Ravi S. Behara, Gwen F. Fontenot and Alicia Gresham
Six sigma is a way to measure the probability of manufacturing aproduct or creating a service with zero defects. Presents a case studyto illustrate how the concept of zero…
Abstract
Six sigma is a way to measure the probability of manufacturing a product or creating a service with zero defects. Presents a case study to illustrate how the concept of zero defects, measured by six sigma, can be applied to customer satisfaction measurement and to examine the impact of customer expectations on the company’s strategies for improving satisfaction. The information presented is based on actual studies conducted for a high‐tech manufacturing company in the USA during 1991 and 1992. The performance and expectations values and some of the attributes have been altered for reasons of confidentiality.
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Bosco, Liu, and West's chapter on underground lotteries in rural China is one that begs permission to cross the boundaries between parts of this volume, for it deals with the…
Abstract
Bosco, Liu, and West's chapter on underground lotteries in rural China is one that begs permission to cross the boundaries between parts of this volume, for it deals with the integration of the Chinese economy with others, and it also poses certain moral questions about the nature of markets and rationality in economic exchanges (see also Suarez, this volume). But the authors, after reviewing the evidence, ultimately conclude that China's underground lotteries must be viewed in relation to that country's phenomenal economic development in recent decades. They show that the rise of illegal underground lotteries in China is tightly connected to the development of the modern capitalist economy there, and that although it seems at first glance to be powered by irrationality and superstition, it actually functions according to capitalist principles – at least as viewed by the participants. They also argue that rural villagers who place bets in them are not mere victims of nonsensical beliefs or of opportunistic “outsiders,” but rather that they are participating in their own way in a system in which luck clearly plays a very large role, but one over which they have little control, and one that is grounded in the historical commercialized economy of China (see also Richardson, 1999). It is interesting to note the way that participants rationalize the lottery and their actions through their assumption that it is rigged – their approach to it is markedly different from that of someone from, for example, Japan or the United States, where such a lottery is assumed from the start to not be rigged. Bosco and co-authors well demonstrate here the importance of viewing a cultural phenomenon as part of a greater whole, and one in a constant state of flux.
Eduardo V. Lopez and Alicia Medina
The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of key aspects of a recently defended PhD thesis. It enables readers who may be interested in the thesis topic to gain an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of key aspects of a recently defended PhD thesis. It enables readers who may be interested in the thesis topic to gain an overview of that work and a link to the entire thesis through a URL link www.dropbox.com/s/1gikjlh6qw0v26u/Dissertation_Eduardo_Lopez_03122015.pdf?dl=0. The second purpose of this Thesis Research Note (TRN) is to explain the thesis author’s doctoral journey.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology was rooted in critical realism using mixed research methods. The approach for the paper is to provide a reflective narrative to explain the lived experience of the authors throughout the candidate’s doctoral journey.
Findings
The theoretical implications of this study are the introduction of two new constructs (The Small Sins Allowed (SSA) and the Line of Impunity (LoI)) and the definition of these constructs as variables that affect corporate governance.
Research limitations/implications
Although this study was intended to collect feedback regardless of geographical location, over 91 percent of responses came from the USA, Canada, and Latin America. For this reason, generalization beyond these boundaries requires further analysis.
Practical implications
The practical implications are related to the application of the two constructs (SSA and the LoI) into the daily corporate governance activities.
Social implications
SSA and LoI, can be the foundation for renewed and vigorous corporate governance. SSA helps to establish a level above which adherence to ethical standards is expected. LoI aids in identifying ethical fault lines. Together they help to keep unethical behaviors under control.
Originality/value
The TRN provides a highly individualized account of a doctoral journey but it is intended to contribute to the growing body of TRNs published in this journal that in turn may inform decisions relating to candidates embarking on a doctoral journey.