chirked up by the Mexican customs spinning around the Dia de Los Muertos, Cocos unusual reason is an excursion to the great beyond loaded with grinning skeletons. These are skeletons which do everything like playing music, going to parties, paint works of art like the individuals in the realm of the living-however in somewhat more lively manner. In spite of the fact that it was appraised PG for topical components, the film does no t have the repulsive perspective that can be captivating to grown-ups yet they prevailing with regards to depicting a splendid, enchanting and kid-accommodating version of eternal life. One all the more intriguing component of the film is its snappy, singalong soundtrack which will leave its crowd dazed and moved by. Coco jumps along the beat of Micheal Giacchino score. It likewise has different conventional Mexican melodies and some new tunes that will leave an everlasting effect on the watchers. The most critical tune in the film is Remember Me, composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (individuals who composed the music for Frozen). It has likewise won an Oscar for the best unique melody grant. Cocos a film with PG rating for topical components with a running time of 109 minutes. It encourages incredible family messages like always remember that your family is everlastingly and connect and get your fantasies. In spite of the fact that Coco has an anticipated story, it is a value watch film with a convincing tale about the criticalness of recalling our family and parentage. Its a festival of Mexican culture and feels like some history that exists before this film even started. Taking everything into account, similar to each other Pixar film, Coco additionally has an amazing peak and its hard to make it out of the performance center with your tear channels flawless. Be that as it may, the tears are of satisfaction. The inquiry raised toward the start is replied with imaginative turns to the plot in which some are stunning and the others are a bit of exhausting. There are no components in the film that makes Coco a terrible film, however truth be told, the film instructs inestimable exercises about family and the hugeness of thinking back those that we have lost. Thus, presently its time for you all to look at what these skeletons need to state! .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .postImageUrl , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .focused content region { min-tallness: 80px; position: relative; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:hover , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:visited , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:active { border:0!important; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f { show: square; change: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-progress: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; murkiness: 1; progress: mistiness 250ms; webkit-change: haziness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:active , .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:hover { darkness: 1; change: obscurity 250ms; webkit-progress: murkiness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .focused content zone { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .ctaText { outskirt base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: intense; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; content embellishment: underline; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; fringe: none; fringe sweep: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; textual style weight: striking; line-stature: 26px; moz-outskirt range: 3px; content adjust: focus; content design: none; content shadow: none; width: 80px; min-stature: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/straightforward arrow.png)no-rehash; position: total; right: 0; top: 0; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .u81e9d9 68283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f .focused content { show: table; tallness: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .u81e9d968283e6c0ebdb230eff7a8ec2f:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: David Akao (573 words) Essay Works Cited Coco. Coordinated by Lee Unkrich, Performance by Anthony Gonzalez, Pixar Animation Studios, 2017 Robertson, Barbara. â€Å"A NIGHT TO REMEMBER.†Ã‚ Computer Graphics World, vol. 40(6), no. p.4(7), 2017, EBSCO Host,â http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8sid=ff783b8f-0c0f-495b-9a6c-545ec31a1faf%40sessionmgr4008. Chang, Justin. â€Å"Pixar’s ‘Coco’ Sings a High-Spirited however Sometimes Faltering Tune.†Ã‚ Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2017,â latimes.com,â http://www.latimes.com/amusement/motion pictures/la-et-mn-coco-survey 20171121-story.html. Chen, Sandie Angulo. â€Å"A Snippet of Remember Song from Coco.†Ã‚ Common Sense Media, 26 Apr. 2018,â https://www.commonsensemedia.org/film audits/coco. Chen, Sandie Angulo. â€Å"Steeped in Mexican Culture and Folklore, the Production Ranks among Disney-Pixar’s Most Engaging Efforts.†Ã‚ The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/audit/coco-survey 1050825. Taylor, Kate. â€Å"Review: Coco Is a Compelling Story about Family, Ancestry and Remembrance.†Ã‚ The Globe and Mail, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/expressions/film/film-audits/survey coco-is-a-convincing anecdote about-family-lineage and-recognition/article37029899/.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse

Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse Addiction Drug Use Opioids Print Preventing Abuse of Prescription Drugs By Carol Eustice facebook Carol Eustice is a writer covering arthritis and chronic illness, who herself has been diagnosed with both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Learn about our editorial policy Carol Eustice Updated on February 04, 2020 Echo / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Opioids Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Although most patients use medications as directed, abuse and addiction to prescription drugs are public health problems for many Americans. However, addiction rarely occurs among those who use medications as prescribed; the risk for addiction exists when medications are used in ways other than as prescribed. Patients, pharmacists, and healthcare providers all play a role in preventing and detecting prescription drug abuse. Pain and Opiophobia When treating pain, health care providers have long wrestled with a dilemma: How to adequately relieve a patients suffering while avoiding the potential for that patient to become addicted to pain medication? Many doctors underprescribe painkillers because they overestimate the potential for patients to become addicted to medications such as morphine and codeine. Although these drugs carry a heightened risk of addiction, research has shown that providers concerns that patients will become addicted to pain medication are largely unfounded. This fear of prescribing opioid pain medications is known as opiophobia. Most patients who have prescribed opioids for pain, even those undergoing long-term therapy, do not become addicted. The few patients who do develop rapid and marked tolerance for an addiction to opioids usually have a history of psychological problems or prior substance abuse. In fact, studies have shown that the abuse potential of opioid medications is generally low in healthy, nondrug-abusing volunteers. One study found that only 4 out of about 12,000 patients who were given opioids for acute pain became addicted. In a study of 38 chronic pain patients, most of whom received opioids for 4 to 7 years, only 2 became addicted, and both had a history of drug abuse. The issues of underprescription of opioids and the suffering of millions of patients who dont receive adequate pain relief has led to the development of guidelines for pain treatment. This may help bring an end to underprescribing, but alternative forms of pain control are still needed. NIDA-funded scientists continue to search for new ways to control pain and to develop new pain medications that are effective but dont have the potential for addiction. Assessing Prescription Drug Abuse With Simple Questions Have you ever felt the need to cut down on your use of prescription drugs?Have you ever felt annoyed by remarks of your friends or loved ones made about your use of prescription drugs?Have you ever felt guilty or remorseful about your use of prescription drugs?Have you ever used prescription drugs as a way to get going or to calm down? Role of Patients There are several ways that patients can prevent prescription drug abuse. When visiting the doctor, provide a complete medical history and a description of the reason for the visit to ensure that the doctor understands the complaint and can prescribe appropriate medication.If a doctor prescribes medicine, follow the directions for use carefully and learn about the effects that the drug could have, especially during the first few days during which the body is adapting to the medication.Be aware of potential interactions with other drugs.Do not increase or decrease doses or abruptly stop taking a drug without consulting a healthcare provider first.Never use another persons prescription. Role of Pharmacists Pharmacists play a role in preventing prescription drug misuse and abuse by: Explaining how to take medication appropriately.Providing clear information about the effects the medication may have.Providing advice about any possible drug interactions. They can also help prevent prescription fraud or diversion by looking for false or altered prescriptions. Role of Health Care Providers Health care providers are in a unique position not only to prescribe needed medications appropriately  but also: Identify prescription drug abuse when it exists.Help the patient recognize the problem.Set goals for recovery, and seek appropriate treatment when necessary. Screening for any type of substance abuse can be incorporated into routine history taking with questions about what prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs the patient is taking and why. Screening also can be performed if a patient presents with specific symptoms associated with the problem use of a substance. Over time, providers should note any rapid increases in the amount of a drug needed â€" which may indicate the development of tolerance â€" or frequent requests for refills before the quantity prescribed should have been used. They should also be alert to the fact that those addicted to prescription medications may engage in doctor shopping, moving from provider to provider in an effort to get multiple prescriptions for the drug they abuse. Preventing or stopping prescription drug abuse is an important part of patient care. However, health care providers should not avoid prescribing painkillers, if they are needed.

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Training Ground For Murderers Essay - 1749 Words

Training Ground For Murderers Continued U.S. support for the School of the Americas, an institution that has trained dictators and political assassins, is completely unjustifiable. At seven o’ clock in the morning on December 11, 1981 an evil force entered the small El Salvadorian village of El Mezote (School of Assasins). With painted faces and army fatigues, the guerillas carried machine guns and automatic rifles into the peaceful village. As survivor Rufina Amaya recounts, â€Å"At ten o’clock the soldiers began to kill the men who were in the church. First, they machine-gunned them and slit their throats† (â€Å"Country Sheets for Close it Down Fast!† 3). After the men, the women were placed face down in the dusty streets and shot to†¦show more content†¦However, the school has been responsible for training dictators, assassins, and murderers like those at El Mezote. One would assume that the United States would discontinue support for an institution whose existence has escalated violence against civilians in Latin America. Yet, even in light of the massacres and dictators that have been directly linked to the schoolâ₠¬â„¢s operation, nothing has swayed the government in its unyielding support for the school. The United States established the School of the Americas in Panama in 1946, for the purpose training of Latin American military and police forces (â€Å"School of the Americas† 1, â€Å"Schools of the Americas; U.S. Military Training for Latin American Countries† 1). Prior to 1984, the United States had a network of schools in Peru and Panama that trained soldiers under CIA instruction (Buckley 5). Panamanian officials requested the U.S. to move the school out of the country, citing the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty giving Panama territorial control over the land the school occupied. In compliance, the United States withdrew the school’s operations in Panama and permanently moved the school to Fort Benning, Georgia (Buckley 5). Training Latin Americans to protect their nation through strong-arm military tactics places anShow MoreRelatedDexter Morgen- Vigilante Serial Killer Essay899 Words   |  4 Pagescommonly lain against them will be disproved and a new perspective will be given to support them. Dexter is a serial killer in Miami, FL from Dexter, a series on Showtime; however Dexter only kills murderers. Dexter is considered a felon and his actions are a capitol offense. Many would consider that grounds for Dexter to be thrown into jail, or even face death-row. But look at all the murder we allow and encourage today. Our military is trained to kill Americas enemies. While not everyone approvesRead MoreJack the Ripper and H.H. Holmes1279 Words   |  5 Pagesis possible that he had a connection to another well-known murderer, H.H. Holmes, but not just any connection. By looking at The Devil in the White City, we can see that there are things about murderer H.H. Holmes that are very similar to Jack the Ripper. This could mean that we finally have an answer to the mystery: who was Jack the Ripper? Let us begin with Holmes. Holmes lived in Chicago and owned a pharmacy. He had medical training and loved money and women (Larson 36-37). He was able to smoothRead MoreEliminate Murder Insurance Essay1036 Words   |  5 Pagesafter an incident, and the replacement of the firearm used in the dispute. Similarly, the insurance would also provide compensation for financial hardships which may result if the beneficiary must battle in court. The program also includes firearm training for those who choose to be insured. Although, these benefits may seem positive, they will only perpetuate the growing issue of gun violence in America. 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The Sandy Hook shooting happened on school grounds, Virginia Tech and Columbine also on school grounds, and Colorado movie theater shooting all happened on gun-free zonesRead MoreThe Battle Of Fallujah Brigade1279 Words   |  6 Pagesa former Iraqi Army Intelligence officer, originally led the brigade. The security responsibilities included provisions for the surrender of heavy weapons by the insurgents and stipulated that the Fallujah Brigade would initiate investigations murderers and mutilators of the Blackwater employees. The insurgents and terrorists expand through the city, slowly began to drain the city’s populace through murder, intimidation, and brutality. Although the Fallujah Brigade was a failure, it providedRead MoreThe Debate Over Concealed Weapons Essay1611 Words   |  7 Pagesof age, with no felony convictions, some misdemeanor may make one ineligible, pending criminal charges and some certain types of psychological diagnoses (TxDPS). 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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

John Miltons Struggle With Society Essay - 2172 Words

John Miltons Struggle With Society John Milton, unlike so many other authors and public figures during the English Civil War, is remarkably easy to place within a historical context. As a vocal supporter of the Commonwealth, Milton left a great deal of information and writings behind to explain precisely how he fit into 17th century England. As Secretary for Foreign Tongues, or Latin Secretary, he worked closely with many of the foremost members of the anti-monarchial regime, such as Oliver Cromwell. As politically active as he was, Milton was equally vocal on matters of religion; he was prolific in his writings against both the Catholic and Apostolic churches. Miltons beliefs and political views were diverse and unique; thus, as†¦show more content†¦Along with this transition, the churchs significance was reduced heavily: papal obedience was more or less annihilated, monasteries vanished, and the church lost the majority of its personal land holdings in England. 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Tqm 6 Sigma Free Essays

Six sigma and Total Quality Management 1 1 X Six sigma and Total Quality Management Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Chung Yuan Christian University Taiwan, R. O. C. We will write a custom essay sample on Tqm 6 Sigma or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1. The practices and implementation of Six Sigma In the past two decades, Six Sigma methodology has been widely adopted by industries and non-profit organizations throughout the world. In this section, we demonstrate the development of Six Sigma program, and discuss the features and the five steps of the improvements 1. 1 The introduction of Six Sigma Six Sigma methodology was first espoused by Motorola in the mid 1980s. Antony Banuelas, 2002; Wiklund Wiklund, 2002). At that time, Motorola was facing Japanese competition in the electronics industry and needed to make drastic improvements in its levels of quality (Harry and Schroeder, 2000; Linderman et al. , 2003). A Six Sigma initiative ,which is originally focused on manufacturing process and product quality (Harry Schroeder, 2000), is also designed to change the culture in an organization through breakthrough improvement in all aspects of the business (Breyfogle III et al. , 2001, p. 32). The Six Sigma architects at Motorola focused on making improvements in all operations within a process—thus producing results far more rapidly and effectively (Harry Schroeder, 2000). The successful implementation of the Six Sigma program in Motorola led to huge benefits. Motorola recorded a reduction in defects and manufacturing time, and also began to reap financial rewards. Within four years, the Six Sigma program had saved the company $2. 2 billion (Harry Schroeder, 2000). The crowning achievement was being recognized with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Breyfegle III et al. 2001; Wiklund Wiklund, 2002). IBM, SONY, and Allied Signal successfully followed Motorola in implementing Six Sigma. Allied Signal began its Six Sigma activities in the early 1990s, It successfully attained savings of US$2 billion during a five-year period (Klefsjo et al. , 2001). Sooner, the impressive results obtained by Allied Sigma induced General Electric (GE) to undertake a thorou gh implementation of the Six Sigma program in 1995 (Pande et al. , 2000) as a corporate initiative to improve net profits and operating margin (Hendricks and Kelbaugh, 1998). The 1999 annual report of GE showed that the implementation produced more than US$2 billion in benefit (Slater, 2001; Coronado Antony, 2002, Raisinghani et al. , 2005). Yang, Ching-Chow www. intechopen. com 2 Quality Management and Six Sigma As a result, the impressive benefits of implementing Six Sigma programs in Motorola, Allied Signal, and GE led the Six Sigma methodology being widely adopted by industries throughout the world. American Express, Ford, Honda, and Samsung have all applied the methodology (Klefsjo et al. , 2001; Sandholm Sorqvist, 2002; Yun and Chua, 2002). The Six Sigma has become the most prominent trend in quality management (Sandholm Sorqvist, 2002; Yang, 2004) not only for manufacturing and service industries, but also for non-profit organizations and government institutes. The GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. 1. 2 Some key views on Six Sigma Several prominent researchers have expressed views on Six Sigma. Hahn et al. (1999) emphasized that Six Sigma improvement is a highly disciplined and statistically based approach for removing defects from products, processes, and transactions, involving everyone in the corporation. * Harry Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and maximum value to the cons umer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost. * Harry Schroeder (2000) also concluded that Six-Sigma is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept hat companies can gain a competitive edge by reducing defects in their industrial and commercial processes. * Pande et al. (2000) commented that Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. It is driven by close understanding of customers’ needs and disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis. * Pearson (2001) described Six Sigma as a program that combines the most effective statistical and non-statistical methods to make overall business improvements. Slater (2001) stated that the Six Sigma approach provides a very specific control program with control techniques that ensure continuation of improved processes. * Lucas (2002) described Six Sigma as a statistical business system and a functional methodology for disciplined quality improvement that achieves successful outcomes. * Treichler et al. (2002) concluded that Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps organizations to focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. It is also, in Treichlers’ (2002) view, a change-acceleration process that focuses on pursuing success and the rapid adoption of change. Yang (2004) asserted that the GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 3 In addition to the major features noted above, other features of the GE-6? program include (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001; Pande et al. , 2000; Treichler et al. 2002). * GE-6? rojects are integrated with the companyâ₠¬â„¢s visions and strategies; * all GE-6? projects are rigorously evaluated for financial impact; * everyone who contributes to the success of the program receives significant rewards, especially in terms of staff promotion; * significant financial incentives (representing 40% of all bonuses received by employees) are tied to GE-6? projects; * a sound statistical approach to improvement is adopted; * projects are completed rapidly (usually within 3–6 months); and * bottom-line results are expected and delivered. 1. 3 Implementation of GE Six Sigma The main features of GE-6? re discussed above, in this subsection we introduce the implementation of GE Six-Sigma: * improvement steps; * * staff roles; and investment in training. 1. 3. 1 Improvement steps There have been many improvement models for process improvement or re-engineering. Most of these have been based on the steps introduced by W. Edwards Deming, which can be characterized as ‘Plan’, ‘Do’, ‘Study’, and ‘Act’ (PDSA)(Deming, 1993). GE-6? has a five-phase improvement cycle that has become increasingly popular in Six Sigma organizations: ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Improve’, and ‘Control’ (DMAIC). There is another cycle characterized as ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Design’, and ‘Verify’ (DMADV) (Pande et al. , 2000). Like other improvement models, the DMAIC (or DMADV) model is grounded in the original Deming PDCA cycle. Usually, Six Sigma organizations use DMAIC for process improvement and DMADV for process design (and redesign). Table 1. 1 describes the specific tasks in each step, and the tools and techniques used in the steps. Step Define ? ? ? ? ? ? Map process and identify inputs and ? outputs ? ? Establish measurement system for ? inputs and outputs ? ? Understand the existing capability of ? rocess ? ? ? ? ? Specific tasks Identify improvement issues Organize project team Set-up improvement goal Estimate financial benefit Measure Tools and techniques employed Customer complaint analysis Cost of poor quality (COPQ) Brainstorming Run charts, control charts Benchmarking Process map (SIPOC) Cause and effec t matrix Gauge RR Control charts Process capability analysis Failure models and effects analysis (FMEA) www. intechopen. com 4 Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Identify sources of variation in ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Analyze Improve ? ? ? Control projects Table 1. 1 DMAIC steps and tools usage ? ? Standardize the process ? ? Maintain critical inputs in the optimal ? area ? ? Verify long-term capability ? ? Evaluate the results of improvement process Identify potential critical inputs Determine tools used in the improvement step Conduct improvement actions Use experiments Optimize critical inputs Cause-and-effect diagram Pareto diagram Scatter diagram Brainstorming Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Design of experiment (DOE) Quality function deployment (QFD) Process capability analysis Control charts Standard operation procedure Process capability analysis Fool-proofing (Poka Yoke) Run charts . 3. 2 Staff roles Along with the systematic improvement steps described above, the design of specifi c roles and their effective operations are important factors of the GE-6? program. Senior management is ultimately responsible for the success of the project through the provision of sufficient support, resources, and strong leadership. The implementation of GE-6? is thus top–down. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, and drives the changes. Apart from the critical role of the CEO, other players also have their specific roles (Henderson and Evans, 2000): (i) ‘Champions’ are usually the senior managers, who are the sponsors of the project and responsible for success of Six Sigma efforts, they are fully trained business leaders who promote and lead the deployment of Six-Sigma projects; (ii) ‘Master Black Belts (MBBs)’ are the full-time teachers and consultants, they are responsible for Six-Sigma strategy, deployment, training, mentoring, and results. A master Black Belt in Motorola has leaded as a Black Belt for about ten successful projects at least five years, and needs the recommendation of high managements; (iii) ‘Black Belts (BBs)’ have the key operational role in the program as full-time Six Sigma players, they are fully-trained Six-Sigma experts and lead the improvement teams. They are qualified as they successfully leaded at least two Six-Sigma projects; (iv) ‘Green Belts (GBs)’ are the process owners who, led by the BBs, work on Six Sigma projects while holding down their original job functions in the company. . 3. 3 Investment in training Because training is a key ingredient in achieving success through Six Sigma (Pande et al, 2000), Motorola and GE have invested heavily in employee training for their Six-Sigma programs. Motorola invested $150 million per year in Six-Sigma courses, GE also spent $ 500 million per year in the implementation of Six-Sigma program (Sandholm and Sorqvist, 2002), GE has invested more than a billion dollars in this effort (Hahn et al. , 1999). GE has designed ww. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 5 a complete training plan for the various roles described above—from the CEO, to the ‘Champions’, ‘MBBs’, ‘BBs’, and ‘GBs’. In addition, the training program extends to all other employees in the organization. The training courses are comprehensive and cover team leadership skills, measurement and analytical tools, especially statistical methods, improvement tools, planning and implementation skills, and so on. For examples, (i). Champions have one week champion training related to Six-Sigma development, leadership, and the implementation plan. (ii). BBs spend about four to five weeks to receive the intensive, highly quantitative training, roughly corresponding to the five steps of the implementation of Six-Sigma improvement project. Thus, the length of training is approximately 16-20 weeks. (iii) GBs receive the training of six to ten days. The courses include the statistical tools and the use of statistical software, the detailed modules of five steps, the innovative and improvement tools, and the skill of project management. (iv) MBBs then take over the responsibility of the training for all the BBs and GBs. 2. The critical success factors of the implementation of Six-Sigma In this section we want to discuss the critical success factors for the successful implementation of Six-Sigma projects. We investigate the importance degree of the critical success factors in implementing Six Sigma, and their implementation level by using the questionnaire survey. 2. 1 The consideration of critical success factors Table 2. 1 lists the key factors, as asserted in five previous studies. The factors identified by Coronado Antony (2002) and Antony Banuelas (2002) are almost identical, with the exception that Coronado Antony (2002) added one extra factor (â€Å"communication†). Most of the success factors in the other three studies are included in the work of Coronado Antony (2002). The total twelve critical success factors in Coronado Antony (2002) are considered in the present study In addition, two additional key factors, â€Å"complete evaluation system of project performance† and â€Å"promotion and incentive for employees tied to the results of Six Sigma projects†, are also considered in this chapter according to Yun Chua (2002) and Sandholm Sorqvist (2002). The former introduces the factor of â€Å"accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees†. The later suggests â€Å"focus on results† to assert that the employee promotion and incentive compensation are tied to the results of Six Sigma projects. Finally, apart from the above, another key success factor somewhat neglected by previous studies is the application of techniques and innovations. Although Coronado Antony (2002) and Klefsjo et al. (2001) mention it as a required technique in the progress of Six Sigma projects, and Yun Chua (2002) asserts that â€Å"linkage with all innovation and infrastructure activities† is also a key factor. We therefore add another key factor: â€Å"usage of innovative techniques and IT systems†. In total, a study is conducted to adopt fifteen critical success factors in the questionnaire to investigate the extent to which they are implemented and their degree of importance from the firms’ perspective. www. intechopen. com 6 Quality Management and Six Sigma The author conducted the empirical study for those enterprises have implemented Six Sigma program in Taiwan, The aim of this empirical study is to investigate the importance degree and the implementation level of the critical success factors. Thus, the research design is conducted according to the aim of the research. The Likert-type scale is used in the questionnaire. In the investigation of the importance degree of the critical success factors, a five-point scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) is used. In the analysis of implementation level, a five-point scale from 1 (not implemented) to 5 (full implemented) is adopted 2. 2 The analysis of critical success factors The main focus of this study is to analyze the degree of importance of critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness as perceived by the respondents, and to assess the implementation level of these critical success factors by the organizations (see Table 2. 2). As Henderson Evans (2000) notes that â€Å"top management leadership and support† should be the critical success factor, our first priority of success factors is â€Å"top management involvement and commitment†. The other critical success factors are prioritized as follows: â€Å"cultural change†, â€Å"communication with all employees to achieve congruence†, and â€Å"training in Six Sigma†, and so on. It should be noted that â€Å"employees’ promotion and incentive tied to the results of Six Sigma projects† is considered as an important factor for the success of Six Sigma in GE (Hendericks Kelbaugh, 1998; Henderson Evans, 2000). However, in Taiwan, this practice is not followed in the industries investigated. Hahn et al. , 1999 Key factors for Six ? Quantified functional impact Sigma effectiveness ? Continued top management support and enthusiasm ? The emphasis on a quantitative and disciplined approach ? The value placed on understanding and satisfying customer needs ? Combining the right projects, the right people, and the right tools Yun Chua, 2002 Success factors for ? Strong proactive support with required Six Sigma resources provided by top management ? Acceptance and implementation of Six Sigma’s effectiveness basic disciplines by employees ? Linkage with all innovative and infrastructure activities ? Accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 7 ? Management commitment and visible support Sandholm Sorqvist, 2002 Requirements for Six Sigma success ? Adaptation to an organization’s situation and ? Development of uniform language ? Prioritization and selection of projects ? Focus on training and its content ? Customer orientation ? Focus on results ? Investment of adequate resources Treatment of Six Sigma as a holistic concept needs ? Responsiveness to external influences. ? Follow-up and communication of success stories ? Cultural change ? Management involvement and commitment ? Development of strategy to introduce Six Sigma terminology Coronado Antony, 2002 Critical success factors for Six Sigma projects ? Understanding tools and techniques within Six ? Project prioritization an d selection Key ingredient for ? Management involvement and commitment ? Cultural change Six Sigma ? Organization infrastructure effectiveness ? Training ? Project management skills ? Project prioritization and selection, reviews and tracking ? Understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools, and techniques ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers Table 2. 1 Critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness ? Project management skills ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Training ? Organization infrastructure ? Communication Sigma Antony Banuelas, 2002 www. intechopen. com 8 Quality Management and Six Sigma Critical success factor 1. Top management involvement and commitment 2. Cultural change 3. Organization infrastructure 4. Training in Six Sigma 5. Project management skills 6. Project prioritization and selection 7. Understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma 8. Linking Six Sigma to business strategy 9. Linking Six Sigma to customers 10. Linking Six Sigma to human resources 11. Linking Six Sigma to suppliers 12. Communication with all employees to achieve congruence 13. Complete evaluation system of project performance 14. Employees’ promotion and incentive compensation tied to the result of Six Sigma projects 15. The usage of innovative techniques and IT systems Importance degree mean order 4. 808 4. 365 4. 019 4. 192 3. 865 4. 077 4. 137 4. 192 4. 192 3. 725 3. 635 4. 231 4. 135 3. 885 3. 596 1 2 10 4 12 9 7 5 6 13 14 3 8 11 15 Implementation level mean order 3. 885 3. 192 3. 596 3. 981 3. 577 3. 558 3. 667 3. 423 3. 269 2. 882 2. 692 3. 519 3. 481 2. 981 2. 942 2 11 4 1 5 6 3 9 10 14 15 7 8 12 13 To be improved factor * * * * * Table 2. Importance degree and implementation level of critical success factors Most of the organizations paid significant attention to training in Six Sigma. The factor of â€Å"training in Six Sigma† is thus the first priority of implementation level, followed by such factors as â€Å"top management involvement and commitment†, â€Å"understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma†, â€Å"organization infrastructure†, and so on (see Table 2. 2). In Table 2. 2, if a critical success factor has a higher importance degree with a lower implementation level, then the firm should pay more attention on its implementation. In this case, we denote five CSFs as the â€Å"to be improved† factors for the industries in Taiwan: – Top management involvement and commitment – Cultural change – Communication with all employees to achieve congruence – Linking Six Sigma to business strategy – Linking Six Sigma to customers. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 9 3. The Integrated Model of TQM and Six Sigma By the end of the 1970s, the competitiveness of Japanese industries had equaled or exceeded that of American industries. In large part, this was due to the successful Japanese implementation of company-wide quality control (CWQC) (Powell, 1995). By the 1980s, Japanese CWQC had been replicated in the United States, and total quality management (TQM) soon became the prevailing business strategy adopted by industries around the world. This evolution of TQM has resulted from the development, on a global scale, of a consistent philosophy concerning the relationship between business and customers. At various stages in this development, different ideologies and practices for implementing quality management have been prominent, but the onsistent goal has been to pursue the quality of products and services, to reduce costs, and to raise business performance. The success of Japanese industries in the total and effective implementation of TQM meant that Japanese firms led the way in the production of good-quality products at lower cost. 3. 1 The decreasing adoption of TQM and the increasing trend of Six-Sigma The successful implementation of TQM does indeed result in better business performance, as firms expect (Hendricks Singhal, 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999; Hansson Eriksson, 2002). The benefits come in the areas of cost reduction, increased market share, increased profit, and enhanced business competitiveness (Youssef et al. , 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999). TQM has therefore been widely adopted by industries, even in non-profit and governmental organizations (Powell, 1995; Zabaha et al. , 1998). Several critical factors are essential if TQM is to be successfully implemented. These include the support of top management, visionary leadership, effective management of human resources, employee involvement, and a corporate culture of commitment to quality and customer satisfaction (Joseph et al. 1999; Sureshchandar et al. , 2001). However, in practice, these corporate factors are not easy to achieve. As a result, the literature contains reports of several cases in which the implementation of TQM has failed. Hubiak O’Donnell (1996), for example, have asserted that approximately two-thirds of companies in the United States have either failed or stalled in their att empts to implement TQM. Many of these TQM programs have been cancelled, or are in the process of being cancelled, as a result of the negative impact on profits (Anonymous, 1996). The failure implementation of TQM is due to several factors. Besides the difficult achievement of TQM practices, one of them is that TQM has been a rather diffuse concept, with many vague descriptions but few more graspable definitions, and the management does not have a complete picture of what TQM really means (Hellsten Klefsjo, 2000). Another one is that too management teams over the world do not realize that implementation of TQM means a cultural change (Hansson Klefsjo, 2003). In fact, TQM was one of two workplace trends that recorded a significant decline in 1996 (Anonymous, 1996). Academic discussion of TQM and its implementation has suffered a similar decline in recent years. Is this trend really due to poor corporate business performance as a result of the implementation of TQM, with a consequent decline in the implementation of TQM, as has been asserted (Anonymous, 1996)? It is a contention that this is not an accurate reflection of the current status of TQM. Reports of instances of failed TQM implementation are only part of the explanation for the apparent declining trend in TQM. In reality, TQM has been so prominent for about twenty years that many firms and institutions have incorporated TQM ww. intechopen. com 10 Quality Management and Six Sigma into daily management activities. The result is that a well-established model of TQM has been so much a part of the routine business activities, that the ‘decline’ in discussion and implementation of the TQM is apparent, rather than real. As interest in TQM has apparently waned, interest in the Six Sigma program has increased. Since General Electric (GE) initiated its Six Sigma program (GE-6? ) in October 1995, the results have been far beyond the company’s original hopes and expectations. Based on the remarkable business successes achieved in GE and other large corporations, an increasing number of companies have initiated the GE-6? program as a business improvement and re-engineering strategy (Pearson, 2001; Lucas, 2002). As a result, the Six Sigma program has gained great popularly in recent years (Slater, 2001; Lucas, 2002). It has even been suggested that TQM will be replaced by Six Sigma as the main strategy for successful business management. However, such assertions reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of TQM and its relationship with GE-6?. For example, Pande et al. 2000) have asserted that TQM is less visible in many businesses than it was in the early 1990s, pointing to several major TQM gaffes as reasons for this apparent decline. According to Pande et al. (2000), these problems include a lack of integration, leadership apathy, a fuzzy concept, an unclear quality goal, failure to break down internal barriers, inadequate improvements in perfor mance, and so on. They conclude that Six Sigma can overcome many of the pitfalls encountered in the implementation of TQM and, hence, that Six Sigma’s expansion heralds a ‘rebirth’ of the quality movement (Pande et al. 2000). However, Klefsjo et al. (2001) and Lucas (2002) have a different perspective. Klefsjo et al. assert that Six Sigma is a methodology within- not alternative to TQM. Lucas asserts that Six Sigma is essentially a methodology for disciplined quality improvement. Because this quality improvement is a prime ingredient of TQM, many firms have found that adding a Six Sigma program to their current business system gives them all, or almost all, of the elements of a TQM program. Lucas has thus concluded that: Current Business System + Six Sigma = Total Quality Management The TQM pitfalls noted by Pande et al. (2000) are not essential features of TQM. Rather, they are caused by incorrect practices adopted by firms, especially the lack of proper endeavour shown by management in the implementation of TQM. 3. 2. Total quality management Since TQM began in the mid 1980s, several gurus, like Deming, Juran and Ishikawa have much contribution on the development of TQM (Boaden, 1997). Besides, many researchers and experts on quality management have been eager to study the essentials of TQM. In the beginning, there was a lack of consensus on the contents and practices of TQM. Now, with TQM having been implemented for more than twenty years, academics and practitioners alike have achieved a degree of consensus on TQM. Tobin (1990) has stated that TQM is a totally integrated program for gaining competitive advantages by continuously improving every facet of organizational culture. TQM programs are usually based on the ‘quality philosophies’– customer focus, employee participation, teamwork, and management by facts and continuous improvement (Brown, 1992). TQM is therefore an integrated management philosophy and set of practices that emphasize increased employee involvement and teamwork, continuous improvement, meeting customers’ requirements, team-based problem-solving, constant measurement of results, closer relationship with suppliers, and so on (Ross, 1993). Short and Rahim (1995) www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 11 have agreed that TQM can be viewed as a set of philosophies and methods used by an organization to guide it in continuous improvement in all aspects of its business. McAdam and McKeown (1999) have concluded that customer focus, employee involvement, empowerment, teamwork, measurement tools, training, quality systems, and top management commitment are all key factors in the successful implementation of TQM. Boaden (1997) also examine the critical elements of TQM based on some early studies. It is worthwhile to refer to the research of Sila Ebrahimpour (2002), they conduct a huge investigation of elements of TQM survey based on 347 researches published between 1989 and 2000. These views indicate that, although various researchers approach the issues of TQM from different perspectives, there is a general consensus regarding the essential principles, practices, and values of TQM (Hellsten Klefsjo, 2000). On the basis of these various approaches, especially the research of Sila Ebrahimpour (2002) and Yang (2003a), the present subsection asserts the following to be essential agreed elements of TQM: * customer focus and satisfaction; * training and education; * top management commitment, support, and leadership; * teamwork; * employee involvement; * quality assurance; * quality information system and application; * continuous improvement; * flexibility * benchmarking and strategy planning; * process management; * product and service design and quality control; * employee management and empowerment; * corporate quality culture; 3. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? As previously noted, the passion for TQM has apparently declined, whereas GE-6? has been receiving increased attention (Anonymous, 1996; Pande et al. , 2000). As a result, there are several assertions related to the relationship between TQM and GE-6? appeared, especially the treatise that TQM will be replaced by GE-6?. However, there are very few studies in the literature that directly compare TQM with GE-6? completely, and in the limited studies that do exist, conclusions on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? have differed significantly. Harry (2000b) has claimed that Six Sigma represents a new, holistic, multidimensional systems approach to quality that replaces the â€Å"form, fit and function specification† of the past. However, it is not readily apparent from Harry (2000a) which aspects of this multidimensional systems approach are presumed to be absent from TQM. Breyfegle III et al. (2001) have stated that Six Sigma is more than a simple repacking of the best from other TQM programs. Pande et al. (2000) had already taken a similar approach when they provided a review of some of the major TQM gaffes, and then compared TQM and GE-6? n the light of these problems with a view to showing how successful implementation of Six Sigma can overcome these failures. However, it should be noted that www. intechopen. com 12 Quality Management and Six Sigma these gaffes are principally a result of inappropriate implementation processes, rather than being caused by inherent TQM concepts and practices. In view of a lack of consensus on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? , the present section wants to compare TQM and GE-6? by using complete perspectives. The author reviewed several studies (Boaden, 1997; Hermel, 1997; Goh, 2002), and selected the appropriate criteria used in these researches, and then integrated into 12 dimensions. They are: (i) development; (ii) principles; (iii) features; (iv) operation; (v) focus; (vi) practices; (vii) techniques; (viii) leadership; (ix) rewards; (x) training; (xi) change; and (xii) culture (Yang, 2004). These are presented in Table 3. 1, which represents a comprehensive review of the similarities and differences between the two approaches. 3. 4 Integration of TQM and GE-6? It has been suggested that the implementation of TQM results in an over-emphasis on customer satisfaction, with a relative neglect of the pursuit of profits (Anonymous, 1996). Indeed, several empirical studies have asserted that implementing TQM might not achieve any significant positive effect on profitability (Bergquist Ramsing, 1999; Harry, 2000b; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). Furthermore, Harry (2000a) has noted that â€Å"What’s good for the customer is not always good for the company†. In contrast, it is argued that GE-6? achieves both customer satisfaction and excellent financial performance. The major problem with TQM is that there is a disconnection between management systems designed to measure customer satisfaction and those designed to measure business profitability, and this has often led to unwise investments in quality (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). It should be recognized that the objective of TQM is to achieve customer satisfaction, in order to increase customer loyalty. To sustain competitiveness and long-term profitability, companies not only devote themselves to attracting new customers, but also to retaining old customers in a continuous business relationship with incremental additional purchasing. For these reasons, increasing customer loyalty should be one of the main concerns of all companies (Gorst et al. , 1998). Any assessment of the effectiveness of TQM thus requires a system to measure customer loyalty. If a management system cannot raise business performance and profitability, it will obviously be abandoned by firms. It is therefore apparent that indicators of customer loyalty and business performance should be added to TQM measurement systems. It is well known that GE-6? pursues both customer satisfaction and high profits. If an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? were developed, synergistic effects could be anticipated. In the integrated model proposed here, two major indicators are included—customer loyalty and high profit performance. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management Dimension 1. Development TQM Started in the mid 1980s, influenced by Japanese CWQC developed in the 1970s GE-6? in 1987. GE adopted Six Sigma program in 1995, Comments at about the same time. TQM was widely and 13 First espoused by Motorola TQM and Six Sigma began resulting in many benefits. uickly adopted, but interest has now declined. The situation with GE-6? is the reverse. TQM over-emphasizes customer satisfaction, and this can sometimes negatively affect profits. GE-6? focuses on both customer satisfaction and financial performance. 2. Principles ? Customer satisfaction (satisfaction of ? Pursues zero-defect, quality customers’ needs) ? Pursues financial ? Focuses on voice of ? Emphasis moved from problem-solving to ? Rapid change problem prevention ? Pursues zero-defect customer performance ? Responsibility for ? Continuous improvements 3. Feature A systematic approach to quality management by integrating concepts, methods, processes, and systems. Uses project management to perform thorough change and process re-engineering, which are integrated with the company’s vision and strategy. TQM is essentially a system of continuously improving the quality of every aspect of business life. GE-6? focuses on radical change (which is also integrated with vision and strategy). TQM emphasizes that every person is involved in quality improvement at all levels. GE-6? uses specially designed roles and disciplined training to progress the radical changes. . Operation Continuous improvement through employee involvement and teamwork in total quality activities. Specially designed roles and a highly disciplined training program using statistical methods to perform reengineering of key processes through project management. 5. Focus TQM focuses on all quality Key processes and systems TQM considers every activities, all processes, and are a ll driven by the voice all systems. of customers. aspect of quality. GE-6? initially emphasizes the key processes related to customer needs, but gradually extends its improvement scope. www. ntechopen. com 14 6. Practices ? QCC, QIT Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Project management TQM methods are more traditional, and are learnt from Japan. GE-6? uses methods that can produce more aggressive results. The statistical tools used in TQM and GE-6? are very similar. However, the statistical tools used in TQM are quite basic, whereas GE-6? uses more advanced SQC tools. Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize leadership, especially the commitment and support of top management. However, TQM has a bottom-up management style whereas GE-6? gives emphasis to top-own leadership. 40% of bonuses are tied to the results of ? Promotion dependent ? High status accorded to MBBs and BBs on project results 6? projects GE-6? programs have more motivations and rewards than TQM. ? SPC, TPM 7. Techniques ? Hoshin management ? Seven QC tools ? Daily control ? Project management ? Suggestion system ? Design of structural ? Analysis of variance regression roles ? Benchmarking ? DMAIC or DMADV ? BPR ? Kano’s model ? Managers ? New seven QC tools ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods ? DOE ? Control Chart ? Multiple linear ? DOE ? Kano’s model ? Reliability FMEA, QFD ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods 8. Leadership ? Top management stresses leadership demonstrate best behavior, and influence subordinates by ? Autonomic ? Decentralization and ? Empowerment 9. Rewards ? Promotion ? Motivation delegation management example ? Senior managers are ? Senior managers are ? Top management emphasize the execution of 6? -program mentors responsible ? Manager’s praise and encouragement ? Bonus rewards www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 10. Training ? Education and training for every ? Focus on instilling ? Leaders’ instruction ? Improvement tools ? Gradual and slow on daily basis quality consciousness person ? Vast investment in ? MBBs are the teachers ? BBs have training, combined with the ? GBs have training with the application 11. Change ? Vast change of improvement tools GE-6? emphasizes fast change and significant re-engineering. Change coming from TQM is progressive. TQM brings about a culture change with a quality focus and customer orientation. The culture change in GE-6? is fast, with an emphasis on pursuing customer satisfaction and business performance. DMAIC process and mentors training Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, but GE-6? has more investment in training than TQM. In GE-6? , training and its application are combined 15 ? Improvement results are small, and do not bring big changes ? Change is fast, and its scope is large. ? Cultivation of a culture incorporating the concept of pursuing business ? The culture change is caused by the ? Innovation-awareness re-engineering performance ? Re-engineering 12. Culture ? Setting up of a quality culture with ? Employees are autonomous customer focus ? Employees have a team-awareness Table 3. 1. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? 3. 4. 1 Integration of management principles Although the management principles of TQM and GE-6? are somewhat different, there is congruence among their quality principles, techniques, and culture (as was demonstrated in Table 3. 1). As a result, the integration of TQM and GE-6? is not as difficult as it might seem. The critical task is to combine the best aspects of TQM continuous improvement with those of GE-6? re-engineering. Although the activities of a quality Control circle (QCC) and quality improvement team (QIT) cannot achieve significant effects in themselves, they can cultivate quality concepts and team awareness among employees. Therefore, QCC and QIT can be performed by the operators and junior staff members to progress continuous improvements while focusing on daily operations and processes. GE-6? projects can be applied by engineers and senior staff members to the key processes and systems that are related to customer requirements and the provision of performance in products and services. For GE-6? projects, some aggressive goals can be set, in conjunction with rapid project completion times. The target performances can be set according to the criteria of the critical-to-quality (CTQ) of key process—which are, in turn, determined according to the voice of customers (VOC). In TQM, the improvements are based on a customer satisfaction www. intechopen. com 16 Quality Management and Six Sigma survey and an understanding of customers’ requirements (Yang, 2003b). In this fashion, these two ways of understanding customers’ needs and expectations can be combined. See Figure 3. for a depiction of the model. 3. 4. 2 Integration of implementation practices Having discussed integration of management principles, the discussion now turns to the integration of implementation practices between the two systems. Fig. 3. 1 Integrated framework of TQM and GE-6? Employee participation, teamwork, quality management system, human-resources management (HRM), quality prin ciples, objectives, and strategies are the key enablers of TQM implementation. They are also the critical factors in upgrading business performance, www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 7 and are therefore also required for the implementation of GE-6?. The practices of GE-6? are project management, role design and operation, statistical quality control (SQC) tools, leadership and motivation, full support from the CEO, and so on. Most of these practices are also integral to TQM implementation. The framework of the integration of these practices and related systems of TQM and GE-6? is shown in Figure 3. 1 (Yang, 2004). Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, and there is only slight difference in the details of such training. Statistical tools and improvement methods are the main ingredients of the training contents for both TQM and GE-6?. Apart from these statistical tools, TQM and GE-6? have other shared training imperatives—including basic concepts, leadership and communication skills, and project management. Apart from these shared elements, in planning training for an integrated model of the two programs, it is necessary to cover the elements that are not shared in common. This is incorporated into the model. Moreover, a certification system for fulfilling the needs of the GE-6? scale can be developed. 3. 4. Integration of cultural changes Both the implementations of TQM and GE-6? will bring the culture changes of the organization (Boaden, 1997; Pande et al. , 2000; Klefsjo et al. , 2001). However, GE-6? also emphasizes an awareness of speed and innovation, and is heavily performance oriented. These cultural features are the critical factors in pursuing excellent performance, and in raising co mpetitiveness. In contrast, these have been somewhat neglected previously by TQM. In the integrated model presented here, these cultural features will enhance the performance effects of TQM implementation. Summarily, in this integrated model, continuous improvement and 6? -reengineering are the key activities, located in the center of Figure 3. 1, and the customers’ needs and the voice of the customers are the derivers of the improvement and reengineering. The initiatives of TQM and those of GE-6? , located in the two sides separately, can be integrated as the enablers of the integrated system. Comprehensive education and training with certification to the employees are the powerful force in the realization of these practices. Finally, the culture changes with the features described in the base of Figure 3. are the fundaments of the successful implementation of this system. The overall objective of this integrated model is to reach both the customers’ loyalty and excellent performance. 3. 4. 4 Practical examples and conclusion TQM and GE-6? can certainly be integrated very well, as the following two examples illustrate. INVENTEC is a hi-tech company in Taiwan that has imp lemented TQM for many years. Indeed, the company won the National Quality Award in Taiwan in 1995. In addition to its long-standing practice of TQM, INVENTEC also introduced the GE-6? rogram in 2000. It then integrated this with its existing TQM system. The Ford Motor Company in Taiwan is another successful example of the integration of GE-6? with TQM. These two examples confirm that an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? is feasible and practical. The successful application cased show that this integrated model will be a powerful and practical approach with great potential for all industries. This integrated model is also could be a suitable quality management system for the non-profit www. intechopen. com 18 Quality Management and Six Sigma rganizations. The integration of TQM and GE-6? is an important trend, and should receive a favourable response from both practitioners and academics. 4. An Integrated Model of Business Excellence System The integration of Six Sigma into overall b usiness strategy is another important issue for quality researchers and practitioners. Harry Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and maximum value to the consumer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost. It is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept that companies can gain a competitive edge by integrating Six-Sigma program with the organization’s vision and strategy. In this section, we want to discuss the integration of Six-Sigma with the strategy management, Hoshin management, and Balanced Scorecard. 4. 1 The issue of the integration of Six-Sigma with other strategic management systems If the implementation of Six Sigma is to be successful, Blakeslee and Jerome (1999) suggested that â€Å"Six Sigma efforts must be integrated with existing initiatives in business strategy, and key performance measures†. They also provided an implementation model by integrating Six Sigma with business strategy. Smith Blakeslee (2002) emphasized the potential of Six Sigma in helping companies to formulate and deploy business strategies and bring about broad transformational change. Thus, strategic Six Sigma principles and practices can help companies to formulate, integrate, and execute new and existing business strategies and missions (Smith Blakeslee, 2002). A growing number of companies is beginning to realize the full implications of Six Sigma as an engine to accelerate corporate strategy and organizational transformation (Smith Blakeslee, 2002). It is thus apparent that the implementation of Six Sigma must be integrated with a company’s business strategy. However, in this context there are several issues to be resolved. These include: ? How can the organization’s vision, business strategies, and strategic goals be converted into specific Six Sigma projects? ? How can Six Sigma projects be focused on the ‘voice of customer’ and the organization’s critical success factors? How can the strategic goals be communicated to lower divisions and departments in the organization, and further deploy the strategic goals to the Six Sigma projects and organize the project teams? ? How can project teams monitor and control the progression of Six Sigma projects? In response to these issues, businesses are increasingl y making use of a variety of management systems, methodologies, and tools—including ISO 9000, total quality management (TQM), Hoshin management, Six Sigma, and the balanced scorecard (BSC). In all of these practices, quality is the main focus. Quality is no longer confined to the actual product or service; rather, the concept of quality is now applied to delivery, administration, customer service, and myriad other aspects of a firm’s business activities (Yang, 2009). Indeed, the concept of ‘quality’ now encompasses all the ways in which a company meets www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 19 the needs and expectations of its customers, its employees, its financial stakeholders, and the community in which it operates (Tan, 2002). The effective management of such ‘quality’ is essential to competitiveness in the global market (Scheuermann et al. 1997; Prybutok Cutshall, 2004). The implementation of ISO 9000 and TQM systems can be used to improve the quality of products and services and to raise the effectiveness of process management; implementation of the Six Sigma program can raise the level of customer satisfaction, process performance, and resources management; the implementation of BSC can improve strategy planning and long-term profitability; and so on. However, choosing and implementing these various programs is complicated by the fact that several of them have closely related concerns. For example, TQM, BSC, and Six Sigma are all involved with an organization’s vision and strategy, whereas quality control circles (QCCs) and Six Sigma are both related to process improvement. These various similarities and differences can create difficulties if a firm implements several of these management systems simultaneously in an attempt to improve performance in all quality activities. In these circumstances, employees will become confused by the conflicting demands placed upon them, and this will produce a number of significant problems. For example: * In the mplementation of TQM, a firm is first required to set up quality objectives and action plans; * In the BSC system, a firm must first develop its vision and strategies, and then deploy them in terms of performance indicators in four perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, and innovation and learning); and * In the Six Sigma program, a firm will first consider its key performance indicators (KPIs), befor e linking them to a Six Sigma improvement project. If a firm were to undertake all of these simultaneously, it would be faced with many objectives to be reached, and many strategies and action plans to be implemented. Given the finite limitations that exist in the resources of any organization, it is practically impossible for any firm to perform all of these tasks effectively. The ideal solution would be to integrate these various management systems and methods, thus enabling a firm to concentrate its focus and to navigate a unique course in the right direction. 4. 2 Development of an integrated business-excellence system An integrated model of business-excellence system has been developed in this section, see Figure 4. 1. The critical task in developing a holistic business-excellence system is to combine the best aspects of continuous improvement in TQM with those of GE-Six Sigma reengineering. The improvement processes in TQM and Six Sigma projects can thus be integrated and implemented simultaneously (Yang, 2003b) (see Figure 4. 1). Employee participation and teamwork are the prerequisite of the effective implementation of the continuous improvements. Besides, it is needed to instill the quality concepts and problem consciousness into the employees’ mind. www. intechopen. com 20 Quality Management and Six Sigma Fig. 4. 1. Framework of integrated model of business excellence system 4. 2. 1 Integration of relevant concepts and systems While implementing these programs, it is necessary to monitor process quality using various methods of statistical quality control (SQC). However, a prerequisite to any quality improvement is effective human-resource management (HRM). The key enablers of TQM implementation are therefore HRM and a comprehensive quality-management system. The concepts, initiatives, and systems described above are also necessary for the implementation of the GE-Six Sigma program. In addition, Six Sigma also has its own unique features, including (Pande et al. , 2000; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001): * the systematic operational processes of ‘define, measure, analyze, improve, and control’ (DMAIC) and ‘define, measure, analyze, design and verify’ (DMADV); www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 21 * the staff roles design of ‘champion’, ‘master black belt’ (MBB), ‘black belt’ (BB), and ‘green belt’ (GB); and * the utilization of advanced tools. It is necessary to integrate all of these into the new model proposed here. In addition, strategic leadership is a key factor in the implementation of Six Sigma. In most cases, QCC or QIT are conducted ‘bottom–up’, but in Six Sigma they are conducted ‘top–down’. In these circumstances, authoritative leadership is required. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, drives the changes, imposes the projects, and motivates the employees. Most Six Sigma projects pursue significant financial benefits from meeting and exceeding the critical requirements of customers. If the organization is to produce and deliver attractive and value-added products and services to customers speedily, it is essential that business operations be customer-focused and market-focused. Six Sigma projects must therefore be linked to the development of ‘lean production’, in which research and development (RD) and innovation (product innovation, process innovation, and business innovation) are all key factors. RD and innovation are also the drivers of productivity. RD and innovation should thus be covered in this holistic model. In passing, it is noted that these practices are not restricted to the Six Sigma program; they are also important drivers in the implementation of TQM. TQM programs are based on ‘measurement by fact’, and measurement is also a key step in a Six Sigma project. Various data are collected and analyzed, including product data, customer data, business data, technique data, RD data, service data, and so on. To use the data effectively and efficiently, an organization requires an effective information technology (IT) system. The utilization of such data represents an intangible asset, along with other intangible assets—such as skills, techniques, experience, intellectual property, know-how, knowledge, customer relationships, and so on. These intangible assets represent a valuable organizational resource, and they must be managed and applied in an effective knowledge-management (KM) system. The firm’s IT system and its KM system are also powerful tools in the development of new products and services, and in ensuring the quality of the present customer service. Information technology has become an essential element in securing a competitive advantage—by facilitating the development of new products and services, assisting in adaptation to rapid market changes, incorporating new knowledge, and reducing times and costs in reaching customers (Bianchi, 2001). 4. 2. 2 Fundamental principles The objective of integrating TQM, Six Sigma, and several other major management systems is to pursue business excellence (Yang, 2009). However, the basic decision to be made is determination of the direction of development at the outset. Mission and vision statements set the general goals and direction for the organization, and they assist shareholders, customers, and employees in understanding what the company is about and what it intends to achieve (Kaplan Norton, 2004). A mission statement sets out the overall reason for existence and objectives of the organization. As Welch asserted: â€Å"†¦an effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business? † (Welch and Welch, 2005). A vision statement is a concise statement that defines the ww. intechopen. com 22 Quality Management and Six Sigma medium-to-long-term goals of the organization. The vision should be market-oriented and should express how the organization wants to be perceived by the world (Kaplan Norton, 2004). The enunciation of the mission and the development of the vision are usually the responsibility of senior management (Welch and Welch, 2005). Actually, the vision is linked to the mission. I n the realization of the mission and vision, the values, attitudes, and activities of employees are critical. According to Kaplan Norton (2004), the actions of employees are guided by their values, and it is therefore important that the values proclaimed by the organization are accepted by the employees if those values are to be influential in guiding the thinking and behavior of the employees. Thus, in contrast to the creation of a mission, which is the responsibility of senior management, everyone in a company should have something to say about values (Welch and Welch, 2005). Organizations can use company-wide meetings and training sessions to encourage as much personal discussion as possible in developing organizational values (Welch and Welch, 2005). The vision and values of the organization should thus motivate individuals and serve as a guide for allocating resources (Smith et al. , 1991). Effective leadership and successful execution are the prerequisites for achieving the organization’s vision. Execution has to be embedded in the reward systems and in the norms of behaviour that everyone practices. So, focusing on execution is not only an essential part of a business’s culture, it is the one sure way to create meaningful culture change (Bossidy and Charan, 2002) Mission, values, vision, leadership, execution, and organizational culture are all linked. Taken together, they represent the guiding principles for the successful implementation of an integrated business-excellence system. 4. 2. 3 Implementation of strategic performance-management system Drucker (1999) stated that the starting point both in theory and in practice may have to be â€Å"managing for performance†. The goal of an integrated business-excellence system is to go beyond mere ‘customer satisfaction’ to achieve customer loyalty through excellent performance (see Figure 4. 1). The management systems, programs, and practices of this integrated model are the tools that can be used to achieve this goal. However, an appropriate performance-management system is needed to monitor and evaluate the performance generated by this integrated business-excellence system. Strategic planning and Hoshin management are two popular strategic management tools (Glaister Falshaw, 1999; Lee Dale, 1998), and many organizations implement the two simultaneously. Firms commonly perform a SWOT analysis and develop a vision, objectives, and strategies according to the methodology of strategic management, before deploying the organization’s objectives and strategies to the departments or units by the way of Hoshin management. During the implementation process, they commonly conduct a quality audit according to Hoshin management to produce progress reviews and an annual review. These organizations thus use an integrated model of strategic planning and Hoshin management to evaluate the performance of TQM (Kondo, 1998). Balanced scorecard (BSC) was launched in 1992 as a framework of performance measurement that was expected to overcome some of the deficiencies of traditional performance measurement. It gives a holistic view of an organization by simultaneously looking at four important perspectives: (i) financial; (ii) customer; (iii) internal process; and (iv) innovation and learning (Kaplan Norton, 1992). The main benefit of the BSC is its www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 23 bility to translate an organization’s vision and strategy into tangible objectives and measures (Kanji SA, 2002). The process of building a scorecard clarifies the strategic objectives, and identifies the critical few drivers for strategic success. The BSC is thus more than a performance-measurement system, and is commonly adopted as a strategic management system (Kaplan Norton, 1992, 1996; McClintock, 2000). If a firm has adopted other performance management systems or programs before adop ting BSC, it is necessary to integrate BSC with any existing systems. Companies that wish to embark on the BSC while continuing to implement strategic planning and Hoshin management need to integrate the three systems. To do so effectively, it is necessary to understand the important features of each of these three performance management systems. They can be summarized as follow: * All three can be used in the development of vision, objectives, and strategies, and in the evaluation of execution performance. * Both strategic planning and the BSC involve strategic analysis, and the linkages among the objectives and strategies. Both strategic planning and Hoshin management impose action plans, and the allocation of resources to support the execution of these action plans. * Both BSC and Hoshin management emphasize goal-setting, the achievement of milestones, and the measurement of progress towards the achievement of strategic objectives. * Strategic planning focuses on the strategy of business development and competition. In this regard, environmental ana lysis and SWOT analysis are essential. * BSC emphasizes long-term development, and uses a scorecard of the key performance indicators (KPIs). Hoshin management converts the policies and objectives of senior management to departments, and pays much attention to the daily execution of policies. The features and relationships of strategic planning, Hoshin management, and BSC indicates that it is feasible to integrate these systems, and it is reasonable to expect that such an integrated model will be more comprehensive and powerful than each individual system acting alone. This integrated performance-management system is illustrated in Figure 4. 2. www. intechopen. com 24 Quality Management and Six Sigma Strategic Planning Divisions, Business, Units Financial perspective Customer perspective Process perspective Innovation perspective Do, Check, Action Fig. 4. 2. Integrated model of strategic planning, BSC, and Hoshin management In this integrated performance-management system, BSC remains the major construct. According to the model, strategic planning is used to perform an environmental analysis and a SWOT analysis, and to develop the vision and strategies for the organization. Having established its vision and strategies, the firm can then develop a strategy map and performance indicators according to the four perspectives of BSC. The firm can then use the methods of Hoshin management to deploy the strategies and the KPIs of the four perspectives to the departments and units within the organization. In this way, every individual receives the KPIs and a relevant action plan. The audit method of Hoshin management can then be used to manage and monitor the execution of this How to cite Tqm 6 Sigma, Essay examples

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Management Functions Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling

Introduction As part of this assignment, the group members conducted an interview at Sakamoto Cables Incorporation to come up with different management strategies carried out at the company.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Management Functions: Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The members of the group interviewed human resources manager to identify and capture management aspects used in the daily activities. The human resources manager of the company was chosen because he was the only senior personnel who could respond our questions. The interview took place on September 30, 2010; 11.00 am at the human resources manager’s office. Sakamoto Cables is a company that deals with railway transport and is located in Japan. There are several employees employed at the railway station and this requires a comprehensive management of human resources. The railway industry has become importance especially as governments seek strategies to decongest major cities. To enhance successful management of companies in this industry requires managers to understand their employees and customers. Findings from the interview After conducting an interview on the manager, the group recorded that the manager plans his workday depending on the situation; that is according to the number of staff, the chores / stocks available and the time scheduled for each activity. The manager plans 5-6 years in future for his job roles. To plan for his career, the manager said that he keeps in contact with wholesalers, companies and clients. In addition, he said that he does not need to think about his career in the future. The task of performing upland deliveries was identified as the factor that makes his job difficult to achieve goals. On the other hand, the manager was of the opinion that storage of stock makes his job difficult since at the company everything comes together an d he is required to work extra hard. The manager motivates his subordinates by being nice, listening to them, being compassionate and talking to them pleasantly by using a mature approach. However, he exercises authority when addressing his subordinates. There is no specific set style of managing employees. In addition, the manager allows employees to take their holidays as a way of motivating them. To undertake the task of leading others, the manager allows subordinates provide their opinions, he delegates tasks, there is no specific set of organization for performing jobs, and he centralizes decisions. The manager sees his boss as a mentor. On the other hand, young workers look up to the manager as a mentor and he delegates work without bias as a way of mentoring them. To achieve goals, the manager plans out the day and manages time properly.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conflicts within groups are solved by reprimanding or firing employees. Conflicts between managers are solved by talking issues out to reach for an agreement. Ethical issues facing the manager at his place of work involve workers showing lack of respect, fights between managers or intense arguments with staff. Workplace diversity gives the company a competitive advantage. This has been achieved by making sure that all people feel comfortable and happy to work at the company. Comparison between observations of the interview and relevant theory Time management is important in management since it allows managers to come up with better strategies of achieving goals of the organization. Mancini (2007) explains that every minute counts and good managers should plan time properly to avoid delays. According to McCorry (2005), a manager is required to plan in advance for all activities to be done in a day. Managers have many obligations to fulfill and must possess skills of multitasking. Planning for future is an important skill that managers must posses since it reduces conflicts, stress and helps accomplish all required tasks. Sterling Publishers Pvt., (2006) provides that motivating employees is a very important skill that managers should have to enhance success. This can be achieved by creating proper work environment, adequate communication, and engaging employees in decision making among others. Leadership has been explained by Northouse (2009) as the process of influencing others to contribute willingly to the goals and objectives of an organization. Leaders have the obligation of guiding their subordinates and should enhance commitment towards achievement of teamwork. Northouse (2009) further explains that leaders should be mentors to their subordinates. They are required to act as examples to those they lead. Leaders also seek mentorship from other leaders. Dreu (2008) is of the opinion that conflicts within the organization have a negative impact on perfor mance. Managers have a great obligation of resolving conflicts among subordinates and among other managers. Managing conflicts within the organization requires understanding the source of conflicts first and discussing with the affected parties. Conflicts among workers should be resolved by the upper management to ensure performance is not affected (Collins O’Rourke, 2008). Workplace diversity has been identified by Konrad, Prasad and Pringle (2006) to contribute to the success of an organization if properly managed. Managers have the task of working with and through different people to achieve goals. They have the role of integrating different cultures of different people they work with. Workplace diversity provides a competitive edge to an organization by introducing new ideas and creating synergies from different people.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Management Functions: Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Discussion The findings from the interview conducted indicate that the manager has been successful in maintaining good performance at the company. The manager has been involved in different activities and this has required him to multitask about integrating all the roles of a manager. From the interview, the manager was found to have good planning skills and this has provided him with a competitive edge in the industry. Management theories provide that a good manager should be able to use leadership as a tool of managing human resources. The manager interviewed was found to have good leadership skills since he has been able to work with employees from diversified backgrounds to achieve most of the goals of the organization. However, the manager was found to have some weaknesses especially in dealing with conflicts. It is important for a manager to have proper communication with his subordinates and other managers to enhance unders tanding. It was found out that the manger was quick in making decisions instead of involving all employees. Decision making is an important aspect in an organization and managers should consider engaging all stakeholders. From the interview conducted, the group identified that the manager had a weakness in decision making. Most of the decisions were made by the departmental heads and junior employees were never involved. This has hindered implementation of key projects of the organization. Employees reject most of the decisions made by their managers since they are not consulted when establishing such projects at the company. Skills used for this assessment task To complete this assignment, skills in data collected through interviews were applied. In addition, use of internet books to source information was an important skill that was used. All group members were required to possess communication skills since the assignment required a lot of communication with different people in th e company. We found out that we have strength in interviews, communication and interacting among ourselves. On the other hand, we found out that we are weak in researching about management theories and creating a link between theory and real life experiences. To overcome these weaknesses, our group sought assistance from people with skills in searching information over the internet. Adequate consultation from our lecturers was done to help build a comprehensive report that could create a succinct link between theory and day-to-day experiences at the workplace. Conclusion Managers have the role of planning, organizing, directing, staffing and controlling all resources in an organization. It is important that managers should become conversant with different cultures to reduce conflicts within an organization.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The interview conducted by the group found out that the manager was successful in some areas and weak in other areas of management. It was established that the manager was strong in planning, time management, and leadership. On the other hand, the manager was weak in communicating with subordinates and resolving conflicts. To ensure projects started by the company are successful, the manager should incorporate all stakeholders in decision making to avoid rejection of ideas by the junior employees. From this assignment we have learnt that managers have a challenging task of understanding every aspect of the organization. We have acquired wealth of information and skills about management, leadership and human resources management. Reference List Collins, S. D. and O’Rourke, J. S. 2008. Managing Conflict and Workplace  Relationships. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0324584199, 9780324584196. Dreu, C. 2008. Conflict in Organizations: Beyond Effectiveness and Performance.  European Jou rnal of Work and Organizational Psychology. Psychology Press. ISBN 1841699896, 9781841699899. Konrad, A. M., Prasad, P. and Pringle, J. K. 2006. Handbook of workplace diversity. Sage, ISBN 0761944222, 9780761944225. Mancini, M. 2007. Time Management: 24 Techniques to Make Each Minute Count at  Work. McGraw-Hill Professional, ISBN 0071493387, 9780071493383. McCorry, K. J. (2005). Organize your work day– in no time. Canada, Que Publishing; ISBN 0789733331, 9780789733337 Northouse, P. G. 2009. Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE, ISBN 1412974887, 9781412974882. Sterling Publishers Pvt., (2006). Power of Positive Management: A Practical Guide for  Professionals. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, ISBN 8120731077, 9788120731073. This report on Management Functions: Planning, Leading, Organizing and Controlling was written and submitted by user Lionel Cochran to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.