A Beginner's Guide to Quality in Manufacturing

Book Description

You can make a difference!

* Feeling overwhelmed by the fast-paced changes sweeping America's high schools?
* Does it seem as if high school is much more complicated for your teen than it was for you?
* Interested in becoming more involved at your teen's school but don't know where to start?

If recent media stories about tougher high school graduation requirements and high stakes state tests have led you to wonder how you can help your teen succeed in this challenging new academic environment, High Stakes High School can help. Written by three high school teachers with a combined fifty years of experience working with students and families, this guide will show you how to:

* Have a truly effective meeting with your teen's teacher using a valuable checklist of important questions.
* Communicate with the principal and other administrators at your teen's school about standardized testing, past score results, school policies, and academic issues important to your child.
* Understand your teen's learning style and play a more meaningful role in his or her high school experience.
* Become involved at your local high school in ways that will benefit your teen.

High Stakes High School will take you from perplexed to prepared.

Customer Reviews:

A great resource for parents.......2001-11-15

I bought this book before my son's first day of freshman year, and I have found it to be extraordinarily helpful in wading through the often-confusing rhetoric of public high school. Armed with the knowledge in this book, I feel more comfortable approaching his teachers (and principal) should I have any problems, questions, or concerns about his education. Thanks!

Book Description

Food companies, regardless of their size and scope, understand that it is impossible to establish a single division devoted to "quality", as quality is the responsibility and purpose of every company employee. Applying this theory demands the cooperation of each employee and an understanding of the methodology necessary to establish, implement, and evaluate a Quality Assurance program. Quality Assurance for the Food Industry: A Practical Approach provides in-depth coverage of all aspects of quality assurance. It identifies the basic concepts and principles behind Total Quality Management and presents examples of Quality Assurance programs that can be applied to the food industry using simple, proven formats. The author discusses the role of Quality Assurance in product manufacturing, emphasizing the need for interactions among an organization's Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Product Development, Marketing, Sales, and Consumer Affairs departments. He analyzes the characteristics of a quality audit and the purpose of a proper audit, then focuses on specific examples including product manufacturing audits, food plant sanitation audits, and product quality audits. A comprehensive examination of HAACP and its applications concludes the coverage. This practical, industry-oriented reference explains the fundamental role of Quality Assurance and provides the knowledge required for establishing a Total Quality Management system in your own company. The concepts and procedures discussed are the key components for attaining and maintaining the highest standards of quality in the food industry.

Customer Reviews:

The Best.......2004-04-30

This is the best book on quality for the food industry I have come across. The writing is beautifully clear and easy to understand - so many of these books are mind-numbingly pedantic. As the title suggests, the author gives a "practical approach" to the issue of quality. Not only does he explain the concept of quality, he gives practical examples of how to achieve the best possible product. He emphasises training: from the line worker to upper management. He reminds us that quality requires a short-term economic investment, but in the long-term companies can avoid all-too-costly mistakes. Like all businesses, we have our share of management personnel who think they know everything - this book is a reminder to reconsider that premise. The willingness of upper management to establish basic quality guidelines and training is the most important factor in a company's success: it can engage every employee, promote a more dynamic and rewarding work environment and is simply cost-effective because it helps to avoid errors and costly re-calls.
The author covers all the tools of quality management and their practical applications. He thoroughly covers HACCP - why it is important, how to establish a HACCP program and when to call in a consultant. The section regarding audits is outstanding - the author explains the different types of audits, including the need for outside audits and gives practical examples of different product audits. Now, when it is time for an outside audit of our products, I can judge if the consultant is giving me all the information I need to know, is listing and rating any deviations and is recommending practical solutions. I have also initiated plans for increased training of our plant workers (short on-site HACCP and GMP courses, Better Process Control School, etc.) and am encouraging increased dialogue and training within management. Because my company is smaller, we cannot afford to hire the numbers of highly-trained professionals we really need, but I now know when to look for an expert consultant and how to apply their recommendations. I am already seeing striking improvements in the quality of our products and in the attitudes of our employees.
I recommend this book for all food professionals but especially for those directly involved with any type of processing.

Quality Management Systems for the Food Industry: A Guide to Iso 9001/2 (Chapman & Hall Practical Approaches to Food Control & Food Quality)

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Quality Management Systems for the Food Industry: A Guide to Iso 9001/2 (Chapman & Hall Practical Approaches to Food Control & Food Quality)
Andrew Bolton
Manufacturer: Blackie Academic & Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Hospitality, Travel & Tourism | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Quality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Total Quality Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This book identifies the major factors responsible for effective transfer of information and human expertise from an advanced country or a multinational corporation to the developing world.

Book Description

During our lifetime we experience any number of business cycle crises which undermine our confidence. We also experience the 'happy days' when our faith in the future becomes almost limitless, and where we forget that the tide will turn again.
But why do we experience these business cycles? What creates them? Is it mass psychology or phenomena in the management of business? Are the banks to blame or should we looking to the unions and the politicians?
Lars Tvede's story moves back in time to the Scottish gambler and financial genius, John Law, and then on to the distracted Adam Smith, the stockbroker Ricardo, the investment banker Thornton, the extrovert Schumpeter, the speculator Jay Gould and many others. Gradually we reach the computer jugglers of the modern day, who, with their giant networks of equations, try to solve the same questions that have attracted the attention of classical economists throughout the centuries.
Throughout this volume, business cycle theories are used to explain actualevents . We are told how theoretical thinking has reflected the economist's own experiences of hyper-inflations, depressions, speculation orgies and liquidity squeezes. The reader can follow the narrative to discover how economists often thought that problems had been solved until new data changed the economic picture once again.

Customer Reviews:

it could have been a great book.......2003-08-27

on a good note, this book brings a wealth of information about business cycles--historic-, economic-, academic-, and even trader-perspectives.

however, the information does not stand together--ideas jump all over the place, not connected nor well developed. careless editing--some numbers are wrong. all these make the reader long for a more careful approach.

all in all, this could be a spring-board to other titles/authors. at about half the price it could be a different story.

DEUTSCHE BANK RUINED ME!.......2002-09-25

In the dying days of the summer of 2002, I was walking down Quai des Bergues in Geneva when I saw a man standing outside Deutsche Bank Private Banking Headquarters. He was well dressed, in his mid-fifties, and holding a big poster that read: DEUTSCHE BANK RUINED ME. Trust me, this is not an everyday sight in calm and cool Geneva, so I was curious and went over and talked to him. He told me and everyone else who would listen, about the disastrous losses in his accounts with DB - he angrily claimed that the remaining value of the stocks was not even enough to cover the commissions if they were sold. He claimed to have a lost millions in the double-digits; probably exaggerated, but knowing the minimum account size at the private banks, I am sure it was A Lot Of Money.

Walking back to my office and reflecting on the poor mans misery, my thoughts drifted to a book that I read earlier this year: Business Cycles. From John Law to the Internet Crash. I am not sure what qualifies a book to be labeled a "classic", but this is an excellent piece of work about the history of business cycles and what they have in common: A fundamental change in the real world, such as a war or new technology, which creates new profit opportunities in some sectors. Investment expands, often fed by easy bank credit. Before long, however, investment becomes speculation, and then becomes totally detached from reality and turns into mania, sometimes spreading internationally. They ultimately end in tears, a crash and "revulsion" in which investors flee falling markets. Authorities are left to wrestle with how to stabilize and then fix the financial system.

This book is not an "I Told You So" but rather a superb piece of work that gives food for thought to anyone interested in the ups and downs of economic life.

Average customer rating:

A history of fiscal policy for traders

Deutsche Bank Ruined Me!

Business Cycles: From John Law to the Internet Crash - New Edition
Lars Tvede
Manufacturer: Harwood Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Theory | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9058231372

Book Description

During our lifetime we experience any number of business cycle crises which undermine our confidence. We also experience the 'happy days' when our faith in the future becomes almost limitless, and where we forget that the tide will turn again. But why do we experience these business cycles? What creates them? Is it mass psychology or phenomena in the management of business? Are the banks to blame or should we looking to the unions and the politicians? Lars Tvede's story moves back in time to the Scottish gambler and financial genius, John Law, and then on to the distracted Adam Smith, the stockbroker Ricardo, the investment banker Thornton, the extrovert Schumpeter, the speculator Jay Gould and many others. Gradually we reach the computer jugglers of the modern day, who, with their giant networks of equations, try to solve the same questions that have attracted the attention of classical economists throughout the centuries. Throughout this volume, business cycle theories are used to explain actual events . We are told how theoretical thinking has reflected the economist's own experiences of hyper-inflations, depressions, speculation orgies and liquidity squeezes. The reader can follow the narrative to discover how economists often thought that problems had been solved until new data changed the economic picture once again.

Customer Reviews:

A history of fiscal policy for traders.......2005-04-27

This is a wonderfully argued piece of logic on monetary theory, with particular emphasis on links between 'central banks' and financial bubbles. We start with John Law's central bank and the Mississippi Bubble it created. From that disaster (and concurrent lessons for the wise), we move on to subsequent financial bubbles and additional lessons. Each bubble is explained with almost cartoonish simplicity, but the cartoons are entirely iconoclastic. Rather than be exhaustive, the book seeks to be thought provoking.

The second half of the book addresses 'cycle' theories, but Tvede can't do much more than convince us the role of cycles remains problematic. Mixed in are tales of George Soros, which only confuses the plot line.

Tvede gives considerable attention to famous traders, including the trading performance of economists who actually invested according to their theories. Here is a list of those covered:
Great traders:
Cantillon(1720): folded his positions in French Mississippi boom and got the gold to England before it was too late
Jay Gould(1869): Used connections with President Grant to corner the gold market and liquidate prior to collapse
Jesse Livermore(1920-34): Used bear raids during the 29 crash
John Maynard Keynes(1920-1940): Traded through the 1929 crash with 30% gains during the 30s (depression)
Milton Friedman (1980s): helped create financial futures
George Soros(1980-present): Currency raids on European bankers

Missing is any discussion of the economic role of taxes, crime, corruption and organized violence (war and terror). Additionally, Tvede doesn't explore the role of printed financial news in financial booms, only the role of printed (paper) money. For example, Tulip mania in Holland during the 17th century predates paper money and central banks, but coincides with the first 'newspapers'.

Finally, there is no discussion of agent based economic models or 'cycle generator' processes. For example, the opening chapters on Law is clearly triggered by a generational shift (Louis XIV's debts must be paide by Louis XV's generation), but the role individual life cycles might play in economic cycles goes unexplored.

In theoretical terms, Tvede is primarily interested in relating cycles to the formula MV = PQ (M=Money, V=Velocity of money, P=Prices, Q=Quantity). For example, considerable attention is given Friedman's trilemma: a central bank can't do all three of the following:
1. Maintaining exchange rates
2. Control price levels
3. Allow Free trade

As Tvede describes Friedman's position, everyone wants free trade, including foreign exchange trading. This makes stable exchange rates impossible to maintain if a country is to defend its population from the hardships of an economic cycle's end (provide soft landings). From this, a trader can plan to short currencies with central banks who traditionally defend exchange rates. The exchange rate is 'P', The 'defending' central bankers are trying to hold this constant. At the same time, they are attempting to hold 'Q' constant, providing their population with a stable 'standard of living'. What they cannot control is 'MV', or the amount of capital that leaks out of the system in search of better investment opportunities.

chapters 1-4 Monetary reactions to financial cycles (primarily end of cycle crisis) 1720 to 1875. The rise of classical economics

Chapter 5-6 Cycle analysis (time series analysis, data mining) 1862-1910

Chapters 7-10 Non-computational efforts to unify classic and cyclic analysis (1910-1939)

Chapters 11 to 19 Computational economics: simulation, feedback, and chaos with a major digression regarding George Soros and currency trading.

Deutsche Bank Ruined Me!.......2002-10-04

In the dying days of the summer of 2002, I was walking down Quai des Bergues in Geneva when I saw a man standing outside Deutsche Bank Private Banking headquarters. He was well dressed, in his mid-fifties, and holding a big poster that read: DEUTSCHE BANK RUINED ME. Trust me, this is not an everyday sight in calm and cool Geneva, so I was curious and went over and talked to him. He told me and everyone else who would listen, about the disastrous losses in his accounts with DB - he angrily claimed that the remaining value of the stocks was not even enough to cover the commissions if they were sold. He said he had lost millions in the double-digits; probably exaggerated, but knowing the minimum account size at the private banks, I am sure it was A Lot Of Money.

Walking back to my office and reflecting on the poor mans misery, my thoughts drifted to a book that I read earlier this year: Business Cycles. From John Law to the Internet Crash. I am not sure what qualifies a book to be labeled a "classic", but this is an excellent piece of work about the history of business cycles and what they have in common: A fundamental change in the real world, such as a war or new technology, which creates new profit opportunities in some sectors. Investment expands, often fed by easy bank credit. Before long, however, investment becomes speculation, and then becomes totally detached from reality and turns into mania, sometimes spreading internationally. They ultimately end in tears, a crash and "revulsion" in which investors flee falling markets. Authorities are left to wrestle with how to stabilize and then fix the financial system.

This book is not an "I Told You So" but rather a superb piece of work that gives food for thought to anyone interested in the ups and downs of economic life.

Book Description

This volume of twenty-three essays by German and American historians deals with the most important issues of US policy toward Germany in the decade following World War II: Germany’s democratisation, economic recovery, rearmament, and integration into the European community and Western alliance. All contributions to this volume are based on recent research in German and American archives, and include two comprehensive essays on archival sources and a selected bibliography. In contrast to most other studies, the essays cover not only the period of military government (1945–1949) but also the era of the Allied High Commission for Germany.

Binding Up the Wounds: An American Soldier in Occupied Germany 1945-1946

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After The War.
Blue-eyed GI in Germany: 1945

Binding Up the Wounds: An American Soldier in Occupied Germany 1945-1946
Leon C. Standifer
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

After The War........2004-07-11

"Binding Up The Wounds" by Leon C. Standifer. Subtitled: "An American Soldier In Occupied Germany, 1945-1946" Louisiana State University Press, 1997.
The theme of this book is set by the quotation of the part of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, which we all know and which is triggered in our memories by "With malice toward none..." In this, his second book on the War, retired professor Leon C. Standifer recounts his experiences in dealing with the conquered German people, learning a little of the German language and learning, it seems, a lot about life and the opposite sex. Professor Standifer has written a very charitable book, using the Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865) for a framework for a theme of forgiveness and understanding with the defeated Germans. So many Americans, who tend to quote this section of Lincoln's Address, neglect that in that Address, Lincoln also said that it would be just if the tragedy of the Civil War continue "... until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword". This clearly applied to the Germans who had drawn so much blood.

In his first book (see "Not In Vain: A Rifleman Remembers World War II"), the good professor gives the story of his days in combat and how he earned the Combat Infantryman's Badge, that pale blue emblem of having served on the front line. In this present book, Standifer tells the story of his unit's adventures as they begin to understand the Germans as fellow human beings, and not as targets on the field. Since he started out as a very young man from the "back woods" of Mississippi, he grew up in combat and then he was first exposed to urban life in the old cities of the Sudetenland and Bavaria. Throughout the year in occupied Europe, (he says that he had a "ball"), his experiences were firmly filtered through his fundamental Christianity and his background in segregated Mississippi. I can understand some of his background. A dozen years after the time of his book, (1958), I was stationed at Naval Air Technical Training Center, Memphis, and, as a Native New Yorker, I found the segregation in Tennessee to be irritating and different enough to be exotic. Further, in all of Memphis, they did not know what a pizza was, let alone know how to make pizza. (I suspect that national chain restaurants have changed all that today.) So, Standifer's outsider's account of beer drinking, Catholic Bavarians rings true. I suspect that some of the nostalgia that seems apparent on the author's part is due to the fact that 1945-1946 was a happy year when he was young. This is an excellent personal memoir.

Blue-eyed GI in Germany: 1945.......1997-09-04

I give the author credit for trying to recreate his life at age 20. He has done an admirable job in vignetting his life in Munich as an occupation soldier. His memory is accurate. However: he went through this experience with a song in his heart and no connection to the actual landscape. He makes no real effort to meet those he occupies, And when he does, he usually blushes. I guess that is to be expected from a 20-year-old from rural Mississippi. The edict against fraternization is no excuse - nobody really obeyed it anyway. Did he never wonder why there was no civil government, police, etc. in Bad Aibling? Because the Military Government forbade any kind of political structure. Why did his German aquaintances never mention relatives or friends in other parts of the country? Because the Military Government did not allow mail or any other part of communication until the end of 1946. Why did he hitchhike into Munich instead of simply taking the train>? Because there was no transportation, the Military Government having forbidden people to leave their community. What about those Polish Displaced Persons( DP)? They were offered cash and a Care parcel if they would return to Poland. They took it, and a few weeks later they were back in Munich. What about the black market? In early 1947 a unit of the USArmy, armed with machine guns, stormed a housing block in Munich given over of DPs. The black market cigarettes they carried out where measured not in packages or cartons, but in tons! Why were those German students not studying? Not only was the university bombed out, but it belonged to the State of Bavaria, that did not exist anymore. What about food? General Lucius D, Clay in Berlin determined by fiat the number of calories every German got - no matter what was on the rationing card. The author is dead-right about general Muller, though, who came into the Munich railroad station on Goering's special train and insisted on a red carpet. Did the Germans like the Americans? Those GIs kept completely to themselves and were rarely seen. But a military occupation is always rough on the occupied. And they never understood that this is the price to pay for losing a war. It would have been psychologically easier if the USGovernment had not insisted on calling it an "eduction towards democracy". It is to the author's infinite credit that he maintained his basic values and humanity. The green recruits who came after the combat soldiers went home were the real horor.

Rebuilding Europe: Western Europe, America, and Postwar Reconstruction (Postwar World)

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Rebuilding Europe: Western Europe, America, and Postwar Reconstruction (Postwar World)
David W. Ellwood
Manufacturer: Longman Group United Kingdom
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Western | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0582022452

Recovery and Restoration: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Politics of Reconstruction of West Germany's Shipbuilding Industry, 1945-1955 (International History)

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Recovery and Restoration: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Politics of Reconstruction of West Germany's Shipbuilding Industry, 1945-1955 (International History)
Henry Burke Wend
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

History | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0275969908

Book Description

Because of Germany's strong reputation in naval construction, the Allies slated the shipbuilding industry for dismantling after 1945; however, by 1955, West German shipbuilders had regained their place among the world leaders in this industry. This study traces the reconstruction through the labyrinth of Cold War diplomacy, foreign aid programs, and West German politics. By linking the histories of U.S. foreign policy, German business, and postwar "Americanization," Wend demonstrates not just the impact of U.S. policy on West German reconstruction, but also the influence of local actors on the direction, implementation, and success of U.S. policies. The recovery of German shipbuilding meshed well with most of the Truman administration's critical foreign policy initiatives, including the Marshall Plan. As American commitments became globalized, the U.S. relied heavily on West German actors and their institutions for the successful implementation of its policies. In shipbuilding, this reliance strengthened the role of the industrial association, the vertical integration of shipyards with Ruhr industries, and awakened opposition of British and American interest groups. Although U.S. policies failed to alter this industry's structure, West Germans did accept the American production model in the reconfiguration of individual shipyards in the 1950s.

The United States and European Reconstruction

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The United States and European Reconstruction
John Killick
Manufacturer: Edinburgh University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

International | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The United States and the European Trade Union Movement, 1944-1951

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The United States and the European Trade Union Movement, 1944-1951
Federico Romero
Manufacturer: University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Labor & Industrial Relations | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Labor Unions | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0807820652

The United States and European Reconstruction: The Case of Norway, 1945-1953

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The United States and European Reconstruction: The Case of Norway, 1945-1953
Kai R. Pedersen
Manufacturer: Austin & Winfield Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Norway | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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In-Depth focus on advertising

Strategic Copywriting: How to Create Effective Advertising
Edd Applegate
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 074253068X

Customer Reviews:

In-Depth focus on advertising.......2006-07-06

If advertisements are a major focus of your work, this book provides a good introduction to the writing challenges in different advertising media. All copywriters will benefit from reading the chapters on research, developing a creative strategy, and writing headlines & slogans.

Book Description

In the great boom of the 1990s, top management's compensation soared, but the wages of most Americans barely grew at all. This wages stagnation has baffled experts, but in The New Ruthless Economy, Simon Head points to information technology as the prime cause of this growing wage disparity. Many economists, technologists and business consultants have predicted that IT would liberate the work force, bringing self-managed work teams and decentralized decision making. Head argues that the opposite has happened. Reengineering, a prime example of how business processes have been computerized, has instead simplified the work of middle and lower level employees, fenced them in with elaborate rules, and set up digital monitoring to make sure that the rules are obeyed. This is true even in such high-skill professions as medicine, where decision-making software in the hands of HMOs decides the length of a patient's stay in hospital and determines the treatments patients will or will not receive. In lower-skill jobs, such as in the call center industry, workers are subject to the indignity of scripting software that lays out the exact conversation, line by line, which agents must follow when speaking with customers. Head argues that these computer systems devalue a worker's experience and skill, and subject employees to a degree of supervision which is excessive and demeaning. The harsh and often unstable work regime of reengineering also undermines the security of employees and so weakens their bargaining power in the workplace. Drawing upon ten years of research visiting work places across America, ranging from medical offices to machine tool plants, Head offers dramatic insight into the impact of information technology on the quality of working life in the United States.

Customer Reviews:

Working Under the All-Seeing Eye.......2006-12-19

With Drucker`s Post Capitalist Society, I got the impression that production was the key to higher pay, but Head contradicts that notion saying that the American work force has been made more productive, but it still has not seen much of an increase in pay. A worker works harder and faster, but still gets paid about the same. Even white collar workers and highly skilled professionals are managed scientifically under Taylor's principles. There seems to be a spreading madness for higher production. It is dehumanizing to have to do tasks at a speed and manner that may not fit the personality and ability of the person doing the job. I suppose that increasing production may decrease the price of the product because of the increased supply due to higher production. This would lower the cost for the consumer who is also the worker, which would be a benefit.

I can see why workers resisted Taylor's schemes to get them to be more productive. It is much more desirable for the workers to set the pace without having supervision, rather than having a supervisor tell you to speed up. Besides, not everyone works at the same pace, unless you force them to.

Even health care has become a dehumanizing experience for patients as they too have to endure a managed care system geared toward production, rather than caring for the patient. It seems to be a very male-oriented philosophy to coldly concentrate only on production and beating out the less productive competition, as opposed to other values that could be emphasized.

By increasing the productivity of workers, an employer reduces the labor cost of making the product, ultimately trimming down the number of people employed. With Taylorism, the worker participates in his own eventual replacement by suggesting ways to do the work more efficiently.

Although there had been some talk of the increase of worker autonomy and empowerment with rise of Japanese auto production, actually management practiced a more refined Taylorism. Workers were both bored by simple tasks and stressed to keep up with the speed of the line. This decreased the quality of working life. Unions were unable to penetrate into Japanese run plants worldwide to attempt to slow down the line and give workers more power.

It's amazing that the engineers of the Casepoint software thought that it would work. Customers who call in about equipment they don't understand are often rambling and incoherent. Such unpredictability would ruin such a system. You need to use the human computer to figure out such problems. No artificial computers have been created yet that would fix such problems.

I agree with Reichheld that if you treat employees well and retain their loyalty and service, then the business runs much more smoothly and profitably, without having to resort to such immoral tactics as management by excessive and stressful monitoring. Management, employees, and customers benefit from having a humane work environment. Businesses should focus on this, rather on just production. Unfortunately, businesses often view their employees with contempt and think that they can be easily replaced. Businesses listen more to scientific managers, rather than to humane ones.

With Head's review of scientific management, I get the impression that Taylor and his followers really do belong in the lowest parts of hell. But focusing on higher production is not a bad pursuit as long as it doesn't become the only goal.

There are many problems with scientifically managed healthcare. Patients are "medical losses" in managed care; the term is used to describe the loss of profit when the patient cost the MCO to much money. Such patients are unprofitable clients to the reengineers following the principles of scientific management to try to reduce the cost of healthcare. The invasion of this philosophy into the healthcare system has not gone over well with doctors or patients. Patients don't want to be treated like products; doctors want to make their own decisions about the patient's care without having to go by the rigid guidelines of managed care. Because physicians are no longer making flexible decisions during the diagnosis of patients, medical errors are opening them up to lawsuits, which further increase the cost of healthcare. MCO's are more interested in making a profit, than merely holding down costs. Since there has been an increase of bureaucracy because of the contentious negotiations between doctors, hospitals, and HMO's, costs are increasing probably more so than they were before managed care. To bring costs down they must deny care to patients, particularly if they are unprofitable patients with severe and chronic health problems. This market solution to rising health care costs has not been that successful; the author suggests that all could be covered under nationalized health care. Drucker would probably object with the usual argument about people waiting years for a serious operation to be done under nationalized care.

Although companies talk of employee empowerment with the advent of IT technologies, the opposite has actually occurred. There is a chance for empowerment, but not with the way the technology is being used now. The technology actually gets in the way of employees becoming more experienced at solving problems, which could lead to job satisfaction. While scientific management has had some success in manufacturing as far as higher production goes, it has not been successful in services that deal with humans, which requires more complexity and caring. There are other values that are more important than production in the services. Head disagrees with Drucker that higher production necessarily leads to higher wages. The fruits of increased productivity often go to the CEOs and shareholders, and senior managers, not employees.

The Digital Age Catches Up........2005-09-15

The chronology of this book spans almost two centuries of American history. In 1824, John Hall achieved the automatic machining of metal components at the Harpers Ferry arsenal, and Hall's new methods were the ancestors of mass production and scientific management.

By another convenient accident of history, one of the pivotal events in this narrative, the beginnings of mass production at Ford's Highland plant in 1913, stands near the midpoint. If time travel allowed us to look back from the perspective of 1913, we would see how Henry Ford and Fred Winslow Taylor pulled together the "technical and organizational achievements of the 19th century" and welded them into a productive machine of commanding power and efficiency.

Looking forward from 1913, and with the advantage of hindsight, we can see how Ford's and Taylor's methods were elaborated by the technologies of the mid- and late 10th century, which will continue to shape today's U. S. A. economy. From their base in manufacturing, these methods have launched an invasion of the service economy in which eighty percent of Americans work.

After I learned computer training at the Vo-Tech in Pulaski, I agreed that I could effectively work robotic computers. I never had the chance to show my stuff, but I did have various and sundry computer-entry jobs in different factories. It was, for me, the Alpha and Omega -- the beginning and the End.

Is it possible for humans to be programmed like machines? Like in the movie, ROBOTS, and 'The Island,' it is likely that some sort of robotic entity will exist in our near future. Simon Head puts doubts on our "illusions about information technology and argues that everyone loses when corporations try to use technology to conquer human nature." We all know that machines have no minds (like the two city of Knoxville representatives at yesterday's TPO meeting) and can never have the ability to think and feel on their own. Computers do as they are told or programmed, which is good. Humans need to always be in control.

Big Brother Is Watching.......2004-04-12

The New Ruthless Economy by Simon Head is a somber, thought provoking examination of how the American workforce has been dehumanized over the past decade. The widespread use of Information Technology in business was predicted to decentralize decision-making and empower employees through greater team efficiency. The reality of IT is an aggressive return to Taylorism and assembly-line routine and controls that migrated from manufacturing to service industries.

During the 1990?s, wages of top management went through the roof but the average American worker realized little, if any, increase at all. The New Ruthless Economy explores contributing factors to the inequality of wages, loss of job security and weakened bargaining power in the American workforce.

Simon Head drew his conclusions based upon ten years of research across industry lines and geographic boundaries. He discovered that in the name of efficiency, businesses have established highly structured rules, computerized their processes and then implemented technology to ensure these rules were strictly adhered to al? George Orwell.

The author provides concrete examples ranging from software implemented by HMOs that determine a patient?s length of care and treatment to the computer scripting used in call centers for wide-range solicitation. Use of these systems once again separates decision-making from the worker. It devalues an employee?s education, training and experience while subjecting them to excessively close supervision and monitoring.

Head also points to the ?lean production? and ?ERP? (enterprise resource planning) practices that prompted wholesale layoffs in the early to mid 1990?s. Not only did these systems reduce the skill levels of employees but they also significantly increased the level of worker scrutinization. Head explores the relationship between Information Technology and Scientific Management and concludes his book with a discussion of ?the economics of unfairness? where both the National Labor Review Board and employee privacy rights take major hits at the waterline. The New Ruthless Economy takes a look backward and forward where the view for American labor is equally disappointing.

Wake-up call.......2004-03-21

Head picks three areas to primarily study in his New Ruthless Economy: autos, health care and call centers, but the first part of the book is devoted to an excellent review of the basic tenets of scientific management as originally envisaged by the engineer Frederick Taylor, and his lesser-known counterpart in office management, William Leffingwell. Armed with this knowledge, the reader can easily trace developments in the last fifty years or so.

As Head points out, the overall effect of the extension of these principles, especially combined with the vast electronic monitoring provided by recent advances in IT, is the overall dumbing-down of the worker, regardless of inherent or potential skills. The study of Toyota auto plants in Japan and other countries is particularly distressing, and one can easily see that it is only the influence of unions that has slowed down the treadmill. The situation with regard to call centers is appalling: truly the workers there are exploited ruthlessly. One wonders if in the offshoring of American jobs in the service sector, eventually the same massive turnover numbers will appear in developing countries.

Head, in my opinion, saves the best till last?managed care organizations. Here, as one reads both figures rarely published, research findings, and case studies, it becomes all too obvious that MCOs are an absolute disaster. Why are health care costs going up? It?s all here in simple terms. Just this section of the book is worth reading alone if one is worried about health care in America.

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Resource Management) and a host of other business areas literally reorganized by giant software programs (SAP R/3, for example), are also discussed, and viewed as boondoggles that rarely achieve any desired goals.

The overall trends discussed in this well-written book should frighten both management and employees, and it is unfortunate that the latter so often buy into the consultants? ill-advised mantras.

Fresh perspective on the perils of the new economy.......2003-10-15

This provocative book exposes the dark side of IT productivity gains, in which workers in service sectors such as medicine are being transformed into cogs on an assembly line. Ironically, just when industrial assembly line workers have been empowered to take responsibility for the overall quality of the products, the workers in areas where judgment once reigned supreme find themselves extruded through routines-- what to do, what to say-- that make central planning seem creative. The initial productivity gains are apt to disappear, Head suggests, just as they did in old assembly lines, as numb minds produce bad products.

The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age.(Book review) : An article from: Journal of Economic Issues

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The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age.(Book review) : An article from: Journal of Economic Issues
Robert E. Prasch
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This digital document is an article from Journal of Economic Issues, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1189 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age.(Book review)
Author: Robert E. Prasch
Publication: Journal of Economic Issues (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Page: 235(3)

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Working in the digital age.(The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age)(Book Review): An article from: Monthly Labor Review

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Working in the digital age.(The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age)(Book Review): An article from: Monthly Labor Review
Horst Brand
Manufacturer: Superintendent Of Documents
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Monthly Labor Review, published by Superintendent Of Documents on January 1, 2005. The length of the article is 2163 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Working in the digital age.(The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age)(Book Review)
Author: Horst Brand
Publication: Monthly Labor Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Superintendent Of Documents
Volume: 128 Issue: 1 Page: 42(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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