Search results

The quality of American products after decades of improvement has stopped progressing. Historical trends of traditional quality management fail to motivate workers and ensure quality production. A new way of addressing quality is necessary. Innovative quality programmes provide a stimulus to increased competitiveness in domestic and international markets. Companies which adopt these approaches receive benefits in reduced costs, expanded productivity, higher employee morale, and greater customer satisfaction.

Examines the development of traditional quality practices in America since World War 2. Identifies areas of current Acceptable Quality level practice which require radical change by the implementation of TQM, citing case studies of four American companies′ quality programmes. Concludes that TQM depends on establishing goals of perfection, communicating them to the workforce, the use of process controls, and employing TQM in design, marketing and service areas; and that TQM is necessary for domestic and international success.

This article surveys recent developments in the evaluation of point and density forecasts in the context of forecasts made by vector autoregressions. Specific emphasis is placed on highlighting those parts of the existing literature that are applicable to direct multistep forecasts and those parts that are applicable to iterated multistep forecasts. This literature includes advancements in the evaluation of forecasts in population (based on true, unknown model coefficients) and the evaluation of forecasts in the finite sample (based on estimated model coefficients). The article then examines in Monte Carlo experiments the finite-sample properties of some tests of equal forecast accuracy, focusing on the comparison of VAR forecasts to AR forecasts. These experiments show the tests to behave as should be expected given the theory. For example, using critical values obtained by bootstrap methods, tests of equal accuracy in population have empirical size about equal to nominal size.

The purpose of this study was to examine the dimensions of athletic star power associated with Generation Y sports consumption. Multivariate analyses revealed that athletic star power factors (Professional Trustworthiness, Likeable Personality, Athletic Expertise, Social Attractiveness and Characteristic Style) were positively (p < .05) predictive of the sport consumption factors (Event Consumption and Merchandise Consumption).

This chapter reflects on a media studies project exploring Sylvia Plath poetry on Tumblr. The project ultimately resulted in excess digital data, with no conventional publications or research outputs. Now writing 10 years after data collection, I take a storying approach to explore the original research concerns and the research process, thereby locating a reconfigured ‘research event’ that draws together various biographical, social, political and historical factors. I reflect on my evolving understanding of ‘research’, discussing early teaching experiences and postgraduate pathways that partly structured a particular relationship to research. This serves to bridge a discussion about the challenges of the initial process over a decade ago, including the uncomfortable pairing of inexperience among aspiring researchers and institutional pressures to publish. I then discuss the theoretical perspectives that inspire and, in retrospect, offer clarity for the project, given the amount of time passed since data collection and the synergistic relationship between the storying approach, poststructuralist thought and story-focused methodologies. I argue that Tumblr provides unique opportunities for identity negotiation, aesthetic appreciation, data extraction and commodification, which highlights both the creative agency of digital aesthetic curation and self-work, as well as the importance of algorithmic transparency. I also contend that engaging with excess data led to methodologically and theoretically useful insights, challenging assumptions about the temporality of usable data and the ever-changing relationship between art, technology and freedom.

The use of celebrities, and particularly athletes, to influence consumers and sell products is not a new practice, but one that is gaining considerable steam in the sports marketplace. However, many academics and practitioners have long questioned the means by which celebrity endorsement is measured and evaluated. Through the use of validated surveys among US students and the inauguration of the Celebrity-Hero Matrix (CHM), some of their questions are answered. Being labelled a 'heroic' athlete does, it seems, have tremendous power for marketers, and provides endorsement clout for the athlete.

Colleges of agriculture throughout the United States place an emphasis on leadership courses where undergraduates develop professional skills. Students entering colleges of agriculture experience varied training in terms of leadership and associated skills. However, it is not understood how this leadership training relates to having more power and control while being happy, intrinsically motivated, and engaged in learning. Socio- Psychological measures of flow and power pose during an undergraduate leadership course were used to determine associations of undergraduates within different domains of learning. This study determined associations between: 1) flow and power pose during leadership course activities; 2) happiness, intrinsic motivation, and engagement in learning; and 3) learning experiences where flow and power pose associations existed. There were positive associations between flow and power pose experiences among students in an undergraduate leadership course. Additionally, there were positive associations between power pose and Flow Theory related to constructs of happiness, intrinsic motivation, and engagement of undergraduate leadership students. Power pose and the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) were used determine flow associations of undergraduate students in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of learning. This research provides a framework for future socio-psychological studies.