Positive Reinforcement to Increase Academic Performance

Positive Reinforcement to Increase Academic Performance Reinforcement is the means by which behavior is increased. Also known as consequences, positive reinforcement adds something that will make it more likely the behavior will occur. Negative reinforcement is when something is removed, it is more likely to continue. The Reinforcement Continuum Reinforcement happens all the time. Some reinforcement occurs because the item or activity is naturally reinforcing. At the highest end of reinforcement, reinforcers are social or intrinsic, such as praise or self-esteem. Young children, or children with low cognitive or social functioning, may require primary reinforcers, such as food or preferred items. During the course of instruction primary reinforcers should be paired with secondary reinforcers. Primary Reinforcers: Primary reinforcers are things that reinforce behavior that provide immediate gratification, such as food, water or a preferred activity. Often very young children or children with severe disabilities need primary reinforcers in order to be engaged in an educational program. Food can be a powerful reinforcer, especially preferred food, such as fruit or candy. Often young children with severe disabilities or very low social functioning are started with preferred foods, but they need to be paired with secondary reinforcers, especially praise and social interaction. Physical stimulation, like piggyback rides or airplane rides are primary reinforcers that pair the therapist or teacher with the reinforcer. One of the principal goals of a therapist or teacher is for the therapist or teacher to become a secondary reinforcer for the child. When the therapist becomes a reinforcer for the child, it becomes easier for the child to generalize secondary reinforcers, like praise, across environments. Pairing primary reinforcers with tokens is also a powerful way to replace primary reinforcers with secondary reinforcers. A student earns tokens toward a preferred item, activity or perhaps food as part of their educational or therapy program. The token is also paired with secondary reinforcement, like praise, and moves the child toward appropriate behavior. Secondary Reinforcers:  Secondary reinforcers are learned reinforcers. Awards, praise and other social reinforcers are all learned. If students have not learned the value of secondary reinforcement, such as praise or rewards, they need to be paired with primary reinforcers: a child earns a preferred item by earning stars. Soon the social status and attention that go with stars will transfer to the stars, and other secondary reinforcers like stickers and awards will become effective. Children with autism spectrum disorders lack an understanding of social interaction and do not value praise or other secondary reinforcement because they lack Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to understand that another human has emotions, thoughts and is motivated by personal self-interest. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder need to be taught the value of secondary reinforcers by having them paired with preferred items, food, and preferred activities. Intrinsic Reinforcement: The final goal of reinforcement is for students to learn to evaluate themselves and reward themselves with intrinsic reinforcement, the feeling a person gets from a job well done, for successfully completing a task. Still, we need to remember that people do not spend 12 years in college, medical school and residency just for the honor of being addressed as doctor. They are also hoping to earn the big bucks, and rightly so. Still, when intrinsic rewards accompany employment, as in being a special education teacher, they may compensate for some of the lack of status and income. The ability to discover intrinsic reinforcement in many activities that lead to the big bucks does, however, bode well for future success. Socially Valid Reinforcers Socially valid reinforcers refer to reinforcement schedules that are age appropriate. Seeking reinforcers that do not set students apart from typically developing peers in their age group is really part of providing FAPE- a Free, Appropriate Public Education- a legal underpinning of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 1994 (IDEIA.) For students in middle school or high school, putting Super Mario stickers on the backs of their hands is not age appropriate. Of course, students with the most difficult behavior, or those who do not respond to secondary reinforcement need to have reinforcers that can be paired with social reinforcement and faded as more socially acceptable reinforcement can take its place. Socially valid reinforcement can also help students understand what is cool or acceptable to typical peers. Rather than letting middle school aged students watch a Telletubbies video as a reinforcer, how about a National Geographic video about bears? Or perhaps anime cartoons? Identifying High Preference Reinforcers In order for reinforcement to be effective, it has to be something the student or students find reinforcing. Stars on a chart might work for typical 2nd graders, but not for second graders with a severe disability. They certainly wont work for high school students, unless they get to trade them for something they really want. There are several ways to discover reinforcers. Ask Parents: If you teach students who are not communicating, students with severe cognitive disabilities or autism spectrum disorders, you should be sure to interview parents before the students come to you, so you have some of their favorite things. Often offering a favorite toy for a brief period is a strong enough reinforcer to keep a young student on task.An Informal Preference Assessment: Lay a number of things that children of the same age enjoy playing with and watch what a student shows the most interest in. You may seek similar toys. Also, other items that have shown to be of interest, like toys that light up when you squeeze them, or accordion tubes that make noises when you pull them can be shown and modeled to students to see if they gain their attention. These items are available through catalogs that specialize in providing resources for children with disabilities, such as Abilitations.Observation: What does a child choose to use? What activities do they seem to prefer ? I had a child in an early intervention program who had a pet turtle. We had a nicely painted model turtle of vinyl, and he would work for an opportunity to hold the turtle. With older children, you will find they may have a Thomas the Tank Engine lunch bag, or a Cinderella Umbrella that they cherish, and Thomas and Cinderella may be good partners for reinforcement. Ask the Students: Find out what they find the most motivating. One way to do that is through Reinforcement Menus that  offer students things they can choose. When you collect them from a group, you can decide which items seem to be the most popular and arrange to make them available. A choice chart with the choices they have made can be very helpful, or you can create individual choice charts as I have for middle school students on the Autism Spectrum. If you want to control or limit the number of times they can make each choice (especially computer time, when you have limited computers for a large group) you could also make tickets with strips at the bottom to tear off, a little like the postings for used cars at the Laundromat.

Treating De Quervains Syndrome at Home

Treating De Quervains Syndrome at Home It is important to note that treating De Quervains syndrome, also known as gamers thumb, at home or without the direction of a doctor is possible, however, severe or chronic De Quervains syndrome should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare provider since, if left untreated, De Quervains syndrome can result in permanent injury and a loss of your range of motion and grip strength. Treating De Quervains syndrome should begin when symptoms first appear and continue as long as the symptoms persist or the cause is still relevant. Treatment should be done leading up towards a doctors appointment or during your data gathering activities while trying to determine the cause of your De Quervains syndrome. Treatments and their effectiveness should be noted within this data. The first step in treating De Quervains syndrome at home is taking care of your general health. Chronic inflammation affects a lot of people and can contribute to or hamper your recovery from most repetitive stress injuries, including De Quervains syndrome. General Health To make your De Quervains syndrome treatments the as effective as they can be you should be in good health and at a healthy body weight. Being overweight contributes to chronic inflammation and affects your circulation as well. And without good circulation, your body cant repair itself effectively. So maintaining a good circulatory system through cardiovascular exercise helps. Hydration Staying hydrated is important as well. A good rule of thumb to stay hydrated is to take your weight in pounds, slide the decimal to the left so you lose the ones column, and drink that many ounces of water. If you weigh 250 pounds then you should drink at least 25 ounces of water a day. Rest The best way to treat your De Quervains syndrome at home is to identify what activities are causing the repetitive stress and avoid doing them while allowing your wrist and thumb ample time to rest and heal. Being able to take a couple weeks off and not use your hand for much is almost always impossible. So at least try to reduce the length of time, the number of repetitions or strength required to perform the tasks causing the repetitive stress. If at all possible avoid repetitive motions of any type with the hand and wrist. Ice One of the most effective treatments for any inflammation, like De Quervains syndrome, is using ice. Ice reduces swelling and relieves pain. Use an ice pack regularly to reduce your inflammation following a 15 minute on - 15 minute off pattern. A cool pack, one that isnt as cold as frozen ice, can be kept on longer. Follow the manufacturers recommendation on these items. Over the Counter Medication The inflammation associated with De Quervains syndrome can be reduced with the use of over the counter anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen. They are also effective at managing pain. Liniments and pain relieving balms can help temporarily relieve your pain, but often do not reduce the inflammation. Whether you use a pill or a topical pain reliever it is important to remember that they are simply masking your pain. The problem is still there and if you continue to stress the area while the pain is masked you can further injure yourself. Stabilization/Immobilization When treating De Quervains syndrome at home you may want to consider wearing a splint to immobilize the wrist and thumb that is being afflicted. A splint will completely immobilize your thumb and/or wrist allowing it to heal without further stressing the area. If complete immobilization is not practical then stabilization may help. To stabilize the wrist and thumb for De Quervains syndrome a brace or compression wrap is used to support the wrist and thumb, especially when gripping. This provides more support to the area reducing some of the stress and range of motion you would normally receive. But it does not impede you from all repetitive stress or further injuring yourself. Exercise Physical therapy is a vital part of treating and recovering from De Quervains syndrome. A doctor or physical therapist can provide you with an exercise regiment to help your particular condition and instruct you in the proper execution of those exercises. A couple of easy stretches can be performed on your own, however. These stretches should only be done a couple of times a day and you should not experience any pain when doing them. If they are hurting it may be time to see a doctor for your De Quervains syndrome. Stretching the muscle between the thumb and the palm is a good exercise. The inflammation and irritation of the tendons in De Quervains syndrome often destabilize the base of the thumb. It becomes weak and difficult to properly use. You can help relieve the stress at the base thumb joint by stretching and massaging the muscles and tissues that hold it in place. To perform this stretch grab your afflicted thumb with your other hand and pull the thumb away from your palm. Hold the stretch for ten to fifteen seconds and then release. Let the sensation die down completely before stretching again. Perform this stretch with the hands below the level of your heart for better circulation during the stretch. Massaging the web of muscle and tissue between the thumb and palm is beneficial as well. Next stretch the tendons that control the thumb and pass through the wrist, the ones causing the problem. Hold your hand in a relaxed fist and flex your wrist downward much like in Finkelsteins test. Dont flex your wrist to the point of pain, however. Just give it a relaxing stretch for ten to fifteen seconds and then release. These stretches should be done once or twice a day and no more. The area has very small muscles that can easily be overworked. If you strain those muscles and your thumb starts hurting give it a day or two before you begin stretching again. The stretching will have a cumulative relaxing effect on your De Quervains syndrome over the course of a couple of weeks. It is important to note that you should not stretch any part of your body when it is cold. So do not stretch your thumb after icing it or when under the effects of a pain reliever since it is easy to overstretch things in those cases.

Strategic Management of Mango Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Management of Mango - Essay Example The company has recently introduced two new product lines, an initiative that is consistent with the company’s innovative image. Through these new product lines, the company is hoped to triumph the marketplace. Mango is a company that is characterised by strong corporate values and beliefs. These values and beliefs, translated in the company’s corporate strategy have been instrumental in the company’s effort to fight off competition and to ensure its survivability in tremendous economic crisis. The company in its years of operation has been able to develop effective communication systems and business processes. The company has used the rapidly evolving technology to its advantage by adopting these technological advancements in its business processes. Although the company is in a far better position than its competitors, but some of its biggest rivals like ZARA have successfully managed to build a business model that has allowed it to be highly responsive to its e nvironment, along with nimble and flexible operational design. These capabilities of ZARA have made it the market leader of this industry, but Mango, in no ways can be classified as a company which is far behind its market leader. The company has a very efficient logistics system that is augmenting its strong suppliers and distributions network. The company uses its own stores and franchises to reach out to its customers; however, recently the company has started using its website to further penetrate into the online market. The company has also launched two new product lines, one targeting men and the other targeting VIPs. These new product lines along with a mature product line of female wear are presumed to generate the future profitability of the company. Advantages of the Business Model of Mango: The most important aspects of the company’s business model have been its logistics system. This system has proved to be a defining point for the company. This logistics system h as helped the company to deliver its finished goods from production centres to distribution centres in 4 days. Even though this is not better than ZARA’s four day delivery system but still it is very close to the best practice of the industry leader. The company has a strong network of professionals, who are working very hard to anticipate the future of the company’s market. Other than this the training methods of the company for the point of sale employees has been very effective in creating customer loyalty. Mango has been very effective when it comes to managing its relationship with its suppliers, who are spread across the globe. The systems in place have been very helpful in integrating the value chain of Mango with its suppliers and other channel partners. The most important reason for company’s success has been its ability to take innovative initiatives. Recently the company has initiated a method through which it would cut out its distribution activity f rom its value chain. In this initiative the manufactured products would be directly sent to the company’s selling points without going to the distribution centres, this means that these finished products would leave directly from the manufacturers’ factory to the stores. This will enable the company to implement its cost cutting strategy with greater

The Killer Angels Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Killer Angels - Research Paper Example It will then provide an analysis of the events. The story begins with an account of events that took place on 29 June 1863. Here. a spy by the name Harrison comes at night from his spying base to inform General Longstreet that he has seen the Union troops moving towards the confederate’s camp. The information takes General Longstreet by surprise since according to him, General Stuart is supposed to be keeping an eye on the movements of the Union troops. As a result, General Longstreet decides that the confederates should act immediately by moving to the southeast of Gettysburg for them to be able to intercept the Union troops (Shaara 4). Shaara (6) notes that far down south, the Union troop’s commander general Chamberlain wakes up to a surprise finding that his Twentieth Maine troops have increased in number by more than a hundred when mutineers from Second main joined them. Chamberlain advises them to join the troops so that they can continue with the fight. However, only six concede and joins the Twentieth Maine headed by General Chamberlain. When general Buford of the Union arrives in the town of Gettysburg with his troops, they find that the confederates had camped nearby. He notices that war is looming and decides to position his troops of about two thousand men along the sloppy hills in the area. His decision to go to the hill is based on the fact that General Buford believes that the key to winning the war is position themselves on a higher ground as it would be easier for them to fight from above. Within the Confederate camp, the commander general Longstreet meets with General Pickett and others to strategies for the battle (Shaara 13). On July 1, very early in the morning, General Lee wakes up and is annoyed on realizing that Stuart is not available. He believes that the strength of the Union troops is dependent on the availability of General Stuart. As a result, he meets Longstreet who is intending to move to the

Lean Manufacturing In Automobile Industry Of Pakistan Commerce Essay

Lean Manufacturing In Automobile Industry Of Pakistan Commerce Essay The objective of the lean manufacturing is to reduce the lead time and cost of production. In competitive markets, the issue of lead-time is of great importance, it is the main driving factor for business profitability but people are less aware of the lean manufacturing its importance that can bring drastic improvement in Automobile industry of Pakistan. Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production. It focuses on less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment in tools, and less engineering time to develop a new product. Lean manufacturing is a generic process management philosophy derived mostly from the (Toyota Production, 1991) Toyota Production System (TPS) Womack, James P., Jones, Daniel T., and Roos, Daniel (1991). In the simplest form, lean manufacturing means producing goods with less; it applies fewer resources without affecting the quantity or quality of the goods produced. Toyotas purpose in developing the system was the elimination of waste, and TPS is focused on seven sources of it: over-production caused by emphasis on supply rather than demand; wasted motion due to poor processes; waiting time generated by tuning the production system to the fastest rather than the slowest process; conveyance waste caused by poorly designed supply systems that delay the transit of goods; processing waste from badly designed systems; raw material waste from inefficient design or ineffective supply strategies; correction waste caused by reworking badly made products. (Toyota Production, 1991) Toyota Production System (TPS) Womack, James P., Jones, Daniel T., and Roos, Daniel (1991). The results of TPS have included enormous advances in robotic manufacturing systems and factory design, just-in-time inventory management, the kanban system of visual inventory replacement cues, demand-pull management of manufacturing planning and others. But lean manufacturing also has evolved into a business philosophy based on a unique set of practices, and the resulting business culture demonstrates how to use these to create a lean approach to other aspects of business; one area ripe for this lesson is supply chain management. Lean manufacturing is the systematic elimination of waste from all aspects of an organizations operations, where waste is viewed as any use or loss of resources that does not lead directly to creating the product or service a customer wants when they want it. In many industrial processes, such non-value added activity can comprise more than 90 percent of a factorys total activity (Simon Caulkin, 2002). The supply chain permeates every face of the enterprise, and if a lean approach to managing it is to succeed, the entire organization has to focus on removing waste and adding value. As a part of this change it requires everyone to involve for looking beyond the boundaries of the company to relationships with customers and suppliers at all levels. The change in focus is essential, but implementing it can be difficult in todays international supply chain environment. Nevertheless, the principles of lean business are straightforward and can form the foundation for an organizations new approach to its supply chain. (Ventana Research , Europe). First, product value has to be defined from the customers point of view, not the companys. This seemingly simple principle is the key to eliminating waste caused by such things as making the wrong product (one that nobody wants), making the product at an unsuitable quality level, making too much or too little of it, or delivering it too slowly or through the wrong channel. A second principle is that the supply chain should flow continuously, and so should the information that supports it. Delays and discontinuities in the supply chain process are often caused by starting and ending processes or information streams that could smooth things out if they were operated continuously. Product should be pulled by the customer, not pushed by the company. That is, no part of any supply chain process should be started without a complete understanding of the demand destination of the final product that will complete the cycle. Finally, the entire organization needs to continue to manage toward perfection, concentrating on the elimination of waste and the addition of value in all of its supply chain processes. This is a continuous process that starts with the launch of a lean supply chain management strategy and it continues. Purpose:- The main purpose of this thesis is to determine the importance of lean manufacturing and create its awareness amongst the automobile industry of Pakistan, which then can be applied by the whole manufacturing sector of Pakistan to make them more competitive in terms of price as well as in speeding the delivery time. The thesis is to draw together the evidence about the benefits of lean manufacturing in automobile industry of Pakistan. It has been noticed that automobile industry is concerned about the cost delivery time, which are the key success factors for this industry. At present, the whole automobile sector is suffering from losses, which has led many businesses to shutdown. Problem discussion: Pakistans automobile industry is losing its competitiveness in the market due to the intense competition faced from world markets in terms of cost delivery time. Buyers get low quality products which reduces their confidence in Pakistani products. Up till now Pakistan automobile industry has been unable to meet the lead time demanded by highly profitable automobiles and is also unable to fulfill the low price expectations of western markets. Until and unless any initiative to reduce the cost and delivery time of product will not be taken, any improvement in the industry would not take place. In order to bring improvements in this industry, it is important to direct this industrys attention towards lean manufacturing. This thesis has been done to focus in this area to check that why lean manufacturing has not yet been implemented in the automobile industry of Pakistan. De limitation of the study:- There are some limitations of this thesis. The work focuses on Manufacturers and assemblers of Automobiles industry located in Pakistan and which has the sales volume more than 10 million. Due to the limited time only top few Manufacturers are included in the research work, which are Indus Motor Company -Toyota Motor Co Pak Suzuki Motors. Al-Ghazi Tractors Further the work doesnt include interview with supplier customer which requires detail research so it is limited to the organizations internal boundary only. Research Question:- This thesis is an attempt to answer the following question:- Q: What is the knowledge level of production people about the lean manufacturing? Q: Are the production manager of automobile industry aware of lean tools? Q: Are the production manager of automobile industry aware of lean manufacturing benefits? Q: To understand the issues of adoption of lean manufacturing in automobile industry in Pakistan? Implication of the study: The purpose of this thesis is to find how much the management of this industry in Pakistan is aware of lean manufacturing and then highlight the obstacles that exist in its implementation. This thesis also provides the benefits of lean manufacturing to the automobile industry of Pakistan, which is facing troubles in these days due to higher cost of production delay in delivery dates. Hence, this thesis is beneficial for the automobile manufacturers so that they can realize the importance of lean manufacturing and then implement it to gain the competitive advantage in terms of lower costs and on time deliveries. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Lean manufacturing is a technique that allows companies to be more responsive to quickly changing markets and more sophisticated demanding customers. (Dohse, JurgensMalsh,1985,p.118). History of Lean Manufacturing Toyota is often considered one of the most efficient manufacturing companies in the world and the company that sets the standard for best practices in Lean Manufacturing. (James Womack Daniel Roos, 1992). Lean Manufacturing has increasingly been applied by leading manufacturing companies throughout the world, lead by the major automobile manufactures and their equipment suppliers. Lean Manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important topic for manufacturing companies in developed countries as they try to find ways to compete more effectively against competition from developing countrie. Starting about 1910, Ford and his right-hand-man, Charles E. Sorensen, fashioned the first comprehensive Manufacturing Strategy. They took all the elements of a manufacturing system people, machines, tooling, and products and arranged them in a continuous system for manufacturing the Model T automobile. Ford was so incredibly successful he quickly became one of the worlds richest men and put the world on wheels. Ford is considered by many to be the first practitioner of Just in Time and Lean Manufacturing. Beyond large scale production 7 categories of muda or waste:- Overproduction producing more unit than customers are demanding or producing them earlier than customer order them. (Taiichi Ohno, 1988) Waiting people waiting for machine or process; product waiting for people, machines or processes. Transportation moving product from one place to another. Inventory Raw material, work in process (WIP), finished goods in excess of direct customer requirement. Motion: Any movement people or machines that does not actually transform product from one state to another. Over processing Performing operation that are unnecessary. Defect creating or passing along product which contains error in material or processing. Definition of lean manufacturing Lean manufacturing is the systematic elimination of waste from all aspects of an organizations operations, where waste is viewed as any use or loss of resources that does not lead directly to creating the product or service a customer wants when they want it. In many industrial processes, such non-value added activity can comprise more than 90 percent of a factorys total activity. (Simon Caulkin. Waste Not, Want Not, The Observer (September 2002). Many of the concepts in Lean Manufacturing originate from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and have been implemented gradually throughout Toyotas operations beginning in the 1950s. By the 1980s Toyota had increasingly become known for the effectiveness with which it had implemented Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing systems. The brainpower that businesses bring to bear to eliminate wasted assets, materials, and time in production should  equally be deployed to improve the processes of consumption that customers follow. Like their earlier work, this is both a landmark synthesis of ideas whose implications havent been fully understood and a breakthrough to new territory. (Thomas A.Stewart, 2000) Main Kinds of Waste Originally 7- 9 main types of waste were identified as part of the Toyota Production System. However, this list has been modified and expanded by various practitioners of lean manufacturing and generally includes the following: 1. Over-production Over-production is unnecessarily producing more than demanded or producing it too early before it is needed. This increases the risk of obsolescence, increases the risk of producing the wrong thing and increases the possibility of having to sell those items at a discount or discard them as scrap. However, there are some cases when an extra supply of semi-finished or finished products is intentionally maintained, even by lean manufacturers. 2. Defects In addition to physical defects which directly add to the costs of goods sold, this may include errors in paperwork, provision of incorrect information about the product, late delivery, production to incorrect specifications, use of too much raw materials or generation of unnecessary scrap. 3. Inventory Inventory waste means having unnecessarily high levels of raw materials, works-in-progress and finished products. Extra inventory leads to higher inventory financing costs, higher storage costs and higher defect rates. For more on this, please see section 2.5 below. 4. Transportation Transportation includes any movement of materials that does not add any value to the product, such as moving materials between workstations. The idea is that transportation of materials between production stages should aim for the ideal, that the output of one process is immediately used as the input for the next process. Transportation between processing stages results in prolonging production cycle times, the inefficient use of labor and space and can also be a source of minor production stoppages. 5. Waiting Waiting is idle time for workers or machines due to bottlenecks or inefficient production flow on the factory floor. Waiting also includes small delays between processing of units. Waiting results in a significant cost insofar as it increases labor costs and depreciation costs per unit of output. 6. Motion Motion includes any unnecessary physical motions or walking by workers which diverts them from actual processing work. For example, this might include walking around the factory floor to look for a tool, or even unnecessary or difficult physical movements, due to poorly designed ergonomics, which slow down the workers. 7. Correction Correction, or reprocessing, is when something has to be re-done because it wasnt done correctly the first time. This not only results in inefficient use of labor and equipment but the act of re-processing often causes disruptions to the smooth flow of production and therefore generates bottlenecks and stoppages. Also, issues associated with reworking typically consume a significant amount of management time and therefore add to factory overhead costs. 8. Over-processing Over-processing is unintentionally doing more processing work than the customer requires in terms of product quality or features such as polishing or applying finishing on some areas of a product that wont be seen by the customer. 9. Knowledge Disconnection This is when information or knowledge isnt available where or when it is needed. This might include information on correct procedures, specifications, ways to solve problems, etc. Lack of correct information often leads to defects and bottlenecks. For example, unavailability of a mixing formula may potentially suspend the entire process or create defective items due to time-consuming trial-and-error tests. What kinds of companies benefit most from lean? Lean is most widely used in industries that are assembly-oriented or have a high amount of repetitive human processes. These are typically industries for which productivity is highly influenced by the efficiency and attention to detail of the people who are working manually with tools or operating equipment. For these kinds of companies, improved systems can eliminate significant levels of waste or inefficiency. Examples of these companies include wood-processing, garment manufacturing, automobile assembly, electronic assembly and equipment manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing is also appropriate in industries for which it is a strategic priority to shorten the production cycle time to the absolute minimum as a source of competitive advantage for the company. Recently, some companies in Vietnam have actively conducted training and implemented lean methods to eliminate process inefficiencies. This resulted in an improvement to their production and service lead times. For example, Toyota Ben Thanh, a service center of Toyota in Vietnam, has implemented lean methods to significantly reduce the process time for its automobile maintenance service from 240 minutes to 45-50 minutes per car, and as a result, increased the total number of cars processed at each service center from 4-6 cars up to 16 cars per day. Toyota Ben Thanh achieved significant reductions in the process lead time by successfully eliminating unnecessary waiting time, inefficiencies of physical motions and process flow. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon, 2004) Objectives of Lean Manufacturing Lean Manufacturing, also called Lean Production, is a set of tools and methodologies that aims for the continuous elimination of all waste in the production process. The main benefits of this are lower production costs, increased output and shorter production lead times. More specifically, some of the goals include: 1. Defects and wastage Reduce defects and unnecessary physical wastage, including excess use of raw material inputs, preventable defects, costs associated with reprocessing defective items, and unnecessary product characteristics which are not required by customers. 2. Cycle Times Reduce manufacturing lead times and production cycle times by reducing waiting times between processing stages, as well as process preparation times and product/model conversion times. 3. Inventory levels Minimize inventory levels at all stages of production, particularly works-in-progress between production stages. Lower inventories also mean lower working capital requirements. 4. Labor productivity Improve labor productivity, both by reducing the idle time of workers and ensuring that when workers are working, they are using their effort as productively as possible (including not doing unnecessary tasks or unnecessary motions). 5. Utilization of equipment and space Use equipment and manufacturing space more efficiently by eliminating bottlenecks and maximizing the rate of production though existing equipment, while minimizing machine downtime. 6. Flexibility Have the ability to produce a more flexible range of products with minimum changeover costs and changeover time. 7. Output Insofar as reduced cycle times, increased labor productivity and elimination of bottlenecks and machine downtime can be achieved, companies can generally significantly increased output from their existing facilities. In a 2004 survey by Industry Week Magazine, U.S. companies implementing lean manufacturing reported a median savings of 7% of Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) as a result of implementing lean (George Taninecz, 2004). We believe that the savings actually are higher for companies in Vietnam considering the higher levels of waste which they typically have compared to U.S. based manufacturers. Another way of looking at Lean Manufacturing is that it aims to achieve the same output with less input less time, less space, less human effort, less machinery, less material, less cost. When a U.S. equipment manufacturing company, Lantech, completed the implementation of lean in 1995, they reported the following improvements compared to their batch-based system in 1991: (James P. Womack; Daniel T. Jones, 1996) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Manufacturing space per machine was reduced by 45%; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Defects were reduced by 90% à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Production cycle time was reduced from 16 weeks to 14 hours 5 days; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Product delivery lead time was reduced from 4-20 weeks to 1-4 weeks. Why Lean Consumption Now? While lean consumption would be a sensible idea in any era, we see several convergent trends that we think make it inevitable and indeed, a competitive necessity now. With the regulated economy steadily contracting, consumers have a broader range of decisions to make, from how to invest retirement funds, to what telecommunications provider to use, to what airline to fly at what price. The mass-producer uses narrowly skilled professionals to design products make by unskilled or semiskilled workers tending expensive, single-purpose machines. These churn out standardized products at high volume. Because the machinery costs so much and is so intolerant of disruption, the mass-producer adds many buffers extra supplies, extra workers, and extra space to assure smooth productionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The result: The customer gets lower costs but at the expense of variety and by means of work methods that most employees find boring and dispiriting. (Womack, 1990 p 13). While on a tour of a large customer, Michael Dell saw technicians customizing new Dell computers with their companys standard hardware and software. Do you think you guys could do this for me? his host asked. Without missing a beat, Dell replied, Absolutely, wed love to do that.4 Within a couple of weeks, Dell was shipping computers with factory-installed, customer specific hardware and software. What took the customer an hour could be done in the factory in minutes, and furthermore, computers could be shipped directly to end-users rather than making a stop in the corporate IT department. This shortening of the value chain is the essence of lean thinking. Direct from Dell, (Catherine Fredman, 1999) Basic Principles of Lean Add Nothing But Value (Eliminate Waste) The first step in lean thinking is to understand what value is and what activities and resources are absolutely necessary to create that value. Once this is understood, everything else is waste. Since no one wants to consider what they do as waste, the job of determining what value is and what adds value is something that needs to be done at a fairly high level. Lets say you are developing order tracking software. It seems like it would be very important for a customer to know the status of their order, so this would certainly add customer value. But actually, if the order is in house for less than 24 hours, the only order status that is necessary is to inform the customer that the order was received, and then that it has shipped, and let them know the shipping tracking number. Better yet, if the order can be fulfilled by downloading it on the Web, there really isnt any order status necessary at all. To develop breakthroughs with lean thinking, the first step is learning to see waste . If something does not directly add value, it is waste. If there is a way to do without it, it is waste. Taiichi Ohno, the mastermind of the Toyota Production System, identified seven types of manufacturing waste, (2002 Poppendieck.LLC) Do It Right The First Time It is instructive to explore the origins of the slogan Do It Right the First Time. In the 1980s it was very difficult to change a mass-production plant to lean production, because in mass production, workers were not expected to take responsibility for the quality of the product. To change this, the management structure of the plant had to change. Workers respond only when there exists some sense of reciprocal obligation, a sense that management actually values skilled workers, and is willing to delegate responsibility to [them]. The slogan Do It Right the First Time encouraged workers to feel responsible for the products moving down the line, and encourage them to stop the line and troubleshoot problems when and where they occurred. ( Womack ,1990 p 99). A more appropriate translation of such slogans as Zero Defects and Do It Right the First Time would be Test First. In other words, dont code unless you understand what the code is supposed to do and have a way to determine whether the code works. A good knowledge of the domain coupled with short build cycles and automated testing constitute the proper way for software developers to Do It Right the First Time. (2002 Poppendieck.LLC) Center On The People Who Add Value Almost every organization claims its people are important, but if they truly center on those who add value, they would be able to say: The people doing the work are the center of:- Resources Information Process Design Authority Decision Making Authority Organizational Energy In mass-production, tasks are structured so that low skilled or unskilled workers can easily do the repetitive work, but engineers and managers are responsible for production. Workers are not allowed to modify or stop the line, because the focus is to maintain volume. One of the results of mass-production is that unskilled workers have no incentive to volunteer information about problems with the manufacturing line or ways to improve the process. Maladjusted parts get fixed at the end of the line; a poor die or improperly maintained tool is managements problem. Workers are neither trained nor encouraged to worry about such things. The truly lean plant has two key organizational features: It transfers the maximum number of tasks and responsibilities to those workers actually adding value to the car on the line, and it has in place a system for detecting defects that quickly traces every problem, once discovered, to its ultimate cause.9 Similarly in any lean enterprise, the focus is on the people who add value. In lean enterprises, traditional organizational structures give way to new team-oriented organizations which are centered on the flow of value, not on functional expertise. The first experiment Taiichi Ohno undertook in developing lean production was to figure out a way to allow massive, single-purpose stamping machines to stamp out multiple parts. Formerly, it took skilled machinists hours, if not days, to change dies from one part to another. Therefore, mass production plants had many single purpose stamping machines in which the dies were almost never changed. Volume, space, and financing were not available in Japan to support such massive machines, so Ohno set about devising simple methods to change the stamping dies in minutes instead of hours. This would allow many parts of a car to be made on the same line with the same equipment. Since the workers had nothing else to do while the die was being changed, they also did the die changing, and in fact, the stamping room workers were involved in developing the methods of rapid die changeover. Ohno transferred most of the work being done by engineers and managers in mass-production plants to the production workers. He grouped workers in small teams and trained the teams to do their own industrial engineering. Workers were encouraged to stop the line if anything went wrong, (a management job in mass production).Before the line was re-started, the workers were expected to search for the root cause of the problem and resolve it. At first the line was stopped often, which would have been a disaster at a mass production plant. But eventually the line ran with very few problems, because the assembly workers felt responsible to find, expose, and resolve problems as they occurred. Flow Value from Demand The idea of flow is fundamental to lean production. If you do nothing but add value, then you should add the value in as rapid a flow as possible. If this is not the case, then waste builds up in the form of inventory or transportation or extra steps or wasted motion. The idea that flow should be pulled from demand is also fundamental to lean production. Pull means that nothing is done unless and until a downstream process requires it. The effect of pull is that production is not based on forecast; commitment is delayed until demand is present to indicate what the customer really wants. Pulling from demand can be one of the easiest ways to implement lean principles, as LL Bean and Lens Crafters and Dell found out. The idea is to fill each customer order immediately. In mass-production days, filling orders immediately meant building up lots of inventory in anticipation of customer orders. Lean production changes that. The idea is to be able to make the product so fast that it can be m ade to order. True, Dell and Lens Crafters and LL Bean and Toyota have to have some inventory of sub-assemblies waiting to be turned into a finished product at a moments notice. But its amazing how little inventory is necessary, if the process to replenish the inventory is also lean. A truly lean distribution channel only works with a really lean supply chain coupled to very lean manufacturing. In addition to rapid, Just-in-Time information flow, Lean Software Development means rapid, Just-in-Time delivery of value. In manufacturing, the key to achieving rapid delivery is to manufacture in small batches pulled by a customer order. Similarly in software development, the key to rapid delivery is to divide the problem into small batches (increments) pulled by a customer story and customer test. The single most effective mechanism for implementing lean production is adopting Just-in-Time, pull-from-demand flow. Similarly, the single most effective mechanism for implementing Lean Development is delivering increments of real business value in short time-boxes. 2002 Poppendieck.LLC Optimize across Organizations Quite often, the biggest barrier to adopting lean practices is organizational. As products move from one department to another, a big gap often develops, especially if each department has its own set of performance measurements that are unrelated to the performance measurements of neighboring departments. For example, lets say that the performance measurement of a stamping room is machine productivity. This measurement motivates the stamping room to build up mounds of inventory to keep the machines running at top productivity. It does not matter that the inventory has been shown to degrade the overall performance of the organization. As long as the stamping room is measured primarily on machine productivity, it will build inventory. This is what is known as a sub-optimizing measurement, because it creates behavior which creates local optimization at the expense of overall optimization. (2002 Poppendieck.LLC) Lean manufacturing Automobile Industry Lean manufacturing is applicable to almost every industry and it is known that the initiators of this technique is TOYOTA by the name Toyota Production System, than this techniques became generalize and open for all with some modifications and named as Lean. We fully expect that lean manufacturing will give a competitive advantage to this industry. Automobile Industry of Pakistan Pakistan is a rising market for automobiles offers massive business and investment opportunities. The total involvement of Auto industry to GDP in 2007 was 2.8% which was expected to increase up to 5.6% in 5 years. Total gross sales of automobiles in Pakistan were Rs.214 billion in 2006-07 or $2.67 billion. The industry tax accumulated to Rs.63 billion in 2007-08 that the government has imposed on automobiles. There are 500 auto-parts producers in the country that supply parts to original equipment manufacturers. Auto sector presently, contributes 16% to the manufacturing sector which also is projected to increase 25% in the next 7 years, compared to 6.7% during 2001-02. Vehicles manufacturers directly employ over 192,000 people with a entire investment of more than $ 1.5 billion. At present, there are about 82 vehicles assemblers in the industry producing passengers cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, tractors and 2/3 wheelers. The auto policy is geared up to make an inv estment of $ 4.09 billion in the next five years thus, making a target of half a million cars per annum achievable. Pakistan has the highest number of CNG-powered vehicles in the world with more than 1.55 million cars and passenger buses, constituting 24% of total vehicles in Pakistan with improved fuel efficiency and conforming to the l

The Board of Directors †Roles and Responsibilities

The Board of Directors – roles and responsibilities The board's key purpose is to ensure the company's prosperity by collectively directing the company's affairs, whilst meeting the appropriate interests of its shareholders and stakeholders. The objects of the company are defined in the Memorandum of Association and regulations are laid out in the Articles of Association. Appointment of directors The ultimate control as to the composition of the board of directors rests with the shareholders, who can always appoint, and – more importantly, sometimes – dismiss a director.The shareholders can also fix the minimum and maximum number of directors. However, the board can usually appoint (but not dismiss) a director to his office as well. A director may be dismissed from office by a majority vote of the shareholders, provided that a special procedure is followed. The procedure is complex, and legal advice will always be required. Role of the board of directors Boards c an be helped greatly by focusing on four key areas: Establish vision, mission and values †¢ Determine the company's vision and mission to guide and set the pace for its current operations and future development. †¢ †¢ Determine the values to be promoted throughout the company. Determine and review company goals. Determine company policies Set strategy and structure †¢ Review and evaluate present and future opportunities, threats and risks in the external environment and current and future strengths, weaknesses and risks relating to the company. †¢ †¢ †¢ Determine strategic options, select those to be pursued, and decide the means to implement and support them. Determine the business strategies and plans that underpin the corporate strategy.Ensure that the company's organisational structure and capability are appropriate for implementing the chosen strategies. Delegate to management †¢ Delegate authority to management, and monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies, strategies and business plans. †¢ †¢ †¢ Determine monitoring criteria to be used by the board. Ensure that internal controls are effective. Communicate with senior management. Exercise accountability to shareholders and be responsible to relevant stakeholders †¢ Ensure that communications both to and from shareholders and relevant stakeholders are effective. †¢ †¢ Understand and take into account the interests of shareholders and relevant stakeholders. Monitor relations with shareholders and relevant stakeholders by gathering and evaluation of appropriate information. Promote the goodwill and support of shareholders and relevant stakeholders. Responsibilities of directors Directors look after the affairs of the company, and are in a position of trust. They might abuse their position in order to profit at the expense of their company, and, therefore, at the expense of the shareholders of the company.Consequently, the law i mposes a number of duties, burdens and responsibilities upon directors, to prevent abuse. Much of company law can be seen as a balance between allowing directors to manage the company's business so as to make a profit, and preventing them from abusing this freedom. Directors are responsible for ensuring that proper books of account are kept. In some circumstances, a director can be required to help pay the debts of his company, even though it is a separate legal person.For example, directors of a company who try to ‘trade out of difficulty' and fail may be found guilty of ‘wrongful trading' and can be made personally liable. Directors are particularly vulnerable if they have acted in a way which benefits themselves. †¢ The directors must always exercise their powers for a ‘proper purpose' – that is, in furtherance of the reason for which they were given those powers by the shareholders. Directors must act in good faith in what they honestly believe to b e the best interests of the company, and not for any collateral purpose.This means that, particularly in the event of a conflict of interest between the company's interests and their own, the directors must always favour the company. Directors must act with due skill and care. Directors must consider the interests of employees of the company. †¢ †¢ †¢ Calling a directors' meeting A director, or the secretary at the request of a director, may call a directors' meeting. A secretary may not call a meeting unless requested to do so by a director or the directors. Each director must be given reasonable notice of the meeting, stating its date, time and place.Commonly, seven days is given but what is ‘reasonable' depends in the last resort on the circumstances Non-executive directors Legally speaking, there is no distinction between an executive and non-executive director. Yet there is inescapably a sense that the non-executive's role can be seen as balancing that of t he executive director, so as to ensure the board as a whole functions effectively. Where the executive director has an intimate knowledge of the company, the non-executive director may be expected to have a wider perspective of the world at large. 2The chairman of the board The articles usually provide for the election of a chairman of the board. They empower the directors to appoint one of their own number as chairman and to determine the period for which he is to hold office. If no chairman is elected, or the elected chairman is not present within five minutes of the time fixed for the meeting or is unwilling to preside, those directors in attendance may usually elect one of their number as chairman of the meeting. The chairman will usually have a second of casting vote in the case of equality of votes.Unless the articles confer such a vote upon him, however, a chairman has no casting vote merely by virtue of his office. Since the chairman's position is of great importance, it is vital that his election is clearly in accordance with any special procedure laid down by the articles and that it is unambiguously minuted; this is especially important to avoid disputes as to his period in office. Usually there is no special procedure for resignation. As for removal, articles usually empower the board to remove the chairman from office at any time. Proper and clear minutes are important in order to avoid disputes.Role of the chairman The chairman's role includes managing the board's business and acting as its facilitator and guide. This can include: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Determining board composition and organisation; Clarifying board and management responsibilities; Planning and managing board and board committee meetings; Developing the effectiveness of the board. Shadow directors In many circumstances, the law applies not only to a director, but to a ‘shadow director'. A shadow director is a person in accordance with whose directions or instructi ons the directors of a company are accustomed to act.Under this definition, it is possible that a director, or the whole board, of a holding company, and the holding company itself, could be treated as a shadow director of a subsidiary. Professional advisers giving advice in their professional capacity are specifically excluded from the definition of a shadow director in the companies legislation. RCW 5/11/2000Sources: Standards for the Board, Institute of Directors The Independent Director, IoD/Ernst ; Young Running a limited company, David Impney ; Nicholas Montague, Jordans  © 2000 Brefi Group Limited http://www. corporatecoach. co. uk/

Integrating Change Models and the Theology of Leadership...

Integrating Change Models and the Theology of Leadership A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four†¦show more content†¦The Breakthrough Innovation Framework, or BrinnovationTM, incorporates Kotter’s Leading Change model, while emphasizing a framework of innovation (Gupta, 2011). The Brinnovation framework accentuates the abilities a nd talents of those in the system, with its success depending on a change in the organization’s culture to embrace innovation (Gupta, 2011). The leadership can achieve a transformation in organizational thinking by applying Kotter’s eight-step plan, focusing on creativity (Gupta, 2011). The General Systems Theory (GST) came about as an effort to describe the systems approach, born from the biological concept of the organism developed in the first part of the 20th century (Von Bertalanffy, 1972). In contrast to the mechanistic systems which are closed and have a direct relationship between a cause and its effect, a biological or social system is open, operating on a principle of equifinality, where regardless of the starting point, the objective can be achieved (Kast Rosenzweig, 1972). Any system will achieve equilibrium, but an open system can reach a steady state by accessing resources from outside itself (Kast Rosenzweig, 1972). The underlying assumptions of GST rely on the organization of a company resembling the inner workings of an organism. However, subgroups within organizations can act independently of the the whole, inShow MoreRelatedCharles Darwin: Naturalist and Leader in Science1414 Words   |  6 Pagesnon-positional leader. I will also show a histor ical analysis, including my reasons for choosing Darwin as my subject, his background, the success and failures of his influence, as well as his legacy. Finally, I will submit my vision of non-positional leadership and mechanisms for leaders to explore their non-positional roles. Charles Darwin’s influence uses some of Gardner’s â€Å"levers† or factors that are at work in the case of Darwin’s scientific theories changing minds (Gardner, 2006), and so there isRead MoreTheology and Development2829 Words   |  12 PagesBRENT FRIESLAAR April 8, 2012 FACILITATOR: REV. DR. 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