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The purpose of this paper is to discuss new product development (NPD) based on a traditional stage-gate process and to examine how NPD tools, such as Lean design for Six Sigma, can accelerate the achievement of the main goals of NPD: reliable product quality, cost-effective implementation, and desired time-to-market. These new tools must be incorporated into a new approach to NPD based on the Advanced Product and Quality Planning methodology.

This research paper is based on the theoretical background presented in peer-reviewed scientific research papers during the period 1990-2012. In the second section of this study, the author provides examples of the proposed tools and of advanced techniques to show evidence that validates the hypothesis.

This study presented the theoretical background on the NPD process and related functions in today’s organizations as it relates to competition. NPD was identified as one of the top priorities of every firm, which is why the NPD process must be optimized and oriented toward customers to ensure the quality and reliability of products while minimizing manufacturing costs. The effect on timing and cost is greatly appreciated by top management, and it is well known throughout the firm when a strong, reliable product is launched that it is flawless.

To fully deploy all NPD tools requires basic steps such as the following: marketing and planning, design, process, product process validation and the integration of operations from a concurrent engineering standpoint.

This research paper provides step by step guidance in order to apply Lean Sigma tool in NPD process in order to achieve Six Sigma quality level in manufacturing.

Promoting the practice of Lean design for Six Sigma and its tool enables firms to increase their competitiveness since they will make more reliable products delivered to its consumers.

The approach of this research paper combines proven statistical tools to be applied in an original sequence in order to design robust product to match manufacturing capabilities.

Recently, the application of quality management systems (QMS) in educational institutions has become widespread, in an effort to improve diverse processes and results in schools. However, there are very few studies that enable us to confirm whether these QMS bring true changes that are sustainable over time and lead to improvements in these institutions.

This study thus aims to assess the impact of the implementation of ISO:9001 standards on school climate and on the satisfaction of the members of the educational community at 80 Spanish preschools, primary and secondary schools in different autonomous communities.

The analyses performed show conclusive results regarding the impact of ISO:9001 standards on teachers' involvement in improving the school's climate, conflict resolution by the management team and in families' involvement and satisfaction with the school. However, no apparent evidence was found of the impact on relations among teachers, conflict resolution among staff members and the perception of satisfaction by the teachers themselves.

We must bear in mind that the results and conclusions obtained are based on the instrument developed for this study, where it has been the members of the schools themselves who have assessed the changes they have perceived or that have taken place. However, due to the limitation of the instrument, it could be complemented in future research with external evaluations that could complement the results obtained in the present study.

Furthermore, greater impact of the ISO standards was identified in schools from certain regions (Valencia and Andalusia), in state-assisted private schools, in smaller schools and in institutions which have been implementing the QMS for longer periods of time. The management team also perceived a greater improvement in climate than did teachers.

The question of teacher motivation is of paramount concern for educational leaders and managers. Both the commonly observed deficiency in teacher motivation and the abundance of teacher stress are serious problems that can be mitigated through teacher education. This study describes a relational‐training stress‐management course that was prepared and implemented in an attempt to reduce teacher stress. The 30‐hour programme was divided into ten sessions that included thematic exercises on a variety of topics: sharing professional experiences with colleagues, identifying specific stress factors and possible coping strategies, replacing irrational beliefs with more appropriate beliefs, analysing strategies for dealing with student discipline and motivation problems in the classroom, and practising assertiveness and relaxation. Following the course, participating teachers showed a significant decrease in their irrational beliefs and professional distress, as well as an increase in professional motivation and the perception of wellbeing.

This study aims to reduce carbon emissions and costs in an automobile production plant by improving the operational management efficiency of a serial assembly line assisted by a feeding electric tow vehicle (ETV).

A multi-objective function is formulated to minimize the energy consumption of the ETV from which emissions and costs are measured. First, a mixed-integer linear programming model is used to solve the feeding problem for different sizes of the assembly line. Second, a bi-objective optimization (HBOO) model is used to simultaneously minimize the most eco-efficient objectives: the number of completed runs (tours) by the ETV along the assembly line, and the number of visits (stops) made by the ETV to deliver kits of components to workstations.

The most eco-efficient strategy is always the bi-objective optimal solution regardless of the size of the assembly line, whereas, for single objectives, the optimization strategy differs depending on the size of the assembly line.

Instances of the problem are randomly generated to reproduce real conditions of a particular automotive factory according to a previous case study. The optimization procedure allows managers to assess real scenarios improving the assembly line eco-efficiency. These results promote the implementation of automated control of feeding processes in green manufacturing.

The HBOO-model assesses the assembly line performance with a view to reducing the environmental impact effectively and contributes to reducing the existent gap in the literature. The optimization results define key strategies for manufacturing industries eager to integrate battery-operated motors or to address inefficient traffic of automated transport to curb the carbon footprint.

The purpose of this paper is to see how quality management is carried out in hotels in the Basque Country, a region in the north of Spain with a long tradition in the tourist sector.

The objective of the study was to establish what approaches to quality management are utilised by hotels in the region. The data were collated from information gathered via a survey conducted by e‐mail.

A large percentage of surveyed hotels implement a quality management system that has been designed in‐house. A figure of note, is the fact that 79 per cent of participants claim their quality management system has been introduced successfully. The study also indicated that a significant number of hotels implement a policy of continuous improvement to the system, as hotels believe in the effectiveness of quality management systems and think that such systems have resulted in an increase in customers and profit.

The hotels that responded to the survey could be those that are committed to quality management. That fact could introduce a bias that makes it seem that the situation is better than it really is.

This study offers an understanding on the philosophy of quality management adopted by hotels in the Basque Country. Moreover, it provides empirical evidence on the perceived results of the implementation of quality management in hotels.

The purpose of this paper is to present a project called EmprendeSport, whose aim is to increase knowledge in entrepreneurship and sports in students, professors and professionals through seminars carried out from 2015 to 2018. This study summarises the experience and data extracted throughout these seminars with the purpose of helping to design policies that stimulate business activity of the universities that seek to promote entrepreneurial spirit within a higher educational context.

This is a descriptive paper of the experiences of the seminars done during four years, with a regularly assistance of 200 people. The profile of the assistants was, mainly males, studying a degree on sports or entrepreneurship and working.

There is a lack of knowledge and interest in entrepreneurship. The realisation of the seminar resulted to be a useful incentive for the public to develop new ideas to innovate in their daily lives, some of them also, because of the seminar through of creating their own business. From the organisation perspective, in order to increase the entrepreneurial culture between the females.

The main contribution of this document could be to help design policies that stimulate business activities of universities and, therefore, stimulate their contribution to the development of the modern knowledge economy.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the views of stakeholders residing within impoverished communities in Angola on rapid technology diffusion and its implication on labor market challenges within their regions. To address this gap, and consistent with the qualitative paradigm, this paper conducted methodological triangulation of the study’s multiple data sources, including semistructured interviews and archival data in the form of government labor reports, reflective field notes and archival data to establish the trustworthiness of the study’s data analysis and findings.

A gap in the literature exists between the general diffusion of technological innovations and socioeconomic development that results in an ambiguous connection between theory, academia and professional practice among sub-Saharan African countries. To inform governments in developing countries on how to effectively achieve the diffusion of innovations (DoI), this integrative literature review supports a broader qualitative multiple case study that offers insights into the views of stakeholders residing within impoverished communities in Angola, on rapid technology diffusion and its implication for labor market challenges. This overview of existing research offers a targeted knowledge base that can support future research and help promote the potential for socioeconomic development in low-income countries. By addressing the patterns of the relationship between various economic imbalances and the adoption of technology that promote the social divide, along with highlighting the importance of understanding the overall technological dualism between various social groups, promises effective policies for successful DoI in impoverished sub-Saharan African regions by evaluating its impact on local labor market challenges.

The results of this multiple case study research oversee a thematic analysis of the data collected based on the study’s multiple sources, following a cross-case analysis in which this paper synthesizes the findings of the initial thematic analysis of data to answer the study’s central research question. The multiple case study approach in this research follows the concept of replication logic discussed by Yin (2017) in which the same findings are replicated across multiple cases as similarities and differences are traced across cases, and the study results obtained in this way are deemed robust and reliable.

A potential key limitation in this study was associated to the participants’ limited experiences about the study’s central phenomenon, which if inadequate, could not have been reflective of the challenges faced and shared by the target population. This study mitigates the limitation with an observation in which a much sharper understanding of the participants’ knowledge about the topic of interest was developed. Another limitation was the sample size that could have been small and may not be representative of the entire population. This study mitigates the limitation through careful interpretation of the data and strong conclusion of results.

For practical implications, this study emphasized the importance of participative approaches to ICT implementation that if well adapted by policymakers could lead to a more contextually anchored ICT-supported poverty alleviation within different dimensions of poverty.

This study addresses an under-researched area on why innovation policy initiatives calling for technology diffusion in Angola continue to stall rather than combating labor market challenges in impoverished communities. This study brings the voices of local populations on technology diffusion in impoverished regions of Angola to the extant literature, launching the development of a body of knowledge that may point the way to a promising avenue of social change through innovation and technology diffusion.

This research is original and significant in that it addresses an under-researched area on innovation policy initiatives calling for technology diffusion in Angola that continue to stall rather than combating labor market challenges in impoverished communities. This study also makes an original contribution to Rogers’s seminal theory and concept of diffusion of innovations. The study’s results guided further research in technology adoption and innovation diffusion within Angola, a nation faced with poor human capital development and an increasing proportion of the world’s poorest people and unemployment.

This paper aims to investigate factors that induce entrepreneurial orientation (EO), i.e. what influences the manifestation of its fundamental attributes (innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking).

This study focuses on religious entrepreneurship in an emerging economy, employing a single case study approach. A total of 17 shepherd-entrepreneurs and 4 parishioners were interviewed.

The results suggest that two key driving factors influence religious entrepreneurs’ EO: the search for the discovery of opportunity (a finding that strengthens current literature); and both the search for the creation of opportunity and overcoming challenges associated with the need for survival.

This paper allows entrepreneurs to understand better the factors and motivations that affect their entrepreneurial behavior. It is particularly relevant to entrepreneurs embedded in emerging and developing countries, in which the interchange between opportunity and need contexts is apparent. Further, this paper sheds light on significant dimensions for entrepreneurs’ education and training programs. It also suggests elements capable of bolstering public policies.

The contributions of this paper are fourfold: it supports an integrative view of creation and discovery theories; it reinforces the alternating character of entrepreneurial motivations; it expands the literature by arguing that creating opportunity and the need for survival also influence entrepreneurs' innovativeness, proactivity and risk-taking; and it stresses the neo-Pentecostal shepherds' entrepreneurial propensity.

Gastronomy can be a key destination choice factor. As tourists, people will be able to learn more about the culture of the place through its culinary assets. This paper aims to analyse the interest and the gastronomic motivations of tourists to the city of Granada (Spain), where two important UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) are included.

To achieve the aim of this study, fieldwork was carried out on a representative sample of tourists in Granada (Spain). Specifically, a total of 1,612 valid surveys were filled out in culinary establishments and historical sites. In these surveys, the opinion of tourists regarding gastronomy and their motivations when travelling was assessed.

The results of this research allow to make a segmentation of tourists into three groups according to their position and their interest in gastronomy based on their destination choice, distinguishing among survivors, enjoyers and experiencers’ tourists. Additionally, it is confirmed that gastronomy is shaped as a motivation that influences the level of tourist satisfaction, performing as a differentiating element that can help increase the competitiveness of the destination.

This research contributes to the scarce academic literature on tourism experiences in a city with WHS recognitions. This study confirms the existence of a relationship between gastronomic motivations and the level of satisfaction achieved by tourists who visit the city of Granada, where no similar studies were found. In addition, this work confirms the connection between gastronomy and culture.