Search results for " quality management"
showing 10 items of 62 documents
Multiple stressors in Mediterranean coastal wetland ecosystems : Influence of salinity and an insecticide on zooplankton communities under different …
2021
Temperature increase, salinity intrusion and pesticide pollution have been suggested to be among the main stressors affecting the biodiversity of coastal wetland ecosystems. Here we assessed the single and combined effects of these stressors on zooplankton communities collected from a Mediterranean coastal lagoon. An indoor microcosm experiment was designed with temperature variation (20 °C and 30 °C), salinity (no addition, 2.5 g/L NaCl) and the insecticide chlorpyrifos (no addition, 1 μg/L) as treatments. The impact of these stressors was evaluated on water quality variables and on the zooplankton comunity (structure, diversity, abundance and taxa responses) for 28 days. This study shows …
An Approach Towards Information Quality Management of Electronic Health Records
2014
Electronic Health Records (EHR) management systems, have gained attention in many countries as public organizations working in health domain (such as hospitals and municipalities) use them to lift the quality of health care. EHRs are considered as the basis for establishing Health Information Service (HIS) systems. In spite of remarkable advantages of EHRs, the lack of quality metrics can reduce the efficiency of high level systems that are based on them. Particularly, it is smart to design a mechanism to assure the quality of data generated by sensors. In this paper, we propose an architecture in which EHRs are enriched with metadata to provide the information quality. Our architecture emp…
Service quality benchmarking via a novel approach based on fuzzy ELECTRE III and IPA: an empirical case involving the Italian public healthcare conte…
2017
A novel fuzzy-based approach which combines ELECTRE III along with the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) is proposed in the present work to comparatively evaluate the service quality in the public healthcare context. Specifically, ELECTRE III is firstly considered to compare the service performance of examined hospitals in a noncompensatory manner. Afterwards, IPA is employed to support the service quality management to point out improvement needs and their priorities. The proposed approach also incorporates features of the Fuzzy Set Theory so as to address the possible uncertainty, subjectivity and vagueness of involved experts in evaluating the service quality. The model is applied to…
Driving human resources towards quality and innovation in a highly competitive environment
2013
Purpose – Intense competitive environments demand the combination of quality and innovation. The potential of human resource management practices within the total quality framework for promoting innovation is under debate, particularly in relation to radical innovation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance and extend the analysis of the role of cultural change as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study examines a sample of Spanish firms in highly competitive environments in their search for a combination of quality and innovation. To this end, the investigation includes structural equation analysis through partial least square path modelling. Findings – According t…
Emission standards versus immission standards for assessing the impact of urban drainage on ephemeral receiving water bodies
2010
In the past, emission standard indicators have been adopted by environmental regulation authorities in order to preserve the quality of a receiving water body. Such indicators are based on the frequency or magnitude of a polluted discharge that may be continuous or intermittent. In order to properly maintain the quality of receiving waters, the Water Framework Directive, following the basic ideas of British Urban Pollution Manual, has been established. The Directive has overtaken the emission-standard concept, substituting it with the stream-standard concept that fixes discharge limits for each polluting substance depending on the self-depurative characteristics of receiving waters. Stream-…
Quality System for Production Software as Tool for Monitoring and Improving Organization KPIs
2013
In this paper we propose a solution as support for quality systems for production software. The motivation behind this study was to reduce that cost in the production area caused by gaps in the quality of the production software. Our proposal: QSPS (Quality System for Production Software) is offering support in the "vulnerable points" of these quality systems which usually generate nonconformities and have proved to be difficult or impossible to control. QSPS is a method in seven steps or modules that integrates also software tools, templates, checklists, evaluating tools elaborated complying to products, process and system quality standards. If other analyzed methods like: Scrum, XP, Fuzzy…
Propuesta de indicadores del proceso de enseñanza/aprendizaje en la formación profesional en un contexto de gestión de calidad total
2014
Se propone una batería de indicadores del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje diseñados para la práctica cotidiana de la evaluación interna de un centro de formación profesional que permita valorar la eficacia del proceso de E/A y el desarrollo de los factores que influyen en él. Al mismo tiempo, se proponen fórmulas para ajustar algunos indicadores globales que permitan valorar la eficacia del funcionamiento del centro con independencia de los factores externos más relevantes. Los indicadores propuestos pretenden obtener información diferenciada que permita tomar decisiones para mejorar de forma continua el funcionamiento del centro, detectando los factores que actúan como limitantes de los b…
Self-assessment application and learning in organizations: A special reference to the ontological dimension
2003
Quality management self-assessment is a powerful tool for management continuous improvement, and it may foster the process of learning in the organization. In this paper, we identify some links between self-assessment and learning. From the analysis of the learning processes at the three ontological levels--individual, group and organizational--and taking the contributions of Crossan et al. (1999) and Kim (1993) as a reference point, we propose a model of organizational learning. This model explicitly recognizes the importance of group level as a link between individual and organizational levels, and it can be employed in order to analyse the effect of self-assessment application at the dif…
A model of quality management self‐assessment: an exploratory research
2005
PurposeContinuous improvement is a primary principle in total quality management. It is applied to all aspects of the organisation including products, processes, and even the management of the firm. In this context, quality management self‐assessment is a useful tool for fostering the continuous improvement of the whole company, comparing its activities and results with an excellence model. However, little is known about the variables and relationships underlying self‐assessment application. This paper tries to shed light on this topic.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is an exploratory case study. Three Spanish organisations with a broad experience in self‐assessment application a…
TQM self-assessment evolves and promotes strategic learning at Ericsson España S.A.
2003
Self-assessment is a comprehensive, systematic, and regular review of an organization's activities and results in reference to a business excellence model. This process allows the organization to clearly discern its strengths and deficiencies, launch improvement plans, and monitor their progress. When organizations repeatedly carry out this cycle of evaluation and action taking, they can achieve genuine and sustained improvement. Many firms have found self-assessment to be an important tool for fostering continuous improvement, one of the fundamental principles of total quality management (TQM). Indeed, self-assessment has been employed by the winners of the most important quality awards—th…