According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

Temperament describes the idea that individual behavioural differences are repeatable over time and across situations. This common phenomenon covers numerous traits, such as aggressiveness, avoidance of novelty, willingness to take risks, exploration, and sociality. The study of temperament is central to animal psychology, behavioural genetics, pharmacology, and animal husbandry, but relatively few studies have examined the ecology and evolution of temperament traits. This situation is surprising, given that temperament is likely to exert an important influence on many aspects of animal ecology and evolution, and that individual variation in temperament appears to be pervasive amongst animal species. Possible explanations for this neglect of temperament include a perceived irrelevance, an insufficient understanding of the link between temperament traits and fitness, and a lack of coherence in terminology with similar traits often given different names, or different traits given the same name. We propose that temperament can and should be studied within an evolutionary ecology framework and provide a terminology that could be used as a working tool for ecological studies of temperament. Our terminology includes five major temperament trait categories: shyness-boldness, exploration-avoidance, activity, sociability and aggressiveness. This terminology does not make inferences regarding underlying dispositions or psychological processes, which may have restrained ecologists and evolutionary biologists from working on these traits. We present extensive literature reviews that demonstrate that temperament traits are heritable, and linked to fitness and to several other traits of importance to ecology and evolution. Furthermore, we describe ecologically relevant measurement methods and point to several ecological and evolutionary topics that would benefit from considering temperament, such as phenotypic plasticity, conservation biology, population sampling, and invasion biology.

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Integrating animal temperament within ecology and evolution.

Current research in meat color

Nutrient requirements of beef cattle

Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare.

This study was conducted to assess the effect of temperament on the average daily gains of feedlot cattle. Cattle (292 steers and 144 heifers) were transported to Colorado feedlot facilities. Breeds studied included Braford (n = 177), Simmental x Red Angus (n = 92), Red Brangus (n = 70), Simbrah (n = 65), Angus (n = 18), and Tarentaise x Angus (n = 14). Cattle were temperament rated on a numerical scale (chute score) during routine weighing and processing. Data were separated into two groups based on breed, Brahman cross (> or = 25% Brahman) and nonBrahman breeding. Animals that had Brahman breeding had a higher mean temperament rating (3.45 +/- .09) or were more excitable than animals that had no Brahman influence (1.80 +/- .10); (P < .001). These data also show that heifers have a higher mean temperament rating than steers (P < .05). Temperament scores evaluated for each breed group also showed that increased temperament score resulted in decreased average daily gains (P < .05). These data show that cattle that were quieter and calmer during handling had greater average daily gains than cattle that became agitated during routine handling.

Feedlot cattle with calm temperaments have higher average daily gains than cattle with excitable temperaments

Bos indicus-cross feedlot cattle with excitable temperaments have tougher meat and a higher incidence of borderline dark cutters.

Bos indicus composite and Bos taurus cattle, originating from diverse production environments, were used to quantify genetic variation in marbling, 24-h calpastatin activity, and beef tenderness and to identify strategies for prevention of beef tenderness problems in Bos indicus composite cattle. Comparisons among 3/8 Bos indicus breeds (Braford, Red Brangus, Simbrah) revealed significant differences in marbling and 24-h calpastatin activity, but not in tenderness. Compared with Bos taurus cattle, 3/ 8 Bos indicus cattle had similar marbling scores but higher 24-h calpastatin activities. Also, beef from 3/8 Bos indicus composites aged more slowly from 1 to 7 d and was less tender at 4, 7, 14, 21, and 35 d postmortem than beef from Bos taurus cattle. However, beef from 3/8 Bos indicus cattle was relatively tender if it was aged for a sufficient period of time (21 d). The delayed response to aging and greater toughness of beef from 3/8 Bos indicus cattle was associated with Brahman breed effects and was not related to the Bos taurus germplasm source. Marbling was moderately heritable (.52 +/- .21) but exhibited positive genetic correlations with shear force at d 1 through 14 of aging, suggesting that, in these cattle, selection for increased marbling would have an unfavorable effect on beef tenderness. A low heritability estimate for 24-h calpastatin activity (.15 +/- .15), coupled with low genetic correlations between calpastatin activity and shear force at 7, 14, and 35 d, suggested that selection for low calpastatin activity would have little effect on aged beef tenderness. Panel tenderness and shear force at 7, 14, and 21 d were moderately heritable (.27 to .47), indicating that aged beef tenderness could be improved by direct selection (via progeny testing). Comparisons among Simbrah, Senegus x Simbrah, and Red Angus x Simmental steers showed that inclusion of a tropically adapted Bos taurus breed (Senepol) could be an effective strategy for preventing beef tenderness problems in heat-tolerant cattle.

Genetic effects on beef tenderness in Bos indicus composite and Bos taurus cattle

Logistic regression was used to quantify and characterize the effects of changes in marbling score, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and consumer panel sensory ratings for tenderness, juiciness, or flavor on the probability of overall consumer acceptance of strip loin steaks from beef carcasses (n = 550) Consumers (n = 489) evaluated steaks for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor using nine-point hedonic scales (1 = like extremely and 9 = dislike extremely) and for overall steak acceptance (satisfied or not satisfied) Predicted acceptance of steaks by consumers was high (> 85%) when the mean consumer sensory rating for tenderness,juiciness, or flavor for a steak was 3 or lower on the hedonic scale Conversely, predicted consumer acceptance of steaks was low ( 55 kg) or low (< 30 kg) portions of the range of WBSF values had little effect on the probability of consumer acceptance of steaks

Relationships of consumer sensory ratings, marbling score, and shear force value to consumer acceptance of beef strip loin steaks

This research was conducted to determine whether objective measures of muscle color could be used to classify beef carcasses with respect to tenderness. Bos taurus (161 steers) and Bos indicus cross (101 steers, 55 heifers) cattle were fed a high-concentrate diet and slaughtered in seven groups when ultrasound scans indicated approximately 1.1 cm fat thickness. Following low-voltage electrical stimulation and a 24-h chill, all routine carcass data, USDA grade data, and colorimeter readings (luminance, L*; redness, a*; yellowness, b*) of the exposed longissimus muscle were obtained. The longissimus lumborum was sampled for ultimate pH (pHU) measurement, shear force at 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 35 d postmortem, and taste panel assessment at 14 d postmortem. The pHU was correlated (P < .05) with L*, a*, and b* values (r = -.48, -.52, and -.60, respectively). Correlations of color measurements with tenderness measurements were higher than correlations of marbling score with tenderness measurements. Of the three color measurements, b* value showed the highest correlation with shear force value (r = -.38) and taste panel tenderness rating (r = .37). A classification system (lowest 25%, middle 50%, highest 25%) based on marbling score resulted in classes of beef that were 9, 3, and 4% tough, respectively. A classification system (darkest/bluest 25%, middle 50%, lightest/yellowest 25%) based on colorimeter readings resulted in classes of beef that were 15, 3, and 0% tough, respectively. Bos taurus cattle had lower shear force values, higher panel tenderness ratings, higher L* values, and lower a* values (P < .05) than Bos indicus cross cattle.

J D Tatum

Papers

Feedlot cattle with calm temperaments have higher average daily gains than cattle with excitable temperaments

Bos indicus-cross feedlot cattle with excitable temperaments have tougher meat and a higher incidence of borderline dark cutters.

Genetic effects on beef tenderness in Bos indicus composite and Bos taurus cattle

Relationships of consumer sensory ratings, marbling score, and shear force value to consumer acceptance of beef strip loin steaks

Using objective measures of muscle color to predict beef longissimus tenderness.