Ergonomics and Kaizen as strategies for competitiveness: a theoretical and practical in an automotive industry

With increased international competitiveness in the automotive industry, came the concern of the companies save costs and lower production costs. For this purpose many ways are designed to reduce costs and waste of raw materials and reduce activities that do not aggregate value to manufacturing processes. In the early XVII appears the manufacturing system, which processes were hard with little concern for the health and safety of employees and conditions of the workplace. After the advent of the production system called lean manufacturing, a new paradigm in terms of production system capable of providing high levels of productivity and quality. It is based on waste elimination that occur during the production process. After began a new way of thinking, creating a culture of continuous improvement and lean process with no waste and reducing costs, without neglecting the welfare worker and improving the conditions of their work environment. This paper presents a reflection on the application of ergonomics in a lean production system of an automotive industry, using methodology based on the Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) to gain performance and improving the conditions of the workplace, also will be presented with positive and negative points in using this methodology in relation to ergonomics. The research will be conducted by collecting data 'in loco' and interviews with workers. Some studies show that in companies that are lean system and using the methodology of Kaizen, the results of product quality, levels of absenteeism and accidents are better than those obtained in companies that do not apply the same concept.     

The Bangladesh Health SWAp: Experience of a New Aid Instrument in Practice

Sector‐wide approaches are being widely adopted as a new aid modality, incorporating government ownership, partnership and a move from project to programme support. The literature to date on their performance in practice is, at best, mixed. This article reviews these issues in the light of the experience of arguably the world's oldest and largest SWAp, the Bangladesh health sector programme. A positive picture emerges of an evolutionary institutional adaptation towards a programme approach, with positive systemic effects on government processes and a reduction in transaction costs in dealing with donors. There are, however, negative aspects, notably, donor dominance in ‘dialogue’, though with limited influence on the government's actual strategy.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of a programme for improving the participation and academic success of an underrepresented minority group in New Zealand

Pacific peoples are a minority under-represented ethnic group in higher education in New Zealand. This article explores the effectiveness of a specific programme, which sought to improve outcomes of Pacific students in the tertiary environment. The aim of the evaluation was to determine the effectiveness of an intervention programme (2013–2015) to increase the participation and academic success of Pacific students in the first year in Health Sciences. The study found the academic results of Pacific students who participated in the intervention programme were significantly better compared to those who did not. The findings inform future research, suggesting that, when assessing the effectiveness of a programme, it is useful to explore the performance of the whole cohort separately to those who declared intention or interest to attend the programme. Strategies to support participation of each of these groups are likely to be different. Having a standardised approach when comparing groups will adjust for any confounding factors or prior differences. This will allow a more accurate assessment of the effectiveness of the programme being evaluated. This paper presents the importance of a robust approach to the delivery and evaluation of intervention programmes for improving outcomes for underrepresented students in the tertiary environment.     

Exploring the utility of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in ranking livelihood activities for effective and sustainable rural development interventions in developing countries

It is commonly known that most development projects, especially in the global south, tend to achieve unintended results or fail because of lack of due diligence. Project satisfaction and sustainability would only be achieved if consistent with the actual needs of the people intended to benefit. Based on field experiences in the Fantekwa District of Eastern Ghana, this study aims to explore the utility of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in prioritizing livelihood activities to aid in effective and sustainable poverty reduction interventions in developing countries. Data from twenty five development stakeholders in the district were used for the assessment. The study demonstrates that with appropriate data, and systematically following all required processes, the AHP approach can effectively show where intervention is most needed. Application of AHP in the current context, the study argues, has the potential to address the issue of wrong development targeting with associated counterproductive and nonstarter outcomes.     

Do people reason when they accept tricky offers? A case of approach and avoidance motivated reasoning

Tricky or deceptive sales offers are often accepted by people. But how do we explain the acceptance of such disadvantageous offers? We propose that buyers represent offers in terms of costs and benefits in a conditional goal-related mental rule along the lines of “if a cost is paid, a benefit is obtained”. This representation would be influenced by BAS (approach) and BIS (avoidance) motivational systems. Behavioural approach system (BAS) would trigger seeking evidence confirming the offer and would lead us to accept it. Behavioural inhibition system (BIS), on the contrary, seeks disconfirming evidence, leading to rejection of the offer. Activation of approach and avoidance motivation would be influenced by internal variables and the context. We carried out three experiments where participants were told to check if a deceptive conditional offer was a cheat in a thematic Wason Selection Task. Experiment 1 showed that participants preferred confirmatory selection when the benefit was linked to a human need. In Experiment 2, warning information indicating cheating was introduced, while in Experiment 3 information about product alternatives was added to the instructions. We found a weakening of confirmatory card selection in Experiment 2, and a clear preference towards falsifying selection in Experiment 3. These results support the role of approach and avoidance motivated reasoning in buying/selling exchanges. Implications of these results are discussed in comparison with cheater detection algorithm and conformation bias predictions.     

The Community Mothers Programme—Empowerment of parents by parents

SUMMARY: An innovative directed support intervention programme using lay people aimed at improving the quality of parenting during the first year of life was introduced on a pilot basis in Dublin in 1983 for parents of children living in working class communities. It involved experienced mothers who delivered a programme focusing on healthcare, nutritional improvement and overall child development to new parents. Support, encouragement and guidance were used rather than advice. The programme was evaluated in 1989 using a randomised controlled approach and was found to be effective in terms of health, nutrition and developmental stimulation. It has since expanded to incorporate breastfeeding support, mother and toddler groups and attention to the special needs of travellers, and the potential for applying this approach to other areas of healthcare and social development is large.     

Looking beneath the surface of a preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation

South Africa’s department of health devoted themselves to the clinical nursing education and training model, which indorses preceptors as essential stakeholders to promote competence in students. A preceptor-training programme was developed that build on this model and implemented through an intervention. The initial programme theory hypothesised that trained preceptors would promote support and develop competence in students in comparison to untrained preceptors. Results showed a poor outcome because few preceptors participated and a high student attrition rates. The authors then posed the question “Why did the preceptorship training programme not work?” This article offers insight into the context, mechanism, and outcome of the preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation. Reflective field notes, gathered during the intervention, were used and gave insight regarding how, for whom, and under which circumstances the programme could work and offered a refined programme theory for preceptorship. The main conclusion drawn showed that a preceptor-training programme alone is not the sole determining factor to ensure preceptors’ motivation to transfer their learning; a systems approach, ensuring the effectiveness of the programme, should be followed. Reflection on findings indicated the implementation context as a major determining factor of the training programme.     

Sociological Understandings of Conduct for a Noncanonical Activity Theory: Exploring Intersections and Complementarities

Following a discussion of activity theory as an approach to human development originally rooted in transformational change, we review the historical context and diverse conceptualizations of social conduct from the field of sociology. The discussion of social conduct is broken into theories of social action, theories of enactment, and contemporary sociological attempts at critical integration of the two across local and extralocal social processes. We conclude with an assessment of these sociological contributions in relation to what we term the threefold dialectic of material production, local and extralocal dimensions of intersubjective exchanges, and subjectivity that is fundamental to noncanonical understandings of activity theory.     

Insights for Measuring Social Value: Classification of Measures Related to the Capabilities Approach

The measurement of performance and the evaluation of social change efforts are vital yet challenging issues for practitioners and researchers in the social sector. Although tools exist to measure social value, they tend to focus on converting non-monetary costs and benefits into monetary terms to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of operations. The capabilities approach provides a value-based alternative that could potentially enable a broader assessment of a project’s impact; this approach encapsulates societal-level factors, beneficiary perspectives, and a more holistic view of a beneficiary’s life. Ultimately, our goal is to raise the following question in the social sector field: what might a capabilities approach to social value measurement that is suitable for practical application by social sector organizations look like? The purpose of this article is to introduce the theoretical framework and to present what some of the measures and instruments might look like, at least in part, based on applications in other contexts.     

Shifting the bell curve: the benefits and costs of raising student achievement

Benefit-cost analysis was conducted to estimate the increase in earnings, increased tax revenues, value of less crime, and reductions in welfare costs attributable to nationwide implementation of rapid assessment, a promising intervention for raising student achievement in math and reading. Results suggest that social benefits would exceed total social costs by a ratio of 28. Fiscal benefits to the federal government would exceed costs to the federal treasury by a ratio of 93. Social benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 286, and fiscal benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 5, for all but two state treasuries. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the findings are robust to a 5-fold change in the underlying parameters.     

Technology for social housing in Latin America : An evaluation of the CYTED research and development programme

Since the mid 1980s an international programme of scientific and technological co-operation between Spain, Portugal and Latin America has been underway (CYTED). One of the 16 sub-programmes is focussing on Technology for Social Housing, and has brought together hundreds of researchers and housing activists from every corner of the continent, to seek pragmatic approaches to improve the housing conditions of the poor majority in Latin America. In addition to cataloguing and exchanging existing experiences, a wide-ranging and detailed programme of research and development of innovative housing technologies has been set in motion. These include materials, techniques and processes.The paper briefly outlines the characteristics of the existing housing situation in Latin America in order to identify the main elements upon which these new approaches are built. The key components of the CYTED housing programme are then described and illustrated using examples of different projects. A common theme is the relationship between the building process and social patterns, particularly the potential for cooperation and community self-help construction. The paper then identifies some limitations of the programme and concludes that despite the commitment and creativity of those involved, the effectiveness of many projects and the general validity of the approaches adopted, severe structural constraints are likely to limit the impact of the programme. However the increased contacts, communication and opportunities for collaboration within the continent provide grounds for limited optimism about future developments.     

Reconfiguring ‘post‐socialist’ regions: cross‐border networks and regional competition in the Slovak and Ukrainian clothing industry

The global garment industry is currently being reshaped in dramatic ways through processes of trade liberalization, delocalization and interfirm and interregional competition. There has been much speculation about the increasing importance of factor (especially labour) costs in fuelling further rounds of de‐localization of garment production towards low‐cost production locations, such as China and India. However, the extent to which these processes mean the end to garment production in higher factor‐cost locations, including those neighbouring the major clothing markets of the USA and the EU, is open to question. In this article we interrogate the interregional shifts in garment sourcing taking place in Europe and its surrounding regions. While factor costs (including labour) are important determinants of the geography of sourcing, a range of other costs (logistical and policy costs) are important in structuring the geographies of global and regional production. Firms in the Slovak Republic are responding to increasing competitive pressures and we assess how trans‐border sourcing, subcontracting and FDI are being integrated into strategies to sustain European production networks. We highlight the emergence of cross‐border production relocation to Ukraine as one specific strategy. We examine the product specificity of these changes and the ways in which they are embedded within already existing production networks, forms of cross‐border contracting and central European trade regimes. In other words, we explore some of the forces that shape the somewhat tentative continuation of garment production for export to EU markets in central Europe despite the ‘spectre of China’.     

Vertical greening systems, a process tree for green façades and living walls

This study shows that greening the building envelope with vertical greening systems such as climbing plants or living wall systems provides ecological and environmental benefits. Contemporary architecture in fact is increasingly focusing on vertical greening systems as a means to restore the environmental integrity of urban areas, biodiversity and sustainability. Applying green façades, which is an established feature of contemporary urban design, can offer multiple environmental benefits on both new and existing buildings and can be a sustainable approach in terms of energy saving considering materials used, nutrients and water needed and efficient preservation of edifices. To provide a full perspective and a viable case study on vertical greening systems a process tree is developed throughout this research. Elaborating the process tree has proved to be a useful methodology to analyse main parameters as climate and building characteristics, avoid damages and maintenance problems caused by inappropriate design, and compare different elements such as technologies, materials, durability, dimensions, and plant species employed.     

Teaching Note—Social Work Serial: Using Video-Recorded Simulated Client Sessions to Teach Social Work Practice

Simulation, the use of trained actors as simulated clients, has gained empirical support as an effective teaching and assessment method in social work education. The associated costs involving the use of live simulation, however, often pose a barrier and prevent less resourced schools from implementing this pedagogical approach in the classroom. Social Work Serial is a pedagogical project that used video-recorded simulated client sessions as an alternative to live simulation. In this teaching note, we will describe step-by-step production and implementation processes involving the project and discuss the implications of video-based simulation for social work education.     

Young people and the division of labour in farming families

The family farm has been identified as the main unit of agricultural production in Britain and it has been widely studied as an economic unit in agricultural research. However, it is also a social unit: one with a division of labour based upon gender and generation. Here we will consider a relatively unexplored area of agricultural production: the contribution of children to the family farm, based upon a quantitative survey of young people in a rural area and detailed qualitative interviews. The approach is to look at the farm family in terms of a ‘household work strategy’ although in the paper we argue that this should take into account the importance of moral obligation and patriarchal ideology. The importance of gender and generation are explored as intersecting factors in the division of labour.     

The PALS parenting support programme: lessons learned from the evaluation of processes and outcomes

Although there has recently been a rise in parenting support programmes within the UK, only a minority of these programmes have benefited from evaluation of either outcomes or processes. This paper describes the development of the PALS programme (Parents Altogether Lending Support), reporting both on its effectiveness in improving parents' interactions with their children and on the lessons that were learned about embedding such a programme within the local community. Over the 18‐month period of the programme, a total of 17 courses were run, with 75 parents and carers (primarily mothers) participating in the programme overall. Evaluation results indicated that participants enjoyed the course and found it beneficial, particularly in terms of altering their own actions in specific ways that were able to promote better behaviour on the part of their children. Participants also valued the opportunity to share their experiences with other parents. The key lesson identified in regard to the development of parenting programmes concerned the need for the community to feel a sense of ownership for the initiative. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studying the Sociology of Journalists: The Journalistic Field and the News World

This article makes a case for a socially situated and theoretically sophisticated approach to the sociological study of journalists. This is urgently needed for us to understand the increasingly complex news production environment and the rapidly evolving nature of journalistic practice. Two theoretical approaches to studying the sociology of journalists are outlined and discussed. The first is a development of Pierre Bourdieu's field theory; the second – the ‘news world’ approach – emerges from the social worlds approach commonly associated with Howard S. Becker. Each approach on its own shows considerable promise for the analysis of the increasingly complex news media environment. The article concludes that the journalistic field and the news world approaches could be combined to create a new framework for the sociological study of journalism that would provide a way forward for the important empirical research on journalists that is now needed.     

Student field units: A rehabilitative educational response in the juvenile justice system

This article depicts the integration of social work students in the development of a juvenile justice field unit. This collaborative experience was seen as mutually beneficial to the community, the university, the juvenile justice field unit and the student. Thirty-one students were able to gain direct practice knowledge as well as assessment and disposition skills in the juvenile justice setting. This pilot project served to demonstrate and support the utility of this service. Overall, self-reports and ratings from supervisors and students participating in the project were positive. Further, this information is presented to facilitate future usage of this type of placement in the field setting as well as presenting the inherent challenges that were faced while introducing students to the juvenile justice system.     

The role of relationships in labor markets for the popular arts and its impact on product quality

While utilizing social networks is common in labor markets and may benefit both firms and laborers, social networks are argued to be unusually important in the popular arts. Prior work in economics on the role of relationships in labor markets has generally focused on the benefits and not the costs. This paper takes a different approach by focusing on both costs and benefits, by examining a specific market where relationships are particularly important. This paper argues that in addition to reducing diversity and creating inherent inequalities, excessive reliance on networks can lead to higher agency costs and lower product quality.