De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

En el contexto de la informática, un almacén de datos (del inglés data warehouse) es una colección de datos orientada a un determinado ámbito (empresa, organización, etc.), integrado, no volátil y variable en el tiempo, que ayuda a la toma de decisiones en la entidad en la que se utiliza. Se trata, sobre todo, de un expediente completo de una organización, más allá de la información transaccional y operacional, almacenado en una base de datos diseñada para favorecer el análisis y la divulgación eficiente de datos (especialmente OLAP, procesamiento analítico en línea). El almacenamiento de los datos no debe usarse con datos de uso actual. Los almacenes de datos contienen a menudo grandes cantidades de información que se subdividen a veces en unidades lógicas más pequeñas dependiendo del subsistema de la entidad del que procedan o para el que sean necesario.

Contenido 1 Definiciones de almacén de datos 1.1 Definición de Bill Inmon 1.2 Definición de Ralph Kimball 1.3 Una definición más amplia de almacén de datos 2 Función de un almacén de datos 3 Data marts 4 Cubos de información 4.1 Dimensiones 4.2 Variables 4.3 Ejemplos 5 Elementos que integran un almacén de datos 5.1 Metadatos 5.2 Funciones ETL (extracción, transformación y carga) 5.3 Middleware 6 Diseño de un almacén de datos 7 Almacén de datos espacial 8 Ventajas e inconvenientes de los almacenes de datos 8.1 Ventajas 8.2 Inconvenientes 9 Véase también 10 Referencias 11 Enlaces externos

Definiciones de almacén de datos

Definición de Bill Inmon

Bill Inmon fue uno de los primeros autores en escribir sobre el tema de los almacenes de datos, define un data warehouse (almacén de datos) en términos de las características del repositorio de datos:

• Orientado a temas.- Los datos en la base de datos están organizados de manera que todos los elementos de datos relativos al mismo evento u objeto del mundo real queden unidos entre sí.
• Variante en el tiempo.- Los cambios producidos en los datos a lo largo del tiempo quedan registrados para que los informes que se puedan generar reflejen esas variaciones.
• No volátil.- La información no se modifica ni se elimina, una vez almacenado un dato, éste se convierte en información de sólo lectura, y se mantiene para futuras consultas.
• Integrado.- La base de datos contiene los datos de todos los sistemas operacionales de la organización, y dichos datos deben ser consistentes.

Inmon defiende una metodología descendente (top-down) a la hora de diseñar un almacén de datos, ya que de esta forma se considerarán mejor todos los datos corporativos. En esta metodología los Data marts se crearán después de haber terminado el data warehouse completo de la organización.

Definición de Ralph Kimball

Este es otro conocido autor en el tema de los data warehouse, define un almacén de datos como: "una copia de las transacciones de datos específicamente estructurada para la consulta y el análisis". También fue Kimball quien determinó que un data warehouse no era más que: "la unión de todos los Data marts de una entidad". Defiende por tanto una metodología ascendente (bottom-up) a la hora de diseñar un almacén de datos.

Una definición más amplia de almacén de datos

Las definiciones anteriores se centran en los datos en sí mismos. Sin embargo, los medios para obtener y analizar esos datos, para extraerlos, transformarlos y cargarlos, así como las diferentes formas para realizar la gestión de datos son componentes esenciales de un almacén de datos. Muchas referencias a un almacén de datos utilizan esta definición más amplia. Por lo tanto, en esta definición se incluyen herramientas para la inteligencia empresarial, herramientas para extraer, transformar y cargar datos en el almacén de datos, y herramientas para gestionar y recuperar los metadatos.

Función de un almacén de datos

En un almacén de datos lo que se quiere es contener datos que son necesarios o útiles para una organización, es decir, que se utiliza como un repositorio de datos para posteriormente transformarlos en información útil para el usuario. Un almacén de datos debe entregar la información correcta a la gente indicada en el momento óptimo y en el formato adecuado. El almacén de datos da respuesta a las necesidades de usuarios expertos, utilizando Sistemas de Soporte a Decisiones (DSS), Sistemas de información ejecutiva (EIS) o herramientas para hacer consultas o informes. Los usuarios finales pueden hacer fácilmente consultas sobre sus almacenes de datos sin tocar o afectar la operación del sistema.

En el funcionamiento de un almacén de los datos son muy importantes las siguientes ideas:

• Integración de los datos provenientes de bases de datos distribuidas por las diferentes unidades de la organización y que con frecuencia tendrán diferentes estructuras (fuentes heterogéneas). Se debe facilitar una descripción global y un análisis comprensivo de toda la organización en el almacén de datos.
• Separación de los datos usados en operaciones diarias de los datos usados en el almacén de datos para los propósitos de divulgación, de ayuda en la toma de decisiones, para el análisis y para operaciones de control. Ambos tipos de datos no deben coincidir en la misma base de datos, ya que obedecen a objetivos muy distintos y podrían entorpecerse entre sí.

Periódicamente, se importan datos al almacén de datos de los distintos sistemas de planeamiento de recursos de la entidad (ERP) y de otros sistemas de software relacionados con el negocio para la transformación posterior. Es práctica común normalizar los datos antes de combinarlos en el almacén de datos mediante herramientas de extracción, transformación y carga (ETL). Estas herramientas leen los datos primarios (a menudo bases de datos OLTP de un negocio), realizan el proceso de transformación al almacén de datos (filtración, adaptación, cambios de formato, ...) y escriben en el almacén.

Data marts

Los Data marts son subconjuntos de datos de un data warehouse para áreas especificas.

Entre las características de un data mart destacan:

• Usuarios limitados.
• Área especifica.
• Tiene un propósito especifico.
• Tiene una función de apoyo.

Cubos de información

Los cubos de información o cubos OLAP funcionan como los cubos de rompecabezas en los juegos, en el juego se trata de armar los colores y en el data warehouse se trata de organizar los datos por tablas o relaciones; los primeros (el juego) tienen 3 dimensiones, los cubos OLAP tienen un número indefinido de dimensiones, razón por la cual también reciben el nombre de hipercubos. Un cubo OLAP contendrá datos de una determinada variable que se desea analizar, proporcionando una vista lógica de los datos provistos por el sistema de información hacia el data warehouse, esta vista estará dispuesta según unas dimensiones y podrá contener información calculada. El análisis de los datos está basado en las dimensiones del hipercubo, por lo tanto, se trata de un análisis multidimensional.

A la información de un cubo puede acceder el ejecutivo mediante "tablas dinámicas" en una hoja de cálculo o a través de programas personalizados. Las tablas dinámicas le permiten manipular las vistas (cruces, filtrados, organización, totales) de la información con mucha facilidad. Las diferentes operaciones que se pueden realizar con cubos de información se producen con mucha rapidez. Llevando estos conceptos a un data warehouse, éste es una colección de datos que está formada por «dimensiones» y «variables», entendiendo como dimensiones a aquellos elementos que participan en el análisis y variables a los valores que se desean analizar.

Dimensiones

Las dimensiones de un cubo son atributos relativos a las variables, son las perspectivas de análisis de las variables (forman parte de la tabla de dimensiones). Son catálogos de información complementaria necesaria para la presentación de los datos a los usuarios, como por ejemplo: descripciones, nombres, zonas, rangos de tiempo, etc. Es decir, la información general complementaria a cada uno de los registros de la tabla de hechos.

Variables

También llamadas “indicadores de gestión”, son los datos que están siendo analizados. Forman parte de la tabla de hechos. Más formalmente, las variables representan algún aspecto cuantificable o medible de los objetos o eventos a analizar. Normalmente, las variables son representadas por valores detallados y numéricos para cada instancia del objeto o evento medido. En forma contraria, las dimensiones son atributos relativos a la variables, y son utilizadas para indexar, ordenar, agrupar o abreviar los valores de las mismas. Las dimensiones poseen una granularidad menor, tomando como valores un conjunto de elementos menor que el de las variables; ejemplos de dimensiones podrían ser: “productos”, “localidades” (o zonas), “el tiempo” (medido en días, horas, semanas, etc.), ...

Ejemplos

Ejemplos de variables podrían ser:

• Beneficios
• Gastos
• Ventas
• etc.

Ejemplos de dimensiones podrían ser:

• producto (diferentes tipos o denominaciones de productos)
• localidades (o provincia, o regiones, o zonas geográficas)
• tiempo (medido de diferentes maneras, por horas, por días, por meses, por años, ...)
• tipo de cliente (casado/soltero, joven/adulto/anciano, ...)
• etc.

Según lo anterior, podríamos construir un cubo de información sobre el indice de ventas (variable a estudiar) en función del producto vendido, la provincia, el mes del año y si el cliente está casado o soltero (dimensiones). Tendríamos un cubo de 4 dimensiones.

Elementos que integran un almacén de datos

Metadatos

Uno de los componentes más importantes de la arquitectura de un almacén de datos son los metadatos. Se define comúnmente como "datos acerca de los datos", en el sentido de que se trata de datos que describen cuál es la estructura de los datos que se van a almacenar y cómo se relacionan.

El metadato documenta, entre otras cosas, qué tablas existen en una base de datos, qué columnas posee cada una de las tablas y qué tipo de datos se pueden almacenar. Los datos son de interés para el usuario final, el metadato es de interés para los programas que tienen que manejar estos datos. Sin embargo, el rol que cumple el metadato en un entorno de almacén de datos es muy diferente al rol que cumple en los ambientes operacionales. En el ámbito de los data warehouse el metadato juega un papel fundamental, su función consiste en recoger todas las definiciones de la organización y el concepto de los datos en el almacén de datos, debe contener toda la información concerniente a:

• Tablas
• Columnas de tablas
• Relaciones entre tablas
• Jerarquías y Dimensiones de datos
• Entidades y Relaciones

Funciones ETL (extracción, transformación y carga)

Los procesos de extracción, transformación y carga (ETL) son importantes ya que son la forma en que los datos se guardan en un data warehouse (o en cualquier base de datos). Implican las siguientes operaciones:

• Extracción.- Acción de obtener la información deseada a partir de los datos almacenados en fuentes externas.
• Transformación.- Cualquier operación realizada sobre los datos para que puedan ser cargados en el data warehouse o se puedan migrar de éste a otra base de datos.
• Carga.- Consiste en almacenar los datos en la base de datos final, por ejemplo el data warehouse objetivo.

Middleware

Middleware es un término genérico que se utiliza para referirse a todo tipo de software de conectividad que ofrece servicios u operaciones que hacen posible el funcionamiento de aplicaciones distribuidas sobre plataformas heterogéneas. Estos servicios funcionan como una capa de abstracción de software distribuida, que se sitúa entre las capas de aplicaciones y las capas inferiores (sistema operativo y red). El middleware puede verse como una capa API, que sirve como base a los programadores para que puedan desarrollar aplicaciones que trabajen en diferentes entornos sin preocuparse de los protocolos de red y comunicaciones en que se ejecutarán. De esta manera se ofrece una mejor relación costo/rendimiento que pasa por el desarrollo de aplicaciones más complejas, en menos tiempo.

La función del middleware en el contexto de los data warehouse es la de asegurar la conectividad entre todos los componentes de la arquitectura de un almacén de datos.

Diseño de un almacén de datos

Para construir un Data Warehouse se necesitan herramientas para ayudar a la migración y a la transformación de los datos hacia el almacén. Una vez construido, se requieren medios para manejar grandes volúmenes de información. Se diseña su arquitectura dependiendo de la estructura interna de los datos del almacén y especialmente del tipo de consultas a realizar. Con este criterio los datos deben ser repartidos entre numerosos data marts. Para abordar un proyecto de data warehouse es necesario hacer un estudio de algunos temas generales de la organización o empresa, los cuales se describen a continuación:

• Situación actual de partida.- Cualquier solución propuesta de data warehouse debe estar muy orientada por las necesidades del negocio y debe ser compatible con la arquitectura técnica existente y planeada de la compañía.

• Tipo y características del negocio.- Es indispensable tener el conocimiento exacto sobre el tipo de negocios de la organización y el soporte que representa la información dentro de todo su proceso de toma de decisiones.

• Entorno técnico.- Se debe incluir tanto el aspecto del hardware (mainframes, servidores, redes,...) así como aplicaciones y herramientas. Se dará énfasis a los Sistemas de soporte a decisiones (DSS), si existen en la actualidad, cómo operan, etc.

• Expectativas de los usuarios.- Un proyecto de data warehouse no es únicamente un proyecto tecnológico, es una forma de vida de las organizaciones y como tal, tiene que contar con el apoyo de todos los usuarios y su convencimiento sobre su bondad.

• Etapas de desarrollo.- Con el conocimiento previo, ya se entra en el desarrollo de un modelo conceptual para la construcción del data warehouse.

• Prototipo.- Un prototipo es un esfuerzo designado a simular tanto como sea posible el producto final que será entregado a los usuarios.

• Piloto.- El piloto de un data warehouse es el primero (o cada uno de los primeros) resultados generados de forma iterativa que se harán para llegar a la construcción del producto final deseado.

• Prueba del concepto tecnológico.- Es un paso opcional que se puede necesitar para determinar si la arquitectura especificada del data warehouse funcionará finalmente como se espera.

Almacén de datos espacial

Almacén de datos espacial es una colección de datos orientados al tema, integrados, no volátiles, variantes en el tiempo y que añaden la geografía de los datos, para la toma de decisiones. Sin embargo la componente geográfica no es un dato agregado, sino que una dimensión o variable en la tecnología de la información, de tal manera que permita modelar todo el negocio como un ente holístico, y que a través de herramientas de procesamiento analítico en línea (OLAP), no solamente se posea un alto desempeño en consultas multidimensionales sino que adicionalmente se puedan visualizar espacialmente los resultados.

El almacén de datos espacial forma el corazón de un extensivo Sistema de Información Geográfica para la toma de decisiones, éste al igual que los SIG, permiten que un gran número de usuarios accedan a información integrada, a diferencia de un simple almacén de datos que está orientado al tema, el Data warehouse espacial adicionalmente es Geo-Relacional, es decir que en estructuras relacionales combina e integra los datos espaciales con los datos descriptivos. Actualmente es geo-objetos, esto es que los elementos geográficos se manifiestan como objetos con todas sus propiedades y comportamientos, y que adicionalmente están almacenados en una única base de datos Objeto-Relacional. Los Data Warehouse Espaciales son aplicaciones basadas en un alto desempeño de las bases de datos, que utilizan arquitecturas Cliente-Servidor para integrar diversos datos en tiempo real. Mientras los almacenes de datos trabajan con muchos tipos y dimensiones de datos, muchos de los cuales no referencian ubicación espacial, a pesar de poseerla intrínsecamente, y sabiendo que un 80% de los datos poseen representación y ubicación en el espacio, en los Data warehouse espaciales, la variable geográfica desempeña un papel importante en la base de información para la construcción del análisis, y de igual manera que para un Data warehouse, la variable tiempo es imprescindible en los análisis, para los Data warehouse espaciales la variable geográfica debe ser almacenada directamente en ella.

Ventajas e inconvenientes de los almacenes de datos

Ventajas

Hay muchas ventajas por las que es recomendable usar un almacén de datos. Algunas de ellas son:

• Los almacenes de datos hacen más fácil el acceso a una gran variedad de datos a los usuarios finales
• Facilitan el funcionamiento de las aplicaciones de los sistemas de apoyo a la decisión tales como informes de tendencia', por ejemplo: obtener los ítems con la mayoría de las ventas en un área en particular dentro de los últimos dos años; informes de excepción, informes que muestran los resultados reales frente a los objetivos planteados a priori.
• Los almacenes de datos pueden trabajar en conjunto y, por lo tanto, aumentar el valor operacional de las aplicaciones empresariales, en especial la gestión de relaciones con clientes.

Inconvenientes

Utilizar almacenes de datos también plantea algunos inconvenientes, algunos de ellos son:

• A lo largo de su vida los almacenes de datos pueden suponer altos costos. El almacén de datos no suele ser estático. Los costos de mantenimiento son elevados.
• Los almacenes de datos se pueden quedar obsoletos relativamente pronto.
• A veces, ante una petición de información estos devuelven una información subóptima, que también supone una perdida para la organización.
• A menudo existe una delgada línea entre los almacenes de datos y sistemas operativos. Hay que determinar qué funcionalidades de estos se pueden aprovechar y cuáles se deben implementar en el data warehouse, resultaría costoso implementar operaciones no necesarias o dejar de implementar alguna que sí vaya a necesitarse.

Véase también

• Administración basada en la relación con los clientes
• Almacén de datos espacial
• Almacén operacional de los datos
• Data mart
• Esquema de la estrella
• Esquema del copo de nieve
• Extracción transformación y carga
• Inteligencia empresarial
• Minería de datos espacial
• Minería de datos
• Procesamiento analítico en línea (OLAP), Cubos OLAP
• Procesamiento de transacciones a través de una red (OLTP)
• Sistema de gestión de base de datos
• Sistemas de soporte a decisiones
• Sistemas de información ejecutiva
• Tabla de hechos
• Tabla de dimensión
• Cuadro de mando integral

Referencias

• Pyle, Dorian. Business Modeling and Data Mining. Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. ISBN 155860653X

Enlaces externos

• Definición alternativa y complementaria de Data warehouse Desde un punto de vista diferente, indicando más a fondo su relación con el ETL o los datamarts
• Manual de Business Intelligence (en español)
• analista neutral (en español)
• Diseño de variables en bases de datos multidimensionales(en español)
• Artículos sobre Data warehouse
• Herramienta para BI (base de datos para dataware house)

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

El Análisis DAFO o Análisis FODA (en inglés SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) es una metodología de estudio de la situación competitiva de una empresa dentro de su mercado y de las características internas de la misma, a efectos de determinar sus Debilidades, Amenazas, Fortalezas y Oportunidades. Las debilidades y fortalezas son internas a la empresa; las amenazas y oportunidades se presentan en el entorno de la misma.

Durante la etapa de planificación estratégica y a partir del análisis DAFO se debe poder contestar cada una de las siguientes preguntas:

• ¿Cómo se puede detener cada debilidad?
• ¿Cómo se puede aprovechar cada fortaleza?
• ¿Cómo se puede explotar cada oportunidad?
• ¿Cómo se puede defender de cada amenaza?

Esta herramienta fue creada a principios de la década de los setenta y produjo una revolución en el campo de la estrategia empresarial. El objetivo final del análisis DAFO es poder determinar las ventajas competitivas que tiene la empresa bajo análisis y la estrategia genérica a emplear por la misma que más le convenga en función de sus características propias y de las del mercado en que se mueve.

El análisis consta de cuatro pasos:

• Análisis Externo (También conocido como "Modelo de las cinco fuerzas de Porter")
• Análisis Interno
• Confección de la matriz DAFO
• Determinación de la estrategia a emplear

Contenido 1 Análisis Externo 1.1 Oportunidades 1.2 Amenazas 2 Análisis Interno 2.1 Debilidades 2.2 Fortalezas 3 Matriz DAFO 4 Origen 5 Enlaces externos

Análisis Externo

Los elementos externos que se deben analizar durante el análisis DAFO corresponden a las oportunidades y amenazas que la empresa tiene frente a sus competidores, proveedores, legislación y gobierno.

Algunas de las preguntas que se pueden realizar y que contribuyen en el desarrollo del análisis dependiendo de si representan una oportunidad o una amenaza son:^[1]

Oportunidades

¿A qué buenas oportunidades se enfrenta la empresa?

¿De qué tendencias del mercado se tiene información?

¿Existe una coyuntura en la economía del país?

¿Qué cambios de tecnología se están presentando en el mercado?

¿Qué cambios en la normatividad legal y/o política se están presentando?

¿Qué cambios en los patrones sociales y de estilos de vida se están presentando?

Amenazas

¿A qué obstáculos se enfrenta la empresa?

¿Qué están haciendo los competidores?

¿Los requerimientos de productos están cambiando?

¿Se tienen problemas de recursos de capital?

¿Puede algunas de las amenazas impedir totalmente la actividad de la empresa?

Para realizar el mismo puede utilizarse el modelo de las cinco fuerzas de Michael Porter.

El análisis externo, permite fijar las oportunidades y amenazas que el contexto puede presentarle a una organización. De acuerdo a Porter existen cinco fuerzas que determinan las consecuencias de rentabilidad a largo plazo de un mercado o de algún segmento de éste. La idea es que las empresas deben evaluar su posición frente a éstas cinco fuerzas que rigen temporalmente la competencia industrial:

1. Amenaza de entrada de nuevos competidores
2. La rivalidad entre los competidores
3. Poder de negociación de los proveedores
4. Poder de negociación de los compradores
5. Amenaza de ingreso de productos sustitutivos

Análisis Interno

Los elementos internos que se deben analizar durante el análisis DAFO corresponden a las debilidades y fortalezas que se tienen respecto a la disponibilidad de recursos de capital, personal, activos, calidad de producto, estructura interna y de mercado entre otros.

El análisis interno, permite fijar las fortalezas y debilidades de la organización, realizando un estudio que permite conocer la cantidad y calidad de los recursos y procesos con que cuenta el ente.

Para realizar el análisis interno de una corporación deben aplicarse diferentes técnicas que permitan identificar dentro de la organización que atributos le permiten generar una ventaja competitiva sobre el resto de sus competidores.

Algunas de las preguntas que se pueden realizar y que contribuyen en el desarrollo del análisis dependiendo de si representan una debilidad o una fortaleza son:^[1]

Debilidades

¿Qué se puede mejorar?

¿Que se debería evitar?

¿Qué percibe la gente del mercado como una debilidad?

¿Qué factores reducen las ventas o el éxito del proyecto?

Fortalezas

¿Qué ventajas tiene la empresa?

¿Qué hace la empresa mejor que cualquier otra?

¿A que recursos de bajo costo o de manera única se tiene acceso?

¿Qué percibe la gente del mercado como una fortaleza?

¿Qué elementos facilitan obtener una venta?

Matriz DAFO

 

Análisis DAFO	Fortalezas	Debilidades
Análisis Interno	Capacidades distintas Ventajas naturales Recursos superiores	Recursos y capacidades escasas Resistencia al cambio Problemas de motivación del personal
	Oportunidades	Amenazas
Análisis Externo	Nuevas tecnologías Debilitamiento de competidores Posicionamiento estratégico	Altos riesgos - Cambios en el entorno

 

Origen

Se considera que esta técnica fue originalmente propuesta por Albert Gamez durante los años 60's y 70's en los Estados Unidos durante una investigación del Instituto de Investigaciones de Stanford que tenía como objetivo descubrir por qué fallaba la planificación corporativa.

Enlaces externos

• Artículo de Gerencia.com
• DAFO en la Universidad
• Elaboración de un análisis DAFO en organizaciones de transportes Ministerio de Fomento de España
• Marketing on-line en la empresa familiar. Aplicación al turrón en fjcaballer.webcindario.com
• ¿Para qué sirve el análisis DAFO?

 

El contenido de esta página es un esbozo sobre empresa. Ampliándolo ayudarás a mejorar Wikipedia. Puedes ayudarte con las wikipedias en otras lenguas.

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

La Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación (AENOR) es una entidad dedicada al desarrollo de la normalización y la certificación (N+C) en todos los sectores industriales y de servicios.

Contenido 1 Descripción y funciones 2 Normalización y certificación 3 Véase también 4 Enlaces externos

Descripción y funciones

AENOR es una empresa mercantil privada, registrada en España con el nombre de AENOR INTERNACIONAL S.A. AENOR autodefine como una «entidad española, privada, independiente, sin ánimo de lucro (aparentemente, aunque realmente sí se lucra a través de la venta de sus normas), reconocida en los ámbitos nacional, comunitario e internacional, y que contribuye, mediante el desarrollo de las actividades de normalización y certificación (N+C) a mejorar la calidad en las empresas, sus productos y servicios, así como a proteger el medio ambiente y, con ello, el bienestar de la sociedad».

Fue designada para llevar a cabo estas actividades por la Orden del Ministerio de Industria y Energía, de 26 de febrero de 1986, de acuerdo con el Real Decreto 1614/1985 y reconocida como organismo de normalización y para actuar como entidad de certificación por el Real Decreto 2200/1995, en desarrollo de la Ley 21/1992, de Industria.

Las funciones de AENOR son:

1. Elaborar normas técnicas españolas (UNE) con la participación abierta a todas las partes interesadas.
2. Certificar productos, servicios y empresas.

AENOR, a su vez, está acreditada por la Entidad Nacional de Acreditación (ENAC).

Normalización y certificación

Hay que tener en cuenta que normalización y certificación no son lo mismo: normalización consiste en la elaboración, difusión y aplicación de normas, mientras que la certificación es la acción llevada a cabo por una entidad reconocida como independiente de las partes interesadas (AENOR) mediante la que se manifiesta la conformidad, solicitada con carácter voluntario, de una determinada empresa, producto, servicio, proceso, o persona, con los requisitos mínimos definidos en las normas o especificaciones técnicas.

En el contexto internacional la organización que normaliza a nivel mundial es ISO, una asociación que sólo normaliza pero no certifica; también está IEC que es la comisión electrotécnica internacional. En el contexto europeo existe el CEN, Comité Europeo de Normalización y también está, entre otros, el CENELEC que es el comité de normalización europeo en cuestiones electrotécnicas.

Véase también

• ISO
• DIN
• UNE

Enlaces externos

• Página web de AENOR

El contenido de esta página es un esbozo sobre tecnología. Ampliándolo ayudarás a mejorar Wikipedia. Puedes ayudarte con las wikipedias en otras lenguas.

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

El B-Learning (formación combinada, del inglés blended learning) consiste en un proceso docente semipresencial; esto significa que un curso dictado en este formato incluirá tanto clases presenciales como actividades de e-learning.

Este modelo de formación hace uso de las ventajas de la formación 100% on-line y la formación presencial, combinándolas en un solo tipo de formación que agiliza la labor tanto del formador como del alumno. El diseño instruccional del programa académico para el que se ha decidido adoptar una modalidad b-Learning deberá incluir tanto actividades on-line como presenciales, pedagógicamente estructuradas, de modo que se facilite lograr el aprendizaje buscado.

Las ventajas que se suelen atribuir a esta modalidad de aprendizaje son la unión de las dos modalidades que combina:

• las que se atribuyen al e-learning: la reducción de costes, acarreados habitualmente por el desplazamiento, alojamiento, etc., la eliminación de barreras espaciales y la flexibilidad temporal, ya que para llevar a cabo gran parte de las actividades del curso no es necesario que todos los participantes coincidan en un mismo lugar y tiempo.
• y las de la formación presencial: interacción física, lo cual tiene una incidencia notable en la motivación de los participantes, facilita el establecimiento de vínculos, y ofrece la posibilidad de realizar actividades algo más complicadas de realizar de manera puramente virtual.

Es la combinación de múltiples acercamientos al aprendizaje. El B-Learning puede ser logrado a través del uso de recursos virtuales y físicos, “mezclados”. Un ejemplo de esto podría ser la combinación de materiales basados en la tecnología y sesiones cara a cara, juntos para lograr una enseñanza eficaz.

En el sentido estricto, b-Learning puede ser cualquier ocasión en que un instructor combine dos métodos para dar indicaciones. Sin embargo, el sentido más profundo trata de llegar a los estudiantes de la presente generación de la manera más apropiada. Así, un mejor ejemplo podría ser el usar técnicas activas de aprendizaje en el salón de clases físico, agregando una presencia virtual en una web social. Blended Learning es un término que representa un gran cambio en la estrategia de enseñanza.

 

Ejemplos de sistemas

• Willow Un sistema para la evaluación automática y adaptativa de respuestas en texto libre. Si quieres saber más sobre Willow, pulsa aquí. Willow también tiene su wiki: WikioW.
• The LiveManual Project Un proyecto que permite la generación de material b-learning de forma muy intuitiva.

Enlaces externos

• Introducción al B-learning, monográfico PixelBit
• Ejemplo de entorno de aplicación de B-learning
• Revista en papel y digital con notas, entrevistas y casos de estudio de B-learning

Otros links de interés

• Institute for Research on Learning Technologies Conducts research on blended learning
• Alvarez, S. (2005). Blended learning solutions from B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved December 26, 2006
• Josh Bersin (2 Nov 2004). The Blended Learning Handbook: Best Practices, Proven Methodologies, and Lessons Learned (excerpt), Pfeiffer Wiley. ISBN 0787972967. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
• Curtis J. Bonk, Charles R. Graham (December 2005). The Handbook of Blended Learning: Global Perspectives, Local Designs (excerpt), Pfeiffer Wiley. ISBN 0787977580. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
• Heinze, A. and C. Procter (2004). Reflections on the Use of Blended Learning. Education in a Changing Environment conference proceedings, University of Salford, Salford, Education Development Unit. Free download available at: [1]
• Heinze, A. and C. Procter (2006). "Online Communication and Information Technology Education." Journal of Information Technology Education 5: 235-249. Free download available at: [2]
• Heinze, A., C. Procter and Scott, B. (2007). "Use of Conversation Theory to underpin Blended Learning." International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies 1(1 & 2): 108–120.
• An Instructional Media Selection Guide for Distance Learning, an official publication of the United States Distance Learning Association (http://www.usdla.org) that contains a section on blended learning. Free download available at: [3]2._USDLA_Instructional_Media_Selection_Guide.pdf
• B. Randall, T.Elangovan and S.Lim [4]
• First Responder Training - [5] website hosted by FEMA's National Integration Center Training Division applies instructional design and blended learning to training for first responders
• Blended Learning Capita Learning and Development is on the forefront of technology developing the use of new learning techniques.

De Viquipèdia

Les competències bàsiques és un terme que pren especial protagonisme arrel de la implantació de la LOE del maig de 2006, i concretat a Catalunya amb el Decret 143/2007 del 26 de juny en el qual s’estableix l’ordenació dels ensenyaments a l’ESO el qual li dedica l’annex 1.

Taula de continguts 1 Definició 2 Tipus de competències bàsiques 3 Les 8 competències bàsiques 4 Enllaços externs

Definició

Competència vol dir ser capaç d’utilitzar els coneixements i les habilitats que una persona té en contextos i situacions quotidianes, en les quals es fa necessari coneixements vinculats a diferents sabers i per tant coneixements transversals. Ser competent implica “comprendre” les situacions, “reflexionar” sobre allò que està passant i “discernir” sobre la millor acció a fer d’acord a la dimensió social de cada situació. Així doncs, el terme "competència" inclou tant els sabers (coneixements teòrics) com les habilitats (coneixements pràctics o aplicatius) i les actituds (compromisos personals). El terme competència va més enllà del saber i del saber fer perquè inclou també el saber ser o estar.

La llei d’educació estableix quines són les competències que es consideren bàsiques per a tot ciutadà que amb 16 anys obté el títol en Graduat en Educació Secundària.

Per assolir les competències bàsiques cada àrea, matèria o assignatura hi contribueix d’acord amb allò que estableix el currículum i serà a més a més la seva finalitat última. Però no només es considera important el treball a l’aula, sinó que també es té molt en compte la pròpia organització dels centres escolars, les relacions personals que s’estableixen, la pròpia comunicació entre tots els membres de la comunitat educativa (professors, alumnes, famílies i personal no docent) o la relació amb l’entorn. Tot plegat, amb el dia a dia als centres escolars, contribueix a que els alumnes puguin assolir les anomenades competències bàsiques.

Tipus de competències bàsiques

Les competències bàsiques s’agrupen en dos grans grups:

• Les competències transversals que impregnen tot el currículum. Les comunicatives, que ens permeten comprendre i expressar la realitat; les metodològiques que ens permeten activar l’aprenentatge; i les que es relacionen amb el desenvolupament personal.
• Les competències més específiques, que es relacionen amb la cultura i la visió del món que tenen com a objectiu afavorir que els nois i noies siguin cada vegada més reflexius, crítics i adequats.

Les 8 competències bàsiques

Competències transversals:

Les competències comunicatives:

1.Competència comunicativa, lingüística i audiovisual.

2.Competència artística i cultural.

Les competències metodològiques:

3.Tractament de la informació i competència digital.

4.Competència matemàtica.

5.Competència d’aprendre a aprendre. Les competències personals:

6.Competència d’autonomia i iniciativa personal.

Competències específiques centrades en conviure i habitar el món:

7.Competència en el coneixement i la interacció amb el món físic.

8.Competència social i ciutadana.

Enllaços externs

• Web del Departament d’Educació
• Normativa: Decret 143/2007, de 26 de juny

De Viquipèdia

En pedagogia, es denomina constructivisme a un corrent que afirma que el coneixement de totes les coses és un procés mental de l'individu, que es desenvolupa de manera interna conforme l'individu obté la informació i interactua amb el seu entorn.

Considera que l'apreciació i memorització de símbols, així com les relacions lògiques entre ells, no és realment coneixement. El constructivisme considera que el veritable coneixement de les coses és l'estructura mental individual generada de la interacció amb el mitjà. L'instructor és una persona que posa facilitats, que provoca situacions riques en possibilitats d'aprenentatge, no qui transmet coneixement.

El constructivisme es basa en el principi que l'apreciació de la realitat és completament diferent per dos individus diferents, encara que les condicions d'aprenentatge siguin semblants, degut al fet que no és possible crear condicions perfectament iguals en la ment de dos subjectes diferents.

Constructivistes destacats

• Jean Piaget
• Lev Vygotski
• Jerome Bruner

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Este artículo o sección sobre cultura necesita ser wikificado con un formato adecuado a las convenciones de estilo. Por favor, edítalo para cumplir con ellas. No elimines este aviso hasta que lo hayas hecho. ¡Colabora wikificando!

El concepto de cuadro de mando integral – CMI (Balanced Scorecard – BSC) fue presentado en el número de Enero/Febrero de 1992 de la revista Harvard Business Review, con base en un trabajo realizado para una empresa de semiconductores (La empresa en cuestión sería Analog Devices Inc.). Sus autores, Robert Kaplan y David Norton, plantean que el CMI es un sistema de administración o sistema administrativo (Management system), que va más allá de la perspectiva financiera con la que los gerentes acostumbran evaluar la marcha de una empresa.

Es un método para medir las actividades de una compañía en términos de su visión y estrategia. Proporciona a los administradores una mirada global de las prestaciones del negocio.

Es una herramienta de administración de empresas que muestra continuamente cuándo una compañía y sus empleados alcanzan los resultados definidos por el plan estratégico. También es una herramienta que ayuda a la compañía a expresar los objetivos e iniciativas necesarias para cumplir con la estrategia.

Según el libro "The Balanced ScoreCard: Translating Strategy into Action", Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1996:

"el BSC es una herramienta revolucionaria para movilizar a la gente hacia el pleno cumplimiento de la misión, a través de canalizar las energías, habilidades y conocimientos específicos de la gente en la organización hacia el logro de metas estratégicas de largo plazo. Permite tanto guiar el desempeño actual como apuntar el desempeño futuro. Usa medidas en cuatro categorías -desempeño financiero, conocimiento del cliente, procesos internos de negocios y aprendizaje y crecimiento- para alinear iniciativas individuales, organizacionales y trans-departamentales e identifica procesos enteramente nuevos para cumplir con objetivos del cliente y accionistas. El BSC es un robusto sistema de aprendizaje para probar, obtener realimentación y actualizar la estrategia de la organización. Provee el sistema gerencial para que las compañías inviertan en el largo plazo -en clientes, empleados, desarrollo de nuevos productos y sistemas más bien que en gerenciar la última línea para bombear utilidades de corto plazo. Cambia la manera en que se mide y gerencia un negocio".

El CMI sugiere que veamos a la organización desde cuatro (4) perspectivas, cada una de las cuales debe responder a una pregunta determinada:

• Del cliente (Customer) –¿Cómo nos ven los clientes?
• Interna del Negocio (Internal Business) –¿En que debemos sobresalir?
• Innovación y Aprendizaje (Innovation and Learning) –¿Podemos continuar mejorando y creando valor?
• Financiera (Financial) –¿Cómo nos vemos a los ojos de los accionistas?

El CMI es por lo tanto un sistema de gestión estratégica de la empresa, que consiste en:

• Formular una estrategia consistente y transparente
• Comunicar la estrategia a través de la organización
• Coordinar los objetivos de las diversas unidades organizativas
• Conectar los objetivos con la planificación financiera y presupuestaria
• Identificar y coordinar las iniciativas estratégicas
• Medir de un modo sistemático la realización, proponiendo acciones correctivas oportunas.

Contenido 1 Conceptos principales 2 Perspectivas 2.1 Perspectiva financiera 2.2 Perspectiva del cliente 2.3 Perspectiva de Procesos 2.4 Perspectiva de la innovación y el aprendizaje 3 Características del Cuadro de mando 4 Tipos de Cuadro de mando 5 Puesta en práctica del Cuadro de mando 6 Elaboración y Contenido del Cuadro de Mando 7 A tener en consideración 8 Otros temas relacionados 9 Referencias 10 Véase también

Conceptos principales

"Lo que mides es lo que obtienes" (What you measure is what you get); así comienza la publicación que dio origen al concepto de CMI. Implícitamente, el CMI plantea una mejora en el desempeño de las distintas actividades de una empresa, basándose en resultados medibles. Como afirmó Peter Drucker: Todo lo que se puede medir, se puede mejorar.

Perspectivas

Perspectiva financiera

En general, los indicadores financieros están basados en la contabilidad de la Compañía, y muestran el pasado de la misma. El motivo se debe a que la contabilidad no es inmediata (Al emitir un proveedor una factura, la misma no se contabiliza automáticamente), sino que deben efectuarse cierres que aseguren la completitud y consistencia de la información. Debido a estas demoras, algunos autores sostienen que dirigir una Compañía prestando atención solamente a indicadores financieros es como conducir a 100 km/h mirando por el espejo retrovisor.

Algunos indicadores frecuentemente utilizados son:

• Índice de liquidez
• Índice de endeudamiento
• Índice DuPont
• índice de rendimiento del capital invertido

Perspectiva del cliente

Para lograr el desempeño financiero que una empresa desea, es fundamental que posea clientes leales y satisfechos, con ese objetivo en esta perspectiva se miden las relaciones con los clientes y las expectativas que los mismos tienen sobre los negocios. Además, en esta perspectiva se toman en cuenta los principales elementos que generan valor para los clientes, para poder así centrarse en los procesos que para ellos son más importantes y que más los satisfacen.

El conocimiento de los clientes y de los procesos que más valor generan es muy importante para lograr que el panorama financiero sea próspero. Sin el estudio de las peculiaridades del mercado al que está enfocada la empresa no podrá existir un desarrollo sostenible en la perspectiva financiera, ya que en gran medida el éxito financiero proviene del aumento de las ventas, situación que es el efecto de clientes que repiten sus compras porque prefieren los productos que la empresa desarrolla teniendo en cuenta sus preferencias

Una buena manera de medir o saber la perspectiva del cliente es diseñando protocolos básicos de atención y utilizar la metodología de cliente incógnito para la velación del personal en contacto con el cliente (PEC).

Perspectiva de Procesos

Analiza la adecuación de los procesos internos de la empresa de cara a la obtención de la satisfacción del cliente y conseguir altos niveles de rendimiento financiero. Para alcanzar este objetivo se propone un análisis de los procesos internos desde una perspectiva de negocio y una predeterminación de los procesos clave a través de la cadena de valor.

Se distinguen cuatro tipos de procesos:

• Procesos de Operaciones. Desarrollados a través de los análisis de calidad y reingeniería. Los indicadores son los relativos a costos, calidad, tiempos o flexibilidad de los procesos.

• Procesos de Gestión de Clientes. Indicadores: Selección de clientes, captación de clientes, retención y crecimiento de clientes.

• Procesos de Innovación (difícil de medir). Ejemplo de indicadores: % de productos nuevos, % productos patentados, introducción de nuevos productos en relación a la competencia...

• Procesos relacionados con el Medio Ambiente y la Comunidad. Indicadores típicos de Gestión Ambiental, Seguridad e Higiene y Responsabilidad Social Corporativa.

Perspectiva de la innovación y el aprendizaje

El modelo plantea los valores de este bloque como el conjunto de guias del resto de las perspectivas. Estos inductores constituyen el conjunto de activos que dotan a la organización de la habilidad para mejorar y aprender. Se critica la visión de la contabilidad tradicional, que considera la formación como un gasto, no como una inversión.

La perspectiva del aprendizaje y mejora es la menos desarrollada, debido al escaso avance de las empresas en este punto. De cualquier forma, la aportación del modelo es relevante, ya que deja un camino perfectamente apuntado y estructura esta perspectiva. Clasifica los activos relativos al aprendizaje y mejora en:

• Capacidad y competencia de las personas (gestión de los empleados). Incluye indicadores de satisfacción de los empleados, productividad, necesidad de formación...

• Sistemas de información (sistemas que proveen información útil para el trabajo). Indicadores: bases de datos estratégicos, software propio, las patentes y copyrights...

• Cultura-clima-motivación para el aprendizaje y la acción. Indicadores: iniciativa de las personas y equipos, la capacidad de trabajar en equipo, el alineamiento con la visión de la empresa...

Esta perspectiva es poco flexible y fuente de dudas ya que se basa en la utilización de activos intangibles. Lo que en toda compañía no es siempre la lógica de negocios. En algunas compañías como las mineras los recursos tangibles son preponderantes en vez de los intangibles, por lo que no se trata de copiar y pegar tratando de encajar este modelo en todas las empresas. Pueden existir más o menos perspectivas del BSC (Cuadro de mando Integral) (Aportado pro Miguel Retamales)

Características del Cuadro de mando

En la actualidad -debido a las turbulencias del entorno empresarial, influenciado en la mayoría de los casos por una gran presión competitiva, así como por un auge de la tecnología- es cuando comienza a tener una amplia trascendencia. El concepto de Cuadro de mando deriva del concepto denominado "tableau de bord " en Francia, que traducido de manera literal, vendría a significar algo así como tablero de mandos, o cuadro de instrumentos.

A partir de los años 80, es cuando el Cuadro de mando pasa a ser además de un concepto práctico, una idea académica, ya que hasta entonces el entorno empresarial no sufría grandes variaciones, la tendencia del mismo era estable, las decisiones que se tomaban carecían de un alto nivel de riesgo. Para entonces, los principios básicos sobre los que se sostenía el Cuadro de mando ya estaban estructurados, es decir, se fijaban unos fines en la entidad, cada uno de éstos eran llevados a cabo mediante la definición de unas variables clave, y el control era realizado a través de indicadores. Básicamente, y de manera resumida, podemos destacar tres características fundamentales de los Cuadros de mando:

1. La naturaleza de las informaciones recogidas en él, dando cierto privilegio a las secciones operativas, (ventas, etc.) para poder informar a las secciones de carácter financiero, siendo éstas últimas el producto resultante de las demás.

2. La rapidez de ascenso de la información entre los distintos niveles de responsabilidad.

3. La selección de los indicadores necesarios para la toma de decisiones, sobre todo en el menor número posible.

En definitiva, lo importante es establecer un sistema de señales en forma de Cuadro de mando que nos indique la variación de las magnitudes verdaderamente importantes que debemos vigilar para someter a control la gestión.

Tipos de Cuadro de mando

A la hora de disponer una relación de Cuadros de mando, muchos son los criterios que se pueden entremezclar, siendo los que a continuación describimos, los más indicativos, a nuestro juicio, para clasificar tales herramientas de apoyo a la toma de decisiones.

• El horizonte temporal
• Los niveles de responsabilidad y/o delegación
• Las áreas o departamentos específicos

Otras clasificaciones:

• La situación económica
• Los sectores económicos
• Otros sistemas de información

Puesta en práctica del Cuadro de mando

Seis serán las etapas propuestas:

1. Análisis de la situación y obtención de información

2. Análisis de la empresa y determinación de las funciones generales

3. Estudio de las necesidades según prioridades y nivel informativo

4. Señalización de las variables críticas en cada área funcional

5. Establecimiento de una correspondencia eficaz y eficiente entre las variables críticas y las medidas precisas para su control.

6. Configuración del Cuadro de mando según las necesidades y la información obtenida

En una primera etapa, la empresa debe de conocer en qué situación se encuentra, valorar dicha situación y reconocer la información con la que va a poder contar en cada momento o escenario, tanto la del entorno como la que maneja habitualmente. Esta etapa se encuentra muy ligada con la segunda, en la cual la empresa habrá de definir claramente las funciones que la componen, de manera que se puedan estudiar las necesidades según los niveles de responsabilidad en cada caso y poder concluir cuáles son las prioridades informativas que se han de cubrir, cometido que se llevará a cabo en la tercera de las etapas. Por otro lado, en una cuarta etapa se han de señalizar las variables críticas necesarias para controlar cada área funcional. Estas variables son ciertamente distintas en cada caso, ya sea por los valores culturales y humanos que impregnan la filosofía de la empresa en cuestión, o ya sea por el tipo de área que nos estemos refiriendo. Lo importante en todo caso, es determinar cuáles son las importantes en cada caso para que se pueda llevar a cabo un correcto control y un adecuado proceso de toma de decisiones. Posteriormente, y en la penúltima de nuestras etapas, se ha de encontrar una correspondencia lógica entre el tipo de variable crítica determinada en cada caso, y el ratio, valor, medida, etc, que nos informe de su estado cuando así se estime necesario. De este modo podremos atribuir un correcto control en cada momento de cada una de estas variables críticas. En último lugar, deberemos configurar el Cuadro de mando en cada área funcional, y en cada nivel de responsabilidad, de manera que albergue siempre la información mínima, necesaria y suficiente para poder extraer conclusiones y tomar decisiones acertadas.

Elaboración y Contenido del Cuadro de Mando

Los responsables de cada uno de los Cuadros de mando de los diferentes departamentos, han de tener en cuenta una serie de aspectos comunes en cuanto a su elaboración. Entre dichos aspectos cabría destacar los siguientes:

- Los Cuadros de mando han de presentar sólo aquella información que resulte ser imprescindible, de una forma sencilla y por supuesto, sinóptica y resumida.

- El carácter de estructura piramidal entre los Cuadros de mando, ha de tenerse presente en todo momento, ya que esto permite la conciliación de dos puntos básicos: uno que cada vez más se vayan agregando los indicadores hasta llegar a los más resumidos y dos, que a cada responsable se le asignen sólo aquellos indicadores relativos a su gestión y a sus objetivos.

- Tienen que destacar lo verdaderamente relevante, ofreciendo un mayor énfasis en cuanto a las informaciones más significativas.

- No podemos olvidar la importancia que tienen tanto los gráficos, tablas y/o cuadros de datos, etc, ya que son verdaderos nexos de apoyo de toda la información que se resume en los Cuadros de mando.

- La uniformidad en cuanto a la forma de elaborar estas herramientas es importante, ya que esto permitirá una verdadera normalización de los informes con los que la empresa trabaja, así como facilitar las tareas de contrastación de resultados entre los distintos departamentos o áreas.

De alguna manera, lo que incorporemos en esta herramienta, será aquello con lo que podremos medir la gestión realizada y, por este motivo, es muy importante establecer en cada caso qué es lo que hay que controlar y cómo hacerlo. En general, tal como establecíamos en la página anterior, el Cuadro de mando debe tener cuatro partes bien diferenciadas:.

- Una primera en la que se deben de constatar de forma clara, cuáles son las variables o aspectos clave más importantes a tener en cuenta para la correcta medición de la gestión en un área determinada o en un nivel de responsabilidad concreto.

- Una segunda en la que estas variables puedan ser cuantificadas de alguna manera a través de los indicadores precisos, y en los períodos de tiempo que se consideren oportunos.

- En tercer lugar, en alusión al control de dichos indicadores, será necesaria la comparación entre lo previsto y lo realizado, extrayendo de algún modo las diferencias positivas o negativas que se han generado, es decir, las desviaciones producidas.

- Por último, es fundamental que con imaginación y creatividad, se consiga que el modelo de Cuadro de mando que se proponga en una organización, ofrezca soluciones cuando así sea necesario.

A. Elaboración del Cuadro de mando: No deben perderse de vista los objetivos elementales que se pretenden alcanzar mediante el Cuadro de mando, ya que sin unos fines a alcanzar, difícilmente se puede entender la creación de ciertos informes. Entre dichos objetivos podemos considerar que:

- Ha de ser un medio informativo destacable. Sobre todo ha de conseguir eliminar en la medida de lo posible la burocracia informativa en cuanto a los diferentes informes con los que la empresa puede contar.

- Debe ser una herramienta de diagnóstico. Se trata de especificar lo que no funciona correctamente en la empresa, en definitiva ha de comportarse como un sistema de alerta. En este sentido, tenemos que considerar dos aspectos:

· Se han de poner en evidencia aquellos parámetros que no marchan como estaba previsto. Esta es la base de la gestión por excepción, es decir, el Cuadro de mando ha de mostrar en primer lugar aquello que no se ajusta a los límites absolutos fijados por la empresa, y en segundo advertir de aquellos otros elementos que se mueven en niveles de tolerancia de cierto riesgo.

· Esta herramienta debería de seleccionar tanto la cantidad como la calidad de la información que suministra en función de la repercusión sobre los resultados que vaya a obtener.

- En relación a la confrontación entre realizaciones y previsiones, ha de ponerse de manifiesto su eficacia. El análisis de las desviaciones es básico a la hora de estudiar la trayectoria de la gestión así como en el proceso de toma de decisiones a corto plazo.

- Debe promover el diálogo entre todos. Mediante la exposición conjunta de los problemas por parte de los distintos responsables, se puede avanzar mucho en cuanto a la agilización del proceso de toma de decisiones. Es preciso que se analicen las causas de las desviaciones más importantes, proporcionar soluciones y tomar la vía de acción más adecuada.

- Ha de ser útil a la hora de asignar responsabilidades. Además la disponibilidad de información adecuada, facilita una comunicación fluida entre los distintos niveles directivos y el trabajo en grupo que permite mejorar resultados.

- Ha de ser motivo de cambio y de formación continuada en cuanto a los comportamientos de los distintos ejecutivos y/o responsables. Ha de conseguir la motivación entre los distintos responsables. Esto ha de ser así, sobre todo por cuanto esta herramienta será el reflejo de su propia gestión.

- Por último y como objetivo más importante, esta herramienta de gestión debe facilitar la toma de decisiones. Para ello, el modelo debería en todo momento:

- Facilitar el análisis de las causas de las desviaciones. Para ello se precisaría de una serie de informaciones de carácter complementario en continuo apoyo al Cuadro de mando, además de la que pudiera aportarle el Controller, ya que en muchas ocasiones disfruta de cierta información de carácter privilegiado que ni siquiera la Dirección conoce.

- Proporcionar los medios para solucionar dichos problemas y disponer de los medios de acción adecuados.

- Saber decidir como comportarse. En cierto modo, estaríamos haciendo referencia a un sistema inteligente, a un sistema que se iría nutriendo de la propia trayectoria de la empresa, y que cada vez mejor, suministraría una información y un modo de actuar óptimo

Los principales elementos que en nuestra opinión pueden hacer que el Cuadro de mando muestre notables diferencias con respecto a otras herramientas contables y de gestión:

- El carácter de la información utilizada. - La relación entre el Cuadro de mando y el perfil característico de la persona destinataria. - La solución de problemas mediante acciones rápidas. - Informaciones sencillas y poco voluminosas

En relación con el tipo de información utilizada, el Cuadro de mando aparte de reunir información de similares características que la empleada en las distintas disciplinas de naturaleza contable, es decir, financiera, debe contener información de carácter no financiero. Ya desde su presentación como útil de gestión, el Cuadro de mando se destacaba por su total flexibilidad para recoger tal información. Otro aspecto que cabe destacar, es la relación mutua que ha de existir entre el Cuadro de mando y el perfil de la persona a quien va destinado. Precisamente, las necesidades de cada directivo, han de marcar la pauta que caracterice y haga idónea a esta herramienta en cada caso y situación, sobre todo con respecto al nivel de mayor responsabilidad de la jerarquía actual de la empresa, debido a que se precisa un esfuerzo mucho mayor de generalidad y síntesis.

Un rasgo más del Cuadro de mando es la solución de problemas mediante acciones rápidas. Cuando incorporamos indicadores de carácter cualitativo al Cuadro de mando, en cierto modo, éstos están más cerca de la acción que los propios indicadores o resultados financieros. Asimismo, estos indicadores nominales nos dan un avance en cuanto a qué resultados se van a alcanzar. El último de los rasgos que diferenciarían al Cuadro de mando es el hecho de utilizar informaciones sencillas y poco voluminosas. Las disciplinas y herramientas contables habituales precisan una mayor dedicación de tiempo de análisis y de realización, y a la hora de tener que tomar decisiones, siempre van a necesitar de otros aspectos que en principio no tomaban parte de su marco de acción. El Cuadro de mando se orienta hacia la reducción y síntesis de conceptos, es una herramienta que junto con el apoyo de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y comunicación, puede y debe ofrecer una información sencilla, resumida y eficaz para la toma de decisiones

B. Contenido del Cuadro de mando:

En relación a las principales variables a tener en cuenta en la Dirección General, Direcciones Funcionales y Subdirecciones Funcionales, ya afirmábamos que no existe una única fórmula para todas las empresas, sino que para cada tipo de organización habrá que tomar unas variables determinadas con las que llevar a cabo la medición de la gestión. Es importante tener en cuenta que el contenido de cualquier Cuadro de mando, no se reduce tan sólo a cifras o números, ha de ser un contenido muy concreto para cada departamento o para cada responsable. De igual manera, se ha de tener presente que la información que se maneja en un Cuadro de mando determinado puede ser válida para otro. Con respecto a los indicadores, éstos son elementos objetivos que describen situaciones específicas, y que tratan de medir de alguna manera las variables propuestas en cada caso. Al analizar los indicadores necesarios, establecíamos una distinción básica entre los financieros y los no financieros.

El Cuadro de mando se nutre de todo este tipo de indicadores, tiene en cuenta los aspectos prospectivo y retrospectivo, configurando un punto de vista global mucho más completo y eficaz. Su función es conjugar una serie de elementos para suministrar una visión de conjunto y ofrecer soluciones en cada caso. No obstante, los indicadores tratados hasta aquí se encargan de valorar elementos con un carácter cuantificable, pero cada vez más, es mayor la importancia que van adquiriendo las variables cualitativas, aunque su desarrollo siga todavía estando por debajo del alcanzado en los financieros. La mayoría de las técnicas tienen como elemento común, el mostrar las relaciones que existen entre las categorías de las variables más que entre las propias variables. El Cuadro de mando, no debe profundizar tanto en estas técnicas, sino en la obtención de la información mínima necesaria, para que junto a las variables de carácter monetario, pueda llevar a cabo la ya mencionada gestión globalizada.

A tener en consideración

• Clientes: ¿Qué necesidades de los Clientes debemos atender para tener éxito?
• Procesos Internos: ¿En que Procesos debemos ser excelentes?
• Aprendizaje: ¿Cómo debe nuestra organización aprender e innovar para alcanzar sus objetivos?
• Financiera: ¿Qué Objetivos Financieros debemos lograr para ser exitosos?

De modo previo al abordar la presentación del Cuadro de mando, se debe resaltar una cuestión que es de gran importancia en relación a su contenido. Se trata del aspecto cualitativo de esta herramienta, ya que hasta el momento no se le ha prestado la importancia que se merece y, sobre todo, porque existen numerosos aspectos como por ejemplo el factor humano, cuyo rendimiento queda determinado por el entorno que le rodea en la propia organización, y estas son cuestiones que rara vez se tienen en cuenta.

La empresa -desde una perspectiva meramente global- constituye un conjunto de vinculaciones más o menos establecidas y de recursos compartidos con un fin común. Asimismo, se puede señalar que la empresa en sí representa un conjunto de subsistemas de información, claramente definidos y normalizados.

Otros temas relacionados

• Información y Fluidez

La información que puede obtener y utilizar la empresa, según cuál sea su naturaleza, puede ser válida para unos u otros Cuadros de mando. La información que contienen los Cuadros de mando pueden dividirse en dos grandes áreas: externa e interna. Cada vez consta, con más fuerza, la preocupación de las empresas por contar con unos sistemas organizados, ágiles y fluidos de comunicación entre todos los niveles de responsabilidad. Dicha comunicación se ha de dar a través de los canales que se establezcan y hagan posible que el personal, por medio del conocimiento claro de los temas que les afectan, pueda sentirse más involucrado en sus quehaceres diarios.

• Relaciones de causa-efecto

Entre los diversos objetivos de una Compañía, pueden establecerse relaciones de causa-efecto. Esto es, hallar una correlación entre la variación de las métricas de un objetivo y las de otro a lo largo del tiempo. Esto permite predecir como se comportarán algunas métricas en el futuro a partir del análisis de otras en el momento actual; y tomar alguna decisión que permita cambiar el rumbo de los acontecimientos.

• Mapas estratégicos

En base a las relaciones de causa-efecto, se elabora un Mapa estratégico (Si bien la traducción literal de Strategy Map es Mapa de la estrategia) que permite ver de un pantallazo la evolución de los indicadores y tomar acciones tendientes a modificarlos...

Referencias

• Rodrigo Andres Sepulveda Morán - Facultad de Economía y Negocios Universidad de Chile

Diplomado Control de Gestión Gerencial.

• Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton, The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action,

Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

• Olve, Nils-Göran, Jan Roy and Magnus Wetter, Performance Drivers: A Practical Guide to Using

the Balanced Scorecard, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.

• Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton, The Strategy-focused organization, Boston, MA: Harvard

Business School Press, 2000.

• Paul R. Niven, El Cuadro de Mando Integral,

Barcelona 2003, Gestión 2000

• López Viñegla, Alfonso, Gestión estratégica y medición. El Cuadro de mando como complemento del Balanced scorecard,

AECA 2004

Véase también

• Business Intelligence
• Sistemas de soporte a decisiones
• Sistemas de información ejecutiva
• Datawarehouse
• Datamart
• Plan estratégico
• Control de gestión

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electronic learning (or e-Learning or eLearning) is a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer technology. No in-person interaction may take place in some instances. E-learning is used interchangeably in a wide variety of contexts. In companies, it refers to the strategies that use the company network to deliver training courses to employees. In the USA, it is defined as a planned teaching/learning experience that uses a wide spectrum of technologies, mainly Internet or computer-based, to reach learners at a distance. Lately in most Universities, e-learning is used to define a specific mode to attend a course or programmes of study where the students rarely, if ever, attend face-to-face for on-campus access to educational facilities, because they study online.

Contents 1 Market 2 Growth of e-learning 3 Technology 4 Services 5 Goals of e-learning 5.1 Computer-based learning 5.2 Computer-based training 6 Pedagogical elements 7 Pedagogical approaches or perspectives 8 Reusability, standards and learning objects 9 Communication technologies used in e-learning 10 E-Learning 2.0 11 Computer-aided assessment and learning design 12 See also 13 Notes 14 External links

Market

The worldwide e-learning industry is estimated to be worth over 38 billion euros according to conservative estimates, although in the European Union only about 20% of e-learning products are produced within the common market ^[1]. Developments in internet and multimedia technologies are the basic enabler of e-learning, with content, technologies and services being identified as the three key sectors of the e-learning industry. ^[2]

Growth of e-learning

By 2006, nearly 3.5 million students were participating in on-line learning at institutions of higher education in the United States.^[3] Many higher education, for-profit institutions, now offer on-line classes. By contrast, only about half of private, non-profit schools offer them. The Sloan report, based on a poll of academic leaders, says that students generally appear to be at least as satisfied with their on-line classes as they are with traditional ones. Private Institutions may become more involved with on-line presentations as the cost of instituting such a system decreases. Properly trained staff must also be hired to work with students on-line. These staff members must be able to not only understand the content area, but also be highly trained in the use of the computer and Internet. Online education is rapidly increasing, and online doctoral programs have even developed at leading research universities.^[4]

Technology

As early as 1993, Graziadi, W. D. ^[5] described an online computer-delivered lecture, tutorial and assessment project using electronic Mail, two VAX Notes conferences and Gopher/Lynx ^[6] together with several software programs that allowed students and instructor to create a Virtual Instructional Classroom Environment in Science (VICES) in Research, Education, Service & Teaching (REST). [4] In 1997 Graziadei, W.D., et al., ^[7] published an article entitled, Building Asynchronous and Synchronous Teaching-Learning Environments: Exploring a Course/Classroom Management System Solution. [5] They described a process at the State University of New York (SUNY) of evaluating products and developing an overall strategy for technology-based course development and management in teaching-learning. The product(s) had to be easy to use and maintain, portable, replicable, scalable, and immediately affordable, and they had to have a high probability of success with long-term cost-effectiveness. Today many technologies can be, and are, used in e-Learning, from blogs to collaborative software, ePortfolios, and virtual classrooms. Most eLearning situations use combinations of the these techniques.

Along with the terms learning technology, instructional technology, and Educational Technology, the term is generally used to refer to the use of technology in learning in a much broader sense than the computer-based training or Computer Aided Instruction of the 1980s. It is also broader than the terms Online Learning or Online Education which generally refer to purely web-based learning. In cases where mobile technologies are used, the term M-learning has become more common. E-learning, however, also has implications beyond just the technology and refers to the actual learning that takes place using these systems.

E-learning is naturally suited to distance learning and flexible learning, but can also be used in conjunction with face-to-face teaching, in which case the term Blended learning is commonly used. E-Learning pioneer Bernard Luskin argues that the "E" must be understood to have broad meaning if e-Learning is to be effective. Luskin says that the "e" should be interpreted to mean exciting, energetic, enthusiastic, emotional, extended, excellent, and educational in addition to "electronic" that is a traditional national interpretation. This broader interpretation allows for 21st century applications and brings learning and media psychology into the equation.^{[citation needed]}

In higher education especially, the increasing tendency is to create a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (which is sometimes combined with a Management Information System (MIS) to create a Managed Learning Environment) in which all aspects of a course are handled through a consistent user interface standard throughout the institution. A growing number of physical universities, as well as newer online-only colleges, have begun to offer a select set of academic degree and certificate programs via the Internet at a wide range of levels and in a wide range of disciplines. While some programs require students to attend some campus classes or orientations, many are delivered completely online. In addition, several universities offer online student support services, such as online advising and registration, e-counseling, online textbook purchase, student governments and student newspapers.

e-Learning can also refer to educational web sites such as those offering learning scenarios, worksheets and interactive exercises for children. The term is also used extensively in the business sector where it generally refers to cost-effective online training.

Services

E-learning services have evolved since computers were first used in education. There is a trend to move toward blended learning services, where computer-based activities are integrated with practical or classroom-based situations.

Goals of e-learning

E-Learning lessons are generally designed to guide students through information or to help students perform in specific tasks. Information based e-Learning content communicates information to the student. Examples include content that distributes the history or facts related to a service, company, or product. In information-based content, there is no specific skill to be learned. In performance-based content, the lessons build off of a procedural skill in which the student is expected to increase proficiency.

Computer-based learning

Computer Based Learning, sometimes abbreviated to CBL, refers to the use of computers as a key component of the educational environment. While this can refer to the use of computers in a classroom, the term more broadly refers to a structured environment in which computers are used for teaching purposes. The concept is generally seen as being distinct from the use of computers in ways where learning is at least a peripheral element of the experience (e.g. computer games and web browsing).

Computer-based training

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

Computer-based training (CBT) services are where a student learns by executing special training programs on a computer relating to their occupation. CBT is especially effective for training people to use computer applications because the CBT program can be integrated with the applications so that students can practice using the application as they learn. Historically, CBTs growth has been hampered by the enormous resources required: human resources to create a CBT program, and hardware resources needed to run it. However, the increase in PC computing power, and especially the growing prevalence of computers equipped with CD-ROMs, is making CBT a more viable option for corporations and individuals alike. Many PC applications now come with some modest form of CBT, often called a tutorial. Web-based training (WBT) is a type of training that is similar to CBT; however, it is delivered over the Internet using a web browser. Web-based training frequently includes interactive methods, such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, instant messaging, videoconferencing, and discussion threads. Web based training is usually a self-paced learning medium though some systems allow for online testing and evaluation at specific times.

Pedagogical elements

Pedagogical elements are an attempt to define structures or units of educational material. For example, this could be a lesson, an assignment, a multiple choice question, a quiz, a discussion group or a case study. These units should be format independent, so although it may be implemented in any of the following methods, pedagogical structures would not include a textbook, a web page, a video conference or an iPod video.

When beginning to create e-Learning content, the pedagogical approaches need to be evaluated. Simple pedagogical approaches make it easy to create content, but lack flexibility, richness and downstream functionality. On the other hand, complex pedagogical approaches can be difficult to set up and slow to develop, though they have the potential to provide more engaging learning experiences for students. Somewhere between these extremes is an ideal pedagogy that allows a particular educator to effectively create educational materials while simultaneously providing the most engaging educational experiences for students.

Pedagogical approaches or perspectives

It is possible to use various pedagogical approaches for eLearning which include:

• instructional design - the traditional pedagogy of instruction which is curriculum focused, and is developed by a centralized educating group or a single teacher.

• social-constructivist - this pedagogy is particularly well afforded by the use of discussion forums, blogs, wiki and on-line collaborative activities. It is a collaborative approach that opens educational content creation to a wider group including the students themselves.

• Laurillard's Conversational Model^[8] is also particularly relevant to eLearning, and Gilly Salmon's Five-Stage Model is a pedagogical approach to the use of discussion boards ^[9].

• Cognitive perspective focuses on the cognitive processes involved in learning as well as how the brain works.^[10]

• Emotional perspective focuses on the emotional aspects of learning, like motivation, engagement, fun, etc.^[11]

• Behavioural perspective focuses on the skills and behavioural outcomes of the learning process. Role-playing and application to on-the-job settings.^[12]

• Contextual perspective focuses on the environmental and social aspects which can stimulate learning. Interaction with other people, collaborative discovery and the importance of peer support as well as pressure.^[13]

Reusability, standards and learning objects

Much effort has been put into the technical reuse of electronically-based teaching materials and in particular creating or re-using Learning Objects. These are self contained units that are properly tagged with keywords, or other metadata, and often stored in an XML file format. Creating a course requires putting together a sequence of learning objects. There are both proprietary and open, non-commercial and commercial, peer-reviewed repositories of learning objects such as the Merlot repository.

A common standard format for e-learning content is SCORM whilst other specifications allow for the transporting of "learning objects" (Schools Interoperability Framework) or categorizing meta-data (LOM).

These standards themselves are early in the maturity process with the oldest being 8 years old. They are also relatively vertical specific: SIF is primarily pK-12, LOM is primarily Corp, Military and Higher Ed, and SCORM is primarily Military and Corp with some Higher Ed. PESC- the Post-Secondary Education Standards Council- is also making headway in developing standards and learning objects for the Higher Ed space, while SIF is beginning to seriously turn towards Instructional and Curriculum learning objects.

In the US pK12 space there are a host of content standards that are critical as well- the NCES data standards are a prime example. Each state government's content standards and achievement benchmarks are critical metadata for linking e-learning objects in that space.

Communication technologies used in e-learning

Communication technologies are generally categorized as asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous activities use technologies such as blogs, wikis, and discussion boards. The idea here is that participants may engage in the exchange of ideas or information without the dependency of other participants involvement at the same time. Electronic mail (Email) is also asynchronous in that mail can be sent or received without having both the participants’ involvement at the same time.

Synchronous activities involve the exchange of ideas and information with one or more participants during the same period of time. A face to face discussion is an example of synchronous communications. Synchronous activities occur with all participants joining in at once, as with an online chat session or a virtual classroom or meeting.

Virtual classrooms and meetings can often use a mix of communication technologies.

In many models, the writing community and the communication channels relate with the E-learning and the M-learning communities. Both the communities provide a general overview of the basic learning models and the activities required for the participants to join the learning sessions across the virtual classroom or even across standard classrooms enabled by technology. Many activities, essential for the learners in these environments, require frequent chat sessions in the form of virtual classrooms and/or blog meetings.

E-Learning 2.0

The term e-Learning 2.0^[14][15] is used to refer to new ways of thinking about e-learning inspired by the emergence of Web 2.0^[16]. From an e-Learning 2.0 perspective, conventional e-learning systems were based on instructional packets that were delivered to students using Internet technologies. The role of the student consisted in learning from the readings and preparing assignments. Assignments were evaluated by the teacher. In contrast, the new e-learning places increased emphasis on social learning and use of social software such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and virtual worlds such as Second Life. This phenomenon has also been referred to as Long Tail Learning^[17]

The first 10 years of e-learning (e-learning 1.0) was focused on using the internet to replicate the instructor-led experience. Content was designed to lead a learner through the content, providing a wide and ever-increasing set of interactions, experiences, assessments, and simulations. E-learning 2.0, by contrast (patterned after Web 2.0) is built around collaboration. e-learning 2.0 assumes that knowledge (as meaning and understanding) is socially constructed. Learning takes place through conversations about content and grounded interaction about problems and actions. Advocates of social learning claim that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to others.^[18]

As one example, Second Life has recently become one of the virtual classroom environments used in colleges and universities, including University of Edinburgh (UK) Princeton University (USA), Rice University (USA), University of Derby (UK), Vassar College (USA), the University of Plymouth (UK) and the Open University (UK),^[19]. In 2007 Second Life started to be used for foreign language tuition ^[20]. Both Second Life and real life language educators have begun to use the virtual world for language tuition. English (as a foreign language) has gained a presence through several schools, including British Council projects which have focused on the Teen Grid. Spain’s language and cultural institute “Instituto Cervantes” has an island on Second Life. A list of educational projects (including some language schools) in Second Life can be found on the SimTeach site. SLanguages 2008 was the 2nd annual conference of language education using virtual worlds such as Second Life. The event took place in Second Life at the EduNation islands.

There is also an increased use of virtual classrooms (online presentations delivered live) as an online learning platform and classroom for a diverse set of education providers such as Fox School of Business for Templer University, Grades Grow, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and Sachem^{[21][22][23][24]}. Webex is a Cisco Web Meetings and Collaboration Solution. The platform has worked for educational institutions because of real time collaboration using an interactive whiteboard, chat, and VOIP technology that allows audio and video sharing. In distance learning situations, while replacing the classroom with features, institutions have also looked for security features which are inherently strong in a Cisco powered collaboration environment. The downside is that Webex is not a free platform like WiZiQ, Moodle or Lectureshare, and fees are paid per 'host' of a classroom or a meeting.

Another real time collaboration provider making headway is WebTrain. The Technology in Business Schools Roundtable, a group representing over 70 Canadian and US business schools^[25], announced a program for their AACSB accredited members and affiliated colleges and universites to use WebTrain for faculty meetings, student association meetings, virtual live classes, homework assistance, tutoring, teacher aid assistance, student technical support and remote control, lecture broadcasting, board meetings, virtual labs and anonymous drug, rape and depression counseling.^[26] The announcement stated TBS will assist member business schools and their associated colleges and universities with implementation planning and rollout assistance to help increase the success of e-learning initiatives. The announcement also stated WebTrain will provide their hosted services free to the business school and their associated college or university for a fiscal school year to reduce financial risk related to using an enterprise class hosted service.^{[citation needed]}

Computer-aided assessment and learning design

Computer-aided Assessment (also but less commonly referred to as E-assessment), ranging from automated multiple-choice tests to more sophisticated systems is becoming increasingly common. With some systems, feedback can be geared towards a student's specific mistakes or the computer can navigate the student through a series of questions adapting to what the student appears to have learned or not learned.

The best examples follow a Formative Assessment structure and are called "Online Formative Assessment". This involves making an initial formative assessment by sifting out the incorrect answers. The author/teacher will then explain what the pupil should have done with each question. It will then give the pupil at least one practice at each slight variation of sifted out questions. This is the formative learning stage. The next stage is to make a Summative Assessment by a new set of questions only covering the topics previously taught. Some will take this even further and repeat the cycle such as BOFA [6]which is aimed at the Eleven plus exam set in the UK.

The term learning design has sometimes come to refer to the type of activity enabled by software such as the open-source system LAMS [7] which supports sequences of activities that can be both adaptive and collaborative. The IMS Learning Design specification is intended as a standard format for learning designs, and IMS LD Level A is supported in LAMS V2.

See also

• Blended learning
• Computer-based testing
• Distance education
• Flexible Learning
• Microlearning
• Online learning community
• Virtual education
• Online music education

Notes

External links

• Distance Learning at the Open Directory Project
• Instructional Technology at the Open Directory Project
• eLearn Magazine, published by [Association for Computing Machinery|ACM]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flexible Learning is a set of educational philosophies and systems, concerned with providing learners with increased choice, convenience, and personalisation to suit the learner. In particular, flexible learning provides learners with choices about where, when, and how learning occurs. Flexible learning is a term often used in New Zealand and Australia.

Flexible learning approaches are often designed using a full range of teaching and learning theories, philosophies and methods to provide students with opportunities to access information and expertise, contribute ideas and opinions, and correspond with other learners and mentors. This may occur through the use of internet-based tools such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) or Learning Management Systems (LMSes), discussion boards or chat rooms; and may be designed as a "blended" approach, with content available electronically and remotely, as well as "face-to-face" classroom tutorials and lectures.

While the majority of flexible learning programs to date have taken advantage of computer-based systems ("E-learning"), the rapidly increase in the processing power and popularity of mobile digital devices has recently caused considerable interest in mobile learning - the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, iPods, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to increase the mobility of learners and correspondingly enhance the flexibility of their learning.

See also

• Blended learning
• E-Learning
• M-learning
• Networked learning
• Virtual education
• Virtual University

External Links

• What is Flexible Learning?
• Mobile Learning News
• Negotiated learning

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Fundación Europea para la Gestión de la Calidad (EFQM) La EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) fue fundada en 1988 por los presidentes de las 14 mayores compañías europeas, con el apoyo de la Comisión Europea. Actualmente son miembros de esta fundación más de 600 organizaciones, desde multinacionales e importantes compañías nacionales, hasta universidades e institutos de investigación. La Fundación asume su papel como clave en el incremento de la eficacia y la eficiencia de las organizaciones europeas, reforzando la Calidad en todos los aspectos de sus actividades, así como estimulando y asistiendo el desarrollo de la mejora de la Calidad.

Como parte de este estímulo, la EFQM (una fundación localizada en Bélgica) otorga todos los años el Premio Europeo a la Calidad, utilizando como criterio de decisión el Modelo de Excelencia EFQM.

El impulso para fundar esta poderosa red de administración fue la necesidad de crear un marco de trabajo para la mejora de la calidad, el cual estuviera basado en el modelo Malcolm Baldrige de los Estados Unidos y en el Premio Deming en Japón, pero adecuado a las necesidades del contexto europeo.

Tabla de contenidos 1 Modelo de Excelencia EFQM 2 Misión 3 Importancia 4 Organización 5 Véase también 6 Enlaces externos

Modelo de Excelencia EFQM

El Modelo de Excelencia EFQM fue introducido en 1991 como el marco de trabajo para la autoevaluación de las organizaciones y como la base para juzgar a los concursantes por el Premio Europeo de la Calidad, el cual fue entregado por primera vez en 1992. Este modelo es el más ampliamente utilizado en Europa y se ha convertido en la base para la evaluación de las organizaciones en la mayoría de los premios nacionales y regionales de calidad en toda Europa.

Desde sus inicios la EFQM se ha orientado por la visión de ayudar a crear organizaciones europeas fuertes que practiquen los principios de la administración de la calidad total en sus procesos de negocios y en sus relaciones con sus empleados, clientes, accionistas y comunidades donde operan.

Misión

• Estimular y asistir a las organizaciones en toda Europa para participar en las actividades de mejoramiento enfocadas en lograr la excelencia en la satisfacción al cliente, la satisfacción de los empleados, el impacto en la sociedad y en los resultados de negocios.

• Apoyar a los gerentes de las organizaciones europeas en la aceleración de transformar la administración de la calidad total en un factor decisivo en el logro de la ventaja competitiva a nivel global.

Importancia

Con la ayuda de la EFQM y a través del ejemplo de sus miembros, las organizaciones en Europa han comenzado a aceptar que la administración de la calidad total es una forma de administrar actividades para ganar eficiencia, efectividad y ventaja competitiva, asegurando el éxito a largo plazo al satisfacer las necesidades de los clientes, empleados, entidades financieras, accionistas y la comunidad en general.

La implementación de programas de administración de la calidad total permiten alcanzar beneficios significativos, tales como un incremento en la eficiencia, reducción de costos y mayor satisfacción de los clientes, todo orientado a mejorar los resultados de los negocios.

La EFQM tiene un rol clave en la mejora de la efectividad y la eficiencia de las organizaciones europeas al reforzar la importancia de la calidad en todos los aspectos de sus actividades. También contribuye asistiendo y estimulando el desarrollo de políticas para el mejoramiento de la calidad.

 

Organización

Las Organizaciones Asociadas Nacionales son organizaciones no lucrativas de carácter nacional, con metas y objetivos similares a los de la EFQM. Además de proveer sus propios productos y servicios, estas organizaciones venden localmente los productos de la EFQM, así como materiales y capacitaciones en los idiomas locales. El modelo europeo es un modelo no normativo que sirve a las organizaciones como una autoevaluacion y mejora de la calidad de sus productos.

Véase también

• Calidad
• Evaluación de la calidad
• ISO 9000
• CAF Modelo Común de Autoevaluación

Enlaces externos

• Fundación Europea para la Administración de la calidad (en inglés)

• Solución Software para gestión de la Excelencia Empresarial

• Página Web de EUSKALIT, con materiales y documentaciones gratuitas para profundizar en los principios de la Calidad Total Excelencia

• Como implantar el modelo EFQM

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Idit Harel Caperton
Born	September 18, 1958 (1958-09-18) (age 49) Tel Aviv, Israel

Idit Harel Caperton, Ph.D. (born September 18, 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is an educational psychologist and epistemologist specializing in the study of the impact of computer-based new media technology on the social and academic development of children. Her research, along with that of Seymour Papert, has contributed to the development of constructionist learning theory, a hands-on approach to the use of technology as a tool in juvenile education and acculturation.

She is the founder and CEO of MaMaMedia Inc., the executive director of the MaMaMedia Consulting Group (MCG), and founder and president of the World Wide Workshop Foundation. Additionally, Caperton is an advisor for several non-profit educational initiatives and is a regular featured speaker at universities and educational conferences worldwide.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Academic career 2.1 Constructionism 2.2 Children Designers 3 MaMaMedia 3.1 Startup 3.2 Development and expansion 3.3 Awards for MaMaMedia 4 The World Wide Workshop Foundation 4.1 GLOBALORIA Program 5 Recent scholastic pursuits 5.1 Clickerati 5.2 Non-profit work 5.3 Other recent endeavors 6 References 7 External links

Personal life

Bstate, often comparing the early years of the state to a business startup. Israel, a mere 10-year-old democracy when she was born, was in the process of building socio-political systems that combined leftist philosophies of cooperation and mutual reliance with free enterprise entrepreneurship. While a youth in the Levant, she experienced the Six Days War, the Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War. These events, along with other regional conflicts, such as the Gulf War, the First Intifada, and the Al-Aqsa Intifada, have led Caperton to actively support efforts to foster, build, and sustain peace in the Middle East and throughout the world.

In 2003, she married her second husband, Gaston Caperton, former Governor of West Virginia (1989–1997) and current President of the College Board, the organization responsible for the Advanced Placement (AP) programs and SAT examinations. They live in New York City and together have five children and five grandchildren. In addition, they continue to own a residence in West Virginia.

Academic career

Along with her first husband, David Harel (an Israeli investor, ex-fighter pilot, and Harvard MBA), she moved to the United States in 1982 for graduate study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts after having previously received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Philosophy from Tel-Aviv University. She earned two graduate degrees from Harvard: an EdM in Technology in Education (1984) and a CAGS in Human Development (1985). In 1988, Harel Caperton was one of the first students to receive a Ph. D. in Epistemology and Learning Research from the new MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after helping to formulate a new, constructionist-inspired educational model called "Instructional Software Design Learning Paradigm."

Constructionism

During her time at MIT, Harel Caperton co-wrote and published several articles with Seymour Papert (creator of the Logo programming language), and in 1991 they co-edited and published Constructionism, the first book about constructionist learning. This book includes their articles and several other works by the first generation of MIT Media Lab researchers in the (then emerging) fields of Media Technology Arts and Sciences, and Epistemology and Learning. She continued to work at the Media Lab with Papert and Nicholas Negroponte until 1994.

Children Designers

In 1991, she published a book, Children Designers, which won the 1991 Outstanding Book Award from the American Education Research Association.^[1] In her research, Harel Caperton introduced several disadvantaged fourth grade children from the Boston area to the Logo programming language. She then facilitated their use of the language to allow them to create their own mathematical software applications that would help third graders learn fractions.^[2] The students, who included children with different levels of mathematical prowess, worked on their own pieces of software for four to eight hours per week for fifteen weeks.

Harel Caperton then observed and quantified the effect of the experience on their mathematical understanding and overall learning behavior. Her research indicated that children who learn fractions using a combination of Logo programming and the techniques of constructionist learning scored on average eight to eighteen percentage points higher on standardized post-test examinations than those taught using traditional techniques.^[3] She identified the tendency of Logo-based programming to allow for individual variations in "learning, mastery, and self-expression" in children, and further called for an expansion of research into the nature of these differences by education scholars.^[4] Such exploration would help to uncover the long-term benefits of similar academic models on the subjects as they develop into young adults. These results were later expanded upon by Yasmin Kafai who found, in a similar six month project with inner-city forth graders, that learning through design resulted in statistically significant improvements in mathematical development.^[5]

MaMaMedia

Startup

In 1995, Harel Caperton moved to New York City, where she founded MaMaMedia.com (a playful variation of the Italian-American exclamation Mama Mia! used to express Mother of all Media), a pioneering Internet dot-com that focuses on the fostering of digital literacy and creative learning skills for children and their parents. Basing itself on the educational principles of constructionism, the site's goal is to allow children a vast selection of "playful learning" activities and projects. Therefore, MaMaMedia.com is the first technological adaptation using the Internet for some of the concepts originally espoused by educational theorists such as John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Seymour Papert. In applying these theories, the site seeks to allow children worldwide the opportunity to grow creatively at their own pace from a young age. For example, children using the site can create, save, and share their own animations, cartoons, stories, digital art and games with dynamic tools provided on the website, thereby creating a global exercise in experiential education.

Development and expansion

After founding MaMaMedia, Harel Caperton was quick to develop the site's niche in the emerging Internet and print marketplaces. Between 1996 and 2000, the company published the first print magazine for children about the Internet, MaMaMedia: A Kid's Guide to the Net. Additionally, the company formed content distribution partnerships for both its magazine and its website with notable companies such as Time Warner (specifically AOL and Road Runner), Microsoft's Web TV, WGBH-TV, Netscape, Intel, and Scholastic; as well as advertising business with Minute Maid, Nintendo, Disney, and General Mills.

In particular, the deal with AOL, announced on December 29, 1997,^[6] led to a dramatic jump in traffic for the main website of MaMaMedia.com. Before the site was linked from AOL's "Kids Only" channel, the MaMaMedia.com averaged 300,000 visits per month. After the deal, however, the URL had 450,000 visits in a twelve-hour period.^[7] At the end of 1999, MaMaMedia.com had about 300,000 registered members, and by early 2006 the figure had grown to over 5.7 million registered members.

As the company prepared for an initial public offering in April 2000, the dotcom bubble popped and the company remained in private hands. By 2002, MaMaMedia, which had previously generated its revenue through advertising, became profitable after downsizing and restructuring; it transformed into the MaMaMedia Consulting Group (MCG), and has been hired for consulting, along with research and development, on educational technology and global learning projects in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Awards for MaMaMedia

In 2001, Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel, recognized the MaMaMedia Peace Project—created 48 hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks—for its contributions to the "global information-technology revolution and its positive impact on society." In 2002, MaMaMedia received the coveted 21st-Century Achievement Award from the Computerworld Honors Program for visionary use of information technology in the category of Media, Arts & Entertainment: "Recipients of the Computerworld Honors 21st-Century Achievement Awards represent those organizations whose use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision, and the significance of its benefit to society," according to Daniel Morrow, Executive Director of the Computerworld Honors Program.^[8]

MaMaMedia has also been awarded Computerworld's Award for Technology Innovation twice (1999 & 2002), and Yahoo! Internet Life's Best of the Net award twice (1999 & 2000). Most recently, MaMaMedia.com was selected as one of the best Web sites for elementary teachers and students on the Internet today by the International Society for Technology in Education,^[9] a worldwide, non-profit, professional organization for leaders in educational technology. ISTE is also the home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Education Technology (CARET), and the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC).

In 2002, the Network of Educators in Science and Technology and MIT also honored Harel Caperton "for devotion, innovation, and imagination in science and technology on behalf of children and youth around the world."

The World Wide Workshop Foundation

Idit Harel Caperton is also founder and president of the World Wide Workshop Foundation for Children’s Media Technology & Learning, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that collaborates with educators and leaders worldwide in order to incorporate new technologies into their country's curriculum. Much of the Foundation's work looks at ways to create new online educational applications or overhaul existing Internet programs, designed for kids and youth, to inspire them to make their communities and our world a better place for everyone.

GLOBALORIA Program

The Globaloria Program was established by the World Wide Workshop Foundation in the spring of 2006 to develop projects that work with people in the developing world and other underprivileged communities so that they may experience elements of democracy and globalization through learning Internet technology skills, including accessing information, participating in real-time communication with a multicultural global community, and collaborating on useful technology projects. As a first step, young people experience first-hand what they can do with a web browser and Internet connectivity and discover how to become digitally literate cybercitizens.

The first project of the GLOBALORIA Program is My Global Life, a worldwide network of educational, programmable websites and related wikis. The goal of MyGLife.org is to help the world’s youth experience and master technology tools and methods for necessary in a world of expanding democracy and globalization. Site users are mentored to learn Internet technology skills (including wiki development, graphic design and Flash programming skills) and build global awareness, while simultaneously experiencing positive communication with other communities. The MyGLife.org network is intended to provide a replicable and scalable model for the empowerment of youth online. Cisco Systems has provided the seed funding for MyGLife.org.^[10]

Recent scholastic pursuits

Clickerati

Much of Harel Caperton's recent work in the past decade has focused on what she calls the development of the "Clickerati Generation" (a play on the term Literati) - the new generation of young people who were born—or will be born—between 1991 and 2010. She advances the notion that children born during this time will grow up immersed in new media, and will not be able to imagine a world without Internet technology. Therefore, she contends that there is a need for a radical, global paradigm shift relating to education and acculturation of this generation in comparison to the methods used with the youth of bygone eras. In other words, where people of the past worked with print-based literature, current and future generations will click their way through technologically-based mediums of digital information and communication — and will need to be prepared adequately with digital literacy skills for their successful development, citizenship, and leadership within such physical-digital blended environments.^[11]

Non-profit work

Harel Caperton has been active with consultation work for several non-profit educational entities. She has spent a great deal of time and effort with the Aspen Institute's FOCAS and Info-Tech policy programs and is a member of the board of directors for the ATLAS Institute. She has long served as an Advisor to TakingITGlobal, a youth-led, technology-empowered charity based in Toronto, Canada. TakingITGlobal.org operates as the online largest community of globally aware youth by providing inspiration, information and involvement opportunities. In 2006 TakingITGlobal launched its educational platform, called TIGed, with inspiration from Harel Caperton.

In 2004, she reunited with former colleagues Negroponte and Papert for One Laptop Per Child, the organization responsible for the oversight of MIT's controversial $100 laptop project. OLPC seeks to ensure that every child in the world has access to education through inexpensive computers and networks that can operate in areas with little or no existing infrastructure.

Other recent endeavors

Her primary focus during 2005–2006 has been the establishment of educational links between the United States and the rapidly growing technological infrastructure of China by working with individuals, corporations, and educational organizations (like Saybot, ECNU, BNU, and OLPC). In doing so, she has been a featured speaker and lecturer at numerous universities in Beijing and Shanghai. During the fall 2005 academic term, Caperton and her youngest daughter lived in Shanghai while she was a visiting professor and consultant at the Software Engineering Institute at East China Normal University, where she developed and modeled a student-centered, project-based curriculum for their graduate schools.

References

1. ^ GirlGeeks.org. "Women who inspire us, internet: Idit Harel". Retrieved on March 30, 2006.
2. ^ Harel, Idit (1990). "Children as software designers: a constructionist approach for learning mathematics". The Journal of Mathematical Behavior 9 (1): 4.
3. ^ Harel, Idit and Papert, Seymour (1991). "Software design as a learning environment", Constructionism. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 51-52. ISBN 0-89391-785-0.
4. ^ Harel, Idit [1991]. Children Designers, (pbk.), Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 389. ISBN 0-89391-788-5.
5. ^ Kafai, Yasmin [1995]. Minds in Play, (pbk.), Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 286-309. ISBN 0-8058-1513-9.
6. ^ MaMaMedia, Inc. (December 29, 1997). "MaMaMedia Inc. joins forces with America Online to bring kinds unique 'playful-learning' web activities". Press release.
7. ^ "Rising interactive co. MaMaMedia signs agreement with AOL" . Selling to Kids 3 (1): 4.
8. ^ MIT (2004). "OpenCourseWare wins IT in education award". Retrieved on February 15, 2006.
9. ^ Lerman, James (2005). "Excerpted from 101 Best Websites for Elementary Teachers by James Lerman" (PDF). Retrieved on February 15, 2006.
10. ^ MyGLife (2006). "Main Page". Retrieved on July 11, 2006.
11. ^ Harel, Idit (Spring 2002). "Learning new-media literacy: a new necessity for the young clickerati generation". Telemedium 48 (1): 17–26.

External links

• MaMaMedia Inc.
• The World Wide Workshop Foundation
• My Global Life
• TalkingITGlobal
• Tiged.org

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Se denomina inteligencia empresarial o inteligencia de negocios o BI (del inglés business intelligence) al conjunto de estrategias y herramientas enfocadas a la administración y creación de conocimiento mediante el análisis de datos existentes en una organización o empresa.

Contenido 1 Definición 2 Características 3 Niveles de realización de BI 4 Véase también 5 Enlaces externos

Definición

El término inteligencia empresarial se refiere al uso de los datos de una empresa para facilitar la toma de decisiones a las personas que deciden, es decir, la comprensión del funcionamiento actual y la anticipación de acciones para dar una dirección bien informada a la empresa.

Las herramientas de inteligencia se basan en la utilización de un sistema de información de inteligencia que se forma con distintos datos extraídos de los datos de producción, con información relacionada con la empresa o sus ámbitos y con datos económicos.

Mediante las herramientas y técnicas ETL (extraer, transformar y cargar) se extraen los datos de distintas fuentes, se depuran y preparan (homogeneización de los datos) y cargarlos en un almacén de datos.

Por último, las herramientas de inteligencia analítica posibilitan el modelado de las representaciones en base a consultas para crear tablas de bordes; esto se conoce como presentación de informes.

Características

Este conjunto de herramientas y metodologías tienen en común las siguientes características:

• Accesibilidad a la información. Los datos son la fuente principal de este concepto. Lo primero que deben garantizar este tipo de herramientas y técnicas será el acceso de los usuarios a los datos con independencia de la procedencia de estos.

• Apoyo en la toma de decisiones. Se busca ir más allá en la presentación de la información, de manera que los usuarios tengan acceso a herramientas de análisis que les permitan seleccionar y manipular sólo aquellos datos que les interesen.

• Orientación al usuario final. Se busca independencia entre los conocimientos técnicos de los usuarios y su capacidad para utilizar estas herramientas.

Niveles de realización de BI

De acuerdo a su nivel de complejidad se pueden clasificar las soluciones de Business Intelligence en:

• Consultas e informes simples (Queries y reports).

• Cubos OLAP (On-Line Analytic Processing).

• Data Mining o minería de datos.

• Sistemas de previsión empresarial; predicción mediante estudio de series temporales (ejemplo: Previsión de ventas).

Véase también

• Almacén de datos
• Minería de datos
• OLAP
• Gestión del conocimiento
• Analítica web
• Herramientas de inteligencia de negocios

Enlaces externos

• Dataprix.com Articulos sobre BI (en español)
• gravitar.biz Blog sobre Business Intelligence y Tecnologías de Información (en español)

De Viquipèdia

La intel·ligència emocional és l'habilitat del subjecte per controlar l'emoció, transmetre-la de forma adequada i percebre la dels altres. Un dels seus principals teòrics és Daniel Goleman, tot i que la visió que la intel·ligència té múltiples components i que un d'ells gestiona la part dels sentiments data d'antic. S'ha intentat mesurar de forma objectiva a través de tests i qüestionaris, però molts psicòlegs consideren que és impossible de quantificar. El nivell zero es considera una patologia denominada alexitímia.

Trets definitoris

Si bé els components varien segons l'enfocament adoptat, hi ha una sèrie de característiques que solen ser pròpies de persones amb un fort quocient d'intel·ligència emocional

• bon autoconeixement
• tolerància a la frustració
• capacitat d'adaptar-se al canvi
• assertivitat
• optimisme
• empatia
• habilitats socials i de relació
• estabilitat emocional
• control d'un mateix
• sensibilitat

De Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

La 'Norma ISO 9001' ha sido elaborada por el Comité Técnico ISO/TC176 de ISO Organización Internacional para la Estandarización, y especifica los requisitos para un sistema de gestión de la calidad que pueden utilizarse para su aplicación interna por las organizaciones, para certificación o con fines contractuales.

La versión actual de ISO 9001 (la tercera) data de diciembre de 2000, y por ello se expresa como ISO 9001:2000. Se espera una próxima versión para octubre de 2008.

Versiones ISO 9001 hasta la fecha:

• Tercera versión: la actual ISO 9001:00 (15/12/2000)

• Segunda versión: ISO 9001:94 - ISO 9002:94 - ISO 9003:94 (01/07/1994)

• Primera versión: ISO 9001:87 - ISO 9002:87 - ISO 9003:87 (15/03/1987)

En la primera y segunda versión de ISO 9001, la Norma se descomponía en 3 normas: ISO 9001, ISO 9002, e ISO 9003.

• ISO 9001 --> organizaciones con diseño de producto

• ISO 9002 --> organizaciones sin diseño de producto pero con producción/fabricación.

• ISO 9003 --> organziaciones sin diseño de producto ni producción/fabricación (comerciales).

El contenido de las 3 normas era el mismo, con la excepción de que en cada caso se excluían los requisitos de aquello que no aplicaba. Esta mecánica se modificó en la tercera versión, unificando los 3 documentos en un único estandard, sobre el cual se realizan posteriormente las exclusiones.

La cuarta versión de la norma, hasta antes de la publicación del borrador de norma (FDIS), presenta un total de 58 modificaciones que se reparten de la siguiente forma:

66% corresponden al capítulo 7

14% corresponden al capítulo 8

8% corresponden al capítulo 4

8% corresponden al capítulo 6

4% corresponden a los capítulos 0 y 1

ISO 9001 forma parte de la Familia de Normas ISO_9000:

Familia de normas ISO 9000

• ISO 9001 : Contiene la especificación del modelo de gestión. Contiene "los requisitos" del Modelo.La norma ISO 9001:2000 contiene los requisitos que han de cumplir los sistemas de la calidad a efectos de confianza interna, contractuales o de certificación.

• ISO 9000 : Son los fundamentos y el vocabulario empleado en la norma ISO 9001:2000

• ISO 9004 : Es una directriz para la mejora del desempeño del sistema de gestión de calidad

• ISO 19011: Especifica los requisitos para la realización de las auditorías de un sistema de gestión ISO 9001, para el sistema de gestión de salud y seguridad ocupacional especificado en OHSAS 18000 (proximamente ISO 18000) y también para el sistema de gestión medioambiental especificado en ISO 14001.

De todo este conjunto de Normas, es ISO 9001 la que contiene el modelo de gestión, y la única certificable.

Estructura de ISO 9001:2000

La norma ISO 9001:2000 está estructurada en ocho capítulos, refiriéndose los cuatro primeros a declaraciones de principios, estructura y descripción de la empresa, requisitos generales, etc., es decir, son de carácter introductorio. Los capítulos cinco a ocho están orientados a procesos y en ellos se agrupan los requisitos para la implantación del sistema de calidad. Estos capítulos son:

 

• Cap.1 al 3: Guías y descripciones generales, no se enuncia ningún requisito.

1.1 Generalidades .

1.2 Reducción en el alcance.

2 Normativas de referencia.

3 Términos y definiciones.

 

• Cap.4 Sistema de gestión: contiene los requisitos generales y los requisitos para gestionar la documentación.

4.1 Requisitos generales.

4.2 Requisitos de documentación.

 

• Cap.5 Responsabilidades de la Dirección: contiene los requisitos que debe cumplir la dirección de la organización, tales como definir la política, asegurar que las responsabilidades y autoridades están definidas, aprobar objetivos, el compromiso de la dirección con la calidad, etc.

5.1 Requisitos generales.

5.2 Requisitos del cliente.

5.3 Política de calidad.

5.4 Planeación.

5.5 Responsabilidad, autoridad y comunicación.

5.6 Revisión gerencial.

 

• Cap.6 Gestión de los recursos: la Norma distingue 3 tipos de recursos sobre los cuales se debe actuar: RRHH, infraestructura, y ambiente de trabajo. Aquí se contienen los requisitos exigidos en su gestión.

6.1 Requisitos generales.

6.2 Recursos humanos.

6.3 Infraestructura.

6.4 Ambiente de trabajo.

 

• Cap.7 Realización del producto: aquí están contenidos los requisitos puramente productivos, desde la atención al cliente, hasta la entrega del producto o el servicio.

7.1 Planeación de la realización del producto y/o servicio.

7.2 Procesos relacionados con el cliente.

7.3 Diseño y desarrollo.

7.4 Compras.

7.5 Operaciones de producción y servicio

7.6 Control de dispositivos de medición, inspección y monitoreo

 

• Cap.8 Medición, análisis y mejora: aquí se sitúan los requisitos para los procesos que recopilan información, la analizan, y que actúan en consecuencia. El objetivo es mejorar continuamente la capacidad de la organización para suministrar productos que cumplan los requisitos. El objetivo declarado en la Norma, es que la organización busque sin descanso la satisfacción del cliente a través del cumplimiento de los requisitos.

8.1 Requisitos generales.

8.2 Seguimiento y medición.

8.3 Control de producto no conforme.

8.4 Análisis de los datos para mejorar el desempeño.

8.5 Mejora.

 

---

ISO 9001:2000 tiene muchas semejanzas con el famoso “Círculo de Deming o PDCA”; acrónimo de Plan, Do, Check, Act (Planificar, Hacer, Verificar, Actuar). Está estructurada en cuatro grandes bloques, completamente lógicos, y esto significa que con el modelo de sistema de gestión de calidad basado en ISO se puede desarrollar en su seno cualquier actividad. La ISO 9000:2000 se va a presentar con una estructura válida para diseñar e implantar cualquier sistema de gestión, no solo el de calidad, e incluso, para integrar diferentes sistemas.

Enlaces de interés

• Página principal de la organización ISO.
• Página del Comité Técnico de ISO encargado de elaborar ISO 9001.
• portalcalidad.com.
• informacion sobre iso 9001.
• Gesttic - Software ISO - Software ISO 9001.

De Viquipèdia

Kaizen (改善, Japonés per a "canvi per a millor", o "millora"; el terme comú en català és "millora contínua").

En el context d'aquest article, Kaizen es refereix a una estratègia de qualitat al lloc de treball i està freqüentment associada amb el Toyota Production System i relacionada amb diversos sistemes de control de qualitat, incloent mètodes de W. Edwards Deming.

El Kaizen tracta d'eliminar residus (definits per Joshua Isaac Walters com "activitats que afegeixen cost pero no afegeixen valor"). Sovint això es tradueix en "deixar-ho de banda i tornar-ho a provar d'una forma millor". Llavors aquesta "forma millor" s'estandaritza.

Taula de continguts 1 Introducció 2 Traducció 3 Història 4 Implementació 5 Veure també 6 Referències 7 Altres lectures

Introducció

El Kaizen és una activitat diària el propòsit de la qual va més enllà d'una simple millora de la productivitat. És també un procés que, quan es fa correctamente, fa més humà el lloc de treball, elimina la superposició de treball difícil (tan mental com físic) muri, i ensenya a la gent com fer experiments al seu treball fent servir el mètode científic i com a aprendre a detectar i eliminar residus en els processos de negocis.

Per a ser més efectiu, el kaizen ha d'operar amb tres principis:

• Considerar el procés i els resultats per a que les accions que dónen els efectes surten a la superfície.
• Pensament sistemàtic de tot el procés i no només d'allò que es veu immediatament (p.ex. una visió àmplia, no només estreta) per a evitar crear problemes en qualsevol lloc del procés.
• Un enfoc i una intenció d'aprenentatge, objectiva, no acusadora permetrà la re-examinació de suposicions que van portar a l'actual procés.

La gent a tots nivells d'una organització pot participar al kaizen, des del Director General fins als proveidors externs si existeixen. El format per a kaizen pot ser individual, sistema de suggeriments, grup petit o grup gran. A Toyota, és habitualment una millora local a una estació de treball o àrea local i involucra a un petit grup en la millora del seu entorn de treball i la seva productivitat. Aquest grup és sovint guiat a través del procés kaizen per un supervisor de línia; altres vegades aquesta és el rol principal del supervisor de línia.

Mentre que kaizen (a Toyota) habitualment dóna petites millores, la cultura de les millores i les estandaritzacions contínues, alineadas i petites dóna grans resultats en forma de millores de la productivitat composta.

Aquesta filosofia difereix dels programes de millora "manar i controlar" de mitjans del segle XX. La metodologia Kaizen inclou fer canvis i monitoritzar els resultats, i després ajustar. La calendarització a gran escala, pre-planificació i exhaustiva és reemplaçada per experiments més petits, que poden ser adaptats ràpidament a mesura que es suggereixen noves millores.

Traducció

En japonés es pronuncia 'kaizen'.

• 改 ('kai') KAI significa 'canvi' o 'l'acció per a corregir'.
• 善 ('zen') ZEN significa 'bo'.

En xinés es pronuncia 'gai shan':

• 改 ('gǎi') significa 'canvi' lacció per a millorar'.
• 善 ('shàn') significa 'bo' o 'benefici'. 'Benefici' éstà més lligat a la filosofia Taoista o Budista, que dóna la definició com l'acció que beneficia a la societat però no a un individu individual (p.ex. la millora multilateral). En altres paraules, un no es pot beneficiar a expenses del benefici de l'altre. La qualitat d'aquest benefici hauria de durar per sempre, en altres paraules, el 'shan' és una acció que realment beneficia als altres.

Història

Al Japò, despŕes de la Segona Guerra Mundial, les forces d'ocupació americanes van portar experts americans en mètodes de control estadístic que estaven familiaritzats amb els programes d'entrenament del departament de guerra Training Within Industry (TWI) per a recuperar el país. Els programes de TWI incloïen Instrucció de Treball (treball normal) i Mètodes de Treball (millores de processos). En conjunció amb el cicle Shewhart ensenyat per W. Edwards Deming, i altres mètodes basats en estadística enseynats per Joseph M. Juran, això es va convertir en la base de la revolució kaizen al Japó^[1] que va tenir lloc als 1950s.

Implementació

El Toyota Production System és conegut pel kaizen, on de tot el personal de línia s'espera que pari la seva activitat a la línia de producció en cas d'anormalitat, i juntament amb un supervisor, suggereixi una millora per a resoldre la anormalitat, cosa que pot iniciar un kaizen.

El cicle d'una activitat kaizen pot ser definit com: estandaritzar una operació -> mesurar l'operació estandaritzada (trobar el temps de cicle i la quantitat d'inventari de procés) -> comparar les mesures amb els requeriments -> innovar per a assolir els requeriments i augmentar la productivitat -> estandaritzar les noves i millorades operacions -> continuar el cicle ad infinitum. Això es coneix també com a cicle Shewart, cicle Deming, o PDCA.

Masaaki Imai va fer el terme famós al seu llibre, Kaizen: La clau per a l'exit competitiu del Japó.

Apart de les aplicacions de negoci del mètode, tant Anthony Robbins com Robert Maurer han popularitzat els principis kaizen en prinicpis de desenvolupament personal. Les bases del mètode kaizen CANI (Constant and Never-Ending Improvement, en anglés Millora constant i que mai acaba) de Robbins és tractat a la seva sèrie Lessons in Mastery.

Veure també

• 5S
• Balanced Scorecard
• Business Process Reengineering
• Extreme Programming
• Lean production
• Six Sigma
• Theory of Constraints
• TPM or Total Productive Maintenance
• Toyota Production System
• Training Within Industry
• TRIZ
• W. Edwards Deming
• TOC Lean Six Sigma
• Control de Processos Estadístic
• SCRUM

Referències

Altres lectures

• Dinero, Donald (2005), Training Within Industry: The Foundation of Lean", Productivity Press, ISBN 1-56327-307-1
• Emiliani, B., with Stec, D., Grasso, L. and Stodder, J. (2007), Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and Analysis of an Enterprise-Wide Lean Transformation, second edition, The CLBM, LLC Kensington, Conn., ISBN 978-0-9722591-2-5
• Imai, Masaaki (1986), Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, ISBN 0-07-554332-X
• Imai, Masaaki, Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (March 1, 1997) ISBN 0-07-031446-2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To comply with Wikipedia's quality standards, this article may need to be rewritten. Please help improve this article. The discussion page may contain suggestions.

The word leadership can refer to:

1. Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading.
2. The ability to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission.
3. Influencing a group of people to move towards its goal setting or goal achievement. (Stogdill 1950: 3)

A leader is simply someone who has followers.

Contents 1 Categories and types of leadership 1.1 Types of leadership styles 2 Leadership associated with positions of authority 2.1 Representative democracy 2.2 Leadership cycles 2.3 Titles emphasizing authority 2.4 Symbolism of leadership 3 Leadership among primates 4 Scope of leadership 5 Leadership in organizations 5.1 Leadership in formal organizations 5.2 Leadership in informal organizations 5.3 Leader in organizations 6 Orthogonality and leadership 7 Support-structures for leadership 8 Determining what makes "effective leadership" 8.1 Suggested qualities of leadership 8.2 Leadership "styles" (per House and Podsakoff) 9 Leadership and vision 10 Leadership's relation with management 11 Leadership by a group 11.1 Orpheus orchestra 12 Historical views on leadership 13 Criticism of the concept of leadership 14 Alternatives to leadership 15 See also 16 References 16.1 General references 17 External links

Categories and types of leadership

Leadership has a formal aspect (as in most political or business leadership) or an informal one (as in most friendships). Speaking of "leadership" (the abstract term) rather than of "leading" (the action) usually it implies that the entities doing the leading have some "leadership skills" or competencies.

Types of leadership styles

The bureaucratic leader (Weber, 1905)^[1] is very structured and follows the procedures as they have been established. This type of leadership has no space to explore new ways to solve problems and is usually slow paced to ensure adherence to the ladders stated by the company. Leaders ensure that all the steps have been followed prior to sending it to the next level of authority. Universities, hospitals, banks and government usually require this type of leader in their organizations to ensure quality, increase security and decrease corruption. Leaders that try to speed up the process will experience frustration and anxiety.

The charismatic leader (Weber, 1905)^[1] leads by infusing energy and eagerness into their team members. This type of leader has to be committed to the organization for the long run. If the success of the division or project is attributed to the leader and not the team, charismatic leaders may become a risk for the company by deciding to resign for advanced opportunities. It takes the company time and hard work to gain the employees' confidence back with other type of leadership after they have committed themselves to the magnetism of a charismatic leader.

The autocratic leader (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939)^[2] is given the power to make decisions alone, having total authority. This leadership style is good for employees that need close supervision to perform certain tasks. Creative employees and team players resent this type of leadership, since they are unable to enhance processes or decision making, resulting in job dissatisfaction.

The democratic leader (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939)^[2] listens to the team's ideas and studies them, but will make the final decision. Team players contribute to the final decision thus increasing employee satisfaction and ownership, feeling their input was considered when the final decision was taken. When changes arises, this type of leadership helps the team assimilate the changes better and more rapidly than other styles, knowing they were consulted and contributed to the decision making process, minimizing resistance and intolerance. A shortcoming of this leadership style is that it has difficulty when decisions are needed in a short period of time or at the moment.

The laissez-faire ("let do") leader (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939)^[2] gives no continuous feedback or supervision because the employees are highly experienced and need little supervision to obtain the expected outcome. On the other hand, this type of style is also associated with leaders that don’t lead at all, failing in supervising team members, resulting in lack of control and higher costs, bad service or failure to meet deadlines.

The people-oriented leader (Fiedler, 1967)^[3] is the one that, in order to comply with effectiveness and efficiency, supports, trains and develops his personnel, increasing job satisfaction and genuine interest to do a good job.

The task-oriented leader (Fiedler, 1967)^[3] focus on the job, and concentrate on the specific tasks assigned to each employee to reach goal accomplishment. This leadership style suffers the same motivation issues as autocratic leadership, showing no involvement in the teams needs. It requires close supervision and control to achieve expected results. Another name for this is deal maker (Rowley & Roevens, 1999)^[4] and is linked to a first phase in managing Change, enhance, according to the Organize with Chaos approach.

The servant leader (Greenleaf, 1977)^[5] facilitates goal accomplishment by giving its team members what they need in order to be productive. This leader is an instrument employees use to reach the goal rather than an commanding voice that moves to change. This leadership style, in a manner similar to democratic leadership, tends to achieve the results in a slower time frame than other styles, although employee engagement is higher.

The transaction leader (Burns, 1978)^[6] is given power to perform certain tasks and reward or punish for the team’s performance. It gives the opportunity to the manager to lead the group and the group agrees to follow his lead to accomplish a predetermined goal in exchange for something else. Power is given to the leader to evaluate, correct and train subordinates when productivity is not up to the desired level and reward effectiveness when expected outcome is reached.

The transformation leader (Burns, 1978)^[6] motivates its team to be effective and efficient. Communication is the base for goal achievement focusing the group in the final desired outcome or goal attainment. This leader is highly visible and uses chain of command to get the job done. Transformational leaders focus on the big picture, needing to be surrounded by people who take care of the details. The leader is always looking for ideas that move the organization to reach the company’s vision.

The environment leader ( Carmazzi, 2005)^[7] is the one who nurtures group or organisational environment to affect the emotional and psychological perception of an individual’s place in that group or organisation. An understanding and application of group psychology and dynamics is essential for this style to be effective. The leader uses organisational culture to inspire individuals and develop leaders at all levels. This leadership style relies on creating an education matrix where groups interactively learn the fundamental psychology of group dynamics and culture from each other. The leader uses this psychology, and complementary language, to influence direction through the members of the inspired group to do what is required for the benefit of all.

Leadership associated with positions of authority

According to Thomas Carlyle, leadership emerges when an entity as "leader" contrives to receive deference from other entities who become "followers". The process of getting deference can become competitive in that the emerging "leader" draws "followers" from the factions of the prior or alternative "leaders". ^[8]

Representative democracy

In representative democracies the people retain sovereignty (popular sovereignty) but delegate day-to-day administration and leadership to elected officials. In the United States, for example, the Constitution provides an example of recycling authority. In the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the American Founders rejected the idea of a monarch, but they still proposed leadership by people in positions of authority, with the authority split into three powers: in this case the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. Under the American theory, the authority of the leadership derives from the power of the voters as conveyed through the electoral college. Many individuals share authority, including the many legislators in the Senate and the House of Representatives. ^[1]

Leadership cycles

If a group or an organization wants or expects identifiable leadership, it will require processes for appointing/acquiring and replacing leaders.

Traditional closed groups rely on bloodlines or seniority to select leaders and/or leadership candidates: monarchies, tribal chiefdoms, oligarchies and aristocratic societies rely on (and often define their institutions by) such methods.

Competence or perceived competence provides a possible basis for selecting leadership elites from a broader pool of potential talent. Political lobbying may prove necessary in electoral systems, but immediately demonstrated skill and character may secure leadership in smaller groups such as gangs.

Many organizations and groups aim to identify, grow, foster and promote what they see as leadership potential or ability - especially among younger members of society. See for example the Scouting movement. For a specific environment, see leadership development.

The issues of succession planning or of legitimation become important at times when leadership (particularly individual leadership) might or must change due to term-expiry, accident or senescence.

Titles emphasizing authority

At certain stages in their development, the hierarchies of social ranks implied different degrees or ranks of leadership in society. Thus a knight led fewer men in general than did a duke; a baronet might in theory control less land than an earl. See peerage for a systematization of this hierarchy, and order of precedence for links to various systems.

In the course of the 18th and 20th centuries, several political operators took non-traditional paths to become dominant in their societies. They or their systems often expressed a belief in strong individual leadership, but existing titles and labels ("King", "Emperor", "President" and so on) often seemed inappropriate, insufficient or downright inaccurate in some circumstances. The formal or informal titles or descriptions they or their flunkies employe express and foster a general veneration for leadership of the inspired and autocratic variety. The definite article when used as part of the title (in languages which use definite articles) emphasizes the existence of a sole "true" leader.

Symbolism of leadership

Various symbolic attributes — often varying according to the cultural milieu — mark out authority-figures and help make them seem special and revered or feared.

Leadership among primates

Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, in Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence present evidence that only humans and chimpanzees, among all the animals living on earth, share a similar tendency for a cluster of behaviors: violence, territoriality, and competition for uniting behind the one chief male of the land. ^[2] This position is contentious. Many animals beyond apes are territorial, compete, exhibit violence, and have a social structure controlled by a dominant male (lions, wolves, etc.), suggesting Wrangham and Peterson's evidence is not empirical. However, we must examine other species as well, including elephants (which are undoubtedly matriarchal and follow an alpha female), meerkats (who are likewise matriarchal), and many others.

It would be beneficial, to examine that most accounts of leadership over the past few millennia (since the creation of Christian religions) are through the perspective of a patriarchal society, founded on Christian literature. If one looks before these times, it is noticed that Pagan and Earth-based tribes in fact had female leaders. It is important also to note that the peculiarities of one tribe cannot necessarily be ascribed to another, as even our modern-day customs differ. The current day patrilineal custom is only a recent invention in human history and our original method of familial practices were matrilineal (Dr. Christopher Shelley and Bianca Rus, UBC). The fundamental assumption that has been built into 90% of the world's countries is that patriarchy is the 'natural' biological predisposition of homo sapiens. Unfortunately, this belief has led to the widespread oppression of women in all of those countries, but in varying degrees. (Whole Earth Review, Winter, 1995 by Thomas Laird, Michael Victor). The Iroquoian First Nations tribes are an example of a matrilineal tribe, along with Mayan tribes, and also the society of Meghalaya, India. (Laird and Victor, 1995).

By comparison, bonobos, the second-closest species-relatives of man, do not unite behind the chief male of the land. The bonobos show deference to an alpha or top-ranking female that, with the support of her coalition of other females, can prove as strong as the strongest male in the land. Thus, if leadership amounts to getting the greatest number of followers, then among the bonobos, a female almost always exerts the strongest and most effective leadership. However, not all scientists agree on the allegedly "peaceful" nature of the bonobo or its reputation as a "hippie chimp".^[3]

As of 2002, Sweden had the highest percentage of women in the legislature: but only 43%. And the United States, Andorra, Israel, Sierra Leone, and Ireland tied for 57th place with less than 15% of the legislature women.^[4] Admittedly, those percentages significantly outclass the occurrence of female chimpanzees becoming alpha of the community by getting the most followers, but similar trends exist in manifesting a general gender-bias across cultures against females gaining leadership as a position of authority over followers.

An alternative explanation suggests that those individuals best suited to lead the a group will somehow rise to the occasion and that followers (for some reason) will accept them as leaders or as proto-leaders. In this scenario, the traits of the leaders (such as gender, aggressiveness, etc.) will depend on the requirements of a given situation, and ongoing leadership may become extrapolated from a series of such situations.

In cultural anthropology, much speculation on the origins of human leadership relates to the perceived increasing need for dispute resolution in increasingly densely-populated and increasingly complex societies.

The image of swarms of lemmings which follow the first lemming off a cliff appears frequently in characterizing followers. The animal kingdom also provides the actual model of the bellwether function in a mob of sheep. And human society also offers many examples of emulation. The fashion industry, for example, depends on it. Fashion marketers design clothing for celebrities, then offer less expensive variations/imitations for those who emulate the celebrities.

Unintentional leadership can also occur from more pro-active forms followership. For example, in organizations which punish both leadership inaction and mistakes, and in which a predicament has no good solution, a common tendency involves declaring oneself a follower of someone else — metaphorically passing the buck.

Another example of followership without intentional leadership comes with the market leadership of a pioneering company, or the price leadership of a monopolist. Other companies will emulate a successful strategy, product, or price, but originators may certainly not desire this — in fact they often do all they can legally do to prevent such direct competition.

The term "leadership" sometimes applies (confusingly) to a winning position in a race. One can speak of a front-runner in a sprint or of the "leader" in an election or poll as in a position of leadership. But such "leadership" does not involve any influence processes, and the "leader" will have followers who may not willingly choose to function as followers. Once again: one can make an important distinction between "in the lead" and the process of leadership. Once again, leadership implies a relationship of power - the power to guide others.

Scope of leadership

One can govern oneself, or one can govern the whole earth. In between, we may find leaders who operate primarily within:

• youth
• families
• bands
• tribes
• organizations
• states and nations
• empires

Intertwined with such categories, and overlapping them, we find for example religious leaders potentially with their own internal hierarchies,work-place leaders=corporate officer|executives,senior management-senior/upper managers; middle management|middle managers, staff-managers, line-managers,team leader, supervisors and leaders of voluntary associations.

Some anthropological ideas envisage a widespread but by no means universal pattern of progression in the organization of society in ever-larger groups,with the needs and practices of leadership changing accordingly. Thus simple dispute resolution may become legalistic dispensation of justice before developing into proactive legislature/legislative activity. Some leadership careers parallel this sort of progression: today's school-board chairperson may become tomorrow's city councilor, then take in say a mayor dom before graduating to nation-wide politics. Compare the "cursus honorum" in ancient Rome.

Leadership in organizations

Leadership in formal organizations

An organization that is established as an instrument or means for achieving defined objectives has been referred to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and reflected in subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs, and tasks make up this work structure. Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave impersonally in regard to relationships with clients or with its members. According to Weber's definition, entry and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Each employee receives a salary and enjoys a degree of tenure that safeguards him from the arbitrary influence of superiors or of powerful clients. The higher his position in the hierarchy, the greater his presumed expertise in adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the organization. It is this bureaucratic structure that forms the basis for the appointment of heads or chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the authority attached to their position. ^[9]

Leadership in informal organizations

In contrast to the appointed head or chief of an administrative unit, a leader emerges within the context of the informal organization that underlies the formal structure. The informal organization expresses the personal objectives and goals of the individual membership. Their objectives and goals may or may not coincide with those of the formal organization. The informal organization represents an extension of the social structures that generally characterize human life — the spontaneous emergence of groups and organizations as ends in themselves.

In prehistoric times, man was preoccupied with his personal security, maintenance, protection, and survival. Now man spends a major portion of his waking hours working for organizations. His need to identify with a community that provides security, protection, maintenance, and a feeling of belonging continues unchanged from prehistoric times. This need is met by the informal organization and its emergent, or unofficial, leaders.^[10]

Leaders emerge from within the structure of the informal organization. Their personal qualities, the demands of the situation, or a combination of these and other factors attract followers who accept their leadership within one or several overlay structures. Instead of the authority of position held by an appointed head or chief, the emergent leader wields influence or power. Influence is the ability of a person to gain co-operation from others by means of persuasion or control over rewards. Power is a stronger form of influence because it reflects a person's ability to enforce action through the control of a means of punishment.^[10]

Leader in organizations

A leader is anyone who influences a group toward obtaining a particular result. It is not dependant on title or formal authority. (elevos, paraphrased from Leaders, Bennis, and Leadership Presence, Halpern & Lubar). An individual who is appointed to a managerial position has the right to command and enforce obedience by virtue of the authority of his position. However, he must possess adequate personal attributes to match his authority, because authority is only potentially available to him. In the absence of sufficient personal competence, a manager may be confronted by an emergent leader who can challenge his role in the organization and reduce it to that of a figurehead. However, only authority of position has the backing of formal sanctions. It follows that whoever wields personal influence and power can legitimize this only by gaining a formal position in the hierarchy, with commensurate authority.^[10] Leadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level.^[11]

Orthogonality and leadership

Those who praise leadership may encounter problems in implementing consistent leadership structures. For example, a pyramidal structure in which authority consistently emanates from the summit can stifle initiative and leave no path for grooming future leaders in the ranks of subordinate levels. Similarly, a belief in universal direct democracy may become unwieldy, and a system consisting of nothing but representative leaders may well become stymied in committees.

Thus many leadership systems promote different rules for different levels of leadership. Hereditary autocrats meet in the United Nations on equal representative terms with elected governments in a collegial leadership. Or individual local democracies may assign some of their powers to temporary dictators in emergencies, as in ancient Rome. Hierarchies intermingle with equality of opportunity at different levels.

Support-structures for leadership

Charisma and personality alone can work miracles, yet most leaders operate within a structure of supporters and executive agents who carry out and monitor the expressed or filtered-down will of the leader. This undercutting of the importance of leadership may serve as a reminder of the existence of the follower: compare followership. A more or less formal bureaucracy (in the Weberian sense) can throw up a colorless nonentity as an entirely effective leader: this phenomenon may occur (for example) in a politburo environment. Bureaucratic organizations can also raise incompetent people to levels of leadership (see Peter Principle).

In modern dynamic environments formal bureaucratic organizations have started to become less common because of their inability to deal with fast-changing circumstances. Most modern business organizations (and some government departments) encourage what they see as "leadership skills" and reward identified potential leaders with promotions.

In a potential down-side to this sort of development, a big-picture grand-vision leader may foster another sort of hierarchy: a fetish of leadership amongst subordinate sub-leaders, encouraged to seize resources for their own sub-empires and to apply to the supreme leader only for ultimate arbitration.

Some leaders build coalitions and alliances: political parties abound with this type of leader. Still others depend on rapport with the masses: they labor on the shop-floor or stand in the front-line of battle, leading by example.

Determining what makes "effective leadership"

Leadership maintains its effectiveness sometimes by natural succession according to established rules, and sometimes by the imposition of brute force.

The simplest way to measure the effectiveness of leadership involves evaluating the size of the following that the leader can muster. By this standard, Adolf Hitler became a very effective leader for a period — even if through delusional promises and coercive techniques. However, this approach may measure power rather than leadership. To measure leadership more specifically, one may assess the extent of influence on the followers, that is, the amount of leading. Within an organizational context this means financially valuing productivity. Effective leaders generate higher productivity, lower costs, and more opportunities than ineffective leaders. Effective leaders create results, attain goal, realize vision, and other objectives more quickly and at a higher level of quality than ineffective leaders.

James MacGregor Burns introduced a normative element: an effective Burnsian leader will unite followers in a shared vision that will improve an organization and society at large. Burns calls leadership that delivers "true" value, integrity, and trust transformational leadership. He distinguishes such leadership from "mere" transactional leadership that builds power by doing whatever will get more followers. ^[5] But problems arise in quantifying the transformational quality of leadership - evaluation of that quality seems more difficult to quantify than merely counting the followers that the straw man of transactional leadership James MacGregor Burns has set as a primary standard for effectiveness. Thus transformational leadership requires an evaluation of quality, independent of the market demand that exhibits in the number of followers.

Current assessments of transformational and transactional leadership commonly make use of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), developed by Bass and Avolio in 1990 and revised in 1995. It measures five dimensions of transformational leadership:

1. idealized influence - attributions
2. idealized influence - behaviors
3. inspirational motivation
4. individualized consideration
5. intellectual stimulation

The three dimensions of transactional leadership measured by the MLQ^{[citation needed]} cover:

1. contingent reward
2. management by exception (active)
3. management by exception (passive)

The functional leadership model conceives leadership as a set of behaviors that helps a group perform a task, reach their goal, or perform their function. In this model, effective leaders encourage functional behaviors and discourage dysfunctional ones.

In the path-goal model of leadership, developed jointly by Martin Evans and Robert House and based on the "Expectancy Theory of Motivation", a leader has the function of clearing the path toward the goal(s) of the group, by meeting the needs of subordinates.

Some commentators use the metaphor of an orchestral conductor to describe the quality of the leadership process. An effective leader resembles an orchestra conductor in some ways. He/she has to somehow get a group of potentially diverse and talented people - many of whom have strong personalities - to work together toward a common output. Will the conductor harness and blend all the gifts his or her players possess? Will the players accept the degree of creative expression they have? Will the audience enjoy the sound they make? The conductor may have a clear determining influence on all of these questions.

Suggested qualities of leadership

Studies of leadership have suggested qualities that people often associate with leadership. They include:

• Technical/specific skill at some task at hand
• Charismatic inspiration - attractiveness to others and the ability to leverage this esteem to motivate others
• Preoccupation with a role - a dedication that consumes much of leaders' life - service to a cause
• A clear sense of purpose (or mission) - clear goals - focus - commitment
• Results-orientation - directing every action towards a mission - prioritizing activities to spend time where results most accrue
• Cooperation - work well with others
• Optimism - very few pessimists become leaders
• Rejection of determinism - belief in one's ability to "make a difference"
• Ability to encourage and nurture those that report to them - delegate in such a way as people will grow
• Role models - leaders may adopt a persona that encapsulates their mission and lead by example
• Self-knowledge (in non-bureaucratic structures)
• Self-awareness - the ability to "lead" (as it were) one's own self prior to leading other selves similarly
• Awareness of environment - the ability to understand the environment they lead in and how they affect and are affected by it
• With regards to people and to projects, the ability to choose winners - recognizing that, unlike with skills, one cannot (in general) teach attitude. Note that "picking winners" ("choosing winners") carries implications of gamblers' luck as well as of the capacity to take risks, but "true" leaders, like gamblers but unlike "false" leaders, base their decisions on realistic insight (and usually on many other factors partially derived from "real" wisdom).
• Empathy - Understanding what others say, rather than listening to how they say things - this could partly sum this quality up as "walking in someone else's shoes" (to use a common cliché).
• Integrity - the integration of outward actions and inner values.
• Sense of Humour - people work better when they're happy.

In 2008 Burman and Evans^[12] published a 'charter' for leaders:

1. Leading by example in accordance with the company’s core values.
2. Building the trust and confidence of the people with which they work.
3. Continually seeking improvement in their methods and effectiveness.
4. Keeping people informed.
5. Being accountable for their actions and holding others accountable for theirs.
6. Involving people, seeking their views, listening actively to what they have to say and representing these views honestly.
7. Being clear on what is expected, and providing feedback on progress.
8. Showing tolerance of people’s differences and dealing with their issues fairly.
9. Acknowledging and recognizing people for their contributions and performance.
10. Weighing alternatives, considering both short and long-term effects and then being resolute in the decisions they make.

The approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. Although trait theory has an intuitive appeal, difficulties may arise in proving its tenets, and opponents frequently challenge this approach. The "strongest" versions of trait theory see these "leadership characteristics" as innate, and accordingly labels some people as "born leaders" due to their psychological makeup. On this reading of the theory, leadership development involves identifying and measuring leadership qualities, screening potential leaders from non-leaders, then training those with potential.

David McClelland saw leadership skills, not so much as a set of traits, but as a pattern of motives. He claimed that successful leaders will tend to have a high need for power, a low need for affiliation, and a high level of what he called activity inhibition (one might call it self-control).

Situational leadership theory offers an alternative approach. It proceeds from the assumption that different situations call for different characteristics. According to this group of theories, no single optimal psychographic profile of a leader exists. The situational leadership model of Hersey and Blanchard, for example, suggest four leadership-styles and four levels of follower-development. For effectiveness, the model posits that the leadership-style must match the appropriate level of followership-development. In this model, leadership behavior becomes a function not only of the characteristics of the leader, but of the characteristics of followers as well. Other situational leadership models introduce a variety of situational variables. These determinants include:

• the nature of the task (structured or routine)
• organizational policies, climate, and culture
• the preferences of the leader's superiors
• the expectations of peers
• the reciprocal responses of followers

The contingency model of Vroom and Yetton uses other situational variables, including:

• the nature of the problem
• the requirements for accuracy
• the acceptance of an initiative
• time-constraints
• cost constraints

However one determines leadership behavior, one can categorize it into various leadership styles. Many ways of doing this exist. For example, the Managerial Grid Model, a behavioral leadership-model, suggests five different leadership styles, based on leaders' strength of concern for people and their concern for goal achievement.

Kurt Lewin, Ronald Lipitt, and R. K. White identified three leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire, based on the amount of influence and power exercised by the leader.

The Fiedler contingency model bases the leader’s effectiveness on what Fred Fiedler called situational contingency. This results from the interaction of leadership style and situational favorableness (later called "situational control").

Leadership "styles" (per House and Podsakoff)

In 1994 House and Podsakoff attempted to summarize the behaviors and approaches of "outstanding leaders" that they obtained from some more modern theories and research findings. These leadership behaviors and approaches do not constitute specific styles, but cumulatively they probably^{[citation needed]} characterize the most effective style of today's leaders/managers. The listed leadership "styles" cover:

1. Vision. Outstanding leaders articulate an ideological vision congruent with the deeply-held values of followers, a vision that describes a better future to which the followers have an alleged moral right.
2. Passion and self-sacrifice. Leaders display a passion for, and have a strong conviction of, what they regard as the moral correctness of their vision. They engage in outstanding or extraordinary behavior and make extraordinary self-sacrifices in the interest of their vision and mission.
3. Confidence, determination, and persistence. Outstanding leaders display a high degree of faith in themselves and in the attainment of the vision they articulate. Theoretically, such leaders need to have a very high degree of self-confidence and moral conviction because their mission usually challenges the status quo and, therefore, may offend those who have a stake in preserving the established order.
4. Image-building. House and Podsakoff regard outstanding leaders as self-conscious about their own image. They recognize the desirability of followers perceiving them as competent, credible, and trustworthy.
5. Role-modeling. Leader-image-building sets the stage for effective role-modeling because followers identify with the values of role models whom they perceived in positive terms.
6. External representation. Outstanding leaders act as spokespersons for their respective organizations and symbolically represent those organizations to external constituencies.
7. Expectations of and confidence in followers. Outstanding leaders communicate expectations of high performance from their followers and strong confidence in their followers’ ability to meet such expectations.
8. Selective motive-arousal. Outstanding leaders selectively arouse those motives of followers that the outstanding leaders see as of special relevance to the successful accomplishment of the vision and mission.
9. Frame alignment. To persuade followers to accept and implement change, outstanding leaders engage in "frame alignment". This refers to the linkage of individual and leader interpretive orientations such that some set of followers’ interests, values, and beliefs, as well as the leader’s activities, goals, and ideology, becomes congruent and complementary.
10. Inspirational communication. Outstanding leaders often, but not always, communicate their message in an inspirational manner using vivid stories, slogans, symbols, and ceremonies.

Even though these ten leadership behaviors and approaches do not really equate to specific styles, evidence has started to accumulate^{[citation needed]} that a leader’s style can make a difference. Style becomes the key to the formulation and implementation of strategy^{[citation needed]} and plays an important role in work-group members’ activity and in team citizenship. Little doubt exists that the way (style) in which leaders influence work-group members can make a difference in their own and their people’s performance^{[citation needed]}.

(Adopted from: Robert House and Philip M. Podsakoff, "Leadership Effectiveness: Past Perspectives and Future Directions for Research" in Greenberg, Jerald ed.),pp. 45-82 Organizational Behavior: The State of the Science, Hillsdale, NJ, England: Erlbaum Associates, Inc, 1994. x, 312 pp.}} .)

Leadership and vision

Many definitions of leadership involve an element of Goal management|vision — except in cases of involuntary leadership and often in cases of traditional leadership. A vision provides direction to the influence process. A leader or group of leaders can have one or more visions of the future to aid them to move a group successfully towards this goal. A vision, for effectiveness, should allegedly:

• appear as a simple, yet vibrant, image in the mind of the leader
• describe a future state, credible and preferable to the present state
• act as a bridge between the current state and a future optimum state
• appear desirable enough to energize followers
• succeed in speaking to followers at an emotional or spiritual level (logical appeals by themselves seldom muster a following)

For leadership to occur, according to this theory, some people "leaders" must communicate the vision to others "followers" in such a way that the followers adopt the vision as their own. Leaders must not just see the vision themselves, they must have the ability to get others to see it also. Numerous techniques aid in this process, including: narratives, metaphors, symbolic actions, leading by example,incentives, and penalty|penalties.

Stacey (1992) has suggested that the emphasis on vision puts an unrealistic burden on the leader. Such emphasis appears to perpetuate the myth that an organization must depend on a single, uncommonly talented individual to decide what to do. Stacey claims that this fosters a culture of dependency and conformity in which followers take no pro-active incentives and do not think independently.

Kanungo's charismatic leadership model describes the role of the vision in three stages that are continuously ongoing, overlapping one another. Assessing the status quo, formulation and articulation of the vision, and implementation of the vision.

Leadership's relation with management

Some commentators link leadership closely with the idea of management. Some regard the two as synonymous, and others consider management a subset of leadership. If one accepts this premise, one can view leadership as:

• centralized or decentralized
• broad or focused
• decision-oriented or morale-centred
• intrinsic or derived from some authority

Any of the bipolar labels traditionally ascribed to management style could also apply to leadership style. Hersey and Blanchard use this approach: they claim that management merely consists of leadership applied to business situations; or in other words: management forms a sub-set of the broader process of leadership. They put it this way: "Leadership occurs any time one attempts to influence the behavior of an individual or group, regardless of the reason.Management is a kind of leadership in which the achievement of organizational goals is paramount."

However, a clear distinction between management and leadership may nevertheless prove useful. This would allow for a reciprocal relationship between leadership and management, implying that an effective manager should possess leadership skills, and an effective leader should demonstrate management skills. One clear distinction could provide the following definition:

• Management involves power by position.
• Leadership involves power by influence.

Abraham Zaleznik (1977),for example, delineated differences between leadership and management. He saw leaders as inspiring visionaries, concerned about substance; while managers he views as planners who have concerns with process.Warren Bennis (1989) further explicated a dichotomy between managers and leaders. He drew twelve distinctions between the two groups:

• Managers administer, leaders innovate
• Managers ask how and when, leaders ask what and why
• Managers focus on systems, leaders focus on people
• Managers do things right, leaders do the right things
• Managers maintain, leaders develop
• Managers rely on control, leaders inspire trust
• Managers have a short-term perspective, leaders have a longer-term perspective
• Managers accept the status-quo, leaders challenge the status-quo
• Managers have an eye on the bottom line, leaders have an eye on the horizon
• Managers imitate, leaders originate
• Managers emulate the classic good soldier, leaders are their own person
• Managers copy, leaders show originality

Paul Birch (1999) also sees a distinction between leadership and management. He observed that, as a broad generalization, managers concerned themselves with tasks while leaders concerned themselves with people. Birch does not suggest that leaders do not focus on "the task." Indeed, the things that characterise a great leader include the fact that they achieve. Effective leaders create and sustain competitive advantage through the attainment of cost leadership, revenue leadership, time leadership, and market value leadership. Managers typically follow and realize a leader's vision. The difference lies in the leader realising that the achievement of the task comes about through the goodwill and support of others (influence), while the manager may not.

This goodwill and support originates in the leader seeing people as people, not as another resource for deployment in support of "the task". The manager often has the role of organizing resources to get something done. People form one of these resources, and many of the worst managers treat people as just another interchangeable item. A leader has the role of causing others to follow a path he/she has laid out or a vision he/she has articulated in order to achieve a task. Often, people see the task as subordinate to the vision. For instance, an organization might have the overall task of generating profit, but a good leader may see profit as a by-product that flows from whatever aspect of their vision differentiates their company from the competition.

Leadership does not only manifest itself as purely a business phenomenon. Many people can think of an inspiring leader they have encountered who has nothing whatever to do with business: a politician, an officer in the armed forces, a Scout or Guide leader, a teacher, etc. Similarly, management does not occur only as a purely business phenomenon. Again, we can think of examples of people that we have met who fill the management niche in non-business organisationsNon-business organizations should find it easier to articulate a non-money-driven inspiring vision that will support true leadership. However, often this does not occur.

Differences in the mix of leadership and management can define various management styles. Some management styles tend to de-emphasize leadership. Included in this group one could include participatory management, democratic management, and collaborative management styles. Other management styles, such as authoritarian management, micro-management, and top-down management, depend more on a leader to provide direction. Note, however, that just because an organisation has no single leader giving it direction, does not mean it necessarily has weak leadership. In many cases group leadership (multiple leaders) can prove effective. Having a single leader (as in dictatorship) allows for quick and decisive decision-making when needed as well as when not needed. Group decision-making sometimes earns the derisive label "committee-itis" because of the longer times required to make decisions, but group leadership can bring more expertise, experience, and perspectives through a democratic process.

Patricia Pitcher (1994) has challenged the bifurcation into leaders and managers. She used a factor analysis (in marketing)factor analysis technique on data collected over 8 years, and concluded that three types of leaders exist, each with very different psychological profiles:'Artists' imaginative, inspiring, visionary, entrepreneurial, intuitive, daring, and emotional Craftsmen: well-balanced, steady, reasonable, sensible, predictable, and trustworthy Technocrats: cerebral, detail-oriented, fastidious, uncompromising, and hard-headed She speculates that no one profile offers a preferred leadership style. She claims that if we want to build, we should find an "artist leader" if we want to solidify our position, we should find a "craftsman leader" and if we have an ugly job that needs to get done like downsizing.we should find a "technocratic leader".Pitcher also observed that a balanced leader exhibiting all three sets of traits occurs extremely rarely: she found none in her study.

Bruce Lynn postulates a differentiation between 'Leadership' and ‘Management’ based on perspectives to risk. Specifically,"A Leader optimises upside opportunity; a Manager minimises downside risk." He argues that successful executives need to apply both disciplines in a balance appropriate to the enterprise and its context. Leadership without Management yields steps forward, but as many if not more steps backwards. Management without Leadership avoids any step backwards, but doesn’t move forward.

Leadership by a group

In contrast to individual leadership, some organizations have adopted group leadership. In this situation, more than one person provides direction to the group as a whole. Some organizations have taken this approach in hopes of increasing creativity, reducing costs, or downsizing. Others may see the traditional leadership of a boss as costing too much in team performance. In some situations, the maintenance of the boss becomes too expensive - either by draining the resources of the group as a whole, or by impeding the creativity within the team, even unintentionally.

A common example of group leadership involves cross-functional teams. A team of people with diverse skills and from all parts of an organization assembles to lead a project. A team structure can involve sharing power equally on all issues, but more commonly uses rotating leadership. The team member(s) best able to handle any given phase of the project become(s) the temporary leader(s). According to Ogbonnia (2007), "effective leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals". Ogbonnia defines an effective leader "as an individual with the capacity to consistently succeed in a given condition and be recognized as meeting the expectations of an organization or society."

Orpheus orchestra

For example, the Orpheus orchestra has performed for over thirty years without a conductor -- that is, without a sole leader. As a team of over 25 members, it has drawn discriminating audiences, and has produced over 60 recordings for Deutsche Grammophon in successful competition with other world-class orchestras.^[6]

Rather than an autocratic or charismatic conductor deciding the overall conception of a work and then dictating how each individual is to perform the individual tasks, the Orpheus team generally selects a different "core group" for each piece of music. The core group provides leadership in working out the details of the piece, and presents their ideas to the whole team. Members of the whole team then participate in refining the final conception, rehearsal, and product, including checking from various places in the auditorium how the sound balances and verifying the quality of the final recording.

At times the entire Orpheus team may follow a single leader, but whom the team follows rotates from task to task, depending on the capabilities of its members.

The orchestra has developed seminars and training sessions for adapting the Orpheus Process to business.^[7]

Historical views on leadership

Sanskrit literature identifies ten types of leaders. Defining characteristics of the ten types of leaders are explained with examples from history and mythology.^[13]

Aristocratic thinkers have postulated that leadership depends on one's blue blood or genes: monarchy takes an extreme view of the same idea, and may prop up its assertions against the claims of mere aristocrats by invoking divine sanction: see the divine right of kings. Contrariwise, more democratically-inclined theorists have pointed to examples of meritocratic leaders, such as the Napoleonic marshals profiting from careers open to talent.

In the autocratic/paternalistic strain of thought, traditionalists recall the role of leadership of the Roman pater familias. Feminist thinking, on the other hand, may damn such models as patriarchal and posit against them emotionally-attuned, responsive, and consensual empathetic guidance and matriarchies.

Comparable to the Roman tradition, the views of Confucianism on "right living" relate very much to the ideal of the (male) scholar-leader and his benevolent rule, buttressed by a tradition of filial piety.

In On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, Thomas Carlyle demonstrated the concept of leadership associated with a position of authority. In praising Oliver Cromwell's use of power to bring King Charles I to trial and eventual beheading, he wrote the following: "Let us remark, meanwhile, how indispensable everywhere a King is, in all movements of men. It is strikingly shown, in this very War, what becomes of men when they cannot find a Chief Man, and their enemies can." ^[8]

Within the context of Islam, views on the nature, scope and inheritance of leadership have played a major role in shaping sects and their history. See caliphate.

In the 19th century, the elaboration of anarchist thought called the whole concept of leadership into question. (Note that the Oxford English Dictionary traces the word "leadership" in English only as far back as the 19th century.) One response to this denial of élitism came with Leninism, which demanded an élite group of disciplined cadres to act as the vanguard of a socialist revolution, bringing into existence the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Other historical views of leadership have addressed the seeming contrasts between secular and religious leadership. The doctrines of Caesaro-papism have recurred and had their detractors over several centuries. Christian thinking on leadership has often emphasized stewardship of divinely-provided resources - human and material - and their deployment in accordance with a Divine plan. Compare servant leadership.

For a more general take on leadership in politics, compare the concept of the statesman.

The great traits that a leader must have, have been debated over time, and most people agree that these are the five key traits. You must have a vision. We've all heard the saying "You must stand for something, or you'll fall for everything." But what does that really mean? Standing firm when it comes to your company's policies and procedures is all well and good, but it doesn't speak to having a vision. As a leader, you have to learn to communicate your vision or the vision of your company to the people you want to follow you. You must have passion, you have to show your team that you want to accomplish the goal as badly as they do, your passion will drive them. You must learn to be a great decision maker. Sometimes, leaders must face times of pressure where they are forced to make quick decisions, a great leader must have this skill. You must be a team builder. To become a great leader, you must first make your team great, you must have the power to give your team responsibilities, and trust them too, you must slowly make them greater and greater. You must have character. Without character, all the other "keys" are for naught. That's because your innate character strengths and limitations play a critical role in your leadership style. The real question is, are you aware of just what role they play? All great leaders have taken steps to learn about their individual personality and what part it plays in their leadership style.

Criticism of the concept of leadership

Noam Chomsky has criticized the concept of leadership as involving people subordinating their needs to that of someone else. While the conventional view of leadership is rather satisfying to people who "want to be told what to do", one should question why they are being subjected to acts that may not be rational or even desirable. Rationality is the key element missing when "leaders" say "believe me" and "have faith". It is fairly easy to have people simplistically follow you as their "leader", if no attention is paid to rationality.

Moving to the public domain-presidents, senators, people in congress- such positions are dubbed as leaders. In this domain, representatives ARE desirable NOT "leaders". The representative simply take the view of the group being represented and help to move forward with these objectives. If they don't follow what the representatives have asked, they should easily be removed and replaced. Ask yourself when the last time such a system of representation existed! When "leaders" in the form of politicians come to town there is a parade of celebration and cheering without any room for such rationality but plenty of room for empty rhetoric and in some cases a rock star status.People need to ask themselves why they would want leaders, given the brutal history of such unaccountable people, and not representatives.

Alternatives to leadership

Within groups, alternatives to leadership include using decision-making structures such as co-operative ventures, collegiality, consensus, anarchism and applied democracy. One can downplay the ubiquitous idea of leadership by using structures such as information clearing houses or stressing functions such as administration. Note the different implications and connotations of the two phrases "coalition of the willing" and "US-led coalition". The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which practices a form of distributed leadership, provides a textbook example of alternative leadership.

See also

John Adair (Leadership Guru) Max Weber's Charismatic authority Chieftain Coaching Crowd psychology Antonio Gramsci's theory of Cultural hegemony Dale Carnegie Dependability Determination Discipline Excellence Fairness Focus

Foresight Forgiveness Fortitude Fiedler contingency model Functional leadership model Hero Islamic leadership Ideal leadership Model Justice Lance Secretan Leader (Scouting) Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) Leadership Character Model Leadership development

Managerial grid model Minister Morality Nicomachean Ethics Parent Perseverance Potential Purposefulness Priest Professional development Path-goal model Respectfulness Responsibility Restraint

Self-awareness Self-discipline Self-reliance sensitivity Servant leadership Situational leadership theory Social skills Three theological virtues Trait theory Transformational leadership Trustworthiness Truthfulness Toxic Leadership Youth leadership

References

General references

• Argyris, C. (1976) Increasing Leadership Effectiveness, Wiley, New York, 1976 (even though published in 1976, this still remains a "standard" reference text)
• Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (1995). MLQ Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire for Research: Permission Set. Redwood City, CA: Mindgarden.
• Bennis, W. (1989) On Becoming a Leader, Addison Wesley, New York, 1989
• Crawford, C. J. (2005). Corporate rise the X principles of extreme personal leadership. Santa Clara, CA: XCEO. ISBN 0-976-90190-0 9780976901907
• Greiner, K. (2002). The inaugural speech. ERIC Accession Number ED468083 ^[8].
• Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-51858-6
• House, R. J. (2004) Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, 2004 ^[9].
• Kouzes, J. M. and Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Laubach, R. (2005) Leadership is Influence
• Machiavelli, Niccolo (1530) The Prince
• Maxwell, J. C. & Dornan, J. (2003) Becoming a Person of Influence
• McGovern, George S., Donald C. Simmons, Jr. and Daniel Gaken (2008) Leadership and Service: An Introduction, Kendall/Hunt Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7575-5109-3.
• Nanus, Burt (1995) The visionary leadership
• Ogbonnia, SKC. (2007). Political Parties and Effective Leadership: A contingency Approach
• Pitcher, P. (1994 French) Artists, Craftsmen, and Technocrats: The dreams realities and illusions of leadership, Stoddart Publishing, Toronto, 2nd English edition, 1997. ISBN 0-7737-5854-2
• Renesch, John (1994) Leadership in a New Era: Visionary Approaches to the Biggest Crisis of Our Time, San Francisco, New Leaders Press (paperback 2002, New York, Paraview Publishing
• Renesch, John (2001) "Conscious Leadership: Taking Responsibility for Our Better Future," LOHAS Weekly Newsletter, March 1, 2001 [10]
• Roberts, W. (1987) Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
• Stacey, R. (1992) Managing Chaos, Kogan-Page, London, 1992
• Stogdill, R.M. (1950) 'Leadership, membership and organization', Psychological Bulletin, 47: 1-14
• Terry, G. (1960) The Principles of Management, Richard Irwin Inc, Homewood Ill, pg 5.
• Torbert, W. (2004) Action Inquiry: the Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership, San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Warneka, P and Warneka, T. (2007). The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching. Asogomi Publications Intl. Cleveland, Ohio. website
• Warneka, T. (2006). Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today. Asogomi Publications Intl. Cleveland, Ohio. website
• Warneka, T. (2008). Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership. website
• Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspective. American Psychology , 62 (1), 7-16.
• Zaleznik, A. (1977) "Managers and Leaders: Is there a difference?", Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1977

External links

• Leadership at the Open Directory Project

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Margaret J. Wheatley (commonly Meg Wheatley) is a writer and management consultant who studies organizational behavior. Her approach includes systems thinking, theories of change, chaos theory, leadership and the learning organization: particularly its capacity to self-organize. Her work is often compared to that of Donella Meadows and Dee Hock. She describes her work as opposing "highly controlled mechanistic systems that only create robotic behaviors."

Contents 1 Background 2 Current work and publications 3 Quotes 4 See also 5 External links

Background

She received her doctorate from Harvard University and holds an M.A. in systems thinking from New York University. She has worked on every inhabited continent in "virtually every type of organization" and considers herself a global citizen. Her practice as an organizational consultant and researcher began in 1973. Since then she served as a professor of management in two graduate programs.

Current work and publications

She is presently president of The Berkana Institute, a global charitable leadership foundation.

Her books include

• Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (1999)
• Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future (2002)
• A Simpler Way (coauthored with Myron Kellner-Rogers)

Quotes

"There is a simpler, finer way to organize human endeavor. I have declared this for many years and seen it to be true in many places. This simpler way is demonstrated to us in daily life, not the life we see on the news with its unending stories of human grief and horror, but what we feel when we experience a sense of life’s deep harmony, beauty, and power, of how we feel when we see people helping each other, when we feel creative, when we know we’re making a difference, when life feels purposeful."

"Over many years of work all over the world, I've learned that if we organize in the same way that the rest of life does, we develop the skills we need: we become resilient, adaptive, aware, and creative. We enjoy working together. And life’s processes work everywhere, no matter the culture, group, or person, because these are basic dynamics shared by all living beings."

"Western cultural views of how best to organize and lead (now the methods most used in the world) are contrary to what life teaches. Leaders use control and imposition rather than participative, self-organizing processes. They react to uncertainty and chaos by tightening already feeble controls, rather than engaging people's best capacities to learn and adapt. In doing so, they only create more chaos. Leaders incite primitive emotions of fear, scarcity, and self-interest to get people to do their work, rather than the more noble human traits of cooperation, caring, and generosity. This has led to this difficult time, when nothing seems to work as we want it to, when too many of us feel frustrated, disengaged, and anxious."

"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about."

See also

• The da Vinci Medallion
• Fritjof Capra
• Systems Thinking

External links

• http://www.berkana.org/index.html

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Networked learning is a process of developing and maintaining connections with people and information, and communicating in such a way so as to support one another's learning.

Contents 1 History 2 Uses 3 Concerns 3.1 Overall effectiveness of digital networked learning 3.2 Financial Cost 4 Notes 5 See also 6 External links 7 Books

History

Since the development of the Internet as a significant medium for communication and information, the practice of networked learning has tended to focus on its use, especially since the emergence of Web 2.0. When referring to the use of this medium in networked learning, it is sometimes useful to expand the term to digital networked learning.

Uses

Networked learning can be practised in both formal and informal settings. In formal settings the learning achieved through networked communication is formally facilitated, assessed and/or recognised by an educational organisation. In an informal setting, individuals maintain a learning network for their own interests, for learning "on-the-job", or for research purposes.

Concerns

Overall effectiveness of digital networked learning

• In England, the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) ran a program called the Networked Learning Community (NLC) programme. More than 134 schools networks (an average of ten schools per network^[1]) were involved from 2002 to 2006 ^[2]. An English study compared the grades of the NLC schools versus the national sample. It concluded that there was large variation in scholarly improvement and that the overall improvement was aligned with the national trend.^[3] The study interpreted this result as a caution to the claims of digital networked learning scholarly effectiveness.
• To the study’s own admission, there was no control group and that other factors, such as varying school socioeconomic status and after-school programs, could have influenced the quantitative results.

Financial Cost

The yearly cost for resources in the NLC programme was about 50,000 UK pounds (approximately $95,000USD in 2008) per school network^[4]. After NLC programme ended in 2006, the school networks had to find other partnerships to continue. There might be school boards that would not be willing to financially invest in the initial implementation and eventual maintenance of a networked learning system.

Notes

See also

• Blended learning
• Collaborative Networked Learning
• Connectivism (learning theory)
• Constructionist learning
• Online learning / Electronic learning / E-Learning
• Personal learning environments
• The Wealth of Networks

External links

• Collaborative mind mapping
• Wikieducator entry for Networked Learning
• National College for School Leadership - Networked Learning Communities (NLC) programme
• Centre for Studies in Advanced Learning Technology
• A slide show with audio
• Networked Learning Conference Series.
• CSALT work on networked learning
• Centre for the Study of Networked Learning and Knowledge Building
• Connectivism is a pedagogical view or learning theory (depending on who you listen to) on networked learning
• Networked learning in higher education
• WiZiQ for networked learning

Books

• Benkler, Y (2006) The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press (May 16, 2006)
• Downes, S. (2007). Emerging technologies for learning.
• Steeples, C. and Jones, C. eds (2002) Networked Learning: Perspectives and Issues. London: Springer.
• Goodyear, P. Banks, S. Hodgson, V. and McConnell, D. eds (2004) Advances in Research on Networked Learning. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Michael Senge (born 1947) is an American scientist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is known as author of the book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization from 1990 (new edition of 2007). Besides he is still lecturing as a senior lecturer at the System Dynamics Group at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Work 2.1 Organization development 3 See also 4 Publications 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Peter Senge was born in 1947. He received a B.S. in Aerospace engineering from Stanford University. While at Stanford, Senge also studied philosophy. He later earned an M.S. in social systems modeling from MIT in 1972. He also earned a Ph.D. from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1978.^[1][2]

He was the Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and is presently (2005) on the faculty at MIT.

He is the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL).

He has had a regular meditation practice since 1996 and began meditating with a trip to Tassajara, a Zen Buddhist monastery, before attending Stanford.^[3] He recommends meditation or similar forms of contemplative practice.^[4][3][5]

Work

An engineer by training, Peter was a protegé of Jay Wright Forrester and has followed closely the works of Chris Argyris and Robert Fritz and based his books on pioneering works with the five disciplines in Ford, Chrysler, Shell, AT&T, Hannover Insurance, Harley-Davidson since the 70s and 80s through today.

Organization development

Senge emerged in the 1990s as a major figure in organizational development with his book The Fifth Discipline where he developed the notion of a learning organization. This views organizations as dynamical systems (as defined in Systemics) in a state of continuous adaptation and improvement .

In 1997, Harvard Business Review identified The Fifth Discipline as one of the seminal management books of the previous 75 years.^[6] For this work, he was named by Journal of Business Strategy as the 'Strategist of the Century'. They further said that he was one of a very few people who 'had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today'.^[6]

See also

• Organizational learning
• System Dynamics
• Systems thinking
• Strategy dynamics
• Strategic management
• The Fifth Discipline

Publications

Peter Senge wrote several books and articles. A selection:

• 1990, The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Doubleday, New York, 1990.
• 1994, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
• 1999, The Dance of Change
• 2004, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, published in 2004
• 2005, Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and SocietyOrganizations, and Society
• 2008, The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World

References

External links

• SoL, Society for Organizational Learning - which Senge founded
• Presence.net - another SoL web site based on his more recent publications
• Presencing Institute

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed.

The three R's (as in the letter 'R') is a phrase sometimes used^[1] to describe the foundations of a basic skills oriented education program within schools: reading, writing and arithmetic.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 The Three Rs in the United States 3 See also 4 Notes

Etymology

The phrase 'the three Rs' is used because each word in the phrase has a strong 'R' phoneme (sound) at the beginning, and, obviously, due to the spellings of each word.

It can also be written with a fourth 'R', arts, presumably then making the phrase 'the four Rs'.^{[citation needed]}

It is widely believed that Sir William Curtis, an alderman who became Lord Mayor of London, once presented a toast to the three Rs "reading, riting, and rithmetic" thereby betraying his illiteracy. In any event, the term was picked up by others and so used from the early 1800s on.^{[citation needed]}

It was also used regularly in Egypt until 1934, rumoured to have been implemented by Ahmed Ismail.^{[citation needed]}

The Three Rs in the United States

The three Rs are often seen as dated and obsolete in an age of standards based education reform. Mathematics is now about writing, statistics, charts and communication. Increased emphasis is made on science, social studies, and physical education. Yet in the debate about education reform, many prefer the traditional, simpler approach of the three Rs to authentic assessment, rubrics and learning outcomes.

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction., Terry Bergeson, has identified the new 3 Rs from Robert Carkhuff's 3 Rs as Relating, Representing and Reasoning.^[2] Carkhuff was a self-published consultant paid $1 million to provide materials to help design Washington State's controversial standards based education reform program. Terry Bergeson has pledged that that all would receive world class standards diplomas, yet one half of all students and three-quarters of minority students are on track to have their diplomas revoked in 2008 because they do not pass the new 3 Rs standard set by the WASL standards based assessment. While over half of US students will be required to pass similar High school graduation examinations, because of objections from parents and education experts, no more states have adopted such requirements and some have dropped them in 2006. Advocates of the traditional education question how students who struggle with basic skills can be expected to be more successful at higher developmental higher order thinking levels. States like California abandoned similar standards in the late 1990s in favor of returning to basic skills.

See also

• Standards based education reform
• Traditional education

Notes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Systems thinking is a unique approach to problem solving in that it views certain "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than focusing on individual outcomes and contributing to further development of the undesired element or problem. ^[1] Systems thinking is a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. The only way to fully understand why a problem or element occurs and persists is to understand the part in relation to the whole.^[2] Standing in contrast to Descartes's scientific reductionism and philosophical analysis, it proposes to view systems in a holistic manner. Consistent with systems philosophy, systems thinking concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the elements that compose the entirety of the system.

Systems thinking attempts to illustrate that events are separated by distance and time and that small catalytic events can cause large changes in complex systems. Acknowledging that an improvement in one area of a system can adversely affect another area of the system, it promotes organizational communication at all levels in order to avoid the silo effect. Systems thinking techniques may be used to study any kind of system — natural, scientific, engineered, human, or conceptual.

Contents 1 The concept of a system 2 The systems approach 3 Applications 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

The concept of a system

Both systems thinkers and futurists consider that:

• a "system" is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as a structured functional unit;
• energy, material and information flow among the different elements that compose the system;
• a system is a community situated within an environment;
• energy, material and information flow from and to the surrounding environment via semi-permeable membranes or boundaries
• systems are often composed of entities seeking equilibrium but can exhibit oscillating, chaotic, or exponential behavior.

A holistic system is any set (group) of interdependent or temporally interacting parts. Parts are generally systems themselves and are composed of other parts, just as systems are generally parts or holons of other systems.

Systems and the application of systems thinking has been grouped into three categories based on the techniques used to tackle a system:

• Hard systems — involving simulations, often using computers and the techniques of operations research. Useful for problems that can justifiably be quantified. However it cannot easily take into account unquantifiable variables (opinions, culture, politics, etc), and may treat people as being passive, rather than having complex motivations.
• Soft systems — For systems that cannot easily be quantified, especially those involving people holding multiple and conflicting frames of reference. Useful for understanding motivations, viewpoints, and interactions and addressing qualitative as well as quantitative dimensions of problem situations. Soft systems are a field that utilizes foundation methodological work developed by Peter Checkland, Brian Wilson and their colleagues at Lancaster University. Morphological analysis is a complementary method for structuring and analysing non-quantifiable problem complexes.
• Evolutionary systems — Bela H. Banathy developed a methodology that is applicable to the design of complex social systems. This technique integrates critical systems inquiry with soft systems methodologies. Evolutionary systems, similar to dynamic systems are understood as open, complex systems, but with the capacity to evolve over time. Banathy uniquely integrated the interdisciplinary perspectives of systems research (including chaos, complexity, cybernetics), cultural anthropology, evolutionary theory, and others.

The systems approach

The Systems thinking approach incorporates several tenets:^[3]

• Interdependence of objects and their attributes - independent elements can never constitute a system
• Holism - emergent properties not possible to detect by analysis should be possible to define by a holistic approach
• Goal seeking - systemic interaction must result in some goal or final state
• Inputs and Outputs - in a closed system inputs are determined once and constant; in an open system additional inputs are admitted from the environment
• Transformation of inputs into outputs - this is the process by which the goals are obtained
• Entropy - the amount of disorder or randomness present in any system
• Regulation - a method of feedback is necessary for the system to operate predictably
• Hierarchy - complex wholes are made up of smaller subsystems
• Differentiation - specialized units perform specialized functions
• Equifinality - alternative ways of attaining the same objectives (convergence)
• Multifinality - attaining alternative objectives from the same inputs (divergence)

Some examples:

• Rather than trying to improve the braking system on a car by looking in great detail at the material composition of the brake pads (reductionist), the boundary of the braking system may be extended to include the interactions between the:

• brake disks or drums
• brake pedal sensors
• hydraulics
• driver reaction time
• tires
• road conditions
• weather conditions
• time of day

• Using the tenet of "Multifinality", a supermarket could be considered to be:

• a "profit making system" from the perspective of management and owners
• a "distribution system" from the perspective of the suppliers
• an "employment system" from the perspective of employees
• a "materials supply system" from the perspective of customers
• an "entertainment system" from the perspective of loiterers
• a "social system" from the perspective of local residents
• a "dating system" from the perspective of single customers

As a result of such thinking, new insights may be gained into how the supermarket works, why it has problems, how it can be improved or how changes made to one component of the system may impact the other components.

Applications

Systems thinking is increasingly being used to tackle a wide variety of subjects in fields such as computing, engineering, epidemiology, information science, health, manufacture, management, and the environment.

Some examples:

• Organizational architecture
• Job Design
• Team Population and Work Unit Design
• Linear and Complex Process Design
• Supply Chain Design
• Business continuity planning with FMEA protocol
• Critical Infrastructure Protection via FBI Infragard
• Delphi method — developed by RAND for USAF
• Futures studies — Thought leadership mentoring
• Leadership development
• Oceanography — forecasting complex systems behavior
• Quality function deployment (QFD)
• Quality management — Hoshin planning methods
• Quality storyboard — StoryTech framework (LeapfrogU-EE)
• Software quality
• Programme Management

Bibliography

• Russell L. Ackoff (1999) Ackoff's Best: His Classic Writings on Management. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-31634-2
• Bela H. Banathy (1996) Designing Social Systems in a Changing World (Contemporary Systems Thinking). (Springer) ISBN 0-306-45251-0
• Bela H. Banathy (2000) Guided Evolution of Society: A Systems View (Contemporary Systems Thinking). (Springer) ISBN 0-306-46382-2
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1976 - revised) General System theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. (George Braziller) ISBN 0-807-60453-4
• Peter Checkland (1981) Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-27911-0
• Peter Checkland, Jim Scholes (1990) Soft Systems Methodology in Action. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-92768-6
• Peter Checkland, Jim Sue Holwell (1998) Information, Systems and Information Systems. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-95820-4
• Peter Checkland, John Poulter (2006) Learning for Action. (Wiley) ISBN 0-470-02554-9
• C. West Churchman (1984 - revised) The Systems Approach. (Delacorte Press) ISBN 0-440-38407-9.
• John Gall (2003) The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small. (General Systemantics Pr/Liberty) ISBN 0-961-82517-0
• Jamshid Gharajedaghi (2005) Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity - A Platform for Designing Business Architecture. (Butterworth-Heinemann) ISBN 0-750-67973-5
• Charles François (ed) (1997), International Encyclopedia of Cybernetics and Systems, München: K. G. Saur.
• Charles L. Hutchins (1996) Systemic Thinking: Solving Complex Problems CO:PDS ISBN 1-888017-51-1
• Bradford Keeney (2002 - revised) Aesthetics of Change. (Guilford Press) ISBN 1-572-30830-3
• Peter M. Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline - The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization. (Currency Doubleday) ISBN 0-385-26095-4
• Lars Skyttner (2006) General Systems Theory: Problems, Perspective, Practice (World Scientific Publishing Company) ISBN 9-812-56467-5
• Frederic Vester (2007) The Art of interconnected Thinking. Ideas and Tools for tackling with Complexity (MCB) ISBN 3-939-31405-6
• Gerald M. Weinberg (2001 - revised) An Introduction to General Systems Thinking. (Dorset House) ISBN 0-932-63349-8
• Brian Wilson (1990) Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications, 2nd ed. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-92716-3
• Brian Wilson (2001) Soft Systems Methodology: Conceptual Model Building and its Contribution. (Wiley) ISBN 0-471-89489-3

References

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2007)

See also

• boundary critique
• Crossdisciplinarity
• Information Flow Diagram
• Interdisciplinary
• Multidisciplinary
• Soft systems methodology
• System dynamics
• Systematics - study of multi-term systems
• Systemics
• Systems engineering
• Systems intelligence
• Systems philosophy
• Systems theory
• Systems science
• Transdisciplinary
• Terms used in systems theory
• World-systems theory

External links

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• Bibliography of Systems Philosophy hosted by Valdosta State University.
• Dancing With Systems from Project Worldview
• Overview Systems thinking from systems-thinking.org
• Systems-thinking.de: systems thinking links displayed as a network
• Systems Thinking from SystemsThinker.com
• Systems Thinking from the Thinking Page

Organizations:

• ACASA: The Ackoff Center for Advancement of System Approaches. (they have a blog, too)
• ISSS: International Society for the Systems Sciences
• New England Complex Systems Institute
• Action Learning, Action Research Association Inc.

v • d • e Systems and systems science   Systems categories Conceptual systems · Physical systems · Social systems · Systems theory · Systems science · Systems scientists   Systems Biological system · Complex system · Complex adaptive system · Conceptual system · Cultural system · Database management system · Dynamical system · Economic system · Ecosystem · Formal system · Global Positioning System · Human anatomy · Information systems · Legal systems of the world · Living systems · Systems of measurement · Metric system · Multi-agent system · Nervous system · Nonlinearity · Operating system · Physical system · Political system · Sensory system · Social structure · Solar System · Systems art   Theoretical fields Chaos theory · Complex systems · Control theory · Cybernetics · Scientific holism · Sociotechnical systems theory · Systems biology · System dynamics · Systems ecology · Systems engineering · Systems psychology · Systems science · Systems theory   Systems scientists Russell L. Ackoff · William Ross Ashby · Gregory Bateson · Richard E. Bellman · Stafford Beer · Ludwig von Bertalanffy · Murray Bowen · Kenneth E. Boulding · C. West Churchman · George Dantzig · Heinz von Foerster · Jay Wright Forrester · George Klir · Edward Lorenz · Niklas Luhmann · Humberto Maturana · Margaret Mead · Donella Meadows · Mihajlo D. Mesarovic · Howard T. Odum · Talcott Parsons · Ilya Prigogine · Anatol Rapoport · Claude Shannon · Francisco Varela · Kevin Warwick · Norbert Wiener

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate designed to help consumers and enterprise managers assess direct and indirect costs. It is used in many industries and this article provides examples related to software or hardware and automobiles. It is a form of full cost accounting.

Contents 1 Overview Hardware and Software 2 Overview Automobiles 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Overview Hardware and Software

TCO analysis was popularized for the Gartner Group in 1987^[1] but its roots are considerably older, dating at least to the first quarter of the twentieth century.^[2] It has since been developed in a number of different methodologies and software tools. TCO tries to offer a statement on the financial impact of deploying information technology during its whole life-cycle.

Depending of the IT deployment the following elements can be included in the Total Cost of Ownership TCO:

• End-user computer Hardware purchase costs

• Software license purchase costs

• Hardware and Software Implementation / deployment costs

• Hardware warranties and maintenance costs

• Software license tracking costs

• Operations Infrastructure Costs

• Infrastructure (floor space) costs

• Cost for electricity and cooling

• Network hardware and software costs

• Server hardware and software costs

• Testing costs

• Cost to upgrade or scalability

• IT Personnel costs

• "C" Level Management Time costs

• Backup and Recovery Process costs

• Costs associated with failure or outage

• Diminished performance incidents (i.e. users having to wait)

• Costs of security breaches (in loss of reputation and recovery costs)

• Technology training costs of users and IT staff.

• Audit costs

• Insurance costs

• Replacement costs

• Migration costs

• Decommisioning costs

TCO is sometimes referred to as total cost of operation. When incorporated in any financial benefit analysis (e.g., ROI, IRR, EVA, ROIT, RJE) TCO provides a cost basis for determining the economic value of that investment.

The TCO concept is widely used in the automobile industry. In this context, the TCO denotes the cost of owning a vehicle from the purchase, through its maintenance, and finally its sale as a used car. Comparative TCO studies between various models help consumers choose a car to fit their needs and budget.

TCO can and often does vary dramatically against TCA (total cost of acquisition), although TCO is far more relevant in determining the viability of any capital investment, especially with modern credit markets and financing. TCO also directly relates to a business's total costs across all projects and processes and, thus, its profitability.

Overview Automobiles

Some of the key data elements used to the cost of ownership for automobiles include^[3]:

• Depreciation Costs
• Fuel Costs
• Insurance
• Financing
• Repairs
• Fees and Taxes
• Maintenance Costs
• Opportunity Costs

Several companies provide total cost of ownership data such as Vincentric and Driverside.com.

 

See also

• Activity-based costing
• Life cycle cost analysis

References

1. ^ About Gartner TCO
2. ^ TCO: What's Old is New
3. ^ What that car really costs to own

External links

• Gartner Applied Methodology Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Center
• TCO-Tool to calculate TCO costs (open source)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

W. Edwards Deming
Born	October 14, 1900(1900-10-14) Sioux City, Iowa, USA
Died	December 20, 1993 (aged 93) Washington DC, USA
Occupation	Statistician

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900–December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets)^[1] through various methods, including the application of statistical methods. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's later renown for innovative high-quality products and its economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death. ^[2]

Contents 1 Overview 2 Early life and work 2.1 Work in Japan 2.2 Honors 2.3 Later work in the U.S. 3 Deming philosophy synopsis 3.1 The Deming System of Profound Knowledge 3.2 Deming's 14 points 3.3 Seven Deadly Diseases 4 Quotations and concepts 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Bibliography 8 External links

Overview

Ford Motor Company was simultaneously manufacturing a car model with transmissions made in Japan and the United States. Soon after the car model was on the market, Ford customers were requesting the model with Japanese transmission over the USA-made transmission, and they were willing to wait for the Japanese model. As both transmissions were made to the same specifications, Ford engineers could not understand the customer preference for the model with Japanese transmission. It delivered smoother performance with a lower defect rate. Finally, Ford engineers decided to take apart the two different transmissions. The American-made car parts were all within specified tolerance levels. On the other hand, the Japanese car parts had much closer tolerances than the USA-made parts - i.e. if a part was supposed to be one foot long, plus or minus 1/8 of an inch - then the Japanese parts were within 1/16 of an inch. This made the Japanese cars run more smoothly and customers experienced fewer problems. This is an example of Dr. Deming's teachings, having been adopted by the Japanese, delivering better quality products ^[3].

Deming was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming at Laramie (1921), an M.S. from the University of Colorado (1925), and a Ph.D. from Yale University (1928). Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and physics. Deming had an internship at Bell Telephone Laboratories while studying at Yale. He subsequently worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Census Department. While working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as a census consultant to the Japanese government, he famously taught statistical process control methods to Japanese business leaders, returning to Japan for many years to consult and to witness economic growth that he had predicted as a result of application of techniques learned from Walter Shewhart at Bell Laboratories. Later, he became a professor at New York University while engaged as an independent consultant in Washington, D.C.

Deming was the author of Out of the Crisis (1982–1986) and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), which includes his System of Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management (described below). Deming played flute & drums and composed music throughout his life, including sacred choral compositions and an arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner.^[4]

In 1993, Deming founded the W. Edwards Deming Institute in Washington, D.C., where the Deming Collection at the U.S. Library of Congress includes an extensive audiotape and videotape archive. The aim of the W. Edwards Deming Institute is to foster understanding of The Deming System of Profound Knowledge to advance commerce, prosperity and peace.^[5]quality guru

Early life and work

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Deming was raised in Polk City, Iowa on his grandfather's chicken farm, then later in Powell, Wyoming. His father's name was also William, so he was called Edwards (the maiden name of his mother, Pluma Irene Edwards).^[6] In 1917, he enrolled in the University of Wyoming at Laramie, graduating in 1921 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. In 1925, he received an M.S. from the University of Colorado, and in 1928, a Ph.D. from Yale University. Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and mathematical physics. Deming worked as a mathematical physicist at the United States Department of Agriculture (1927–39), and was a statistical adviser for the United States Census Bureau (1939–45). He was a professor of statistics at New York University's graduate school of business administration (1946–1993), and he taught at Columbia University's graduate School of business (1988–1993). He also was a consultant for private business.

In 1927, Deming was introduced to Walter A. Shewhart of the Bell Telephone Laboratories by Dr. C.H. Kunsman of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Deming found great inspiration in the work of Shewhart, the originator of the concepts of statistical control of processes and the related technical tool of the control chart, as Deming began to move toward the application of statistical methods to industrial production and management. Shewhart's idea of common and special causes of variation led directly to Deming's theory of management. Deming saw that these ideas could be applied not only to manufacturing processes but also to the processes by which enterprises are led and managed. This key insight made possible his enormous influence on the economics of the industrialized world after 1950.^[7]

Deming edited a series of lectures delivered by Shewhart at USDA, Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, into a book published in 1939. One reason he learned so much from Shewhart, Deming remarked in a videotaped interview, was that, while brilliant, Shewhart had an "uncanny ability to make things difficult." Deming thus spent a great deal of time both copying Shewhart's ideas and devising ways to present them with his own twist.^[8]

Deming developed the sampling techniques that were used for the first time during the 1940 U.S. Census. During World War II, Deming was a member of the five-man Emergency Technical Committee. He worked with H.F. Dodge, A.G. Ashcroft, Leslie E. Simon, R.E. Wareham, and John Gaillard in the compilation of the American War Standards (American Standards Association ZI.1-3 published in 1942)^[9] and taught statistical process control (SPC) techniques to workers engaged in wartime production. Statistical methods were widely applied during World War II, but faded into disuse a few years later in the face of huge overseas demand for American mass-produced products.

Work in Japan

In 1947, Deming was involved in early planning for the 1951 Japanese Census. The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and he was asked by the U.S. United States Department of the Army to assist with the census. While Deming was there, his expertise in quality control techniques, combined with his involvement in Japanese society, led to his receiving an invitation from the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).^[6]

JUSE members had studied Shewhart's techniques, and as part of Japan's reconstruction efforts, they sought an expert to teach statistical control. During June–August 1950, Deming trained hundreds of engineers, managers, and scholars in statistical process control (SPC) and concepts of quality. He also conducted at least one session for top management.^[10] Deming's message to Japan's chief executives: improving quality will reduce expenses while increasing productivity and market share.^[1] Perhaps the best known of these management lectures was delivered at the Mt. Hakone Conference Center in August of 1950.

A number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely and experienced theretofore unheard of levels of quality and productivity. The improved quality combined with the lowered cost created new international demand for Japanese products.

Deming declined to receive royalties from the transcripts of his 1950 lectures, so JUSE's board of directors established the Deming Prize (December 1950) to repay him for his friendship and kindness.^[10] The Deming Prize—especially the Deming Application Prize, which is given to companies—has exerted an immeasurable influence directly or indirectly on the development of quality control and quality management in Japan.^[11][12]

Honors

In 1960, the Prime Minister of Japan (Nobusuke Kishi), acting on behalf of Emperor Hirohito, awarded Dr. Deming Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class.^[13] The citation on the medal recognizes Deming's contributions to Japan’s industrial rebirth and its worldwide success. The first section of the meritorious service record describes his work in Japan:^[10]

• 1947, Rice Statistics Mission member
• 1950, assistant to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers
• instructor in sample survey methods in government statistics

The second half of the record lists his service to private enterprise through the introduction of epochal ideas, such as quality control and market survey techniques.

Later work in the U.S.

David Salsburg wrote:

"He was known for his kindness to and consideration for those he worked with, for his robust, if very subtle, humor, and for his interest in music. He sang in a choir, played drums and flute, and published several original pieces of sacred music." (page 254, The Lady Tasting Tea)^[14]

Later, from his home in Washington, D.C., Dr. Deming continued running his own consultancy business in the United States, largely unknown and unrecognized in his country of origin and work. In 1980, he was featured prominently in an NBC documentary titled If Japan can... Why can't we? about the increasing industrial competition the United States was facing from Japan. As a result of the broadcast, demand for his services increased dramatically, and Deming continued consulting for industry throughout the world until his death at the age of 93.

Ford Motor Company was one of the first American corporations to seek help from Deming. In 1981, Ford recruited Deming to help jump-start its quality movement. Ford's sales were falling. Between 1979 and 1982, Ford had incurred $3 billion in losses. Deming questioned the company's culture and the way its managers operated. To Ford's surprise, Deming talked not about quality but about management. He told Ford that management actions were responsible for 85% of all problems in developing better cars. In 1986 Ford came out with a profitable line of cars, the Taurus-Sable line. In a letter to Autoweek Magazine, Donald Petersen, then Ford Chairman, said, "We are moving toward building a quality culture at Ford and the many changes that have been taking place here have their roots directly in Dr. Deming's teachings."^[15] By 1986, Ford had become the most profitable American auto company. For the first time since the 1920s, its earnings had exceeded those of arch rival General Motors (GM). Ford had come to lead the American automobile industry in improvements. Ford's following years' earnings confirmed that its success was not a fluke, for its earnings continued to exceed GM and Chrysler's.

In 1982, Dr. Deming, as author, had his book published by the MIT Center for Advanced Engineering as Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position, which was renamed Out of the Crisis in 1986. Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved products and services. "Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment."

Over the course of his career, Deming received dozens of academic awards, including another, honorary, Ph.D. from Oregon State University. In 1987 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology: "For his forceful promotion of statistical methodology, for his contributions to sampling theory, and for his advocacy to corporations and nations of a general management philosophy that has resulted in improved product quality." In 1988, he received the Distinguished Career in Science award from the National Academy of Sciences.^[6]

In 1993, Dr. Deming published his final book, The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education, which included the System of Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management. It also contained educational concepts involving group-based teaching without grades, as well as management without individual merit or performance reviews.

In December 1993, W. Edwards Deming died in his sleep at his Washington home at about 3 a.m. due to "natural causes." His family was by his side when he died.^[16]

Deming philosophy synopsis

The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as follows:

"Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty). The key is to practice continual improvement and think of manufacturing as a system, not as bits and pieces."^[17]

In the 1970s, Dr. Deming's philosophy was summarized by some of his Japanese proponents with the following 'a'-versus-'b' comparison:

(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined by the following ratio,

quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.

(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs (often dominant/typical human behavior), costs (due to not minimizing waste, ignoring amount of rework occurring, taking staff for granted, not rapidly resolving disputes, and failing to notice lack of product improvement—plus, over time, loss of customer loyalty) tend to rise and quality declines over time.

The Deming System of Profound Knowledge

"The prevailing style of management must undergo transformation. A system cannot understand itself. The transformation requires a view from outside. The aim of this chapter is to provide an outside view—a lens—that I call a system of profound knowledge. It provides a map of theory by which to understand the organizations that we work in.

"The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is discontinuous. It comes from understanding of the system of profound knowledge. The individual, transformed, will perceive new meaning to his life, to events, to numbers, to interactions between people.

"Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will apply its principles in every kind of relationship with other people. He will have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for transformation of the organizations that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:

• Set an example;
• Be a good listener, but will not compromise;
• Continually teach other people; and
• Help people to pull away from their current practices and beliefs and move into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past."

Deming advocated that all managers need to have what he called a System of Profound Knowledge, consisting of four parts:

1. Appreciation of a system: understanding the overall processes involving suppliers, producers, and customers (or recipients) of goods and services (explained below);
2. Knowledge of variation: the range and causes of variation in quality, and use of statistical sampling in measurements;
3. Theory of knowledge: the concepts explaining knowledge and the limits of what can be known (see also: epistemology);
4. Knowledge of psychology: concepts of human nature.

Deming explained, "One need not be eminent in any part nor in all four parts in order to understand it and to apply it. The 14 points for management in industry, education, and government follow naturally as application of this outside knowledge, for transformation from the present style of Western management to one of optimization."

"The various segments of the system of profound knowledge proposed here cannot be separated. They interact with each other. Thus, knowledge of psychology is incomplete without knowledge of variation.

"A manager of people needs to understand that all people are different. This is not ranking people. He needs to understand that the performance of anyone is governed largely by the system that he works in, the responsibility of management. A psychologist that possesses even a crude understanding of variation as will be learned in the experiment with the Red Beads (Ch. 7) could no longer participate in refinement of a plan for ranking people."^[18]

The Appreciation of a system involves understanding how interactions (i.e. feedback) between the elements of a system can result in internal restrictions that force the system to behave as a single organism that automatically seeks a steady state. It is this steady state that determines the output of the system rather than the individual elements. Thus it is the structure of the organization rather than the employees, alone, which holds the key to improving the quality of output.

The Knowledge of variation involves understanding that everything measured consists of both "normal" variation due to the flexibility of the system and of "special causes" that create defects. Quality involves recognizing the difference in order to eliminate "special causes" while controlling normal variation. Deming taught that making changes in response to "normal" variation would only make the system perform worse. Understanding variation includes the mathematical certainty that variation will normally occur within six standard deviations (thus six sigma: the symbol for standard deviation) of the mean.

The System of Profound Knowledge is the basis for application of Deming's famous 14 Points for Management, described below.

Deming's 14 points

Deming offered fourteen key principles for management for transforming business effectiveness. The points were first presented in his book Out of the Crisis (p. 23-24)^[19].

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.
3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move towards a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease cost.
6. Institute training on the job.
7. Institute leadership (see Point 12 and Ch. 8 of "Out of the Crisis"). The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers.
8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company. (See Ch. 3 of "Out of the Crisis")
9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
11. a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
    b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
12. a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
    b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective (See CH. 3 of "Out of the Crisis").
13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's work.

Seven Deadly Diseases

The Seven Deadly Diseases:

1. Lack of constancy of purpose.
2. Emphasis on short-term profits.
3. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or annual review of performance.
4. Mobility of management.
5. Running a company on visible figures alone.
6. Excessive medical costs.
7. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers who work for contingency fees.

A Lesser Category of Obstacles:

1. Neglecting long-range planning.
2. Relying on technology to solve problems.
3. Seeking examples to follow rather than developing solutions.
4. Excuses, such as "Our problems are different."

Quotations and concepts

In his later years, Dr. Deming taught many concepts, which he emphasized by key sayings or quotations that he repeated. A number of these quotes have been recorded.^[20] Some of the concepts might seem to be oxymorons or contradictory to each other; however, the student is given each concept to ponder its meaning in the whole system, over time.

• "There is no substitute for knowledge." This statement emphasizes the need to know more, about everything in the system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "There is no substitute for hard work" by Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931). Instead, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard work.

• "The most important things cannot be measured." The issues that are most important, long term, cannot be measured in advance. However, they might be among the factors that an organization is measuring, just not understood as most important at the time.

• "The most important things are unknown or unknowable." The factors that have the greatest impact, long term, can be quite surprising. Analogous to an earthquake that disrupts service, other "earth-shattering" events that most affect an organization will be unknown or unknowable, in advance. Other examples of important things would be: a drastic change in technology, or new investment capital.

• "Experience by itself teaches nothing."^[20] This statement emphasizes the need to interpret and apply information against a theory or framework of concepts that is the basis for knowledge about a system. It is considered as a contrast to the old statement, "Experience is the best teacher" (Dr. Deming disagreed with that). To Dr. Deming, knowledge is best taught by a master who explains the overall system through which experience is judged; experience, without understanding the underlying system, is just raw data that can be misinterpreted against a flawed theory of reality. Deming's view of experience is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context" (see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later Work").

• "By what method?... Only the method counts."^[20] When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, greatly affects the results. For example, the "Hawthorne effect" showed that people just asking frequently for opinions seemed to affect the resulting outcome, since some people felt better just being asked for their opinion. Dr. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole, not just isolated complaints: survey the entire group about their likes and dislikes. The extreme complaints might not represent the attitudes of the whole group. Similarly, measuring or counting data depends on the instrument or method used.

• "You can expect what you inspect." Dr. Deming emphasized the importance of measuring and testing to predict typical results. If a phase consists of inputs + process + outputs, all 3 are inspected to some extent. Problems with inputs are a major source of trouble, but the process using those inputs can also have problems. By inspecting the inputs and the process more, the outputs can be better predicted, and inspected less. Rather than use mass inspection of every output product, the output can be statistically sampled in a cause-effect relationship through the process.

• "Special Causes and Common Causes": Dr. Deming considered anomalies in quality to be variations outside the control limits of a process. Such variations could be attributed to one-time events called "special causes" or to repeated events called "common causes" that hinder quality.

• Acceptable Defects: Rather than waste efforts on zero-defect goals, Dr. Deming stressed the importance of establishing a level of variation, or anomalies, acceptable to the recipient (or customer) in the next phase of a process. Often, some defects are quite acceptable, and efforts to remove all defects would be an excessive waste of time and money.

• The Deming Cycle (or Shewhart Cycle): As a repetitive process to determine the next action, the Deming Cycle describes a simple method to test information before making a major decision. The 4 steps in the Deming Cycle are: Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), also known as Plan-Do-Study-Act or PDSA. Dr. Deming called the cycle the Shewhart Cycle, after Walter A. Shewhart. The cycle can be used in various ways, such as running an experiment: PLAN (design) the experiment; DO the experiment by performing the steps; CHECK the results by testing information; and ACT on the decisions based on those results.

• Semi-Automated, not Fully Automated: Dr. Deming lamented the problem of automation gone awry ("robots painting robots"): instead, he advocated human-assisted semi-automation, which allows people to change the semi-automated or computer-assisted processes, based on new knowledge. Compare to Japanese term 'jidoka' (which can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch").

• "The problem is at the top; management is the problem." ^[18] Dr. Deming emphasized that the top-level management had to change to produce significant differences, in a long-term, continuous manner. As a consultant, Deming would offer advice to top-level managers, if asked repeatedly, in a continuous manner.

• "What is a system? A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system must have an aim. Without an aim, there is no system. The aim of the system must be clear to everyone in the system. The aim must include plans for the future. The aim is a value judgment. (We are of course talking here about a man-made system.)" ^[18]

• "A system must be managed. It will not manage itself. Left to themselves in the Western world, components become selfish, competitive. We can not afford the destructive effect of competition." ^[18]

• "To successfully respond to the myriad of changes that shake the world, transformation into a new style of management is required. The route to take is what I call profound knowledge—knowledge for leadership of transformation." ^[18]

• "The worker is not the problem. The problem is at the top! Management!" ^[21] Management’s job. It is management’s job to direct the efforts of all components toward the aim of the system. The first step is clarification: everyone in the organization must understand the aim of the system, and how to direct his efforts toward it. Everyone must understand the damage and loss to the whole organization from a team that seeks to become a selfish, independent, profit centre." ^[18]

• "They realized that the gains that you get by statistical methods are gains that you get without new machinery, without new people. Anybody can produce quality if he lowers his production rate. That is not what I am talking about. Statistical thinking and statistical methods are to Japanese production workers, foremen, and all the way through the company, a second language. In statistical control, you have a reproducible product hour after hour, day after day. And see how comforting that is to management, they now know what they can produce, they know what their costs are going to be." ^[22]

• "I think that people here expect miracles. American management thinks that they can just copy from Japan—but they don't know what to copy!" ^[22]

• "What is the variation trying to tell us about a process, about the people in the process?" ^[18] Dr. Shewhart created the basis for the control chart and the concept of a state of statistical control by carefully designed experiments. While Dr. Shewhart drew from pure mathematical statistical theories, he understood that data from physical processes never produce a "normal distribution curve" (a Gaussian distribution, also commonly referred to as a "bell curve"). He discovered that observed variation in manufacturing data did not always behave the same way as data in nature (Brownian motion of particles). Dr. Shewhart concluded that while every process displays variation, some processes display controlled variation that is natural to the process, while others display uncontrolled variation that is not present in the process causal system at all times.^[23] Dr. Deming renamed these distinctions "common cause" for chance causes and "special cause" for assignable causes. He did this so the focus would be placed on those responsible for doing something about the variation, rather than the source of the variation. It is top management’s responsibility to address "common cause" variation, and therefore it is management’s responsibility to make improvements to the whole system. Because "special cause" variation is assignable, workers, supervisors or middle managers that have direct knowledge of the assignable cause best address this type of specific intervention.^[7]

• (Deming on Quality Circles) "That's all window dressing. That's not fundamental. That's not getting at change and the transformation that must take place. Sure we have to solve problems. Certainly stamp out the fire. Stamp out the fire and get nowhere. Stamp out the fires puts us back to where we were in the first place. Taking action on the basis of results without theory of knowledge, without theory of variation, without knowledge about a system. Anything goes wrong, do something about it, overreacting; acting without knowledge, the effect is to make things worse. With the best of intentions and best efforts, managing by results is, in effect, exactly the same, as Dr. Myron Tribus put it, while driving your automobile, keeping your eye on the rear view mirror, what would happen? And that's what management by results is, keeping your eye on results." ^[2]

• "Knowledge is theory. We should be thankful if action of management is based on theory. Knowledge has temporal spread. Information is not knowledge. The world is drowning in information but is slow in acquisition of knowledge. There is no substitute for knowledge." ^[18] This statement emphasizes the need for theory of knowledge (see: epistemology, Shewhart cycle, C. I. Lewis).

• "Experience by itself teaches nothing." "Without theory, experience has no meaning. Without theory, one has no questions to ask. Hence, without theory, there is no learning."^[18] These statements emphasize the need to interpret information using a theory or framework of concepts for learning to take place, theory of knowledge. Deming's view of experience is related to Shewhart's concept, "Data has no meaning apart from its context" (see Walter A. Shewhart, "Later work").

• "The most important figures that one needs for management are unknown or unknowable (Lloyd S. Nelson, director of statistical methods for the Nashua corporation), but successful management must nevertheless take account of them." ^[24] Deming realized that many important things that must be managed couldn’t be measured. Both points are important. One, not everything of importance to management can be measured. And two, you must still manage those important things. Spend $20,000 training 10 people in a special skill. What's the benefit? "You'll never know," answered Deming. "You'll never be able to measure it. Why did you do it? Because you believed it would pay off. Theory." Dr. Deming is often incorrectly quoted as saying, "You can't manage what you can't measure." In fact, he stated that one of the seven deadly diseases of management is running a company on visible figures alone.

• "By what method?" ^[20] When information is obtained, or data is measured, the method, or process used to gather information, affects the results. Dr. Deming warned that basing judgments on customer complaints alone ignored the general population of other opinions, which should be judged together, such as in a statistical sample of the whole (Sampling (statistics)). Changing the method changes the results. Aim and method are essential. An aim without a method is useless. A method without an aim is dangerous. It leads to action without direction and without constancy of purpose. Deming used an illustration of washing a table to teach a lesson about the relationship between purpose and method. If you tell someone to wash a table, but not the reason for washing it, they cannot do the job properly (will the table be used for chopping food or potting plants?). That does not mean just giving the explanation without an operational definition. The information about why the table needs to be washed, and what is to be done with it, makes it possible to do the job intelligently.

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Deming.org W. Edwards Deming Institute
• statistical-process-control.org W. Edwards Deming Founder of Statistical Process Control for Quality Management.
• The Deming Forum home page The Deming Forum
• ManagementWisdom.com
• "Quality As Defined By Deming": Lecture by Newt Gingrich
• Obituary from Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 1993
• W. EDWARDS DEMING: A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress

 

Persondata
NAME	W. Edwards Deming
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Quality Guru
DATE OF BIRTH	October 14, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sioux City, Iowa, USA
DATE OF DEATH	December 20, 1993
PLACE OF DEATH	Washington DC, USA