A Culture Of Improvement PDF Download
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Author | : Robert Friedel |
Publisher | : MIT Press |
Total Pages | : 601 |
Release | : 2010-02-26 |
Genre | : Technology & Engineering |
ISBN | : 026251401X |
Download A Culture of Improvement Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
How technological change in the West has been driven by the pursuit of improvement: a history of technology, from plows and printing presses to penicillin, the atomic bomb, and the computer. Why does technology change over time, how does it change, and what difference does it make? In this sweeping, ambitious look at a thousand years of Western experience, Robert Friedel argues that technological change comes largely through the pursuit of improvement—the deep-rooted belief that things could be done in a better way. What Friedel calls the "culture of improvement" is manifested every day in the ways people carry out their tasks in life—from tilling fields and raising children to waging war. Improvements can be ephemeral or lasting, and one person's improvement may not always be viewed as such by others. Friedel stresses the social processes by which we define what improvements are and decide which improvements will last and which will not. These processes, he emphasizes, have created both winners and losers in history. Friedel presents a series of narratives of Western technology that begin in the eleventh century and stretch into the twenty-first. Familiar figures from the history of invention are joined by others—the Italian preacher who described the first eyeglasses, the dairywomen displaced from their control over cheesemaking, and the little-known engineer who first suggested a grand tower to Gustav Eiffel. Friedel traces technology from the plow and the printing press to the internal combustion engine, the transistor, and the space shuttle. Friedel also reminds us that faith in improvement can sometimes have horrific consequences, as improved weaponry makes warfare ever more deadly and the drive for improving human beings can lead to eugenics and even genocide. The most comprehensive attempt to tell the story of Western technology in many years, engagingly written and lavishly illustrated, A Culture of Improvement documents the ways in which the drive for improvement has shaped our modern world.
Author | : Raymond C. Floyd |
Publisher | : CRC Press |
Total Pages | : 315 |
Release | : 2020-03-12 |
Genre | : Business & Economics |
ISBN | : 1000077594 |
Download A Culture of Rapid Improvement Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Become a corporate change agent Learn to implement and cultivate a culture of improvement with the assistance of one of the world’s most respected experts Managing a business so that it achieves a supreme pace of improvement requires that all members of an organization can and do make their best contributions to the success of the enterprise. Management must provide employees with a shared set of values and beliefs so that they can decide for themselves how to behave in accordance with the expectations of a nurturing and empowering culture. A Culture of Rapid Improvement is intended for those leaders seeking to encourage dramatic improvement within their organizations. It shows these change agents how they can— · Develop the shared values and beliefs that serve as the foundation for a dynamic culture · Engage all employees to join the new culture and provide opportunities for these stakeholders to initiate and participate in improvement · Measure, evaluate, and manage the performance of the new culture Filled with lessons garnered from practical examples, this text is based on Raymond C. Floyd's 40 years of industrial management experience, including his more than 20 years at Exxon Mobil. He is the winner of a Shingo Prize and also holds the unique distinction of having led businesses from two different industries that were both recognized by IndustryWeek magazine as being among the Best Plants in America. If you approach the task of improvement with proper action and full participation, improvement is not just possible, but inevitable. At six months, you will notice a difference in your organizational culture; at the end of two years, you will be operating with near–world-class performance.
Author | : Allison Zmuda |
Publisher | : ASCD |
Total Pages | : 209 |
Release | : 2004-04-15 |
Genre | : Education |
ISBN | : 1416602771 |
Download Transforming Schools Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
How can a school become a place where all members of the staff are learning, growing, and working to increase student achievement? The answer lies in systems thinking and a focus on continuous improvement, two concepts that can transform staff development from something that people merely tolerate to something that they actively pursue to create lasting improvements in teaching and learning. Each chapter of Transforming Schools: Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement is grounded in a set of operating principles that provide practical guidance to school leaders. The story of a fictional school brings the ideas to life as the characters—a school principal, teachers, and district-level administrators—experience the shifts in thinking that are necessary to transform a school into a competent system. Through their story, the reader gains a clear understanding of the six steps of continuous improvement: Identify core beliefs. Create a shared vision. Use data to determine gaps between the current reality and the shared vision. Identify the innovations that will most likely close the gaps. Develop and implement an action plan. Endorse collective accountability. Thoughtful analysis of the fictional dialogue throughout the book gives readers an understanding of the dynamic nature of change, systems thinking, and continuous improvement. And questions at the end of each chapter help readers apply key concepts to their own schools. Whether your school improvement goals are clearly defined or still in development, Transforming Schools will help you tackle the many challenges of the change process.
Author | : Colin E. Cramp |
Publisher | : Lulu.com |
Total Pages | : 348 |
Release | : 2019-04-22 |
Genre | : Aerospace industries |
ISBN | : 1483496570 |
Download Culture, Change, and Continuous Improvement: From Bankruptcy to Industry Leadership A True Aerospace Story Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
How does a company go from being two days away from filing bankruptcy papers to unparalleled performance in the Aerospace business? The answer can be found in this fascinating story of Aerostructures, a Chula Vista, California-based designer, manufacturer and supplier of major components and assemblies to all the major commercial aircraft manufacturers and to the world's airlines. In 1993 Rohr Industries, as it was known then, was in trouble. Business financials, income and cash flow in particular, were rendering the business unsustainable. The way the business was being run was archaic, organizational structure was cumbersome, and morale was low. Customers were very concerned, and several were preparing to exit.
Author | : N. Muthukumar |
Publisher | : Emerald Group Publishing |
Total Pages | : 232 |
Release | : 2022-01-26 |
Genre | : Business & Economics |
ISBN | : 1802624031 |
Download Organizational Culture and its Impact on Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Organizational Culture and its Impact on Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing presents detailed insights into recent studies, providing solutions that can be scaled up at a global level.
Author | : Chris Butterworth |
Publisher | : CRC Press |
Total Pages | : 239 |
Release | : 2021-10-25 |
Genre | : Business & Economics |
ISBN | : 1000454525 |
Download Why Bother? Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This book focusses on the importance of creating an internal assessment program to periodically assess the maturity of the organizations transformation journey. It discusses the best approach to designing and implementing an assessment program by answering key questions posed when people resist. The book begins with selecting the positioning of the program not as an audit but as an opportunity to review strengths and opportunities, through to selecting senior leader support to design of the program and developing the assessors. More than 10 case studies are documented to show how organizations have approached their assessment programs, lessons learned, and successes and challenges faced. The book leads the reader through the process of selling the concept and importance of transformation and Lean assessments to embed the desired behaviors within workplace culture. With many case studies, the reader is guided to design their own programs and develop their own assessors. This increases the probability of sustainability of the transformation program by focusing on and maturing the behaviors the transformation programs are trying to drive. For example, one of the most well-known assessments is the Shingo prize -- This book explains the thinking behind the Shingo model and shares examples of assessments that support it. Other examples of assessments are covered, such as process maturity, quality and business assessments.
Author | : Stian Antonsen |
Publisher | : CRC Press |
Total Pages | : 182 |
Release | : 2017-05-15 |
Genre | : Technology & Engineering |
ISBN | : 1317059859 |
Download Safety Culture: Theory, Method and Improvement Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
The aim of this book is to show how a cultural approach can contribute to the assessment, description and improvement of safety conditions in organizations. The relationship between organizational culture and safety, epitomized through the concept of 'safety culture', has undoubtedly become one of the hottest topics of both safety research and practical efforts to improve safety. By combining a general framework and five research projects, the author explores and further develops the theoretical, methodological and practical basis of the study of safety culture. What are the theoretical foundations of a cultural approach to safety? How can the relationship between organizational culture and safety be empirically investigated? What are the links between organizational culture and safety in actual organizations? How can a cultural approach contribute to the improvement of safety? These are the key questions the book seeks to answer with a unified and in-depth account of the concept of safety culture.
Author | : Lawrence Solow |
Publisher | : CRC Press |
Total Pages | : 206 |
Release | : 2010-05-21 |
Genre | : Business & Economics |
ISBN | : 1439826005 |
Download What Works for GE May Not Work for You Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
What Works for GE May Not Work for You: Using Human Systems Dynamics to Build a Culture of Process Improvement provides new tools for managing and sustaining process improvement in today‘s complex non-linear environments and helps readers apply new, relevant theory to their own management practices. With more than 50 combined years of change manage
Author | : Robert D. Barr |
Publisher | : Solution Tree Press |
Total Pages | : 282 |
Release | : 2013-05-20 |
Genre | : Education |
ISBN | : 1936764636 |
Download Building a Culture of Hope Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Research demonstrates that children of poverty need more than just academic instruction to succeed. Discover a blueprint for turning low-performing schools into Cultures of Hope! The authors draw from their own experiences working with high-poverty, high-achieving schools to illustrate how to support students with an approach that considers social as well as emotional factors in education.
Author | : Anna Katharina Schaffner |
Publisher | : Yale University Press |
Total Pages | : 280 |
Release | : 2021 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 0300247710 |
Download The Art of Self-Improvement Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A brilliant distillation of the key ideas behind successful self-improvement practices throughout history, showing us how they remain relevant today "Schaffner finds more in contemporary self-improvement literature to admire than criticize. . . . [A] revelatory book."--Kathryn Hughes, Times Literary Supplement Self-help today is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, one often seen as a by-product of neoliberalism and capitalism. Far from being a recent phenomenon, however, the practice of self-improvement has a long and rich history, extending all the way back to ancient China. For millennia, philosophers, sages, and theologians have reflected on the good life and devised strategies on how to achieve it. Focusing on ten core ideas of self-improvement that run through the world's advice literature, Anna Katharina Schaffner reveals the ways they have evolved across cultures and historical eras, and why they continue to resonate with us today. Reminding us that there is much to learn from looking at time-honed models, Schaffner also examines the ways that self-improvement practices provide powerful barometers of the values, anxieties, and aspirations that preoccupy us at particular moments in time and expose basic assumptions about our purpose and nature.