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Examines trend rules in conjunction with other well‐known supplementary runs rules to assess their impact when used in control charting. Focuses on a set of 613 trend rules deemed as potential candidates to increase the sensitivity of the control chart. The examined rules are viewed in the light of a stable environment, which determines the false alarm rate, and then in an environment in which the process mean is subjected to drift. Results indicate that there are subsets of trend rules that aid in the detection of out‐of‐control conditions depending on the severity of the drift and the number of zonal‐based supplementary runs rules used.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the minimum wage law is deleterious to the unskilled, to the young and to members of minority groups.

The main method used in this paper is the logical application of basic supply and demand economic analysis.

The authors found that when a minimum wage of any given level is imposed, those with productivities below that level are at great risk of unemployment. For example, with a minimum wage of $10 per hour, those who can only produce at the rate of $1‐$7, $8, or $9 per hour are likely to become unemployed. Similarly, if the level is raised to, say, $100, then even people with productivity levels of $8 or $90 per hour will lose their jobs.

More effort should be made to ascertain who it is that gains from this law, if it is not the poor and unskilled. Attention should be focused on labor unions in this regard.

The practical implication of this research is that the minimum wage should be repealed.

Present public attitudes, however, overwhelmingly support this legislative enactment. But this is based on economic illiteracy. The public needs to be educated in basic economics.

This paper, if its implications are implemented, will have great value for all those who wish the unemployment rate to be radically reduced.

The aim of this paper is to present a synthetic chart based on the non‐central chi‐square statistic that is operationally simpler and more effective than the joint X¯ and R chart in detecting assignable cause(s). This chart will assist in identifying which (mean or variance) changed due to the occurrence of the assignable causes.

The approach used is based on the non‐central chi‐square statistic and the steady‐state average run length (ARL) of the developed chart is evaluated using a Markov chain model.

The proposed chart always detects process disturbances faster than the joint X¯ and R charts. The developed chart can monitor the process instead of looking at two charts separately.

The most important advantage of using the proposed chart is that practitioners can monitor the process by looking at only one chart instead of looking at two charts separately.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the effectiveness of long period supplementary zone rules that can simultaneously increase chart sensitivity to small process drift and not significantly increase the false alarm rate.

A stable, on‐target process was simulated and drift induced into the process. The rates of drift varied from 0.03σ to .0003σ per subgroup measurement. A total of 613 different supplementary zone rules were implemented in conjunction with the three‐sigma limiting rule. For each combination, 100,000 observations were simulated and the effect on the false alarm rate and increase in chart sensitivity estimated. An effectiveness measure was developed to relate false alarm rate to chart sensitivity.

A total of 87 rules were uncovered which effectively detected a wide range of process drifts. When the increase in chart sensitivity is discounted by the false alarm rate, 13 rules increased chart sensitivity by over 10 percent. These rules were based on longer rather than shorter rule length.

The effective rules discovered form a nonlinear pattern in the space the examined rules define. This indicates a direction for future research outside the scope of this study. These rules are also easy to implement in existing Shewhart chart applications where the process drifts at an unknown rate.

While supplementary trend rules have been studied in the past, the extension to zone rules has not been made. This study begins to fill that void and indicates the direction for future efforts in the area.

Globally millions of children have a parent who is imprisoned. Research suggests that this has an adverse impact on the child and imprisonment of a parent is considered to be an adverse childhood experience (ACE). Parental incarceration will not only affect the child but the entire household and may result in further ACEs such as household dysfunction and parental separation making this group of children particularly vulnerable. This scoping review aims to adopt an international perspective to comprehensively examine the extent range and nature of literature both published and grey relating to parental incarceration and the potential impact on children’s emotional and mental health.

In this scoping review, the five stages identified by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) were used including identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting data, collating, summarising and reporting results. In addition, the included studies were appraised for quality using methodology-specific tools. A critical narrative synthesis was adopted to present findings and discussion.

Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the included studies, eight were retrieved from peer-reviewed journals and one from grey literature searching. Five categories with subcategories were identified affecting children’s mental health: 1) Relationships: parent and incarcerated child relationship; facilitators and barriers to maintaining contact; 2) Family structure; maternal or paternal incarceration; living arrangements during parental incarceration; 3) Children’s emotions: emotional recognition and regulation; resilience; 4) Prison stigma: social stigma; shame and secrecy; 5) Structural disadvantages: poverty; race/ethnicity.

This scoping review has highlighted how the imprisonment of a parent negatively affects their children’s emotional and mental health. Factors negatively impacting children’s emotional and mental health are interrelated and complex. Further research is required, including differences between paternal and maternal incarceration; impact of gender and age of child; poverty as an ACE and prison exacerbating this; and effects of ethnicity and race. An important policy direction is in developing an effective way of capturing the parental status of a prisoner to ensure that the child and family receive needed support.

The purpose of this study is to investigate awareness and opportunities for Lean Six Sigma in public sector municipalities striving to become more efficient and effective in the quality and delivery of services and goods leading to increased citizen satisfaction and budget savings.

Lean Six Sigma is a quality improvement methodology widely implemented in the for-profit sectors and, now, is expanding into the public sector. This study includes a literature review on Lean Six Sigma, supported by results from interviews with public sector officials, and includes recommendations for how public sector entities can utilize Lean Six Sigma.

Based on results from interviews with a sample of public sector officials, this study uncovered that overall there exists a keen interest in Lean Six Sigma and how it can be applied to streamline and improve organizational processes, produce cost-savings, improve organizational culture and improve the quality of goods and services. This study also discovers that there are plenty of opportunities for Lean Six Sigma in the public sector and municipalities can, in fact, incorporate its philosophy and methodology to streamline and improve organizational processes, produce cost-savings, improve organizational culture and improve the quality of goods and services.

Abundant literature exists on Lean Six Sigma and the private sector. This study includes a review of the literature supported by interview results of public sector officials and suggests techniques for how public sector municipalities can utilize the Lean Six Sigma methodology. In a twenty-first-century economy, public sector officials are looking for ways to maximize their tax dollars while increasing the quality of their goods and services; Lean Six Sigma is a framework that can make these objectives become a reality.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an innovative and quite new Six Sigma quality control (SSQC) chart for the benefit of Six Sigma practitioners. A step-by-step procedure for the construction of the chart is also given.

Under the assumption of normality, in this paper, the construction of SSQC chart is proposed in which the population mean and standard deviation are drawn from the process specification from the perspective of Six Sigma quality (SSQ). In this chart, the concept of target range is used to restrict the shift in the process within plus or minus 1.5 times of standard deviation. This control chart is useful in monitoring the process to ensure that the process is well maintained within the specification limits with minimum variation (shift).

A step-by-step procedure is given for the construction of the proposed SSQC chart. It can be easily understood and its application is also simple for Six Sigma practitioners. The proposed chart suggests for timely improvements in process mean and variation. The illustrative example shows the improved performance of the proposed new procedure.

The proposed approach assumes a normal population described by the known specification of the process/product characteristics though it may not be in all cases. This may call for a thorough study of the population before applying the chart.

The proposed SSQC chart is an innovative approach and is quite new for the practitioners. The paper assumes that the population standard deviation is known and is drawn from the specification of the process/product characteristics. The proposed chart helps in fine-tuning the process mean and bringing the process standard deviation to the satisfactory level from the perspective of SSQ.

The paper is the first of its kind. It is innovative and quite new to the Six Sigma practitioners who will find its application interesting.