Lean Leadership free essay sample

Briefly describe the answers to the following questions about the readings: a. What simple, inexpensive tool is used by UNC Health Care to communicate to patients? What are the doctors required to do to use this tool? Why did the tool work so well? UNC Health Care initiative included a written care plan and a whiteboard in every room with daily goals to help keep the patient focused on his or her discharge date. So there was a focus on communication with patients. They had also daily care plan meetings and improved communications based on centralized, accessible data. According to Scholl, creating a fast, easy-to-use plan of care was the essence BCG’s work. Within first 24 hours following admission, the doctor now checks off the care and education a patient will need. With that care plan in place, the care manager and nurse know exactly what to do. Another part of lean initiative was a top-down review of day-to-day administrative procedures, and identifying common problems, bottlenecks in another areas. We will write a custom essay sample on Lean Leadership or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page No one had to work more hours. UNC Health Care launched a lean pilot program that is increasing efficiency and enabling the hospital to serve more patients. No new hires were needed. UNC health care did more with less! This tool work so well because a hospital with 800 beds that cuts average length by just 10% can free up nearly 80 beds per year, enabling the delivery of more than 4000 additional procedures and boosting operating profit by almost $30 million. What are five ways that businesses in the lean transformation might utilize â€Å"excess† people (i. e. those people made available as wasted time/motion is removed from the system) rather than letting them go from the company (1) Reduce overtime (2) Put the extra people on Kaizens (to get future payback) (3) In-source some components rom marginal suppliers (4) Cut the workweek across the board (5) Develop new product lines to grow the business. c. According to Art Byrne what should be the core of any company’s trategy and why? According to Art Byrne, the core of any company’s strategy is: â€Å"To my way of thinking, this is exactly backwards. Introducing lean techniques in every business activity should be the core of any company’s strategy. These provide both the opportunity and the resources to generate and sustain profitable growth. Profitable growth is what the strategic planners of the world are always seeking, but find hard to achieve because thei r company’s operations can’t deliver on their strategies. Why are value stream maps and system kaizens critical starting blocks for a lean transformation? The problem with sensei teaching system, once consultants with no direct link to Toyota and many self-taught managers began to practice it, was that there tended to be no big picture waiting to be revealed. Instead of flow kaizen directed at the total flow of value for a product family, there was only process kaizen, and usually lots of process kaizen, focused on isolated individual steps in many value streams. The likely result is â€Å"kamikaze kaizen†: lots of commotion, many isolated victories in the great war against muda, wide special initial enthusiasm on the basis of early results, impressive amounts of consciousness raising, and loss of the war when no sustainable benefits reached the customer or the bottom line. The solution is for firms without access to master sensei to start consciously at the system level for each product family. This means looking at the big picture, including the most important business needs, and determining the overall plan of march before conducting process kaizen on the individual steps. The value-stream map is an invaluable tool to help line managers along the value stream see the whole. The critical error made is failing to connect on one map the flow of information going back from the customer to the producer with the transforming actions on the product, in response to this information, as the good moves toward the customer. Making this connection is the critical leap in being able to see the closed circuit of demand and response that is the essence of value creation, an insight that traditional process maps, showing physical transformation alone, fail to provide. . Use of standard work in the office includes key points related to what three aspects of task performance? Including what in the standard work will reduce the likelihood that employees will drift away from using the standard work? First element of standard work is the â€Å"what†, that is defining the task to be performed. Second, the â€Å"how† to perform a step within a process and the à ¢â‚¬Å"why† – explaining the logic behind the defined tasks. Third element is time and timing. Standard work also includes the expected time to complete a task or group of tasks. Sometimes people drift away from standard work procedures over time. For example, an employee performing a task discovers a change that seems to help himself – a shortcut that enables him to complete his work more quickly. Will he be likely to play the scenario out and consider whether his change creates an unintended consequence further down the line? What if his change causes quality problems for a downstream process? The bottom line is that well-intentioned employees taking shortcuts can create new problems.

Focault analysis essays

Focault analysis essays The Manufacturing of an American Soldier: An Examination of the Indoctrination Process During the Gulf War at Fort Knox, Kentucky "As a soldier, you have accepted a solemn obligation to defend the ideals of freedom, justice, truth, and equality as found in The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Whether you are serving a single term or making a career of the military, your actions should never be contrary to the ideals and principles upon which this nation was founded." - Department of the Army, Soldier's Handbook (62) In February of 1991, Bravo Troop of the 5/15 Cavalry stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky Training Facility performed a ritualized, ceremonial examination of its new recruits. The recruits arose at four a.m. and marched till eight to arrive at a small, secluded building surrounded by forest. The recruits stood in a single-file line facing the entrance of the building, eyes forward, feet shoulder width apart, hands folded in the small of their back. Approximately one hundred and twenty recruits stood peering through the lenses of their protective masks, watching fifteen soldiers enter the building. Once inside the building, the fifteen recruits stood at attention, fingers curled, thumb locked on second knuckle of the index finger, hands placed at their sides, heels together, feet splayed at a forty-five degree angle, stomach in, chin-up, eyes forward, in three lines, five recruits deep, facing the Drill Instructor. The room was filled with thick, white smoke. The only light ca me from a small fire burning on the cement floor at the drill instructor's feet. Beside the fire was a metal, olive-green container labeled in black, block lettering the read, "Solid CS Agent." The Drill instructed the recruits, still standing at attention, to remove their protective masks, which they did with little hesitation. Exposure to such high concentrations of CS gas produces a violent, bodi...

8 Ways to Help Students with Dyslexia Succeed

8 Ways to Help Students with Dyslexia Succeed Homework is an important part of the school learning experience. Guidelines for homework are 20 minutes for elementary age children, 60 minutes for middle school and 90 minutes for high school. It is not unusual for students with dyslexia to take 2 to 3 times that amount of time to get their homework completed each night. When this happens, any benefit a child might derive from the extra practice and review is negated by the frustration and exhaustion they feel. While accommodations are often used in school to help students with dyslexia complete their work, this is rarely done with homework. Teachers need to be aware that it is easy to overburden and overwhelm a child with dyslexia by expecting the same amount of homework to be completed in the same amount of time as the students without dyslexia.The following are suggestions to share with general education teachers when giving homework: Outline assignments Write the homework assignment on the board early in the day. Set aside a portion of the board that is free of other writing and use the same spot each day. This gives students plenty of time to copy the assignment into their notebook. Some teachers provide alternate ways for students to get homework assignments: A bulk email is sent to all students, or their parents, listing the homework assignmentAn online calendar lists homework assignmentsThe classroom telephone message is changed each morning to reflect the homework assignments. Students can call the classroom to get the assignmentStudents with dyslexia, ADHD or other learning differences are paired with another student who checks the students notebook to make sure the homework assignment was written correctlyForm a homework chain. Each student writes the name of two other students in the front of their notebook who they can call to ask questions about the assignment. If you must change a homework assignment because a lesson was not covered, give students plenty of time to amend their notebooks to reflect the change. Be sure each student understands the new assignment and knows what to do. Explain the reasons for the homework There are a few different purposes for homework: practice, review, previewing upcoming lessons and to expand knowledge of a subject. The most common reason for homework is to practice what has been taught in class but sometimes a teacher asks the class to read a chapter in a book so it can be discussed the following day or a student is expected to study and review for an upcoming test. When teachers explain not only what the homework assignment is but why it is being assigned, the student can more easily focus on the task. Use less homework more frequently Rather than assigning a large amount of homework once per week, assign a few problems each night. Students will retain more information and be better prepared to continue the lesson each day. Let students know how homework will be graded Will they receive a checkmark simply for completing the homework, will wrong answers be counted against them, will they receive corrections and feedback on written assignments? Students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities work better when they know what to expect. Allow students with dyslexia to use a computer This helps to compensate for spelling errors and illegible handwriting. Some teachers allow students to complete an assignment on the computer and then email it directly to the teacher, eliminating lost or forgotten homework assignments. Reduce the number of practice questions Is it imperative to complete every question to receive the benefits of practicing skills or can the homework be reduced to every other question or the first 10 questions? Individualize homework assignments to make sure a student gets enough practice but isnt overwhelmed and will not be spending hours each night working on homework. Remember: Dyslexic Students Work Hard Keep in mind that students with dyslexia work hard each day just to keep up with the class, sometimes working much harder than other students just to complete the same amount of work, leaving them mentally exhausted. Reducing homework gives them time to rest and rejuvenate and be ready for the next day at school. Set time limits for homework Let the students and their parents know that after a certain amount of time working on homework the student may stop. For example, for a young child, you may set 30 minutes for assignments. If a student works hard and only completes half of the assignment in that time, the parent may indicate the time spent on homework and initial the paper and allow the student to stop at that point. Specially-designed Instruction When all else fails, contact your students parents, schedule an IEP meeting and write new SDIs to support your students struggling with homework. Remind your general education partners to protect the confidentiality of students who need accommodations to homework. Learning disabled children may already have low self-esteem and feel as if they dont fit in with other students. Drawing attention to accommodations or modifications to homework assignments can further damage their self-esteem. Sources:Â   A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom, 2000, Patricia Hodge, Dyslexia.comEffects of Instruction in an Assignment Completion Strategy on the Homework Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities in General Education Classes, 2002, Charles A.Hughes, Kathly L.Ruhl, Teaching LD Newsletter,Volume 17, Issue 1

Leagal case study Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leagal case study - Term Paper Example In December 2002 Mora received a report of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Naval Base, Cuba. Despite the notation that the Navy or Marine Corps and OGC attorneys were not involved, he still went to investigate. Mora admits that this chronological narrative of the significant events pertaining to detainee interrogation, in which he and the OGC participated or had knowledge of, is sadly lacking since he was unable to identify and name all those who participated. Suffice it to say that in other aspects his efforts yielded a lot of good. He was able to uncover an action memo, dated Dec.2, authorizing entitled "Counter -Resistance Techniques" authorized by Secretary Rumsfield and rumored to be partly authorized at a "high level" in Washington permitted the use of certain interrogation techniques. Mora understood the necessity of obtaining information to prevent another 9/11 but to condone such practices to him will cause harm to the national legal, political, military and diplomatic interest s.

Consumer behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Consumer behaviour - Essay Example The key role of an advertisement is to bring about a positive change in attitudes of consumers towards a brand, which is accomplished by first creating an awareness regarding the brand, followed by communicating a positive message about the same, in a manner which appeals to the sensibilities of the target consumers. The information included in the advertisements exposes the consumers to a variety of information, thus in turn psychologically pressurizing them to buy the product through positive social pressures (Donovan, Henley, 2010). Pride and Ferrell (2011) define attitude as "an enduring evaluation of feelings about and behavioural tendencies toward an object or idea" (Pp. 138). The marketers try to capture and change the individual's feelings / attitudes through advertising. Advertising helps in creating awareness of brands and companies in the minds of the consumers, and the same can be done by appealing to one or all of the three key elements of attitude; which includes - cogn itive, affective and behavioural. The cognitive element entails an individual's knowledge and information regarding the product or idea being marketed by the companies; the affective element entails the feelings and emotions of the individuals towards those products or ideas; while the behavioural element comprises of actions taken by the individuals with regard to the product or ideas. Of these components / elements of attitude, the affective component plays a major role in developing a positive attitude in the minds of the consumers with regard to a given product or idea. The emotions in turn comprise of both psychological as well as biological elements. Feelings such as love, hatred, anger etc., influence an individual's behaviour towards any object or idea; and if used effectively, can be used to generate positive responses towards a specific brand (Hoyer et al., 2008). Impact of attitudes on consumer behaviour: Attitudes of consumers are one of the key elements of marketing str ategies, which is often targeted by the marketers and advertisers with a view to gain a positive response from the target customers. Attitudes are formed of various characteristics such as favourability, attitude accessibility, confidence, persistence, and resistance. Favourability refers to the likes or dislikes of consumers with regard to a product / brand attribute; accessibility refers to the ease with which the consumers can identify and relate a brand attribute and retrieve it from one's memory; confidence refers to certainty of one's feelings towards a given brand; persistence refers to the time-period for which a consumer can hold on to such an attitude; and resistance refers to the reluctance of consumers to change their attitudes towards a certain brand. Studies have shown that consumers, in most cases, frequently change their attitudes towards brands depending on the marketing strategies applied by the marketers, although bringing about such a change is a difficult task. The marketers hence use a variety of strategies and tactics to influence the consumers and develop a positive attitu

Whats Eating Gilbert Grape Essay -- essays papers

What's Eating Gilbert Grape What’s Eating Gilbert Grape portrays a family that is dealing with the trials, tribulations, and also great times of having a member with a disability. The Grape family consists of Gilbert, Ellen, Amy, Mama, and of course, Arnie. The Grape family lives in an isolated town of Endora in a house that seems to be in shambles since their father died. In the beginning, Gilbert’s voiceover states that â€Å"living in Endora is like dancing to no music,† which one can definitely relate to after viewing this touching film. Gilbert Grape is a young man that has been impeded by more burdens than any man ought to have in an entire lifetime. He stocks shelves and delivers groceries for a local store, Lamson’s Grocery, whose business has been deserted by the new supermarket in town. The movie begins with the â€Å"yearly ritual† of Gilbert and Arnie watching the caravans that pass along the road. Gilbert’s adversity seems to have started when his fath er hung himself seventeen years ago in their basement, which in turn drove his mother to obesity and a life confined to only their home. His mother has become a â€Å"burden† on him and he feels ashamed and humiliated by her. Gilbert even regards his mother as â€Å"a beached whale,† and at one point lifts a young boy to the window to experience the sight of her. Gilbert’s mother is not his only complication; he is having an aimless affair with a frustrated housewife, Betty Carver, whose rash sexual demands have placed much ap... What's Eating Gilbert Grape Essay -- essays papers What's Eating Gilbert Grape What’s Eating Gilbert Grape portrays a family that is dealing with the trials, tribulations, and also great times of having a member with a disability. The Grape family consists of Gilbert, Ellen, Amy, Mama, and of course, Arnie. The Grape family lives in an isolated town of Endora in a house that seems to be in shambles since their father died. In the beginning, Gilbert’s voiceover states that â€Å"living in Endora is like dancing to no music,† which one can definitely relate to after viewing this touching film. Gilbert Grape is a young man that has been impeded by more burdens than any man ought to have in an entire lifetime. He stocks shelves and delivers groceries for a local store, Lamson’s Grocery, whose business has been deserted by the new supermarket in town. The movie begins with the â€Å"yearly ritual† of Gilbert and Arnie watching the caravans that pass along the road. Gilbert’s adversity seems to have started when his fath er hung himself seventeen years ago in their basement, which in turn drove his mother to obesity and a life confined to only their home. His mother has become a â€Å"burden† on him and he feels ashamed and humiliated by her. Gilbert even regards his mother as â€Å"a beached whale,† and at one point lifts a young boy to the window to experience the sight of her. Gilbert’s mother is not his only complication; he is having an aimless affair with a frustrated housewife, Betty Carver, whose rash sexual demands have placed much ap...

History in Africa Before Europeans Essay

There are many examples of great societies in Africa that have documented history and have had very advanced societies for their time. There are three societies in particular whose progressive communities have shattered these Aryan model claims of Roper. Great Zimbabwe, Ancient Ghana, and the nations of the Nile Valley have all shown that they have a proper history that is well documented before the arrival of Europeans, thus impeding on the Aryan model that had been used when first coming to Africa. It is important to understand theories of history to understand why Roper’s statement of Africa having little history before Europeans is wrong. The Aryan model, states that Caucasians are the top of the hierarchy of humans and black people or Africans are the lowest. This model proved to the early Europeans that certain African groups could not have been black because they were advanced and civilized cultures. Vasant states that â€Å"The concept of race†¦was in the 19th and 20th centuries held to be the key not merely to the abilities of a person or group, but an index to the character and potentials of that particular physical type, for all generations past, present and future† (Vasant Kaiwar, â€Å"Racism and the Writing of History, Part I,† 1989. Pg. 33). It is more plausible to refer to ancient theory, which states that essentially that Greeks recognized that their roots were in Africa. This model believes that Greece was settled about 1500 B. C. E. by the Egyptians and Phoenicians. The Greeks’ mathematics, governmental system, language, philosophy, writing and religion were all borrowed from African and Semitic sources. By this model this essay should prove that the Aryan model of thought will be invalid. Great Zimbabwe had a very rich history before any influence of Europeans. There are two theories of the descendants of them, one being that they were part of the Karanga, a branch of the Shona-speaking people. Another is the may be descended from a community that lived less than a hundred miles away from Great Zimbabwe (Story of Africa, Great Zimbabwe). The Great Zimbabwe was prosperous iron-age society and had a wealth generated from cattle. This nation spread from the Limpopo River to the Zambezi. This was a massive area, spilling out into Botswana, Mozambique and northern South Africa. The most famous stone building in southern Africa was made there that is still standing. â€Å"The Great Zimbabwe monument is built out of granite which is the parent rock of the region. The building method used was dry-stone walling, demanding a high level of masonry expertise. Some of the site is built round natural rock formations. The actual structure comprises a huge enclosing wall some 20 meters high† (Great Zimbabwe). Throughout this structure there is circular passageways with enclosures for royalty. Many objects are found throughout the structure, which include: battle axes, gold, and shrines. The Great Zimbabwe was an agrarian society; this put all notions of the Aryan model down since it was thought that all Africans were hunter-gatherer societies. The Great Zimbabwe biggest wealth source was cattle and was the center of an international and national commercial system (Great Zimbabwe). This trade network encompassed most of Africa as well as western parts of India, and as far as China. Ancient Ghana is another example of a society with a documented history before the European era. They were a nation stacked with gold and literary and bookkeeping skills. The Ancient Ghanaians are theorized to be descendants of a cluster of groups from modern Senegal who came together under a leader of semi-divine status. The Ancient Ghanaians had stuck with their traditional faith before some converting to Muslim and others believing a variation of both. Traditionally a virgin would be sacrificed to the Black snake, Bida. This was until a man who was engaged to the intended victim rescued her and Bida took vengeance on the region by causing a terrible drought (Story of Africa, Ancient Ghana). The reason this is important is because up until the 12th century Ancient Ghana had an abundance of goats, sheep, and cows. After that only goats were common. This is an important part to understanding that Ancient Ghana does have its own history before Europeans because it is documented that this ritual sacrifice happened and that the ancient Ghanaians were a society that had grew from merely hunters and gathers to a trading agrarian society. The Ancient Ghanaians also made most of their wealth from gold. â€Å"Al-Hamdani, describes Ghana as having the richest gold mines on earth. These were situated at Bambuk, on the upper Senegal River. The Soninke also sold slaves, salt and copper, in exchange for textiles, beads and finished goods† (Ancient Ghana, GhanaHomePage). The Ancient Ghanaians were mining for gold much before the European intervention and creating a small empire from this trade and most importantly creating a history of its own without European involvement. This leads into the final society and without a doubt has it’s own history without Europeans. This society is Ancient Egypt. Egypt has a long standing history and such an advanced society that Europeans would not believe that they were descendants of Africa. Many Europeans believed that they were descendants of the lost city of Atlantis. Europeans complimented this theory by saying that Egyptian’s skin was light brown as opposed to the rest of Africa with very dark skin. This was accepted until hieroglyphics were found of ruler named Piye who was a very dark skinned African from Numbia. â€Å"On a relief in the temple at the Nubian capital of Napata, only Piye’s legs remain. We are left with a single physical detail of the man—namely, that his skin was dark† (Robert Draper, â€Å"Black Pharaohs,† 2008. Pg. 1). Hieroglyphics are one of the earliest forms of writing in the world. They were used to record crop numbers, stories of the past, or the level of the Nile River. They were also used to inscribe prayer and record the feats and lineages of ruling families (The Story of Africa, The Nile Valley). This disproves Roper’s statement of Africa not having a history before Europeans were involved in Africa because hieroglyphics were recorded and to this day still remain. Ancient Egypt had a very spiritual society made up of polytheistic gods. Many of the temples and pyramids were dedicated to these gods and some of them reaching up to 146. 5 meters in height. This was the tallest building for thousands of years, which made it hard for Europeans to believe that Africans could have built such magnificent structures that are now considered one of the wonders of the world. â€Å"The construction of such buildings showed the Egyptians had an outstanding grasp of the principles of astronomy, mathematics and geometry† (Story of Africa, The Nile Valley). Modern Egyptologist are coming up with new theories that are challenging the notion that the pyramids were built by slaves rather than labourers. Zahir Hawass who is the director of the Pyramids believes that â€Å"fewer than 25 thousand labourers were involved and that far from being slaves they were peasants who were well cared for and proud to take part in a ‘national project’, out of love and respect for their Pharaoh and his divine authority† (Hawass, Nile Valley). This is also a notion of how European intervention has tried to use Egypt’s advancements against them, believing that the rulers were slave drivers rather than kings ruling over a kingdom. In conclusion, it is clear that Hugh Trevor-Roper’s statement about Africa not having a history of its own before Europe arrived is false. There were countless societies and kingdoms in Africa that were advanced for his Aryan model of thinking. These societies were not hunter-gatherer societies but mostly agrarian. These kingdoms mined for gold and traded cattle. Significant events were recorded in certain scribes or hieroglyphics thus telling their own history before the invasion of Europeans. The Great Zimbabwe, Ancient Ghana, and Ancient Egypt are all great examples, but only three, of kingdoms in Africa that made their own history without European intervention. Bibliography 1. Ancient Ghana. (n. d. ). Ghana HomePage, resource for News, Sports, Facts, Opinions, Business and Entertainment. Retrieved April 9, 2012, from http://www. ghanaweb. com/GhanaHomePage/history/ancient_ghana. hp 2. BBC World Service | The Story of Africa. (n. d. ). BBC – Homepage. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from http://www. bbc. co. uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/index. shtml 3. Robert Draper, â€Å"Black Pharaohs,† National Geographic Magazine (February 2008) 4. Reynolds, J. T. , & Gilbert, E. (2004). Africa in world history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Educational. 5. Vasant Kaiwar, â€Å"Racism and the Writing of History, Part I, † Comparative Studies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East 9, 2(1989): 32-56.