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

Examines the motivation for achievement as a psychological factor that shapes economic development. Refuting arguments based on race, climate, or population growth, the book instead argues for cultural customs and motivations - especially the motivation for achievement - as the major catalysts of economic growth. Considering the Protestant Reformation, the rise of capitalism, parents' influences on sons, and folklore and children's stories as shaping cultural motivations for achievement, the book hypothesizes that a high level of achievement motivation precedes economic growth. This is supported through qualitative analysis of the achievement motive, as well as of other psychological factors - including entrepreneurial behavior and characteristics, and available sources of achievement in past and present highly achieving societies. It is the achievement motive - and not merely the profit motive or the desire for material gain - that has advanced societies economically. Consequently, individuals are not merely products of their environment, as many social scientists have asserted, but also creators of the environment, as they manipulate it in various ways in the search for achievement. Finally, a plan is hypothesized to accelerate economic growth in developing countries, by encouraging and supplementing their achievement motives through mobilizing the greater achievement resources of developed countries. The conclusion is not just that motivations shape economic progress, but that current influences on future people's motivations and values will determine economic growth in the long run. Thus, it is most beneficial for a society to concentrate its resources on creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and a strong ideological base for achievement. (CJC)

The Achieving Society

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship as well as the impact of leadership styles on knowledge management practices in a software firm in India. Design/methodology/approach – The research involved collection of quantitative data on leadership styles and knowledge management practices by using two psychometric instruments, namely organizational leadership questionnaire and knowledge management assessment tool. The survey consisted of 331 knowledge workers working for a software firm in India who had a minimum of one year of working experience in the organization. The data which were collected underwent statistical treatment to obtain the results for the stated objectives of the study. Findings – The research findings indicate directive as well as supportive styles of leadership to be significantly and negatively associated with the art of knowledge management practices. It also depicts that consulting and delegating styles of leadership are positively and significantly related with managing knowledge in a software organization. Finally, only the delegating mode of leadership behaviors was found to be significantl in predicting creation as well as management of knowledge for competitive advantage in software firms in India. Research limitations/implications – There are a few limitations which may affect the scope of the study. First, the study was conducted in only one software firm situated in the national capital territory of India. Hence, blanket generalization of the findings of the study to each and every software firm in India should be done with caution. Second, it was leadership styles alone more than any other variable which was taken to study its impact on knowledge management processes and practices. Therefore, it is suggested that future research, if any, in the area of knowledge management should take note of these two important limitations for the benefits of the industry as a whole. Practical implications – The research investigation offers several recommendations/suggestions for helping knowledge workers as well as top management to design and implement knowledge management architecture for organizational excellence. Originality/value – The paper offers unique empirical directions to manage knowledge in a software company in India. As there is a dearth of empirical research in the area of knowledge management in India, the empirical evidence obtained in this paper will be of use to organizations wanting to become knowledge management companies.

Role of leadership in knowledge management: a study

Experimental study of shot peening and stress peen forming

Tailoring of laminated composite structures by changing ply angle and thickness locally provides a unique opportunity to take full advantage of anisotropic properties of composite materials Variable stiffness design has become more attractive with the development of industrial fibre placement machines Strength design is one of the areas where fibre steering is advantageous Design methods that consist of directly optimising fibre angles or fibre path coefficients can lead to local optima and/or non-continuous solutions These problems can be alleviated by using lamination parameters as design variables, which provide a compact definition of laminate stiffness Additionally these parameters are continuous and the design space has shown to be convex Dependency of strength failure criteria on ply angles may preclude using lamination parameters as design variables Here, a recently developed method which incorporates the strength failure criteria in the lamination parameter space by using a conservative failure envelope for all ply angles is utilised A hybrid approximation for the failure index is developed and is guaranteed to be convex using a convexifying approach As an example strength maximisation of a panel with a central hole under uniaxial tension is investigated Numerical results show improvements in strength with respect to the quasi-isotropic design Although there is a common belief that design for stiffness can be served as a surrogate for strength design, it is shown that considering the strength as a design criteria especially for structures with large stress gradients is very important

Design of variable stiffness panels for maximum strength using lamination parameters

A process model for shot peen forming

https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/2297/1/JMPT%20Optimisation%20with%20Brunel%20Address.pdf

The optimisation of shot peen forming processes

Managing learning and tacit knowledge.

The Maximum Likelihood Method formula for estimating directional spectra from wave height measurements is derived. Simulations are used to evaluate the effect of record length, statistical reliability and array characteristics on the directional resolution of the method. An array of wave height sensors, designed on the basis of the simulation results, was used to measure waves in a pseudo random directional wave tank and the estimated spectra are compared with both simulation results and the demand spectrum. The excellent correspondence indicates that the tank is capable of producing waves according to demand and the MLM can resolve them. Reflections cause standing waves which degrade the performance of the measuring system; these effects are investigated.

MJ Platts

Papers

A process model for shot peen forming

The optimisation of shot peen forming processes

Managing learning and tacit knowledge.

Measuring directional spectra with the mlm

The development of professional competence