published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

The purpose of this study was to determine if leadership training, given to informal leaders, had a positive effect on manufacturing productivity. The leadership attributes of informal leaders were assessed using the Leader Attributes Inventory (LAI). Furthermore, the performance of informal leaders was measured using the Leader Effectiveness Index (LEI). Non-management employees from various departments in a manufacturing facility were placed in one of four experimental groups. A Solomon four-group experimental design was employed. A one-group pretest-posttest design was used to control threats to internal validity. The one-way analysis of variance procedure (ANOVA) was used to determine if there were statistically significant increases in manufacturing productivity of informal leaders. Findings suggested that training increased the manufacturing productivity of informal leaders. The increased productivity indicated that leadership training could help manufacturing facilities increase their productivity without capital expenditures. Findings did not indicate a statistically significant difference in leadership attributes. Findings also suggested there were no significant differences in the manufacturing productivity between employees with high leader attributes and low leader attributes. Based on this study, leadership training, given to non-management employees, may yield gains in manufacturing productivity.

This academic report is the written analysis of my experience as a production intern at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. My internship specifically involved production and this report discusses production management across the performing arts disciplines, as experienced during my 480 hour internship experience. I describe the organizational history of the Kennedy Center and the internship process. I create a SWOT analysis pertaining to factors affecting the Production Department, discuss production management best practices, and make recommendations for the Center’s improvement.

A apicultura desde os primórdios dos tempos é considerada uma atividade extrativista, mas que desde os anos 60 passou por um processo evolutivo, mas ainda tem muitos obstáculos a serem vencidos, como aplicação de gestão no apiário, enxergando-o como um empreendimento, a busca por baixos custos de produção e aumento da produtividade de forma sustentável. O objetivo do presente estudo foi em primeiro momento a aplicação do questionário para identificação da situação atual dos apicultores em termos de gestão no apiário e em segundo, a construção de um aplicativo no formato mobile para coleta de informações no campo, bem como a construção de um site para auxílio informativo e apoio à gestão do empreendimento. Foram aplicados 07 questionários, com perguntas abertas e fechadas remetendo às práxis de condução do apiário com intuito de coletar os registros destas informações e o efetivo uso a favor da gestão do apiário voltado para resultado. Os convidados para as entrevistas, logo após a aprovação do Comitê de Ética, foram contatados e foram convidados em número de dez apicultores para entrevista, com a presença efetiva de sete sujeitos. Os resultados apresentados na pesquisa foram: 57% dos apicultores não possuem documento de parceria para uso da terra. Possuem em média 191 caixas com enxame e em média cinco apiários, com média de 38 caixas por apiário. Foram ainda anotados os seguintes resultados: 100% dos apicultores não possuem anotações de produção por caixa e 71% não possuem por apiário. Quanto a limpeza do apiário é realizada por 100% dos entrevistados. Os que efetuam troca de rainha são 71% e os que fornecem alimentação são 100% embora fora identificado que não utilizam no momento adequado. Quando perguntado sobre a parte financeira, 57% não possuem controles financeiros e 71% não executa fluxo de caixa. Sobre o custo de produção, para 86% dos entrevistados desconhecem este valor e 57% não sabem se obteve lucro. Quanto ao uso de tecnologia 100% utiliza celular e 71% possuem computador, destes, todos com acesso à internet. Com base nestes resultados foi a construção destas duas ferramentas de gestão voltadas para a apicultura, sendo o website com o domínio www.apisapp.agr.br com acesso utilizando-se login e senha, com abas de controle sanitário, informações, biblioteca e serviços, como, planejamento e finanças. A outra, um aplicativo de gestão da informação denominado APISAPP, utilizado em aparelhos móveis para coleta em campo das atividades do cotidiano do apiário como: instalação, manutenção, produção e registro de anomalias. Foram utilizadas nos seus desenvolvimentos, técnicas de pesquisa virtual nos sites das empresas que possibilitam o uso de ferramentas de desenvolvimento de uso gratuito ou com menor investimento financeiro, bem como uma revisão bibliográfica. / Beekeeping since the beginning of time is considered a mining activity, but since the 60s has undergone an evolutionary process, but still has many obstacles to overcome, such as application management in the apiary, seeing it as an enterprise, the search by low production costs and increased productivity in a sustainable way. The aim of this study was first time the questionnaire to identify the current situation of beekeepers in terms of management in the apiary and second, building an application in mobile format for collecting information in the field as well as the construction of a website for informational assistance and support to project management. Applied 07 questionnaires, with open and closed questions referring to the apiary of driving practice with the aim of collecting the records of this information and the effective use in favor apiary management focused on results. The guests for interviews shortly after the approval of the Ethics Committee, were contacted and were asked to number ten beekeepers to interview, with the effective presence of seven subjects. The results presented in the search were: 57% of beekeepers have not partner document for land use. They have an average of 191 boxes of swarm and an average of five apiaries, averaging 38 cases per apiary. The following results were also recorded: 100% of beekeepers have no production notes for cash and 71% do not have per apiary. The cleaning of the apiary is performed by 100% of respondents. Those who carry out queen exchange is 71% and that provide food are 100% although been identified that do not use the right time. When asked about the financial part, 57% do not have financial controls and 71% performs no cash flow. On the cost of production, 86% of respondents are unaware of the value and 57% do not know if you made a profit. As for the 100% use of technology uses cell phone and 71% have a computer, these, all with internet access. Based on these results was the construction of these two management tools geared for beekeeping, and the website with the www.apisapp.agr.br domain access using login and password, with sanitary control tabs, information, library and services such as, planning and finance. The other, an information management application called APISAPP used in mobile devices for data collection in the field of apiary everyday activities such as installation, maintenance, production and anomalies record. Were used in their development, virtual research techniques on the websites of companies that enable the use of free-use development or less financial investment tools as well as a literature review.

No atual contexto do planejamento e controle da produção, existe uma necessidade de uma melhor utilização do processo de negócio que norteia o desenvolvimento de todos os seus planos, conhecido como gestão da demanda. Nesse assunto, a existência de literatura adequada e de modelos ou formalismos que visam facilitar a compreensão e utilização do processo em si, é rara, e por muitas vezes, insuficiente. Dessa forma, a gestão da demanda acaba por não ser amplamente conhecida, e, por conseqüência, torna-se sub-utilizada nas organizações. Assim, este trabalho visa colaborar para a solução dessa questão, contribuindo para a geração de um modelo formal que possa ser útil tanto à comunidade acadêmica quanto à empresarial interessada. / In current context of the Manufacturing Planning and Control Systems there is a need for a better use of the business process that address the development of alI its plans, the Demand Management process. The existence of appropriate literature and models or formalisms that aims to help a better understanding and usage of this business process is rare and insufficient. ln that way, the Demand Management process is not being known thoroughly and, for consequence, it is not properly used in some organizations. Thus, this work aims to collaborate for the solution of this problem, contributing to a formal model generation that can be useful for the academic and managerial community interested.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T18:40:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 25 / Nenhuma / A competição a nível mundial obrigou as empresas de manufatura a reformularem os seus modelos gerenciais e seus sistemas produtivos , visando uma melhor utilização dos recursos da produção e uma elevação na sua eficiência operacional para atingir uma vantagem competitiva sustentável. Diante deste contexto, esta pesquisa apresenta a proposta de um modelo descritivo de sistema MES (Manufacturing Execution System) visto como um recurso sob o enfoque da Teoria da Visão Baseada em Recursos, para a aplicação na gestão da produção de uma empresa de manufatura de lonas de freios para veículos pesados. O seu desenvolvimento segue o método da pesquisa-ação, através da adaptação de um modelo de uma pesquisa anterior, incluindo uma fase de diagnóstico, na qual se realiza um levantamento da situação da organização sob estudo, uma fase de aprendizado externo, realizada em outra empresa com o objetivo de se aprender sobre o seu processo de seleção e implantação de sistema similar e uma fase de planejamento da ação, que apr / The worldwide competition forced manufacturing companies to reformulate their managerial models and production systems, seeking for a better use of production resources and an increase in their operational efficiency to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. In front of this context this research presents a proposal of a descriptive model of a MES system (Manufacturing Execution System), seem as a resource under the focus of the Resource-Based View theory, for implementation in the production management of a brake linings manufacturing company for heavy vehicles. Its development follows the action research method, by adapting a model of a previous research, including a diagnosis stage, which makes an assessment about the situation of the organization under study, a stage about external learning, held in another company with the objective to learn about its process of selection and deployment of a similar system and a stage of action planning which presents the description of a model to be deployed in th

The diffusion of innovations is a fundamental aspect of the innovative process, to which the literature on innovation dedicated a lot of attention. This voluminous literature covers a variety of themes, such as different kinds of innovations, potential adopters, and mechanisms by which the innovation spreads among its potential users. However, some aspects of this vast literature still deserve some further investigation. The objective of the thesis is to study the adoption and diffusion of a consumer technology, the portable digital audio player (DAP) market in Europe and Japan. The methodology is quantitative and consists on the collection and analysis of two original datasets. The first dataset regards the demand-side consisting in a survey of 1562 young potential adopters from 9 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and Japan). The other source of data is a dataset of 585 DAPs marketed between 2001 and 2009, including information on product characteristics (storage space, size, etc.) and price. The analysis of the data is carried out at three levels. The first one regards the demand-side, with the aim of assessing how users' characteristics shape the adoption decision, and providing a classification of potential adopters that goes beyond the usual classification based on timing of adoption or on the distribution of a single variable such as income. The second level concentrates on the supply-side, testing if there is a systematic relationship between product price and its objectively measurable characteristics and evaluating how technical change in the sector influences the diffusion path by matching products' quality change with users' preferences and patterns of adoption over time. Finally, the third level aims at providing evidence on whether conventional models of diffusion are able to provide an adequate explanation of the diffusion of DAPs, and moreover, on how the assumptions underlying these models might be combined or synthesised into a coherent framework.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:10:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 rodrigo.pdf: 1241500 bytes, checksum: aa3d89a949690c5bbcbc7dfb3f8a2198 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-01-28 / The possibility of simulating in the computer a productive process makes it easier for managers to make decisions and also represents a substantial profit in allocations of resources for any company. Based on that, this project has as main goal develop a simulate model, based on operational research, that represents a generic production system. The preparation of electronic voting machines from The Regional Elections Court of Amazonas, TRE-AM, bureau responsible for planning and executing of elections in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, was used as emplacement of this model. Similarities between the election preparations and any productive process were observed by following the preparation of the electronic voting machines from 1996 to 2006 and specific tests were run in 2007. Information collected in these events based the necessity of building a simulation model contextualized for the construction of the information system. The simulation tool will have a very easy interface and it will provide validated results in real environments, allowing elaboration of production plans an statistic treatment to every need of the user. The outputs, as reports, graphics and database formats will offer abutment for decision making and will allow a wide and current systematic view of the corporations business strategy. / A possibilidade de simular computacionalmente um processo produtivo facilita a tomada de decisão por parte do gestor e representa um ganho substancial em alocação de recursos para qualquer empresa. Baseado neste princípio, este trabalho teve como objetivo propor um modelo de simulação que represente um sistema de produção genérico. Foi utilizado como base para construção desse modelo, o processo de preparação de urnas eletrônicas no TRE-AM, Tribunal Regional Eleitoral do Amazonas, órgão responsável pelo planejamento e execução das eleições no Estado. Similaridades entre a preparação eleitoral e um processo produtivo qualquer foram observadas por meio do acompanhamento das preparações das urnas entre os anos de 1996 e 2006 e de experimentos específicos realizados em 2007. Os dados coletados nestes eventos basearam a necessidade da construção de um modelo de simulação contextualizado para a construção do sistema de informações. Esse modelo servirá de base para futuro desenvolvimento de ferramenta computadorizada com interface facilitada e possibilidade de obter resultados validados em ambientes reais, permitindo elaboração de planos de produção e tratamento estatístico adequado às necessidades do usuário. As saídas do simulador, em formato de relatórios, gráficos e bases de dados, oferecerão respaldo para a tomada de decisão e permitirão uma visão sistemática ampla e atualizada da estratégia de negócio da corporação.

Test cost is a critical component in the overall cost of the product. Test cost varies in direct proportion with test time. This thesis introduces a data driven feed forward adaptive technique for reducing test time at wafer sort while maintaining the product defect level. Test data from first insertion of wafer is statistically analyzed to make a decision about adaptive test flow at subsequent insertions. The data driven feed forward technique uses a statistical screen to analyze test data from first probe of wafer and provides recommendations for test elimination at second insertions. At the second insertion dies are subjected to only the optimum number of tests for a reduced test flow. This technique is applicable only for the products which are tested at two or more insertions. The statistical screen identifies the dies for reduced test flow based upon correlation of tests across insertions. The tests which are repeated at both the insertions and are highly correlated are the candidates of elimination at second insertion. The feed forward technique is applied to a mixed signal analog product and figures of merit are evaluated. Application of technique to the production data shows that there is an average 55% test time reduction when a single site is tested per touchdown and up to 10% when 16 sites are tested in parallel per touchdown.

This paper aims to investigate the polarization present within the Design Thinking field ofresearch. Starting off from Johansson-Sköldberg et al. (2013), who first identified the distinctionbetween the two discourses Designerly Thinking and Design Thinking in 2010, we constructed a literature review and a framework of analysis based on conception of knowledge and its relationto the advancement of a research field. We claim that root-causes of the polarization derive from different knowledge bases, which then inhibit knowledge exchange as well as production. We conclude the paper by providing a suggestion for a way forward, claiming the applicability ofEngaged Scholarship within the realm of Design Thinking to make the field of research progresscreating relevance for both practitioners and scholars.