Application of TQM principles in manufacturing, Term Paper

Application of TQM principles in manufacturing, - Term Paper Example Introduction Quality assumes a multidimensional facet of business outcomes and activities. Various meanings attached to quality include conformance to specifications, performance, reliability, promptness, consistency, meeting customer expectations, hygiene etc. Organizations attach one or more of these attributes to their meaning of quality and thus strive towards achievement of all through Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM has been viewed in many ways by different scholars. A comprehensive definition would include what Hellesten and Klefsjo (2000) had used to describe TQM as, ‘a management system consisting of core values, techniques, and tools with the aim of increasing external and internal customers’ satisfaction with reduced resources. It aims at establishing a culture based on core values, and choose techniques, which support the values and tools suitable for the chosen techniques (as cited in Fredriksson, 2003; p.226). An evaluation of total quality management t hrough operations management strategies in manufacturing, service and nonprofit industrial sectors will be presented along with a general and critical review of these practices. Background: In the manufacturing sector, TQM concept was, in fact, revolutionized by the giant automotive company, Toyota, which was originally a Japanese native but currently a multinational setup. Daft (2008) candidly states, â€Å"Toyota is a model what happens when a company makes a strong commitment to total quality management,† (p.468). Although TQM was a concept that originated in the United States, its popularity and promising philosophy was grounded in quality management only after Toyota displayed its success from Japan. This was accomplished through steady performance over the years unlike other automotives of the West that ruled the market for short time; yet, Toyota’s success still remains, and is attributed to its TQM principles. Significance of Toyota’s way of working was realized by the rest of the world during 1990s through its highly efficient and fast design systems, most reliable and cost-efficient products and highly paid labor (Liker, 2004). Liker (2004) asserts that Toyota’s way of operations management, popularly referred to as the Toyota Production System, is a result of its quality management that goes beyond one’s belief along with congruent culture, referred to as the Toyota Way. A well-known service firm that attributes its success to TQM philosophy is Starbucks, the coffee shop that promises a delightful experience to its customers. Starbucks was started in 1971 at Pike Place Market, Seattle. More often, the name of this famous coffee place is accompanied by Howard Schultz, the salesperson that was instrumental in Starbucks’ immense success and later assumed the role of Starbucks’ CEO and Chairperson. Starbucks has recorded steady growth in the field of food and beverage industry during last 3 decades throug h its fierce competition, unmatched quality, delightful customer experience, cost-oriented operational strategies and the best human resources management practices. Starbucks is often quoted for its Total Quality Management practices and has been an example for many other entrepreneurial initiatives. Pahl (2009) highlights, â€Å"from a single store in Seattle, Starbucks has grown to operate more than 15000 stores across the world and employs more than 172,000

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 34

Philosophy - Essay Example He believed that it was up to every person to contemplate and search into his soul to find out who he or she was. Except for very rare instances cited by a few historians, he hardly ever worked. He also never wrote. He prided himself on the questions he asked. Even this is not entirely true. He didn’t pride himself on anything. He never offered answers. One of his most famous sayings is:†I know that I know nothing.† This is a whole complex issue known as the â€Å"Socratic Problem.† Socrates was extremely cynical and many of his sayings were paradoxical because they contradicted common sense. Some of these are: â€Å"No one desires evil.† "No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly." "Virtue—all virtue—is knowledge." "Virtue is sufficient for happiness." "I know that I know nothing noble and good† (Irwin, 64). But by far his most famous saying is â€Å"I only know that I know nothing.† Plato wrote a series entitled Socratic Dialogues (The Republic, Apology of Socrates, etc.) in which he presented discussions between Socrates and other contemporary philosophers and between Socrates and his many students. As the only source of Socrates’ philosophical beliefs is Plato’s writings, it is difficult to distinguish those of Socrates’ beliefs from those of Plato. There are those who believe that Plato did, in fact, have his own philosophical orientation. There is controversy among scholars over what these were because of the difficulty of separating Socrates from Plato in Plato’s dialogues. Consequently, distinguishing the philosophical beliefs of Socrates from those of Plato and Xenophon is not easy and it must be remembered that what is attributed to Socrates might more closely reflect the specific concerns of these thinkers. The matter is complicated because the historical Socrates seems to have been notorious for asking questions but not answering them, claiming to lack wisdom concerning the subjects

Visual Culture Studies

Visual Culture Studies Visual Culture is everything that is seen, that is produced to be seen, and the way in which it is seen and understood. Representation is the way a person interprets symbols and images of a culture and the way these images explain why the world is the way it is . The Visual Culture approach acknowledges the reality of living in a modern world . Since childhood, a person’s brain uses representation of images into meanings to make sense of their world. For an example , It is that part of culture that communicates through visual means . If some special moment didn’t capture in your camera, you can digitally manipulate it on your computer. The queues are longer for the virtual reality at New York’s State Building . This virtual city will be joined shortly by Paris Las Vegas , copying the carefully manipulated image of the city of light. Life in this alter reality world is some times looks more pleasant than the real things, some time contrary to this. Way back in 197 9 same sex marriage was opposed by the united States Congress but later when the sitcom character Ellen shown on television , millions of people liked it. On the other hand , virtual reality has long been favoured by the armed forces as a training arena, bring it into practice in Gulf war at a huge cost of human life. This is known as visual culture. It is not just a part of your everyday life, it is your everyday life.. Pictorial presentation is an impactful way forward communication for observing the new visuality in the culture.   Nearly every form of visual media a person comes into contact with a photograph, which is undisputable evidence of an event. There is the myth of photographic truth, which means that photographs are subjective, yet can be manipulated and taken in different contexts. For an example the photographs taken by Nazi’s during the holocaust. The photographs denote that Nazis killed millions of people, but the photographs may also take on many connotative meanings of the two connotative meanings mentioned with the Nazi pictures they each hold different ideologies; ideas that form a culture. The ideas of ideology are usually taken in as the views of most of the population of a given culture, therefore ideologies define cultures. An American ideology is the belief in independent freedom while a communist ideology is communal sharing. How are these ideologies passed on in a culture? They start off in schools and places that people gather. Malls are filled with advertisements. There are ads that symbolize skinny brunettes wearing Chanel as the perfect woman, which is what most men and women tend to take as truth. Then there are ads to enlist people into the army, which give a message of a strong country run by individuals. The idea of interpretation is that people are made up of the different ideologies with which they come in contact with through out their lives. In this case a person might enlist in the army to be a part of a strong country while another might buy a Chanel dress to look like the woman in the ad. This newly visual existence may be confusing. For example the new visuality of culture is not the same as understanding it . Indeed the gap between the wealth of visual experience in contemporary cult ure the ability to analyse that observation marks either of the opportunities and the need for visual culture as a field of study. People get crazy to visuals of a skinny brunette wearing the Chanel clothes, rather than a overweight lady with red hair. This can be explained through psychoanalytic theory. It implies that people get feelings out of images because they tend to bond with them. In the case of the advertisements , a person might have been brought up in a culture that implies that skinny brunettes are the pretties of all. At a young age that person accepted that idea as true and holds it to this day, ending up buying a Chanel dress just because the lady in the ad is a skinny brunette. Visual culture is concerned with visual events in which information, meaning or pleasure is sought by the stakeholder in an interface with visual technology. I mean any form of apparatus designed either to be looked at or to enhance the natural vision , from oil painting to television the internet. Postmodernism has been defined as the crisis of modernism , that is to say wide ranging complex of ideas and modes of representation ranging from over arching beliefs in progress to theories of the rise of abstract printing . Now these means of representation is no long seems to be convincing until unless any alternative having emerged. The post modernisation is the crisis called by modernisation and modern culture confronting the failure of its own strategy of visualising . Also, we can say it is the visual crisis of the culture creates post modernity, not its textuality . While print culture is certainly not going to disappear, the fascination with the visual and its effect that was a key feature of modernism has endangered a postmodern culture that is at its most post modern when it is visual. The globalization of the visuals taken together demands new means of interpretation. At the same time , the transformation of the postmodern also requires rewriting of historical explanations of modernism in order to account for visual turn. We feel human experience is now more visual impressive. In many ways , people in industrialized post – industrialized societies now live in visual culture to an extent that seems to divide present from the past. Popular journalism constantly remarks on digital imagery in films, the advent of post photography and developments in medical imaging , not to mention the endless tide of comment devoted to the internet . It is evident post modernism is visual culture. Despite the vast range of alternatives , visual culture is a tactic to which to study the genealogy, definitions functions of post modern everyday life. The fragmented culture that we call postmodernism is best imagined and understood visually, just as the nineteenth century was classically represented in the news papers novel. Western culture has consistently privileged the spoken word as the highest form of intellectual practice and seen visual representation is secondly rated examples of ideas. Western philosophy now use a pictorial , rather than textual , model of the world , marking a significant challenges to the notion of the world as a written text that dominated so much intellectual discussion in the wake of such linguistic based movements as structuralism and post structuralism . While those working on with visual media might find such remarks rather patronizing , they are the measure of the extent to which even literary studies have been forced to conclude that the world as a text has been challenged by the world a picture. Such world pictures can not be purely visual, but by the same token , the visual disrupts and challenges any attempts to define culture in completely linguistic terms. Visual culture has a history that needs exploring and defining in the modern as well as post modern period. Many current uses of the term have suffered from vagueness that makes it little more than a buzzword. For some critics , visual culture is simply ‘the history of images’. Visual culture is used in a far more interactive senses , concentrating on the determining role of visual culture in the wider culture to which it belongs. Such a history of visual culture is debated , contested transformed as constantly challenging place of social interaction definition in terms of class, gender sexual identities. One critic in communication studies had made a point that this work entails ‘greater level of uncertainty risk ‘ than have often been used until now. As visual culture is still an idea in the making , rather than a well- defined existing field , this aims to help in its definition of visual culture rather than present it as a given. Visualising the things which are not in themselves visual is one of the most striking features of the new visual culture. A world picture doesn’t mean the picture of the world but the world perceived, conceived grasped as a picture. The world picture does not change from an earlier medieval one into a modern one, but rather the world becomes picture at all is what distinguishes the essence of the modern age. Visual culture doesn’t not depends on pictures but on this modern tendency to picture or visualise existence. One of the important objective of visual culture is to understand how these complex pictures come together. It direct our attention away from structured , formal viewing settings , like cinema to the centrality of visual feelings in everyday life. At present different notions of viewing are within between all the various visual sub disciplines. Of course, it does make a sense to differentiate . Our attitude varies whether we go to see movie , attend any art exhibition or see television. Most important thing to note here is our visual experience take place aside from these formally structured moments of looking. Just as cultural studies has sought to understand the ways in which people interpreting the meaning from the stock of mass culture , so does the visual culture prioritize everyday feel of the visual from the snapshot to TV and even the blockbuster art exhibition. Visual culture is a necessarily historical subject , based on the recognition that the visual image is not stable but change its relationship to exterior reality at particular moments of modernity. Perspective system , for example, depends upon the viewer examining the image from one point only, using just one eye. No one actually does this , but the image is internally coherent and thus credible. A photograph necessarily shows us something that was at a certain point actually before the camera’s lens. This image is dialectical because it setup a relationship between the viewer in the present and in the past moment of space or time that it represents . Film or photographic image no longer reflects reality because everybody knows it can be manipulated by computers. Real time prevailing over real space , virtually dominating turning concept of reality on its head . If we recollect the film produced by ‘smart’ bombs which were used in Gulf war , showed targets being destroyed , only for it later to emerge that they missed as often as any other bomb. These virtualities of the post modern image constantly seem to elude our grasp, creating a crisis of the visual that is more than a specialized problem for the traditional visual disciplines. The concept of world picture is no longer adequate to analyse the changed and changing situation . Visual culture seek to find ways to work within this new (virtual) reality to find the points of resistance in the crisis of information and visual fever ( overload) in everyday life. It can also be argued that in modern warfare tactics ( i.e. imitation, manipulation simulation ) are necessary to defeat the enemy win the war. So , we can now see the collapse of reality in everyday life from the mass visual media. One photograph alone no longer shows the truth. Similarly, some of the most followed television series bear no resemblance to reality at all. But the visual is not simply the medium of information and mass culture. Its offers sensual immediacy that can’t be rivalled by print media. The very element that makes visual imagery of all kinds distinct from texts. For better understanding of visual culture let us give this feeling a name – the sublime. The sublime is the pleasurable experience in representation of that which would be painful in reality, going forward to realization of limits of the human powers of nature. The sublime was first theorized in antiquity by Longinus, who described how is our soul is uplifted by the true sublimes; it takes a proud flight and is filled with joy and vaunting, as though it has itself produced what it had heard. The sublime was given renewed importance by enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, who called it ‘ a satisfaction mixed with horror’. Kant contrasted the sublime with the beautiful, seeing the former as a more complex and profound emotion leading a person with taste for the sublime to detest all chains from the gilded variety worn at court to the irons weighing down the galley slave. The study of Visual Culture can include anything from Painting, Sculpture, Installation, Video art, Digital art, Photography, Film, Television, The Internet, Mobile screenic devices, Fashion, Medical scientific imaging, Social spaces of museums, galleries, exhibitions, and other private and public environments of the everyday. Visual Culture Studies involves an analysis of contemporary culture, media and society It important to understand how societies construct their visual perspectives through knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, and customs, amongst other things. All images are produced within dynamics of social power and ideology. Ideology is the shared set of values and belief which individuals live out their complex relations to a range of social structures. Ideologies often appear to be natural or given aspects of everyday life. The future of visual culture in everyday life is deep rooted like development of internet high definition TV , make clear that visualizing is here to stay. On the other side , there are those who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that visual culture is eradicated as a field of study. Casting visual culture in this light places it in the role of the underdog, which can be course be a very privileged in academic field. So the example of the institutionalisation of cultural studies in the United states is perhaps the best place to look for lessons for the fledging interdisciplinary. Analyzing visual culture is a useful tool in understanding more about the world in which we live in. One may see things in different aspect or an image might take upon new meaning, once its meaning is analyzed and truly understood. Through the process of representation, psychoanalytic theory, and photographic truth, one may find a whole new world in the very one that they live. Visual Culture studies provide us with the ability to analyse the visualà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹

Marginality and Othering in Metalious’ Peyton Place Essay -- Peyton Pl

Marginality and Othering in Metalious’Peyton Place Metalious’ best known novel, Peyton Place, was a bestseller and a media phenomenon in the mid-1950s and 1960s, creating a stir because of its depictions of teenage sexuality, incest, and illegal abortion. Surprisingly, however, few close examinations of the novel’s content and style have been published by literary critics. This essay provides a discussion of a key concern in the novel: racial, ethnic, geographical, and sexual marginality. Written to challenge the inscription of white, middle class, nuclear family life as the standard by which difference should be measured, Peyton Place features several characters who inhabit the metaphorical margins of American society, including Samuel Peyton, an escaped slave and the founder of the town; Tomoas Makris, a mysteriously handsome Greek school principal with several resemblances to George Metalious; and Selena Cross, a dark-skinned, beautiful young woman describes as a â€Å"gypsy,† whose life ties in to the incest and abortion subplots within the novel. I will provide a working definition of marginality and â€Å"othering† to begin this essay, followed by a discussion of Metalious’ social status as a French Canadian in New Hampshire, a description of the characterizations of Samuel Peyton and Selena Cross, and a final word on realism, reception, and the novel’s legacy. Marginality and â€Å"othering† are terms that have a long history in literary and critical discourse of the 20th century. In cultural criticism of the last three decades, these terms have been used to describe differences in power among individuals, nations, and cultural forms. In Orientalism, for instance, Edward Said invokes this idea of marg... ...ched understanding of the novel’s legacy. The unique and provocative treatments of marginality and othering in Peyton Place illustrate conflicts and anxieties that remain unresolved in 21st century American culture. Works Cited Mussell, Kay. Fantasy and Reconciliation: Contemporary Formulas of Women’s Romance Fiction. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Sorrell, Richard S. â€Å"A Novelist and Her Ethnicity: Grace Metalious as a Franco-American,† Historical New Hampshire, Fall 1980: 284-327. Stearns, Jane and Michael Stearns. â€Å"Peyton Place.† Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. New York: Harper, 1992: 381-383. Toth, Emily. Inside Peyton Place: The Life of Grace Metalious. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. â€Å"Unpopular Best Seller.† Life, November 12, 1956: 104.

Importance of Deductive Reasoning Essay

It is very important to understand what is known prior to making a decision. All facts need to be reviewed, wrote out, and reviewed again. By doing this it will help you in making your decision accurately. For example, the DQ question we had this week, I reviewed all facts, wrote them down, and went to figure out the solution by reviewing the facts step-by-step. After I done this, then I went over everything again, and had the same solution, that there could be more than one advisor. I then submitted my answer. After doing this, I saw that another classmate had a different solution than mine so, I went back to review all the facts again, I could then see that my solution was accurate, and so was my classmates. This activity was very interesting, because there could several different solutions. If I had reviewed only part of the facts, or not used critical thinking, then I would have definitely made the wrong decision. The role of deductive reasoning in the decision- making process is a very important one. If you do not understand all the information that you are given, or if you just understand part of the information that you are given, than you will more than likely to make the wrong decision. This is why you should make sure that you understand all the information & facts that you are given, and think critically on all information so you can make an accurate decision. If you take the time to review, understand all of the facts that you are given this will help you in the decision making process. Deductive reasoning, and decision making is both part of the thinking process, when using them to together you this will aid you in making the right decision. Deductive reasoning is a method that helps you in gaining knowledge, which is a very important component in the decision making process. The process of deductive reasoning aids in understanding an argument by helping you to clearly understand all of the facts. When you deductive reason, you are thinking critically which will assist you in understanding the argument, and will also assist in making the right final decision. When reading the 5 arguments that were given, as I was reading I was critically thinking on each fact or bit of information given. For example, on buying a car if any information was left out, you could see yourself leaning to agree with Sally but, then seeing Mark’s point of view, his old car is fine for now, he hates to go on debt with the knowledge that Sally is pregnant. But, then Sally wants a safe, reliable, dependable vehicle for the children. If the fact that Sally was pregnant were not stated then that would change the whole decision- making process. This is why it is important to have, and understand all facts to help assist you in the decision-making process.

Black History Month Essay

Since 1976 Black History Month has been a remembrance of the events in the history of the African American movement. It is celebrated annually in the United States and Canada in the month of February, and the United Kingdom in the month of October. In the U.S., Black History Month is also referred to as African-American History Month. Black History Month actually started as Negro History Week in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson. The goal of Black History Week was to educate the American people about African-Americans’ cultural backgrounds and reputable achievements. Mr. Woodson believed that black history was a missing segment in the minds of most American Historians of his day. Black History Month has certainly played a key role in establishing African American history as a historically significant part of American History. You may be thinking to yourself, it is no longer a missing segment in the minds of most Americans, so therefore it is not relevant by today’s standards. Nothing could be further from the truth, than that uneducated line of thinking. African American history IS American History!! I cannot argue that over a number of years it has become a more commercialized month, giving the opportunity to advertise and sell, more companies have used it for monetary gain. However, so has Christmas and Thanksgiving and don’t get me started about Valentine’s Day†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..but there is still a reason we continue to celebrate these Holidays†¦.I believe it is because at they’re core they are still a part of American history and tradition. Now they may have started elsewhere, but we have made them a part of our culture, our American culture. Even with the creation of black Friday and the 24 hours a day 7 days a week for 30 straight days of Christmas music on a popular radio station†¦.we still know it is important to gather with family, tell our sons, daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Christmases past, teach them about important people in our family history both living and deceased. It is important to educate our youth and give proper respect to the people (family members) that had they not done what they did, some of our families may not be here today. They sacrificed and paved the way for everyone to be together on these holidays. That sense of family, tradition and pride in being an American is what Black History month is all about. Americans whom just so happen to be of African descent. Americans who gave up many if not all of their holidays so that they’re children and grandchildren would not have to. Black History Month tells the continuing story of American history from the African American perspective. I’ll give you a couple of reasons why it is so relevant for today’s generation and future generations†¦. We all know the stories of many great African American contributors†¦ Fredrick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr. George Washington Carver etc†¦ but, what about all of the non-African Americans who directly contributed to the abolishment of slavery, the education of an entire generation of displaced people. Those that gave their lives in the name of humanity. Who will speak for those American heroes?Why are they not mentioned in the same breath as Araminta Ross better known as Harriett Tubman? You ask why is Black Histoy Month relevant. It is relevant because we have barely scratched the surface towards recognizing, learning, teaching and understanding the true meaning of this American tradition. I thought about naming some of the non-African American contributors for those gathered here today, but then it occurred to me (I don’t need to) part of my purpose was to plant a seed, contribute to intelligent dialogue. I stated I would give you a couple of reasons.. The second one is this†¦..In our classrooms we still teach Greek mythology, we teach about the Great Roman empires, We teach American Indian history, we teach about Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, Thomas Edison’s light bulb †¦ and many many more historically important people and inventions. Yet these groups of people and inventions are no longer with us in the same capacity as they once were. And some of their ideas and inventions seem like they could have been created by a child†¦ by today’s standards. We teach about them because they are all†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦in one way or another connected to the development of the same race†¦The HUMAN Race!!! When you fill out an application for employment, school or the census, you’re asked to check a box White, African American, Hispanic American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander (maybe a few others) and then there is a box marked OTHER†¦.. Even with the diversity America has, who checks that box? Anyone mixed with two or more races? Anyone whose family history starts at Ellis Island? What if I told you OTHER is the fastest growing population in the world? What if in 25 years OTHER is the dominating population? I tell you this because I want you to think 50, 100, or 500 years from now when the OTHERS are the dominant race, how will they know of the contributions of African Americans? How will they know of the contributions of Irish Americans? Polish Americans? Jewish Americans? Filipino Americans? Asian Americans? American Indians? They will know because hopefully they will still be celebrating Irish American month in March, Filipino American Month in October, Hispanic Heritage month from Sep 15 to Oct 15, Jewish American Month in May and African American Month in February†¦That is how they will know†¦ Because no matter what box you check†¦ no matter what race creed or color you descend from, the key desc riptor is that of being an American.

Specific Heat Worked Example Problem

Specific Heat Worked Example Problem This worked example problem demonstrates how to calculate the specific heat of a substance when given the amount of energy used to change the substances temperature. Specific Heat Equation and Definition First, lets review what specific heat is and what equation you use to find it. Specific heat is defined as the amount of heat per unit mass needed to increase the temperature by one degree Celsius (or by 1 Kelvin). Usually, the lowercase letter c is used to denote specific heat. The equation is written: Q mcΔT (remember by thinking em-cat) where Q is the heat that is added, c is specific heat, m is mass and ΔT is the change in temperature. The usual units used for quantities in this equation are degrees Celsius for temperature (sometimes Kelvin), grams for mass, and specific heat reported in calorie/gram  °C, joule/gram  °C, or joule/gram K. You can also think of specific heat as heat capacity per mass basis of a material. When working a problem, youll either be given the specific heat values and asked to find one of the other values or else asked to find specific heat. There are published tables of molar specific heats of many materials. Note the specific heat equation does not apply for phase changes. This is because the temperature does not change. Specific Heat Problem It takes 487.5 J to heat 25 grams of copper from 25  °C to 75  °C. What is the specific heat in Joules/g ·Ã‚ °C?Solution:Use the formulaq mcΔTwhereq heat energym massc specific heatΔT change in temperaturePutting the numbers into the equation yields: 487.5 J (25 g)c(75  °C - 25  °C)487.5 J (25 g)c(50  °C)Solve for c:c 487.5 J/(25g)(50  °C)c 0.39 J/g ·Ã‚ °CAnswer:The specific heat of copper is 0.39 J/g ·Ã‚ °C.