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A process improvement sampling methodology, known as process variation diagnostic tool (PROVADT), was proposed by Cox et al. (2013). The method was designed to support the objectivity of Six Sigma projects performing the measure-analyse phases of the define-measure-analyse-improve-control cycle. An issue in PROVADT is that it is unable to distinguish between measurement and product variation in the presence of a poor Gage repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) result. The purpose of this paper is to improve and address PROVADT’s sampling structure by enabling a true Gage R&R as part of its design.

This paper derives an enhanced PROVADT method by examining the theoretical sampling constraints required to perform a Gage R&R study. The original PROVADT method is then extended to fulfil these requirements. To test this enhanced approach, it was applied first to a simulated manufacturing process and then in two industry case studies.

The results in this paper demonstrates that enhanced PROVADT was able to achieve a full Gage R&R result. This required 20 additional measurements when compared to the original method, but saved up to ten additional products and 20 additional measurements being taken in future experiments if the original method failed to obtain a valid Gage R&R. These benefits were highlighted in simulation and industry case studies.

The work into the PROVADT method aims to improve the objectivity of early Six Sigma analyses of quality issues, which has documented issues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiency and objectivity of current Six Sigma practices when at the measure/analyse phase of the DMAIC quality improvement cycle.

A new method, named process variation diagnostic tool (PROVADT), demonstrates how tools from other quality disciplines can be used within the Six Sigma framework to strengthen the overall approach by means of improved objectivity and efficient selection of samples.

From a structured sample of 20 products, PROVADT was able to apply a Gage R&R and provisional process capability study fulfilling the pre-requisites of the measure and early analyse phases of the DMAIC quality improvement cycle. From the same sample, Shainin multi-vari and isoplot studies were conducted in order to further the analysis without the need of additional samples.

The method was tested in three different industrial situations. In all cases PROVADT's effectiveness was shown at driving forward a quality initiative with a relatively small number of samples. Particularly in the third case, it lead to the resolution of a long standing complex quality problem without the need for active experimentation on the process.

This work demonstrates the need to provide industry with new statistical tools which are practical and give users efficient insight into potential causes of a process problem. PROVADT makes use of data needed by quality standards and Six Sigma initiatives to fulfil their requirements but structures data collection in a novel way to gain more information.

Tax practitioners are accountable to multiple parties with divergent objectives when carrying out their function as both client advocates and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents. In addition, tax practitioners are employed by firms that simultaneously demand client satisfaction and tax law compliance. Thus, firm pressure may serve to magnify the level of goal incongruence faced by tax practitioners. This study measures the sources and levels of accountability pressure felt by practitioners. In addition, the study investigates how tax return behavior is affected by multiple sources of accountability pressure. A survey of 227 tax professionals is used to measure accountability pressure and responses to various tax scenarios. Results indicate that significant accountability pressure exists from respondents' firms to comply with the tax law and to please tax clients. Additionally, tax practitioners from larger CPA firms report feeling more accountability pressure from their employers. Finally, while the amount of reported accountability pressure differs across several demographic variables, actual tax return behavior seems to be affected only by the accountability pressure felt from respondents' firms to comply with the IRS.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, rank, classify and establish the structural relationships between the preferred customer enablers (PCEs). This analysis would assist a manufacturer in selectively exercising the PCEs and effectively run-through the concept of reverse marketing in the buyer-supplier relationships.

In the current study, the interpretive structure modelling and Fuzzy Matriced’ Impacts Croisés Appliquée á un Classement methods are used to analyze and structurally relate the PCEs for Indian automotive component manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the structural relationships among the PCEs were confirmed by applying a Student’s t-test.

The classification of PCEs through driver dependence diagrams, structural digraphs of PCEs and statistical significance of the relationships between the PCEs are the main outcomes of this study. Further, certain PCEs (under supplier interest and common interest domains) were recommended in the Indian manufacturing environment to broadly control and monitor for achieving the preferred customer status (PCS).

The current study provides certain basis for a manufacturer to selectively emphasize and monitor the right PCEs and in turn effectively achieve the PCS from its key suppliers. The findings from the current analysis are more applicable in the context of Indian automotive component manufacturing industry.

The outcomes from the methodology would provide a basis for a manufacturer to develop the right strategies to become a preferred supply chain partner.

Even though the concept of PCS or reverse marketing can make remarkable impact on the business practices, it has been an ignored topic of research and its practice has been passively prophesied. In this regard, the current study could be a worthy addition toward the practice of preferred customer concept.

The purpose of this study is to explore employability skills that employers, university lecturers and graduates value to bring to the workplace, when graduates are applying for entry‐level graduate jobs in the field of computer science in Sri Lanka.

A total of three samples were selected for this exploratory study, namely, graduates, employers, and university lecturers. Three self‐administered survey questionnaires were developed targeting the three groups. In addition to descriptive statistics, paired sample t‐test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were used for the data analysis.

The findings suggested that there are differences in the priorities given for employability skills by the four groups – male graduates, female graduates, employers, and university lecturers. Further, the findings suggest that employability skills are influenced by the gender of the graduates. Overall, the findings of the study could be used to assist universities, graduates, employers, and career advisers in applying strategic decisions in managing graduates' careers.

Although a considerable amount of the literature addresses employability skills, much of the information is theoretical in nature and offers policy recommendations and prescriptive advice. Further, a majority of the research studies has primarily examined the experiences of a particular higher educational institute where remedial actions were taken to impart employability skills. The paper presents findings of a survey that investigated and compared employability skills that employers, university lecturers and graduates value to bring to the workplace when graduates are applying for entry‐level graduate jobs.

This experimental study aimed to examine the effects of annotating a historical text as a reading comprehension strategy on student academic achievement in an eighth-grade social studies class.

A mixed-method design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data sequentially. First, the authors collected quantitative data with a series of pre- and post-tests from all student participants during a six-week instructional time frame. Next, the authors collected quantitative and qualitative data with a survey from teacher and intervention group student participants. Quantitative data were analyzed to evaluate the mean differences in participants' test scores and survey responses. Finally, qualitative data from open-ended survey questions were transcribed and analyzed using an inductive approach to supplement the quantitative findings and develop a holistic picture of the participants' learning experiences.

The results showed that the annotating strategy increased student engagement, reading comprehension and thus academic achievement in social studies. Annotating helped students visualize key points, break down complex texts and slow down when reading complex historical texts. As a result, it helped students focus, think critically and discourse to understand complex content.

The study was conducted with eighth-grade students in one middle school in South Georgia.

The findings of this study provide evidence that the reading comprehension strategy of annotating is a valuable teaching and learning tool for daily use in social studies classrooms.

Educators must prepare students to use reading comprehension strategies such as annotating in all content areas and not only in a traditional academic setting.

This study adds to the current body of research and undergirds reading comprehension strategies used to improve the learning outcomes in content other than reading.

The objectives of this research were to examine how officer perspectives on body-worn cameras (BWCs) are patterned by broader occupational attitudes, and to analyze stability and change in officers' attitudes toward BWCs before and after the deployment of the technology.

The authors analyze panel survey data on individual officers in the Albany (New York) Police Department (APD).

Pre-BWC deployment, officers varied in their occupational attitudes and BWC perspectives, and the officers' BWC outlooks bore relationships to several occupational attitudes. BWC outlooks were largely stable following deployment. Individual changes in BWC perspectives were related to officers' assignments and unrelated to officers' occupational attitudes.

The authors use panel survey data to test hypotheses about the effect of broad occupational attitudes on officers' receptivity to BWCs and to analyze change pre-/post-BWC deployment.

Questions regarding what motivates people to perform their best and feel good about their jobs are of enduring interest to managers and researchers. Understanding the motives that impel top performance and make work satisfying can facilitate superior organisational performance and development of a healthy and productive organisational culture. Developing accurate models of the role of work‐related effort in generating performance and attitudinal outcomes is central to such an understanding and is the focus of our research. In particular, we have studied how effort affects work performance and job satisfaction in personal selling contexts.

During the evaluation of European Capital of Culture (ECoC) Aarhus 2017, the evaluation organisation rethinkIMPACTS 2017 formulated a set of “dilemmas” capturing the main challenges arising during the design of the ECoC evaluation. This functioned as a framework for the evaluation process. This paper aims to present and discuss the relevance of the “Evaluation Dilemmas Model” as subsequently applied to the Galway 2020 ECoC programme evaluation.

The paper takes an empirical approach including auto-ethnography and interview data to document and map the dilemmas involved in undertaking an evaluation in two different European cities. Evolved via a process of practice-based research, the article addresses the development of and the arguments for the dilemmas model and considers its potential for wider applicability in the evaluation of large-scale cultural projects.

The authors conclude that the “Evaluation Dilemmas Model” is a valuable heuristic for considering the endogenous and exogenous issues in cultural evaluation.

The model developed is useful for a wide range of cultural evaluation processes including – but not limited to – European Capitals of Culture.

What has not been addressed in the academic literature is the process of evaluating ECoCs; especially how evaluators often take part in an overall process that is not just about the evaluation but also planning and delivering a project that includes stakeholder management and the development of evaluation criteria, design and methods.