Class of 2006 Abstract / Every organization strives towards excellence. Excellence is often achieved through sound management practices. In this analysis, a local Tucson business was assessed to determine its organizational efficiency. Interviews were conducted in order to assess a broad range of managerial issues including cultural and ethical issues, communication issues, staffing issues and leadership and motivation. Recommendations were provided for potential improvements. Cultural and ethical issues included indifference, a lack of discipline, and unethical behavior. Communication issues included a lack of upward communication, lack of appraisals, proper training and teamwork. Staffing issues included an informal selection process, high turnover and a lack of external sales support. Leadership and motivational issues included no incentives to work harder, lack of upward mobility, no recognition to boost moral, poor attitude and constant tardiness. Recommendations for cultural and ethical issues included standardized meetings, strict discipline and proper enforcement. Recommendations for communication issues included an appropriate training manual, an officially recognized party, one-on-one status checks and an opinion box. Recommendations for staffing issues included a formal hiring process and performance rewards. Recommendations for leadership and motivational issues included creating a team leader, best customer service employee awards, a Stuart Smalley annual ‘feel-good’ meeting and strict tardiness policies. Implementing these recommendations is one possible step in the direction of solving the problems identified.

Esta dissertação teve por objetivos principais investigar os fatores críticos de sucesso para implantação do programa Seis Sigma nas empresas, bem como o impacto desse programa no desempenho operacional, na satisfação dos clientes e na construção de uma cultura organizacional voltada para a qualidade. Em adição, procurou-se investigar relações entre aspectos como percepção de sucesso alcançado pelas empresas que implantaram o Seis Sigma; tamanho e nacionalidade das empresas; tempo de implantação do Seis Sigma e de treinamento continuado; nível de comunicação entre os profissionais; regime de dedicação de tempo dos Black Belts; taxa de conclusão de projetos, sua duração e economia gerada. Os dados foram coletados em questionário na Internet, distribuído por correio eletrônico e em fórum de discussão envolvendo profissionais do Seis Sigma. O desenvolvimento do questionário envolveu pesquisa bibliográfica e entrevistas com profissionais experientes do Seis Sigma. Os resultados indicaram oito fatores considerados críticos para o sucesso na implantação dos Seis Sigma: (a) Liderança, (b) Projetos, (c) Treinamento, (d) Comunicação e Revisão, (e) Processo Gerencial, (f) Perfil dos Black Belts, (g) Equipe de Projetos e (h) Iniciativas Prévias de Qualidade. Foram também identificados aspectos que tiveram melhoria após a implantação do programa Seis Sigma nas três áreas de interesse. / The main objective of this research was to investigate the critical success facators to implement Six Sigma in organizations, as well as the impact of Six Sigma on operating performance, customer satisfaction and organizational quality culture. Besides that, a secondary objective was to investigate the relationship between aspects like success perception among those companies which implemented Six Sigma, company size, company nationality, Six Sigma time of implementation, continuous training, communication level between professionals, full-time and part-time Black Belts, Project completion, Project duration and Project savings. Data was collected though an Internet questionnaire, distributed by email and sent to discussion groups involving Six Sigma professionals. Questionnaire development has included literature review and interviews with experienced Six Sigma Professionals. Results have indicated eight critical success factors to Six Sigma implementation: (a) Leadership, (b) Projects, (c) Training (d) Communication and Review, (e) Managerial Process, (f) Black Belts Profile, (g) Project Teams and (h) Previous Quality initiatives. Moreover, several aspects were identified to be enhanced after Six Sigma implementation in the three áreas of interest.

Na última década, vários esforços foram feitos no país no intuito de que as populações de baixa renda registrassem melhora em seu poder aquisitivo. Políticas públicas de distribuição de renda, como o Bolsa Família, as reduções tributárias e reduções nos juros da economia nacional, principalmente voltadas às populações de baixa renda, contribuíram e melhoraram o acesso a essa população aos bens e serviços. No entanto, é fundamental conhecer se essa melhora no poder aquisitivo da população contribuiu para o desempenho das organizações, principalmente, das organizações voltadas aos consumidores de menor poder aquisitivo. Pesquisas antes do Plano Real revelaram que as organizações davam grande importância aos consumidores de alta renda. Pesquisas posteriores ao Plano Real revelaram que as empresas voltadas aos mercados de bens chamados populares apresentaram melhores resultados. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é investigar a eficiência financeira das empresas da indústria moveleira nacional, que atuaram predominantemente no mercado de bens populares, no período compreendido entre os anos de 2001 e 2012, comparativamente às empresas que atuaram predominantemente no mercado de bens de consumo normais. Adjacente a esse objetivo, este trabalho investiga as principais estratégias utilizadas pelas organizações (eficiência dimensional estratégica) e busca apresentar qual é o mercado predominante (popular ou normal) em que as empresas mais eficientes (cruzamento da eficiência financeira com a eficiência dimensional) da amostra atuam. Uma pesquisa primária com 84 empresas foi realizada e, de posse das informações e dados dessas empresas, foram levantados, em uma pesquisa secundária, os dados de Balanços Patrimoniais e Demonstração de Resultados de todas as organizações alvo da pesquisa junto à Serasa Experian. Os resultados da pesquisa apontaram que as empresas orientadas ao mercado de bens populares, em parte dos anos, apresentaram-se mais eficientes financeiramente que as empresas que estiveram predominantemente voltadas ao mercado de bens normais e, que existe uma relação inversa entre o desempenho das melhores empresas de bens populares e as taxas de juros, ainda que não haja predominância de mercado para as empresas mais eficientes da amostra. As estratégias mais importantes para eficiência dimensional estratégica das organizações que atendem ao mercado popular são: Liderança tecnológica, Investimentos para reduzir custos, Atendimento, Diferenciação da marca, Identificação da marca, Qualidade no produto e Especialização da empresa, aspectos bastante correlacionados para a diferenciação da organização junto aos seus concorrentes. / In the last decade, several efforts were made in the country with the aim that the low-income populations present improvement in their purchasing power. Public policies for income distribution as Bolsa Família, the tax cuts and reductions in interest of the national economy, mainly aimed at low-income populations, contributed and improved access to this population to goods and services. However, it is important to know whether this improvement in the purchasing power of the population contributed to the performance of organizations, especially organizations devoted to consumers with less purchasing power. Research before the Plano Real revealed that organizations gave great importance to high-income consumers. Subsequent research the Real Plan revealed that companies targeting markets for goods called popular show better results. The main objective of this work is to investigate the financial efficiency of domestic furniture companies, which acted predominantly in the goods market popular in the period between the years 2001 and 2012, compared to companies who are dedicated predominantly to the goods market normal consumption. Adjacent to this goal, this paper investigates the main strategies used by organizations (efficiency dimensional strategic) and seeks to present what is the predominant market (popular or normal) in the most efficient firms (intersection of financial efficiency with the efficiency dimensional) sample operate. Primary research was conducted with 84 companies, and in possession of the information and data of these companies was raised in a secondary survey data from Balance Sheet and Income Statement for all organizations aim of the research with the Serasa Experian. The results of the research show that companies market-oriented goods popular in part of the year, were more financially efficient companies that were predominantly market-oriented normal goods and that there is an inverse relationship between the performance of the best popular goods companies and interest rates. Still, there is a predominance of the market for the most efficient companies in the sample. The most important strategies for efficiency dimensional strategic organizations that cater to the popular market are: technological leadership, investments to reduce costs, customer service, brand differentiation, brand identification, quality of product and expertise in the company, aspects very correlated to the differentiation of organization among its competitors.

A implantação de um processo ou programa de melhoria contínua pode ser verificada amplamente no contexto organizacional. Para que produtos, processos e serviços sejam melhorados é necessário a realização de intervenções, usualmente denominadas projetos de melhoria. Os profissionais, membros da organização, devem estar aptos, disponíveis e engajados na identificação, seleção e condução de projetos de melhoria. O presente estudo visa identificar elementos relevantes para a transformação efetiva de profissionais, membros da organização, em agentes internos de melhoria. Uma pesquisa de campo, de caráter exploratório foi realizada, utilizando a metodologia de estudo de casos múltiplos. Foram pesquisadas três montadoras onde foram capacitados 410 agentes internos de melhoria durante os anos de 2012 e 2014. Os elementos identificados como relevantes tiveram origem na revisão bibliográfica e nas evidências de pesquisa de campo. Recomendações a prática gerencial e a teoria acadêmica foram listadas, incluindo as limitações das conclusões. / The implementation of a continuous process or program can be broadly verified in the organizational context. In order to improve products, processes and services, it is necessary interventions, usually called improvement projects. The employees shall be qualified, available and committed in the identification, selection and implementation of improvement projects. This current study has the purpose to identify relevant elements for the effective transformation of employees into continuous improvement internal agents. This study is exploratory and a multiple case study research. Three automotive industries were researched which were qualified 410 improvement internal agents between 2012 e 2014. The elements identified as relevant came from bibliography review and from the evidenced from the field research. Recommendation to the managerial practice and to the academic theory were listed, including the limitations of the conclusions.

A implantação de um processo ou programa de melhoria contínua pode ser verificada amplamente no contexto organizacional. Para que produtos, processos e serviços sejam melhorados é necessário a realização de intervenções, usualmente denominadas projetos de melhoria. Os profissionais, membros da organização, devem estar aptos, disponíveis e engajados na identificação, seleção e condução de projetos de melhoria. O presente estudo visa identificar elementos relevantes para a transformação efetiva de profissionais, membros da organização, em agentes internos de melhoria. Uma pesquisa de campo, de caráter exploratório foi realizada, utilizando a metodologia de estudo de casos múltiplos. Foram pesquisadas três montadoras onde foram capacitados 410 agentes internos de melhoria durante os anos de 2012 e 2014. Os elementos identificados como relevantes tiveram origem na revisão bibliográfica e nas evidências de pesquisa de campo. Recomendações a prática gerencial e a teoria acadêmica foram listadas, incluindo as limitações das conclusões. / The implementation of a continuous process or program can be broadly verified in the organizational context. In order to improve products, processes and services, it is necessary interventions, usually called improvement projects. The employees shall be qualified, available and committed in the identification, selection and implementation of improvement projects. This current study has the purpose to identify relevant elements for the effective transformation of employees into continuous improvement internal agents. This study is exploratory and a multiple case study research. Three automotive industries were researched which were qualified 410 improvement internal agents between 2012 e 2014. The elements identified as relevant came from bibliography review and from the evidenced from the field research. Recommendation to the managerial practice and to the academic theory were listed, including the limitations of the conclusions.

Na última década, vários esforços foram feitos no país no intuito de que as populações de baixa renda registrassem melhora em seu poder aquisitivo. Políticas públicas de distribuição de renda, como o Bolsa Família, as reduções tributárias e reduções nos juros da economia nacional, principalmente voltadas às populações de baixa renda, contribuíram e melhoraram o acesso a essa população aos bens e serviços. No entanto, é fundamental conhecer se essa melhora no poder aquisitivo da população contribuiu para o desempenho das organizações, principalmente, das organizações voltadas aos consumidores de menor poder aquisitivo. Pesquisas antes do Plano Real revelaram que as organizações davam grande importância aos consumidores de alta renda. Pesquisas posteriores ao Plano Real revelaram que as empresas voltadas aos mercados de bens chamados populares apresentaram melhores resultados. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é investigar a eficiência financeira das empresas da indústria moveleira nacional, que atuaram predominantemente no mercado de bens populares, no período compreendido entre os anos de 2001 e 2012, comparativamente às empresas que atuaram predominantemente no mercado de bens de consumo normais. Adjacente a esse objetivo, este trabalho investiga as principais estratégias utilizadas pelas organizações (eficiência dimensional estratégica) e busca apresentar qual é o mercado predominante (popular ou normal) em que as empresas mais eficientes (cruzamento da eficiência financeira com a eficiência dimensional) da amostra atuam. Uma pesquisa primária com 84 empresas foi realizada e, de posse das informações e dados dessas empresas, foram levantados, em uma pesquisa secundária, os dados de Balanços Patrimoniais e Demonstração de Resultados de todas as organizações alvo da pesquisa junto à Serasa Experian. Os resultados da pesquisa apontaram que as empresas orientadas ao mercado de bens populares, em parte dos anos, apresentaram-se mais eficientes financeiramente que as empresas que estiveram predominantemente voltadas ao mercado de bens normais e, que existe uma relação inversa entre o desempenho das melhores empresas de bens populares e as taxas de juros, ainda que não haja predominância de mercado para as empresas mais eficientes da amostra. As estratégias mais importantes para eficiência dimensional estratégica das organizações que atendem ao mercado popular são: Liderança tecnológica, Investimentos para reduzir custos, Atendimento, Diferenciação da marca, Identificação da marca, Qualidade no produto e Especialização da empresa, aspectos bastante correlacionados para a diferenciação da organização junto aos seus concorrentes. / In the last decade, several efforts were made in the country with the aim that the low-income populations present improvement in their purchasing power. Public policies for income distribution as Bolsa Família, the tax cuts and reductions in interest of the national economy, mainly aimed at low-income populations, contributed and improved access to this population to goods and services. However, it is important to know whether this improvement in the purchasing power of the population contributed to the performance of organizations, especially organizations devoted to consumers with less purchasing power. Research before the Plano Real revealed that organizations gave great importance to high-income consumers. Subsequent research the Real Plan revealed that companies targeting markets for goods called popular show better results. The main objective of this work is to investigate the financial efficiency of domestic furniture companies, which acted predominantly in the goods market popular in the period between the years 2001 and 2012, compared to companies who are dedicated predominantly to the goods market normal consumption. Adjacent to this goal, this paper investigates the main strategies used by organizations (efficiency dimensional strategic) and seeks to present what is the predominant market (popular or normal) in the most efficient firms (intersection of financial efficiency with the efficiency dimensional) sample operate. Primary research was conducted with 84 companies, and in possession of the information and data of these companies was raised in a secondary survey data from Balance Sheet and Income Statement for all organizations aim of the research with the Serasa Experian. The results of the research show that companies market-oriented goods popular in part of the year, were more financially efficient companies that were predominantly market-oriented normal goods and that there is an inverse relationship between the performance of the best popular goods companies and interest rates. Still, there is a predominance of the market for the most efficient companies in the sample. The most important strategies for efficiency dimensional strategic organizations that cater to the popular market are: technological leadership, investments to reduce costs, customer service, brand differentiation, brand identification, quality of product and expertise in the company, aspects very correlated to the differentiation of organization among its competitors.

Esta dissertação teve por objetivos principais investigar os fatores críticos de sucesso para implantação do programa Seis Sigma nas empresas, bem como o impacto desse programa no desempenho operacional, na satisfação dos clientes e na construção de uma cultura organizacional voltada para a qualidade. Em adição, procurou-se investigar relações entre aspectos como percepção de sucesso alcançado pelas empresas que implantaram o Seis Sigma; tamanho e nacionalidade das empresas; tempo de implantação do Seis Sigma e de treinamento continuado; nível de comunicação entre os profissionais; regime de dedicação de tempo dos Black Belts; taxa de conclusão de projetos, sua duração e economia gerada. Os dados foram coletados em questionário na Internet, distribuído por correio eletrônico e em fórum de discussão envolvendo profissionais do Seis Sigma. O desenvolvimento do questionário envolveu pesquisa bibliográfica e entrevistas com profissionais experientes do Seis Sigma. Os resultados indicaram oito fatores considerados críticos para o sucesso na implantação dos Seis Sigma: (a) Liderança, (b) Projetos, (c) Treinamento, (d) Comunicação e Revisão, (e) Processo Gerencial, (f) Perfil dos Black Belts, (g) Equipe de Projetos e (h) Iniciativas Prévias de Qualidade. Foram também identificados aspectos que tiveram melhoria após a implantação do programa Seis Sigma nas três áreas de interesse. / The main objective of this research was to investigate the critical success facators to implement Six Sigma in organizations, as well as the impact of Six Sigma on operating performance, customer satisfaction and organizational quality culture. Besides that, a secondary objective was to investigate the relationship between aspects like success perception among those companies which implemented Six Sigma, company size, company nationality, Six Sigma time of implementation, continuous training, communication level between professionals, full-time and part-time Black Belts, Project completion, Project duration and Project savings. Data was collected though an Internet questionnaire, distributed by email and sent to discussion groups involving Six Sigma professionals. Questionnaire development has included literature review and interviews with experienced Six Sigma Professionals. Results have indicated eight critical success factors to Six Sigma implementation: (a) Leadership, (b) Projects, (c) Training (d) Communication and Review, (e) Managerial Process, (f) Black Belts Profile, (g) Project Teams and (h) Previous Quality initiatives. Moreover, several aspects were identified to be enhanced after Six Sigma implementation in the three áreas of interest.

Citizen involvement in the production and delivery of public service has been a long time topic of interest and controversial debate among scholars. Essentially, the belief has been that if citizens are actively involved in the process, public organizations and communities benefit in numerous ways that will ultimately lead to increased citizen satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between citizen involvement in the production of public safety and security and its effects on organizational efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement agencies. To test the assumption that citizen involvement is positively correlated to organizational success and organizational efficiency of law enforcement agencies, a citizen involvement index was developed and used as the independent variable in ordinary least square regression (OLS) analysis. Three separate models are developed to measure the impact of citizen involvement on law enforcement. Findings obtained through bivariate and multivariate analyses indicate mixed results. Bivariate analysis revealed that citizen involvement was negatively correlated to organizational efficiency while no statistically significant correlation was found in multiple regressions. In addition, through bivariate analyses, citizen involvement was positively correlated with crime rates reported to city police departments, whereas multivariate regression analyses indicated that citizen involvement does not have a statistically significant impact on crime rates. Both analyses, however, provided support for the positive impact of citizen involvement on crime clearance rates. Finally, findings suggested that citizen involvement in public organizations and its effects on the production and delivery of public goods and services are overestimated from the perspective of law enforcement.

Purpose: Healthcare organizations are mandated to improve quality and safety for patients while stressed with shorter lengths of stay, communication lapses between disciplines, and patient throughput issues that impede timely delivery of patient care. Nurses play a prominent role in the safe transition of patients from admission to discharge. Although nurses participate in discharge planning, limited research has addressed the role and outcomes of the registered nurse as a leader in the process. The aim of this study was determine if implementation of a nurse-driven discharge planning protocol for patients undergoing cardiac implant would result in improved organizational efficiencies, higher medication reconciliation rates, and higher patient satisfaction scores. Methods: A two-group posttest experimental design was used to conduct the study. Informed consent was obtained from 53 individuals scheduled for a cardiac implant procedure. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a nurse-driven discharge planning intervention group or a control group. Post procedure, 46 subjects met inclusion criteria with half (n=23) assigned to each group. All subjects received traditional discharge planning services. The morning after the cardiac implant procedure, a specially trained registered nurse assessed subjects in the intervention for discharge readiness. Subjects in the intervention groups were then discharged under protocol orders by the intervention nurse after targeted physical assessment, review of the post procedure chest radiograph, and examination of the cardiac implant device function. The intervention nurse also provided patient education, discharge instructions, and conducted medication reconciliation. The day after discharge the principal investigator conducted a scripted follow-up phone call to answer questions and monitor for post procedure complications. A Hospital Discharge Survey was administered during the subject's follow-up appointment. Results: The majority of subjects were men, Caucasian, insured, and educated at the high school level or higher. Their average age was 73.5+ 9.8 years. No significant differences between groups were noted for gender, type of insurance, education, or type of cardiac implant (chi-square); or age (t-test). A Mann-Whitney U test (one-tailed) found no significant difference in variable cost per case (p=.437) and actual charges (p=.403) between the intervention and control groups. Significant differences were found between groups for discharge satisfaction (p=.05) and the discharge perception of overall health (p=.02), with those in the intervention group reporting higher scores. Chi square analysis found no significant difference in 30-day readmission rates (p=.520). Using an independent samples t-test, those in the intervention group were discharged earlier (p=.000), had a lower length of stay (p=.005), and had higher rates of reconciled medications (p=.000). The odds of having all medications reconciled were significantly higher in the intervention group (odds ratio, 50.27; 95% CI, 5.62-450.2; p=.000). Discussion/Implications: This is the first study to evaluate the role of the nurse as a clinical leader in patient throughput, discharge planning, and patient safety initiatives. A nurse driven discharge planning protocol resulted in earlier discharge times which can have a dramatic impact on patient throughput. The nurse driven protocol significantly reduced the likelihood of unreconciled medications at discharge and significantly increased patient satisfaction. Follow-up research is needed to determine if a registered nurse can impact organizational efficiency and discharge safety in other patient populations.

Essa dissertação visa elaborar recomendações para agilizar o lançamento de novos produtos de informação em organizações de grande porte, com base em uma pesquisa bibliográfica e entrevistas semiestruturadas.A seleção dos dezesseis entrevistados foi realizada procurando identificar três públicos diferentes: cinco gestores de novos produtos em empresas de grande porte, cinco gerentes de aceleradoras e seis empreendedores. Foram coletados fatos e impressões destas fontes e comparados com a bibliografia pesquisada.Foi constatado que o tempo é o fator primordial no lançamento de novos produtos e que este é inerente a todas as decisões relacionadas a fatores dos aspectos internos da empresa e do ambiente organizacional.As principais recomendações advindas da análise foram: quantificar o valor do tempo, de forma que as decisões comparativas entre o tempo e os aspectos burocráticos de um lançamento em uma grande empresa possam ser balizados; utilizar o produto mínimo viável (MVP) para validar a comercialização do novo produto; criar processos flexíveis, tendo em vista que é fundamental a experimentação com o mercado no momento de lançamento;valorizar a marca e os produtos já existentes no portfólio da empresa no lançamento, evidenciando as vantagens da corporação na comunicação; criar parcerias e incentivar a inovação aberta para não depender apenas do crescimento orgânico; incentivar o envolvimento de colaboradores com o projeto do novo produto, de modo interdepartamental, criando possibilidades de job rotatione adequando a composição da equipe a cada fase do projeto; alocar recursos específicos a cada novo produto, para evidenciar prazos claros e evitar as necessidades burocráticas comuns a grandes empresas; incentivar a mentoria entre dirigentes da empresa e a equipe do novo produto; entender o problema do cliente como o ponto de partida do lançamento; usar métricas ao longo de todo o processo da inovação para avaliar o atingimento dos objetivos e o direcionamento correto das ações. / This dissertation aims to elaborate recommendations to accelerate the launch of new information products in large organizations. This research was based on a bibliographical research and semi-structured interviews. The selection of the sixteen interviewees was carried out in order to identify three different audiences: five managers of new products in large companies, five managers of accelerators and six entrepreneurs. The collected facts and impressions from these sources were compared with the bibliography. It was found that time is the primary factor in the launch of new products and that it is inherent in all decisions related to internal aspects of the company and the organizational environment. The main recommendations of the analysis were to: quantify the value of time, in order to validate comparative decisions between the time and the bureaucratic aspects of a launch in a large company; use the minimum viable product (MVP) to validate the new product; create flexible procedures, since market experimentation is fundamental at the time of launch; leverage the brand and the products already existing in the portfolio, highlighting their advantages in the communication; create partnerships and encourage open innovation not to rely solely on organic growth; encourage the involvement of employees in the new product design, in an interdepartmental manner, creating possibilities of job rotation and adjusting the composition of the team to each phase of the project; allocate specific resources to the new product showing clear deadlines and avoiding the bureaucratic needs common to large companies; encourage mentoring between company managers and the new product team; understand the customer\'s problem as the starting point of the launch; use metrics throughout the innovation process to assess achievement of each objectives.