Case Study Community Development Principles, Practices and Understandings

It is possible to understand the concept of community through a multiplicity of definitions. The term itself has been in use for a long time now. It helps us understand the whole concept through a range of senses.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study: Community Development Principles, Practices and Understandings specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From one angle, we view the concept of community as a ‘common people’ who are distinguished from those of rank. As such, this group of commons then defines itself as an organized society. That is, the people of one district. District here will mean anything from a small area or locality to a large area of residence. The distinguishing quality of holding a common thing of interest between the members of the said locality is another distinct feature of community, which helps a person to understand further. This is most evident in a community of interest o r community of goods. To this end, therefore, the said group of people is a community because it shares common identity and their characteristics are similar in terms of its aspirations and activities (Kenny, 2010). In the analysis of the Peake Estate outlined in the extract by Kenny (2010), the various aspirations and activities that the community members are engaged in, clearly, define it as a community build under a multiplicity of functions and interest. As such, in clearly defining the true nature of the community, we cannot use just one point of view in its definitions. What emerges from the analysis of this community is that it has all the elements that qualify it to be viewed as a community of interest, locality and culture. Peake estate is defined this way by first looking at the fact that, these people are residing in one area-this is a high-rise council estate in a low in come suburb in a capital city. The fact that these people live in a low suburb in a capital city give s them a unique characteristic that then clearly defines them as a community of locality.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Their status of low-income earners then cements their definitions. We realize that apart from being a community of culture, the community can still be viewed as community of interest. Why is this so? This is because their aspirations and interest are focused on one common goal of improving their locality by acquiring jobs and learning how to work with computers. The people are joined together by the need to work together and eradicate crime in their locality, be able to educate their children (Christensen et al. 2003). A deep look at the nature of the community described by Kenny, we realize that because of the cultural diversity characterizing this community, characteristics evidenced by various dynamics of the community such as crime, unemployment and absen teeism from school the community cannot be defined as a community of culture. The residents of Peake estate community are aimed at achieving development in their locality. Together with the community organizer Paolo, they seek to develop their various areas of life. As such, the type of development pursued by this community is seen not to be one sided but multifaceted. Why is this so? The answer to this is seen by reviewing their aspirations and activities. The community wants to eradicate crime, move their children from the streets-social development. The community wants to be able to work comfortably among the various cultural underpinning that characterize it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study: Community Development Principles, Practices and Understandings specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This too, is social development (Julian, 2000). Peake estate has high rate of unemployment. This is the main reas on the children do not go to schools and are in the streets and the young men are bored because they lack anything to do. As such the need to come up with projects to enable the community members earn a living stipulates this as an economic development. This is further proved by the pursuit of Paolo the community organizer in soliciting for the donation of computers to start a computer-learning project. This is directed at killing two birds with one stone-that is offer the community a source of livelihood and gives the youngsters a tool of killing their boredom. This is an activity of interest (Effland, 1998). A keen analysis of the Peake estate reveals a number of development principles that have been used by Paolo and the rest of the community on making the various developments interest a success. These principles as if they emerge include the value principle. It has generally agreed that community development work to support groups, persons and even organizations. This is done be cause of certain values. As such, the core values of a community in its development define the principles as discussed here below; these principles of community development include; social justice, learning and working as one, personal determination, sustaining communities, participation and reflective practice (Putnam, 2000). The pursuance of development principles in community development ensures a successful attainment of the community goals. These principles act as the guidelines to achieving the aspired development. They also come about as the road map to sustainable community development. In reassessing the development involving Peake estate, all the development principles outlined here above come out clearly. All have been taken in to consideration but it is only some that have stood over the others in ensuring develop of the community.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As such, the principle of working together has emerged over the others. Paolo the community organizer has enabled the residents of this estate in believing that working and learning together is an important ingredient in achieving collective and wholesome development. Paolo has demonstrated that collective working together is effective in mobilizing the community members in removing their prejudice based on cultural diversity and instead rechanneling their energy I n the pursuance of a common developmental goal. This is as if they did in successful developing the computer learning a teaching project. In doing this, the community has used this principle in developing a culture of effective decision-making and accountability. This has enabled the community in taking in to consideration all aspects of community in its development. These have included eradicating crime, neutralizing cultural tensions and job creation. In achieving this, the principle has enabled the community embers in effectively sharing good practices and experiences.this has enabled the members of peake estate learn from each other especially in the development of the computer learning project. For example, the foreigner project designer uses his knowledge as a graphic designer in helping the growth of the project. He shares his knowledge with the other community members and this enables them work even better as one unit focused to a seen goal of development. In viewing the nature of community development in regards to the Peake estate and the role of the development principles in achieving the desired development levels, the principle of participation has emerged high. This principle aims at promoting individuals participation as well as the community. This specifically aims at those who are marginalized. In the recognition of this principle, Paolo in Kenny’s extract has showed the application of this principle. The principle is useful it plays an effective role in involving all the mem bers of the community in the development of the computer projects where all the members old and young have been involved in ensuring the success of the project by the knowledgeable sharing their useful knowledge and the young teaching the old on how to use computers. The old here are the marginalized as far as computer usage is concerned. In order to pin down the underlying setbacks in ensuring community development of the Peake estate, Paolo first seeks to identify and ratify these setbacks. He does this by first recognizing the challenging barriers to effective and full participation in the whole process of community development. This he solves by realizing that there is a gap between the old and the young generation. To solve this problem, he brings out the fact that while the old have no skills in computer skills, but want to learn, the young have the skills and want an avenue to discharge their skills. This in turn creates a coincidence of interest which then he uses to ensure that the two groups work together (Putnam, 2000). Participation principles also call for the active participation in supporting the community in gainful acquisition of essential skills that enables the members of the community in actively participating in the community’s developmental endeavors. In our case here, the efforts for every member of the community to have knowledge in computer application demonstrates this. The knowledge acquired by the members of the community enables them in actively developing the computer project into an income generating investment. The contracts have enabled the community members to think broad and become innovative. They can look at a situation and determine the needs of the society and from then onwards they come up with community-based projects to be undertaken. The contracts have also lead to the creation of a better working environment for environs through the development of infrastructure therefore enabling the community members to enga ge in income generating ventures, which will support them and enable them to maintain their standard of living. Participation of the community member in the subprojects created a sense of ownership among the members thus creating sustainability of the project even in later years. This is quite a positive move in the right direction. It creates some form of ownership and acceptance. This is especially true when the whole process is open and accountable and recognizes merit. The above phenomenon has been achieved through the development of social structures that has enabled effective community participation in the development process. The above-mentioned social structures involve the integration of the various cultures in community unity. The structures in our case of Peake estate have been built by ensuring cultural linkages, generational unity and the building of a spirit of hard work and efficiency among all the community members. The building of the above social structures is base d on the sharing of good practices among the community members and this ensures that they learn from one another, like evidenced by the development of the computer project (Kenny, 2011). In achieving success in community development, all or most of the principles of community development should be taken into consideration. However, a deep look in our community development case study, we realize that a number of principles do not get application. On note, here is the principle of reflective practice. Even though the community contracting has so many successes, it has failed in certain aspects. It is unreasonable to allocate tasks to groups that do not have prior experience on a particular field. This results to poor judgment on what needs to be done and poor implementation of the project. As a result, there is an increase in wastage resource. Secondly, community contracting is community based and cannot be used to implement change on a nationwide basis as a result this pulls back dev elopment in that particular community. This principle aims at supporting and promoting collective and individual learning through practice and reflection. In our case study, the changing of practice is not in response to reflection outcome. It is highly based on the need to quickly escape from lack of employment, eradicate crime and be able to educate the children. The outcome of the projects initiated is not reflected on the outcome. Reflective practice principle can be used in community development by enabling the community members and the community developers in establishing the constraints facing the community development process. Like mentioned here above, such a principle will enable the community developers and the community at large in establishing the likely problem facing the development project such as lack of funds or the computers (Lenski, 1974). In our earlier definition of the term community, we defined it as a group of people who have one thing in common. This common factor like we started by seeing could be based on the interest and goals that the said group of people pursue. As such, this group of people then works together for a common goal as an organized society. The above definition when weighed against our case study of the Peake state community seems to augment well. The Peake estate community through its working of the computer project and its aim of eradicating crime and poverty shows all the characteristics of an organized community. Community development as a whole involves a wide range of area to study. The study of community development can be studied in the view of its role in achieving social equity, reducing crime or achieving social economic advancement. In this regard therefore, a further study should be made in order to establish the various areas in the community that can be advanced for the development of the said community. This could involve the role played by community development in achieving the overall national devel opment. Community development should be viewed in the right of how different communities can relate with each other in achieving combined development in their various aspects of their lives. In this regard, the Peake estate in collaboration with other surrounding communities should work to reduce crime collectively, promote education for their children as well as come up with projects that can improve their economic standards (Kenny, 2011). Reference List Christensen, K. et al. (2003) Encyclopedia of Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Effland, R. (1998) The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations. London: Mesa Community College. Julian, B. (2000) Community Development Principles and Practical Actions. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Kenny, S. (2011) Developing Communities for the Future: Community Development in Australia. Australia: Thomas Nelson. Lenski, G. (1974) Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc. Putnam, D. (2000) The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Routledge. Putnam, R. D. (2000) Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster. This essay on Case Study: Community Development Principles, Practices and Understandings was written and submitted by user D1m1tr1 to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Automobile in America Essay Example

Automobile in America Essay Example Automobile in America Essay Automobile in America Essay The automobile managed to change American culture dramatically in a short period of time. It allowed many people to move away from the overcrowded, stuffy, and dirty urban areas into less populated places with more space and air. The suburbs were born and single-family houses sprang up to replace the apartment tenements of the cities. People were now able to commute to work and also visit friends and family who lived further away. The automobile was also a hit with the younger crowd, who saw it as a new way to have fun and achieve freedom. The huge demand for cars also boosted the American economy, as the automobile industry was born. The economy in the United States was roaring in the 1920â„ ¢s. Workers became more efficient and very productive. Between 1922 and 1927, the economy grew by 7% a year (Nation of Nations, 6th Edition, Volume II, chapter 24, Pg. 694). Technology was growing and construction companies started building taller and taller towers. The success in all industries was affecting each other in positive ways in a chain. There was an increase in all industries and the industry that boomed the most was the automobile industry. Henry Ford organized mass production in his companies, which led to affordable cars. He also believed in making all the cars to look the same so cost would reduce the cost so buying cars would be affordable. Ford reduced the working hours and days of employees, employed African American people, and gave them respectful positions in his company. He had his employees educated on how to speak and dress properly. Many owned cars and this opened more business for real estate, re staurants, motels etc. (Nation of Nations, 6th Edition, Volume II, chapter 24, Pg. 694-695). From Fords ideas, the car was transformed from a luxury item into a necessity, and this is what made him more successful than any other competitor during that time.

The Delivery of Patient Care by Meditech Article

The Delivery of Patient Care by Meditech - Article Example The delivery of patient care is very much dependent on the information gathered on patients. For nurses and doctors administering care for the patient, the importance of accessing such notes and orders with the assistance of Meditech cannot be overstated (Wedel, et.al., 2007). The ease of accessing laboratory values, radiology results as well as doctors’ notes is ensured by Meditech. By allowing easy access to these data, the nurses and doctors would have more time allocated to other more important tasks (Wedel, et.al., 2007). Moreover, they can access the data anytime and anywhere in the hospital facility, negating the need for accessing computers in nurses’ stations. The coordination of information is also less tedious because the nurses or doctors do not have to personally consult with the radiologist in order to get results of tests; moreover, they do not also have to take up too much time with the radiology department or with the medical technicians by securing the results of diagnostic tests personally (Starfield and Shi, 2002). Time is an important commodity in the health care setting because of the issues with limited staff and significant patient admissions, often more than hospitals can handle efficiently (Starfield and Shi, 2002). Sparing any time for health professionals is therefore an important addition to the efficient delivery of health services. In effect, the use of Meditech is a welcome addition to the health care practice. The importance of Meditech in prevention of allergic reactions and potential reactions is also highlighted (Wedel, et.al., 2007).

The growth of debt among young American Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The growth of debt among young American - Essay Example (Economic Crisis, 71) The purpose of this research would be to determine the three most fundamental questions related to the aspect of growth of debt among young Americans. What is the social problem 2) What cause this social problem 3) What is the impact to the people of this social problem 4) What are some solutions regarding to this social problem One of the interests financial planners have would be in understanding how money attitudes can be related to both investment and savings behaviors. Financial counselors wish to understand the how and why students either intentionally or unintentionally get themselves into debt. The rapid rise in consumer credit card debt and personal bankruptcies causes concern with policy makers and this is one reason for the study. There is increasing evidence that credit card debt has contributed to the rise in family financial problems and personal bankruptcies (Brobeck, 45). In the quest to discover why consumer credit card use and debt are increasing it is important to understand an individual's attitudes towards credit, money and debt (Hayhoe, 645). The use of credit has becom... The use of credit has become almost a rite of passage for many collegiate students worldwide. The objective of this paper would be to study the attitudes of university students in the use of credit cards and the general use of money. The aim in actuality is to study the positive and negative credit card usage by University students and the reasons behind their usage or abuse. University students often are faced with a barrage of financial considerations including credit cards, financial institutions, student financing for educational purposes, part-time employment and other such financial decisions to manage. The research conducted would be inclusive of local collegiate students just beginning their tenure on campus and those that have been on campus for a year or more. Credit Cards have gained a lot of popularity in the United Kingdom and around the world. Most businesses use credit card services. The businesses, especially retail stores, have their own credit cards. They either have just a credit card for their store alone or they might have a Visa, MasterCard or even an American Express logo on it where the consumers can use that credit card no matter where they shop. In fact, if the businesses did not use credit cards they would lose a good chunk of money. This review will cover credit use and abuse, credit cards themselves, consumer decision making, consumer attitudes, adoption behavior, credit card debt and the viewpoint of credit card issuers and banks. Long term cardholders who carry a balance, pay late, and on occasion would surpass their credit limit, thus incurring additional fees, would in fact be the most

Bilingual education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bilingual education - Research Paper Example the Bilingual Education Act (1968) which dominantly shaped bilingual education laws (Pandey, 2010).The paper attempts to explore the pros and cons of bilingual education and debate over different aspects discussed by its proponents and opponents. In order to convince parents and teachers that bilingual education is beneficial for non-English speaking children, the term â€Å"bilingual education† should be unambiguous. However, deciding how to classify bilinguals is problematic (Baker, 1985; Mackey, 1962; Skutnabb-Kangas 1981 qtd. in Baker 2).Baker further explains that defining bilingual is fraught with problems as there are many dimensions to this term (3).However, for defining bilingual education Wink reminds us of Professor Beto who asserts that bilingual education is all about the education that is given in two languages. Beto further adds to the definition and states, â€Å"Bilingual education is all about literacy and knowledge. That’s it.†(qtd. in Wink)Krashen further adds to the definition and states, â€Å"Bilingual education consists of good, comprehensible input in English, good subject matter teaching in the primary language, and continued literacy development in the primary language. Given these three component, kids will get literacy and knowledge.†(3-4 qtd. in Wink) The concept of ‘bilingual education’ is considered to be the education programs that are particularly designed for students with lacking ability of speaking and understanding English language. Among several programs, some include the features of teaching academic subjects in native language for better understanding, for instance, Spanish or Bengali. In addition these programs teach English as second language (ESL).While some other programs emphasize on learning English by completely immersing students in English-only class. Some of the programs prefer teaching both languages in mainstream class to all students. There are different variations of these approaches and different schools

Causes of Animal Extinction and Disappearing Species

Causes of Animal Extinction and Disappearing Species Newler argues that, animals become extinct when they die and no longer exist; at that death of the only existing members of the species. Extinction simply means to be away forever. The process takes place over a period of time. A species may be regarded to as functionally extinct before it is fully extinct when only a few of them exist. The existing group is for one reason or another unable to reproduce and propagate the species, hence termed as functionally extinct. The process begins from the time when the death rate is higher than the birthrate. The number of animals then slowly decreases to extinction, (Newler, 102). Newler also adds that in biology extinction is the end of a given species of animals in an ecosystem. Though not documented, scientist believe that 99.9% of the species that have existed before have so far been extinct. A certain species of animals may get extinct because it cannot survive in the changing environmental conditions; allowing only the species that are well adapted to the environment to survive. This shows that there are certain natural factors within the environment that causes extinction, (Newler, 102). According to Manwel, a number of animals that existed several years ago have since been extinct. These include: tyrannosaurus Rex (extinct 65 million years ago), Stellers sea cow: the defenseless beast (extinct since 1768), Thylacine: the Tasmanian tiger (extinct sine 1936), Quagga: half Zebra, half Horse (extinct since 1883), Irish Deer: the largest deer that ever lived (extinct about 7,700 years ago), Caspian Tiger: the third largest (extinct since 1970), Aurochs: a very large type of cattle (extinct since 1627), Great Auk: largest of all Auks (extinct since 1844), Cave Lion: one of the largest lions ever (extinct since 2,000 years ago) and Dodo: the archetype of extinct species (extinct since late 17th century), (Manwel, 75) Causes of animal extinction Although some cases of animal extinction is attributed to natural factors within the environment, it is however evident that human activities play a very key role in the process. Scientists have studied the human activities that causes immense environmental changes which makes the environment unfit for the existence of a particular species of animals. Since humans have become the dominant species on earth, increase in human activities leads to exploitation of the resources within the environment and leads to emissions that may cause serious climatic changes which reduce the chances of survival of the animals. Some of the causes of extinction include the following. Global warming According to Manwel, there is a close association between global warming and extinction of animal species on earth. Scientist argue that 251 million years ago, life on earth nearly came to an end when there was mass extinction that saw the death of over 90% of all species on earth. This was caused by a volcanic eruption that caused an increase in atmospheric temperatures by 6 oC setting off a greenhouse effect that led to the mass extinction. The greenhouse effect was caused by the emission of carbon dioxide from the volcanic eruption. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere creates greenhouse effect, (Manwel, 77). Ruckler adds that with the increase in human activity and industrial advancements lead to the emission of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which causes greenhouse effect. As the levels of carbon dioxide increases, the evidence of its effects on the planet becomes more glaring. At present, a number of animal species are at the verge of extinction because of the serious environmental changes cause by global warming. Global warming leads to increase in atmospheric temperatures and reduces the amount of oxygen both in the atmosphere and the water bodies. This greatly affects the existence of animals. For example, when the amount of oxygen dissolved in water is reduced, anaerobic bacteria increases and the number of the other aquatic animals reduces drastically. Global warming also affects migration of animals, hatching of eggs and distribution of animal species in the planet. There is factual evidence that global warming is tied with animal extinction. In Australia for example, White Pos sum is believed to be extinct as a result of global warming. The animal died because it could not withstand the high temperatures, (Ruclker, 56). Overhunting and overfishing According to Raloff, overhunting refers to the harvesting of wild animals beyond the growth rate of the population; such that the total population of the animals gradually reduces. Both overhunting and overfishing reduces that number of animal species. For example, a number of fish species are facing extinction because of overfishing. Overhunting in the high seas has reduced significantly the population of whales, sea turtles, sea cows and other fish species, (Raloff, 23). Most humans hunt for wild animals for their hides and meat. Human encroachment into the forest and new habitat has seen the extinction of animal species. In North America, 11,000 years ago, when people first migrated from Serbia to Alaska, it is thought that some species of animals including the mastodon, mammoth and Saber-toothed tiger became extinct within a few centuries because of hunting and resource exploitation. The effects of global warming are evident from the extinction of a member of the primate group in Ghana and Ivory Coast. The red colobus and the red-checked monkey became extinct from the African forest because overhunting and destruction of its habitat brought about by human inhabitance. Raloff argues that in the past, the extinction of animals such as elephant birds and lemurs in Madagascar, kangaroos in Australia, Moas in New Zealand, herbivores in America are overhunting. Hunting poses major threat to animals and has lead to the increase in the number of endangered species. The most endangered groups of animals in the world today are the mammals and birds. For mammals the main disadvantage they have is that they are big (require more food and water) and reproduce at a slower rate hence they can be easily wiped out through overhunting. Birds are susceptible for overhunting because of their conspicuous nature. This makes the two goops the most endangered groups in the modern world, (Raloff, 23). Habitat degradation Manwel and Mwenda pointed out that most animals live well in given set of condition provided in a given habitat. Habitat degradation means that the conditions are altered making it unsuitable for animal inhabitance; which may cause the extinction of a species of animals, which directly depend on the environment for food and shelter. The environment is changing from time to time in a slow pace. Human activities cause rapid changes in the environment to the disadvantage of animals which are slow to adapt to the fast changing environment. Increase in agriculture, mining, logging and fishing are just but a few human activities that expedite the extinction process through environmental degradation, (Mwenza, 96). Habitat degradation may cause extinction of animal species either directly or indirectly. The industries and farms produce a lot of toxic products. The effects of these products include; reduced reproductive capacity, short life span and reduces that ability of the animals to survive the environmental conditions. The availability of food and shelter from the environment is reduced by habitat destruction. Overpopulation Manwel and mwenda said that overpopulation in animals stiffens the competition for food and shelter. When the population of animals is higher than the carrying capacity of a given ecosystem, there will be a shortage of resources which definitely leads to the death of some animals. Overpopulation leads to overexploitation of the existing resources. When there is overpopulation of predators, the population of the prey reduces to and becomes one of the endangered species. If the increasing population of the predators is not controlled, the prey soon becomes extinct, (Manwel and Mwenda, 29). Conclusion The number of endangered species in animals increases with time. This means that the total population of animals on earth reduces gradually. A number of animal species are now facing extinction. The main causes of extinction can be either natural causes or human activities that affect those animals directly or indirectly. The causes include: global warming, overhunting and overfishing, overpopulation and habitat degradation. The main effects of these factors is that they endanger some animals species. Work cited Manwel, Paula. and Mwenda, J. Earths Endangered Creatures. 5th ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1998. Newler, Martin. Disappearing Species. London: McGraw-Hill publishers, 2000. Raloff, Geoffrey. Extinction and Environmental Changes. 2nd Ed. Boston: Allyn Bacon publishers, 2004. Ruckler, Benjamin. Species Disappearing at an Alarming Rate. (3rd Ed.). New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc, 2006.

Tqm 6 Sigma

Six sigma and Total Quality Management 1 1 X Six sigma and Total Quality Management Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Chung Yuan Christian University Taiwan, R. O. C. 1. The practices and implementation of Six Sigma In the past two decades, Six Sigma methodology has been widely adopted by industries and non-profit organizations throughout the world. In this section, we demonstrate the development of Six Sigma program, and discuss the features and the five steps of the improvements 1. 1 The introduction of Six Sigma Six Sigma methodology was first espoused by Motorola in the mid 1980s. Antony & Banuelas, 2002; Wiklund & Wiklund, 2002). At that time, Motorola was facing Japanese competition in the electronics industry and needed to make drastic improvements in its levels of quality (Harry and Schroeder, 2000; Linderman et al. , 2003). A Six Sigma initiative ,which is originally focused on manufacturing process and product quality (Harry & Schroeder, 2000), is also design ed to change the culture in an organization through breakthrough improvement in all aspects of the business (Breyfogle III et al. , 2001, p. 32).The Six Sigma architects at Motorola focused on making improvements in all operations within a process—thus producing results far more rapidly and effectively (Harry & Schroeder, 2000). The successful implementation of the Six Sigma program in Motorola led to huge benefits. Motorola recorded a reduction in defects and manufacturing time, and also began to reap financial rewards. Within four years, the Six Sigma program had saved the company $2. 2 billion (Harry & Schroeder, 2000). The crowning achievement was being recognized with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (Breyfegle III et al. 2001; Wiklund & Wiklund, 2002). IBM, SONY, and Allied Signal successfully followed Motorola in implementing Six Sigma. Allied Signal began its Six Sigma activities in the early 1990s, It successfully attained savings of US$2 billion during a five-year period (Klefsjo et al. , 2001). Sooner, the impressive results obtained by Allied Sigma induced General Electric (GE) to undertake a thorough implementation of the Six Sigma program in 1995 (Pande et al. , 2000) as a corporate initiative to improve net profits and operating margin (Hendricks and Kelbaugh, 1998).The 1999 annual report of GE showed that the implementation produced more than US$2 billion in benefit (Slater, 2001; Coronado & Antony, 2002, Raisinghani et al. , 2005). Yang, Ching-Chow www. intechopen. com 2 Quality Management and Six Sigma As a result, the impressive benefits of implementing Six Sigma programs in Motorola, Allied Signal, and GE led the Six Sigma methodology being widely adopted by industries throughout the world. American Express, Ford, Honda, and Samsung have all applied the methodology (Klefsjo et al. , 2001; Sandholm & Sorqvist, 2002; Yun and Chua, 2002).The Six Sigma has become the most prominent trend in quality management (Sandholm & Sorqv ist, 2002; Yang, 2004) not only for manufacturing and service industries, but also for non-profit organizations and government institutes. The GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. 1. 2 Some key views on Six Sigma Several prominent researchers have expressed views on Six Sigma. Hahn et al. (1999) emphasized that Six Sigma improvement is a highly disciplined and statistically based approach for removing defects from products, processes, and transactions, involving everyone in the corporation. * Harry & Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and maximum value to the consumer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost. * Harry & S chroeder (2000) also concluded that Six-Sigma is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept hat companies can gain a competitive edge by reducing defects in their industrial and commercial processes. * Pande et al. (2000) commented that Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success. It is driven by close understanding of customers’ needs and disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical analysis. * Pearson (2001) described Six Sigma as a program that combines the most effective statistical and non-statistical methods to make overall business improvements. Slater (2001) stated that the Six Sigma approach provides a very specific control program with control techniques that ensure continuation of improved processes. * Lucas (2002) described Six Sigma as a statistical business system and a functional methodology for disciplined quality improvement that achieves successful outcomes. * Treichler et al . (2002) concluded that Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps organizations to focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services. It is also, in Treichlers’ (2002) view, a change-acceleration process that focuses on pursuing success and the rapid adoption of change. Yang (2004) asserted that the GE-6? program and the Motorola Six Sigma program did have some differences. Whereas Six Sigma activities in Motorola had focused on product quality and the manufacturing process, the GE-6? program extended the improvement activities to cover all key processes related to customer satisfaction. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 3 In addition to the major features noted above, other features of the GE-6? program include (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001; Pande et al. , 2000; Treichler et al. 2002). * GE-6? rojects are integrated with the company’s visions and strategies; * all GE-6? projects are rigorously evaluated for finan cial impact; * everyone who contributes to the success of the program receives significant rewards, especially in terms of staff promotion; * significant financial incentives (representing 40% of all bonuses received by employees) are tied to GE-6? projects; * a sound statistical approach to improvement is adopted; * projects are completed rapidly (usually within 3–6 months); and * bottom-line results are expected and delivered. 1. 3 Implementation of GE Six Sigma The main features of GE-6? re discussed above, in this subsection we introduce the implementation of GE Six-Sigma: * improvement steps; * * staff roles; and investment in training. 1. 3. 1 Improvement steps There have been many improvement models for process improvement or re-engineering. Most of these have been based on the steps introduced by W. Edwards Deming, which can be characterized as ‘Plan’, ‘Do’, ‘Study’, and ‘Act’ (PDSA)(Deming, 1993). GE-6? has a five-p hase improvement cycle that has become increasingly popular in Six Sigma organizations: ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Improve’, and ‘Control’ (DMAIC).There is another cycle characterized as ‘Define’, ‘Measure’, ‘Analyze’, ‘Design’, and ‘Verify’ (DMADV) (Pande et al. , 2000). Like other improvement models, the DMAIC (or DMADV) model is grounded in the original Deming PDCA cycle. Usually, Six Sigma organizations use DMAIC for process improvement and DMADV for process design (and redesign). Table 1. 1 describes the specific tasks in each step, and the tools and techniques used in the steps. Step Define ? ? ? ? ? ? Map process and identify inputs and ? outputs ? ? Establish measurement system for ? inputs and outputs ? ? Understand the existing capability of ? rocess ? ? ? ? ? Specific tasks Identify improvement issues Organize project team Set-up improvem ent goal Estimate financial benefit Measure Tools and techniques employed Customer complaint analysis Cost of poor quality (COPQ) Brainstorming Run charts, control charts Benchmarking Process map (SIPOC) Cause and effect matrix Gauge R&R Control charts Process capability analysis Failure models and effects analysis (FMEA) www. intechopen. com 4 Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Identify sources of variation in ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Analyze Improve ? ? ? Control projects Table 1. 1 DMAIC steps and tools usage ? ? Standardize the process ? ? Maintain critical inputs in the optimal ? area ? ? Verify long-term capability ? ? Evaluate the results of improvement process Identify potential critical inputs Determine tools used in the improvement step Conduct improvement actions Use experiments Optimize critical inputs Cause-and-effect diagram Pareto diagram Scatter diagram Brainstorming Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Design of experiment (DOE) Quality function deployment (QFD) Process capability analysis Control charts Standard operation procedure Process capability analysis Fool-proofing (Poka Yoke) Run charts . 3. 2 Staff roles Along with the systematic improvement steps described above, the design of specific roles and their effective operations are important factors of the GE-6? program. Senior management is ultimately responsible for the success of the project through the provision of sufficient support, resources, and strong leadership. The implementation of GE-6? is thus top–down. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, and drives the changes.Apart from the critical role of the CEO, other players also have their specific roles (Henderson and Evans, 2000): (i) ‘Champions’ are usually the senior managers, who are the sponsors of the project and responsible for success of Six Sigma efforts, they are fully trained business leaders who promote and lead the deployment of Six-Sigma projects; (ii) ‘Master Black Belts (MBBs)’ are the full-time teachers and consultants, they are responsible for Six-Sigma strategy, deployment, training, mentoring, and results.A master Black Belt in Motorola has leaded as a Black Belt for about ten successful projects at least five years, and needs the recommendation of high managements; (iii) ‘Black Belts (BBs)’ have the key operational role in the program as full-time Six Sigma players, they are fully-trained Six-Sigma experts and lead the improvement teams. They are qualified as they successfully leaded at least two Six-Sigma projects; (iv) ‘Green Belts (GBs)’ are the process owners who, led by the BBs, work on Six Sigma projects while holding down their original job functions in the company. . 3. 3 Investment in training Because training is a key ingredient in achieving success through Six Sigma (Pande et al, 2000), Motorola and GE have invested heavily in employee training for their Six-S igma programs. Motorola invested $150 million per year in Six-Sigma courses, GE also spent $ 500 million per year in the implementation of Six-Sigma program (Sandholm and Sorqvist, 2002), GE has invested more than a billion dollars in this effort (Hahn et al. , 1999). GE has designed ww. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 5 a complete training plan for the various roles described above—from the CEO, to the ‘Champions’, ‘MBBs’, ‘BBs’, and ‘GBs’. In addition, the training program extends to all other employees in the organization. The training courses are comprehensive and cover team leadership skills, measurement and analytical tools, especially statistical methods, improvement tools, planning and implementation skills, and so on.For examples, (i). Champions have one week champion training related to Six-Sigma development, leadership, and the implementation plan. (ii). BBs spend about four to five weeks to receive the intensive, highly quantitative training, roughly corresponding to the five steps of the implementation of Six-Sigma improvement project. Thus, the length of training is approximately 16-20 weeks. (iii) GBs receive the training of six to ten days.The courses include the statistical tools and the use of statistical software, the detailed modules of five steps, the innovative and improvement tools, and the skill of project management. (iv) MBBs then take over the responsibility of the training for all the BBs and GBs. 2. The critical success factors of the implementation of Six-Sigma In this section we want to discuss the critical success factors for the successful implementation of Six-Sigma projects.We investigate the importance degree of the critical success factors in implementing Six Sigma, and their implementation level by using the questionnaire survey. 2. 1 The consideration of critical success factors Table 2. 1 lists the key factors, as asserted in five previous studies. The factors identified by Coronado & Antony (2002) and Antony & Banuelas (2002) are almost identical, with the exception that Coronado & Antony (2002) added one extra factor (â€Å"communication†). Most of the success factors in the other three studies are included in the work of Coronado & Antony (2002).The total twelve critical success factors in Coronado & Antony (2002) are considered in the present study In addition, two additional key factors, â€Å"complete evaluation system of project performance† and â€Å"promotion and incentive for employees tied to the results of Six Sigma projects†, are also considered in this chapter according to Yun & Chua (2002) and Sandholm & Sorqvist (2002). The former introduces the factor of â€Å"accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees†.The later suggests â€Å"focus on results† to assert that the employee promotion and ince ntive compensation are tied to the results of Six Sigma projects. Finally, apart from the above, another key success factor somewhat neglected by previous studies is the application of techniques and innovations. Although Coronado & Antony (2002) and Klefsjo et al. (2001) mention it as a required technique in the progress of Six Sigma projects, and Yun & Chua (2002) asserts that â€Å"linkage with all innovation and infrastructure activities† is also a key factor. We therefore add another key factor: â€Å"usage of innovative techniques and IT systems†.In total, a study is conducted to adopt fifteen critical success factors in the questionnaire to investigate the extent to which they are implemented and their degree of importance from the firms’ perspective. www. intechopen. com 6 Quality Management and Six Sigma The author conducted the empirical study for those enterprises have implemented Six Sigma program in Taiwan, The aim of this empirical study is to inve stigate the importance degree and the implementation level of the critical success factors. Thus, the research design is conducted according to the aim of the research. The Likert-type scale is used in the questionnaire.In the investigation of the importance degree of the critical success factors, a five-point scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) is used. In the analysis of implementation level, a five-point scale from 1 (not implemented) to 5 (full implemented) is adopted 2. 2 The analysis of critical success factors The main focus of this study is to analyze the degree of importance of critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness as perceived by the respondents, and to assess the implementation level of these critical success factors by the organizations (see Table 2. 2).As Henderson & Evans (2000) notes that â€Å"top management leadership and support† should be the critical success factor, our first priority of success factors is â€Å"top managemen t involvement and commitment†. The other critical success factors are prioritized as follows: â€Å"cultural change†, â€Å"communication with all employees to achieve congruence†, and â€Å"training in Six Sigma†, and so on. It should be noted that â€Å"employees’ promotion and incentive tied to the results of Six Sigma projects† is considered as an important factor for the success of Six Sigma in GE (Hendericks & Kelbaugh, 1998; Henderson & Evans, 2000). However, inTaiwan, this practice is not followed in the industries investigated. Hahn et al. , 1999 Key factors for Six ? Quantified functional impact Sigma effectiveness ? Continued top management support and enthusiasm ? The emphasis on a quantitative and disciplined approach ? The value placed on understanding and satisfying customer needs ? Combining the right projects, the right people, and the right tools Yun & Chua, 2002 Success factors for ? Strong proactive support with required S ix Sigma resources provided by top management ? Acceptance and implementation of Six Sigma’s effectiveness basic disciplines by employees ?Linkage with all innovative and infrastructure activities ? Accurate and fair evaluation of all successful Six Sigma projects with meaningful recognition and rewards for employees www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 7 ? Management commitment and visible support Sandholm & Sorqvist, 2002 Requirements for Six Sigma success ? Adaptation to an organization’s situation and ? Development of uniform language & ? Prioritization and selection of projects ? Focus on training and its content ? Customer orientation ? Focus on results ? Investment of adequate resources Treatment of Six Sigma as a holistic concept needs ? Responsiveness to external influences. ? Follow-up and communication of success stories ? Cultural change ? Management involvement and commitment ? Development of strategy to introduce Six Sigma terminolo gy Coronado & Antony, 2002 Critical success factors for Six Sigma projects ? Understanding tools and techniques within Six ? Project prioritization and selection Key ingredient for ? Management involvement and commitment ? Cultural change Six Sigma ? Organization infrastructure effectiveness ? Training ? Project management skills ?Project prioritization and selection, reviews and tracking ? Understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools, and techniques ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers Table 2. 1 Critical success factors for Six Sigma effectiveness ? Project management skills ? Linking Six Sigma to suppliers ? Linking Six Sigma to human resources ? Linking Six Sigma to customers ? Linking Six Sigma to business strategy ? Training ? Organization infrastructure ? Communication SigmaAntony & Banuelas, 2002 www. intechopen. com 8 Quality Management and Six Sigma Critical succe ss factor 1. Top management involvement and commitment 2. Cultural change 3. Organization infrastructure 4. Training in Six Sigma 5. Project management skills 6. Project prioritization and selection 7. Understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma 8. Linking Six Sigma to business strategy 9. Linking Six Sigma to customers 10. Linking Six Sigma to human resources 11. Linking Six Sigma to suppliers 12. Communication with all employees to achieve congruence 13.Complete evaluation system of project performance 14. Employees’ promotion and incentive compensation tied to the result of Six Sigma projects 15. The usage of innovative techniques and IT systems Importance degree mean order 4. 808 4. 365 4. 019 4. 192 3. 865 4. 077 4. 137 4. 192 4. 192 3. 725 3. 635 4. 231 4. 135 3. 885 3. 596 1 2 10 4 12 9 7 5 6 13 14 3 8 11 15 Implementation level mean order 3. 885 3. 192 3. 596 3. 981 3. 577 3. 558 3. 667 3. 423 3. 269 2. 882 2. 692 3. 519 3. 481 2. 981 2. 942 2 11 4 1 5 6 3 9 10 14 15 7 8 12 13 To be improved factor * * * * * Table 2. Importance degree and implementation level of critical success factors Most of the organizations paid significant attention to training in Six Sigma. The factor of â€Å"training in Six Sigma† is thus the first priority of implementation level, followed by such factors as â€Å"top management involvement and commitment†, â€Å"understanding methods, tools and techniques within Six Sigma†, â€Å"organization infrastructure†, and so on (see Table 2. 2). In Table 2. 2, if a critical success factor has a higher importance degree with a lower implementation level, then the firm should pay more attention on its implementation.In this case, we denote five CSFs as the â€Å"to be improved† factors for the industries in Taiwan: – Top management involvement and commitment – Cultural change – Communication with all employees to achieve congruence – Linking Six Sigm a to business strategy – Linking Six Sigma to customers. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 9 3. The Integrated Model of TQM and Six Sigma By the end of the 1970s, the competitiveness of Japanese industries had equaled or exceeded that of American industries.In large part, this was due to the successful Japanese implementation of company-wide quality control (CWQC) (Powell, 1995). By the 1980s, Japanese CWQC had been replicated in the United States, and total quality management (TQM) soon became the prevailing business strategy adopted by industries around the world. This evolution of TQM has resulted from the development, on a global scale, of a consistent philosophy concerning the relationship between business and customers. At various stages in this development, different ideologies and practices for implementing quality management have been prominent, but the onsistent goal has been to pursue the quality of products and services, to reduce costs, and to raise business performance. The success of Japanese industries in the total and effective implementation of TQM meant that Japanese firms led the way in the production of good-quality products at lower cost. 3. 1 The decreasing adoption of TQM and the increasing trend of Six-Sigma The successful implementation of TQM does indeed result in better business performance, as firms expect (Hendricks & Singhal, 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999; Hansson & Eriksson, 2002).The benefits come in the areas of cost reduction, increased market share, increased profit, and enhanced business competitiveness (Youssef et al. , 1996; Gunasekaran, 1999). TQM has therefore been widely adopted by industries, even in non-profit and governmental organizations (Powell, 1995; Zabaha et al. , 1998). Several critical factors are essential if TQM is to be successfully implemented. These include the support of top management, visionary leadership, effective management of human resources, employee involvement, and a corporate culture of commitment to quality and customer satisfaction (Joseph et al. 1999; Sureshchandar et al. , 2001). However, in practice, these corporate factors are not easy to achieve. As a result, the literature contains reports of several cases in which the implementation of TQM has failed. Hubiak & O’Donnell (1996), for example, have asserted that approximately two-thirds of companies in the United States have either failed or stalled in their attempts to implement TQM. Many of these TQM programs have been cancelled, or are in the process of being cancelled, as a result of the negative impact on profits (Anonymous, 1996).The failure implementation of TQM is due to several factors. Besides the difficult achievement of TQM practices, one of them is that TQM has been a rather diffuse concept, with many vague descriptions but few more graspable definitions, and the management does not have a complete picture of what TQM really means (Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000). Another o ne is that too management teams over the world do not realize that implementation of TQM means a cultural change (Hansson & Klefsjo, 2003). In fact, TQM was one of two workplace trends that recorded a significant decline in 1996 (Anonymous, 1996).Academic discussion of TQM and its implementation has suffered a similar decline in recent years. Is this trend really due to poor corporate business performance as a result of the implementation of TQM, with a consequent decline in the implementation of TQM, as has been asserted (Anonymous, 1996)? It is a contention that this is not an accurate reflection of the current status of TQM. Reports of instances of failed TQM implementation are only part of the explanation for the apparent declining trend in TQM. In reality, TQM has been so prominent for about twenty years that many firms and institutions have incorporated TQM ww. intechopen. com 10 Quality Management and Six Sigma into daily management activities. The result is that a well-estab lished model of TQM has been so much a part of the routine business activities, that the ‘decline’ in discussion and implementation of the TQM is apparent, rather than real. As interest in TQM has apparently waned, interest in the Six Sigma program has increased. Since General Electric (GE) initiated its Six Sigma program (GE-6? ) in October 1995, the results have been far beyond the company’s original hopes and expectations.Based on the remarkable business successes achieved in GE and other large corporations, an increasing number of companies have initiated the GE-6? program as a business improvement and re-engineering strategy (Pearson, 2001; Lucas, 2002). As a result, the Six Sigma program has gained great popularly in recent years (Slater, 2001; Lucas, 2002). It has even been suggested that TQM will be replaced by Six Sigma as the main strategy for successful business management. However, such assertions reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of TQM and its relationship with GE-6?. For example, Pande et al. 2000) have asserted that TQM is less visible in many businesses than it was in the early 1990s, pointing to several major TQM gaffes as reasons for this apparent decline. According to Pande et al. (2000), these problems include a lack of integration, leadership apathy, a fuzzy concept, an unclear quality goal, failure to break down internal barriers, inadequate improvements in performance, and so on. They conclude that Six Sigma can overcome many of the pitfalls encountered in the implementation of TQM and, hence, that Six Sigma’s expansion heralds a ‘rebirth’ of the quality movement (Pande et al. 2000). However, Klefsjo et al. (2001) and Lucas (2002) have a different perspective. Klefsjo et al. assert that Six Sigma is a methodology within- not alternative to TQM. Lucas asserts that Six Sigma is essentially a methodology for disciplined quality improvement. Because this quality improvement is a prim e ingredient of TQM, many firms have found that adding a Six Sigma program to their current business system gives them all, or almost all, of the elements of a TQM program.Lucas has thus concluded that: Current Business System + Six Sigma = Total Quality Management The TQM pitfalls noted by Pande et al. (2000) are not essential features of TQM. Rather, they are caused by incorrect practices adopted by firms, especially the lack of proper endeavour shown by management in the implementation of TQM. 3. 2. Total quality management Since TQM began in the mid 1980s, several gurus, like Deming, Juran and Ishikawa have much contribution on the development of TQM (Boaden, 1997).Besides, many researchers and experts on quality management have been eager to study the essentials of TQM. In the beginning, there was a lack of consensus on the contents and practices of TQM. Now, with TQM having been implemented for more than twenty years, academics and practitioners alike have achieved a degree of consensus on TQM. Tobin (1990) has stated that TQM is a totally integrated program for gaining competitive advantages by continuously improving every facet of organizational culture.TQM programs are usually based on the ‘quality philosophies’– customer focus, employee participation, teamwork, and management by facts and continuous improvement (Brown, 1992). TQM is therefore an integrated management philosophy and set of practices that emphasize increased employee involvement and teamwork, continuous improvement, meeting customers’ requirements, team-based problem-solving, constant measurement of results, closer relationship with suppliers, and so on (Ross, 1993).Short and Rahim (1995) www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 11 have agreed that TQM can be viewed as a set of philosophies and methods used by an organization to guide it in continuous improvement in all aspects of its business. McAdam and McKeown (1999) have concluded that customer focus, employee involvement, empowerment, teamwork, measurement tools, training, quality systems, and top management commitment are all key factors in the successful implementation of TQM.Boaden (1997) also examine the critical elements of TQM based on some early studies. It is worthwhile to refer to the research of Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002), they conduct a huge investigation of elements of TQM survey based on 347 researches published between 1989 and 2000. These views indicate that, although various researchers approach the issues of TQM from different perspectives, there is a general consensus regarding the essential principles, practices, and values of TQM (Hellsten & Klefsjo, 2000).On the basis of these various approaches, especially the research of Sila & Ebrahimpour (2002) and Yang (2003a), the present subsection asserts the following to be essential agreed elements of TQM: * customer focus and satisfaction; * training and education; * top management commitment, suppo rt, and leadership; * teamwork; * employee involvement; * quality assurance; * quality information system and application; * continuous improvement; * flexibility * benchmarking and strategy planning; * process management; * product and service design and quality control; * employee management and empowerment; * corporate quality culture; 3. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? As previously noted, the passion for TQM has apparently declined, whereas GE-6? has been receiving increased attention (Anonymous, 1996; Pande et al. , 2000). As a result, there are several assertions related to the relationship between TQM and GE-6? appeared, especially the treatise that TQM will be replaced by GE-6?. However, there are very few studies in the literature that directly compare TQM with GE-6? completely, and in the limited studies that do exist, conclusions on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? have differed significantly.Harry (2000b) has claimed that Six Sigma represents a new, holistic, mul tidimensional systems approach to quality that replaces the â€Å"form, fit and function specification† of the past. However, it is not readily apparent from Harry (2000a) which aspects of this multidimensional systems approach are presumed to be absent from TQM. Breyfegle III et al. (2001) have stated that Six Sigma is more than a simple repacking of the best from other TQM programs. Pande et al. (2000) had already taken a similar approach when they provided a review of some of the major TQM gaffes, and then compared TQM and GE-6? n the light of these problems with a view to showing how successful implementation of Six Sigma can overcome these failures. However, it should be noted that www. intechopen. com 12 Quality Management and Six Sigma these gaffes are principally a result of inappropriate implementation processes, rather than being caused by inherent TQM concepts and practices. In view of a lack of consensus on the relationship between TQM and GE-6? , the present sect ion wants to compare TQM and GE-6? by using complete perspectives.The author reviewed several studies (Boaden, 1997; Hermel, 1997; Goh, 2002), and selected the appropriate criteria used in these researches, and then integrated into 12 dimensions. They are: (i) development; (ii) principles; (iii) features; (iv) operation; (v) focus; (vi) practices; (vii) techniques; (viii) leadership; (ix) rewards; (x) training; (xi) change; and (xii) culture (Yang, 2004). These are presented in Table 3. 1, which represents a comprehensive review of the similarities and differences between the two approaches. 3. 4 Integration of TQM and GE-6?It has been suggested that the implementation of TQM results in an over-emphasis on customer satisfaction, with a relative neglect of the pursuit of profits (Anonymous, 1996). Indeed, several empirical studies have asserted that implementing TQM might not achieve any significant positive effect on profitability (Bergquist & Ramsing, 1999; Harry, 2000b; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). Furthermore, Harry (2000a) has noted that â€Å"What’s good for the customer is not always good for the company†. In contrast, it is argued that GE-6? achieves both customer satisfaction and excellent financial performance.The major problem with TQM is that there is a disconnection between management systems designed to measure customer satisfaction and those designed to measure business profitability, and this has often led to unwise investments in quality (Breyfegle III et al. , 2001). It should be recognized that the objective of TQM is to achieve customer satisfaction, in order to increase customer loyalty. To sustain competitiveness and long-term profitability, companies not only devote themselves to attracting new customers, but also to retaining old customers in a continuous business relationship with incremental additional purchasing.For these reasons, increasing customer loyalty should be one of the main concerns of all companies (Gorst et al. , 1998). Any assessment of the effectiveness of TQM thus requires a system to measure customer loyalty. If a management system cannot raise business performance and profitability, it will obviously be abandoned by firms. It is therefore apparent that indicators of customer loyalty and business performance should be added to TQM measurement systems. It is well known that GE-6? pursues both customer satisfaction and high profits.If an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? were developed, synergistic effects could be anticipated. In the integrated model proposed here, two major indicators are included—customer loyalty and high profit performance. www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management Dimension 1. Development TQM Started in the mid 1980s, influenced by Japanese CWQC developed in the 1970s GE-6? in 1987. GE adopted Six Sigma program in 1995, Comments at about the same time. TQM was widely and 13 First espoused by Motorola TQM and Six Sigma began resulting in many benefits. uickly adopted, but interest has now declined. The situation with GE-6? is the reverse. TQM over-emphasizes customer satisfaction, and this can sometimes negatively affect profits. GE-6? focuses on both customer satisfaction and financial performance. 2. Principles ? Customer satisfaction (satisfaction of ? Pursues zero-defect, quality customers’ needs) ? Pursues financial ? Focuses on voice of ? Emphasis moved from problem-solving to ? Rapid change problem prevention ? Pursues zero-defect customer performance ? Responsibility for ? Continuous improvements 3. FeatureA systematic approach to quality management by integrating concepts, methods, processes, and systems. Uses project management to perform thorough change and process re-engineering, which are integrated with the company’s vision and strategy. TQM is essentially a system of continuously improving the quality of every aspect of business life. GE-6? focuses on radical change (which is also integr ated with vision and strategy). TQM emphasizes that every person is involved in quality improvement at all levels. GE-6? uses specially designed roles and disciplined training to progress the radical changes. . Operation Continuous improvement through employee involvement and teamwork in total quality activities. Specially designed roles and a highly disciplined training program using statistical methods to perform reengineering of key processes through project management. 5. Focus TQM focuses on all quality Key processes and systems TQM considers every activities, all processes, and are all driven by the voice all systems. of customers. aspect of quality. GE-6? initially emphasizes the key processes related to customer needs, but gradually extends its improvement scope. www. ntechopen. com 14 6. Practices ? QCC, QIT Quality Management and Six Sigma ? Project management TQM methods are more traditional, and are learnt from Japan. GE-6? uses methods that can produce more aggressive r esults. The statistical tools used in TQM and GE-6? are very similar. However, the statistical tools used in TQM are quite basic, whereas GE-6? uses more advanced SQC tools. Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize leadership, especially the commitment and support of top management. However, TQM has a bottom-up management style whereas GE-6? gives emphasis to top-own leadership. 40% of bonuses are tied to the results of ? Promotion dependent ? High status accorded to MBBs and BBs on project results 6? projects GE-6? programs have more motivations and rewards than TQM. ? SPC, TPM 7. Techniques ? Hoshin management ? Seven QC tools ? Daily control ? Project management ? Suggestion system ? Design of structural ? Analysis of variance regression roles ? Benchmarking ? DMAIC or DMADV ? BPR ? Kano’s model ? Managers ? New seven QC tools ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods ? DOE ? Control Chart ? Multiple linear ? DOE ? Kano’s model ? Reliability FMEA, QFD ? Cp, Cpk, ppm ? Taguchi methods 8. Leadership ? Top management stresses leadership demonstrate best behavior, and influence subordinates by ? Autonomic ? Decentralization and ? Empowerment 9. Rewards ? Promotion ? Motivation delegation management example ? Senior managers are ? Senior managers are ? Top management emphasize the execution of 6? -program mentors responsible ? Manager’s praise and encouragement ? Bonus rewards www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 10. Training ? Education and training for every ? Focus on instilling ?Leaders’ instruction ? Improvement tools ? Gradual and slow on daily basis quality consciousness person ? Vast investment in ? MBBs are the teachers ? BBs have training, combined with the ? GBs have training with the application 11. Change ? Vast change of improvement tools GE-6? emphasizes fast change and significant re-engineering. Change coming from TQM is progressive. TQM brings about a culture change with a quality focus and customer orientation. Th e culture change in GE-6? is fast, with an emphasis on pursuing customer satisfaction and business performance.DMAIC process and mentors training Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, but GE-6? has more investment in training than TQM. In GE-6? , training and its application are combined 15 ? Improvement results are small, and do not bring big changes ? Change is fast, and its scope is large. ? Cultivation of a culture incorporating the concept of pursuing business ? The culture change is caused by the ? Innovation-awareness re-engineering performance ? Re-engineering 12. Culture ? Setting up of a quality culture with ?Employees are autonomous customer focus ? Employees have a team-awareness Table 3. 1. Comparison between TQM and GE-6? 3. 4. 1 Integration of management principles Although the management principles of TQM and GE-6? are somewhat different, there is congruence among their quality principles, techniques, and culture (as was demonstrated in Table 3. 1). As a result, the integration of TQM and GE-6? is not as difficult as it might seem. The critical task is to combine the best aspects of TQM continuous improvement with those of GE-6? re-engineering.Although the activities of a quality Control circle (QCC) and quality improvement team (QIT) cannot achieve significant effects in themselves, they can cultivate quality concepts and team awareness among employees. Therefore, QCC and QIT can be performed by the operators and junior staff members to progress continuous improvements while focusing on daily operations and processes. GE-6? projects can be applied by engineers and senior staff members to the key processes and systems that are related to customer requirements and the provision of performance in products and services.For GE-6? projects, some aggressive goals can be set, in conjunction with rapid project completion times. The target performances can be set according to the criteria of the critical-to-quality (CTQ) of key p rocess—which are, in turn, determined according to the voice of customers (VOC). In TQM, the improvements are based on a customer satisfaction www. intechopen. com 16 Quality Management and Six Sigma survey and an understanding of customers’ requirements (Yang, 2003b). In this fashion, these two ways of understanding customers’ needs and expectations can be combined. See Figure 3. for a depiction of the model. 3. 4. 2 Integration of implementation practices Having discussed integration of management principles, the discussion now turns to the integration of implementation practices between the two systems. Fig. 3. 1 Integrated framework of TQM and GE-6? Employee participation, teamwork, quality management system, human-resources management (HRM), quality principles, objectives, and strategies are the key enablers of TQM implementation. They are also the critical factors in upgrading business performance, www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Managemen t 7 and are therefore also required for the implementation of GE-6?. The practices of GE-6? are project management, role design and operation, statistical quality control (SQC) tools, leadership and motivation, full support from the CEO, and so on. Most of these practices are also integral to TQM implementation. The framework of the integration of these practices and related systems of TQM and GE-6? is shown in Figure 3. 1 (Yang, 2004). Both TQM and GE-6? emphasize employee education and training, and there is only slight difference in the details of such training.Statistical tools and improvement methods are the main ingredients of the training contents for both TQM and GE-6?. Apart from these statistical tools, TQM and GE-6? have other shared training imperatives—including basic concepts, leadership and communication skills, and project management. Apart from these shared elements, in planning training for an integrated model of the two programs, it is necessary to cover th e elements that are not shared in common. This is incorporated into the model. Moreover, a certification system for fulfilling the needs of the GE-6? scale can be developed. 3. 4. Integration of cultural changes Both the implementations of TQM and GE-6? will bring the culture changes of the organization (Boaden, 1997; Pande et al. , 2000; Klefsjo et al. , 2001). However, GE-6? also emphasizes an awareness of speed and innovation, and is heavily performance oriented. These cultural features are the critical factors in pursuing excellent performance, and in raising competitiveness. In contrast, these have been somewhat neglected previously by TQM. In the integrated model presented here, these cultural features will enhance the performance effects of TQM implementation.Summarily, in this integrated model, continuous improvement and 6? -reengineering are the key activities, located in the center of Figure 3. 1, and the customers’ needs and the voice of the customers are the deriv ers of the improvement and reengineering. The initiatives of TQM and those of GE-6? , located in the two sides separately, can be integrated as the enablers of the integrated system. Comprehensive education and training with certification to the employees are the powerful force in the realization of these practices. Finally, the culture changes with the features described in the base of Figure 3. are the fundaments of the successful implementation of this system. The overall objective of this integrated model is to reach both the customers’ loyalty and excellent performance. 3. 4. 4 Practical examples and conclusion TQM and GE-6? can certainly be integrated very well, as the following two examples illustrate. INVENTEC is a hi-tech company in Taiwan that has implemented TQM for many years. Indeed, the company won the National Quality Award in Taiwan in 1995. In addition to its long-standing practice of TQM, INVENTEC also introduced the GE-6? rogram in 2000. It then integrated this with its existing TQM system. The Ford Motor Company in Taiwan is another successful example of the integration of GE-6? with TQM. These two examples confirm that an integrated model of TQM and GE-6? is feasible and practical. The successful application cased show that this integrated model will be a powerful and practical approach with great potential for all industries. This integrated model is also could be a suitable quality management system for the non-profit www. intechopen. com 18 Quality Management and Six Sigma rganizations. The integration of TQM and GE-6? is an important trend, and should receive a favourable response from both practitioners and academics. 4. An Integrated Model of Business Excellence System The integration of Six Sigma into overall business strategy is another important issue for quality researchers and practitioners. Harry & Schroeder (2000) emphasized that Six Sigma provides maximum value to companies—in the form of increased profits and m aximum value to the consumer through high-quality products or service at the lowest possible cost.It is a business strategy and philosophy built around the concept that companies can gain a competitive edge by integrating Six-Sigma program with the organization’s vision and strategy. In this section, we want to discuss the integration of Six-Sigma with the strategy management, Hoshin management, and Balanced Scorecard. 4. 1 The issue of the integration of Six-Sigma with other strategic management systems If the implementation of Six Sigma is to be successful, Blakeslee and Jerome (1999) suggested that â€Å"Six Sigma efforts must be integrated with existing initiatives in business strategy, and key performance measures†.They also provided an implementation model by integrating Six Sigma with business strategy. Smith & Blakeslee (2002) emphasized the potential of Six Sigma in helping companies to formulate and deploy business strategies and bring about broad transformat ional change. Thus, strategic Six Sigma principles and practices can help companies to formulate, integrate, and execute new and existing business strategies and missions (Smith & Blakeslee, 2002).A growing number of companies is beginning to realize the full implications of Six Sigma as an engine to accelerate corporate strategy and organizational transformation (Smith & Blakeslee, 2002). It is thus apparent that the implementation of Six Sigma must be integrated with a company’s business strategy. However, in this context there are several issues to be resolved. These include: ? How can the organization’s vision, business strategies, and strategic goals be converted into specific Six Sigma projects? ? How can Six Sigma projects be focused on the ‘voice of customer’ and the organization’s critical success factors? How can the strategic goals be communicated to lower divisions and departments in the organization, and further deploy the strategic goa ls to the Six Sigma projects and organize the project teams? ? How can project teams monitor and control the progression of Six Sigma projects? In response to these issues, businesses are increasingly making use of a variety of management systems, methodologies, and tools—including ISO 9000, total quality management (TQM), Hoshin management, Six Sigma, and the balanced scorecard (BSC). In all of these practices, quality is the main focus.Quality is no longer confined to the actual product or service; rather, the concept of quality is now applied to delivery, administration, customer service, and myriad other aspects of a firm’s business activities (Yang, 2009). Indeed, the concept of ‘quality’ now encompasses all the ways in which a company meets www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 19 the needs and expectations of its customers, its employees, its financial stakeholders, and the community in which it operates (Tan, 2002). The effect ive management of such ‘quality’ is essential to competitiveness in the global market (Scheuermann et al. 1997; Prybutok & Cutshall, 2004). The implementation of ISO 9000 and TQM systems can be used to improve the quality of products and services and to raise the effectiveness of process management; implementation of the Six Sigma program can raise the level of customer satisfaction, process performance, and resources management; the implementation of BSC can improve strategy planning and long-term profitability; and so on. However, choosing and implementing these various programs is complicated by the fact that several of them have closely related concerns.For example, TQM, BSC, and Six Sigma are all involved with an organization’s vision and strategy, whereas quality control circles (QCCs) and Six Sigma are both related to process improvement. These various similarities and differences can create difficulties if a firm implements several of these management sys tems simultaneously in an attempt to improve performance in all quality activities. In these circumstances, employees will become confused by the conflicting demands placed upon them, and this will produce a number of significant problems. For example: * In the mplementation of TQM, a firm is first required to set up quality objectives and action plans; * In the BSC system, a firm must first develop its vision and strategies, and then deploy them in terms of performance indicators in four perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, and innovation and learning); and * In the Six Sigma program, a firm will first consider its key performance indicators (KPIs), before linking them to a Six Sigma improvement project. If a firm were to undertake all of these simultaneously, it would be faced with many objectives to be reached, and many strategies and action plans to be implemented.Given the finite limitations that exist in the resources of any organization, it is practically impo ssible for any firm to perform all of these tasks effectively. The ideal solution would be to integrate these various management systems and methods, thus enabling a firm to concentrate its focus and to navigate a unique course in the right direction. 4. 2 Development of an integrated business-excellence system An integrated model of business-excellence system has been developed in this section, see Figure 4. 1.The critical task in developing a holistic business-excellence system is to combine the best aspects of continuous improvement in TQM with those of GE-Six Sigma reengineering. The improvement processes in TQM and Six Sigma projects can thus be integrated and implemented simultaneously (Yang, 2003b) (see Figure 4. 1). Employee participation and teamwork are the prerequisite of the effective implementation of the continuous improvements. Besides, it is needed to instill the quality concepts and problem consciousness into the employees’ mind. www. intechopen. com 20 Quali ty Management and Six SigmaFig. 4. 1. Framework of integrated model of business excellence system 4. 2. 1 Integration of relevant concepts and systems While implementing these programs, it is necessary to monitor process quality using various methods of statistical quality control (SQC). However, a prerequisite to any quality improvement is effective human-resource management (HRM). The key enablers of TQM implementation are therefore HRM and a comprehensive quality-management system. The concepts, initiatives, and systems described above are also necessary for the implementation of the GE-Six Sigma program.In addition, Six Sigma also has its own unique features, including (Pande et al. , 2000; Breyfegle III et al. , 2001): * the systematic operational processes of ‘define, measure, analyze, improve, and control’ (DMAIC) and ‘define, measure, analyze, design and verify’ (DMADV); www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 21 * the staff role s design of ‘champion’, ‘master black belt’ (MBB), ‘black belt’ (BB), and ‘green belt’ (GB); and * the utilization of advanced tools. It is necessary to integrate all of these into the new model proposed here.In addition, strategic leadership is a key factor in the implementation of Six Sigma. In most cases, QCC or QIT are conducted ‘bottom–up’, but in Six Sigma they are conducted ‘top–down’. In these circumstances, authoritative leadership is required. The chief executive officer (CEO) is usually the driving force who sets up the vision, develops the strategies, drives the changes, imposes the projects, and motivates the employees. Most Six Sigma projects pursue significant financial benefits from meeting and exceeding the critical requirements of customers.If the organization is to produce and deliver attractive and value-added products and services to customers speedily, it is essential th at business operations be customer-focused and market-focused. Six Sigma projects must therefore be linked to the development of ‘lean production’, in which research and development (R&D) and innovation (product innovation, process innovation, and business innovation) are all key factors. R&D and innovation are also the drivers of productivity. R&D and innovation should thus be covered in this holistic model.In passing, it is noted that these practices are not restricted to the Six Sigma program; they are also important drivers in the implementation of TQM. TQM programs are based on ‘measurement by fact’, and measurement is also a key step in a Six Sigma project. Various data are collected and analyzed, including product data, customer data, business data, technique data, R&D data, service data, and so on. To use the data effectively and efficiently, an organization requires an effective information technology (IT) system.The utilization of such data repres ents an intangible asset, along with other intangible assets—such as skills, techniques, experience, intellectual property, know-how, knowledge, customer relationships, and so on. These intangible assets represent a valuable organizational resource, and they must be managed and applied in an effective knowledge-management (KM) system. The firm’s IT system and its KM system are also powerful tools in the development of new products and services, and in ensuring the quality of the present customer service.Information technology has become an essential element in securing a competitive advantage—by facilitating the development of new products and services, assisting in adaptation to rapid market changes, incorporating new knowledge, and reducing times and costs in reaching customers (Bianchi, 2001). 4. 2. 2 Fundamental principles The objective of integrating TQM, Six Sigma, and several other major management systems is to pursue business excellence (Yang, 2009). Ho wever, the basic decision to be made is determination of the direction of development at the outset.Mission and vision statements set the general goals and direction for the organization, and they assist shareholders, customers, and employees in understanding what the company is about and what it intends to achieve (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). A mission statement sets out the overall reason for existence and objectives of the organization. As Welch asserted: â€Å"†¦an effective mission statement basically answers one question: How do we intend to win in this business? † (Welch and Welch, 2005). A vision statement is a concise statement that defines the ww. intechopen. com 22 Quality Management and Six Sigma medium-to-long-term goals of the organization. The vision should be market-oriented and should express how the organization wants to be perceived by the world (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). The enunciation of the mission and the development of the vision are usually the respon sibility of senior management (Welch and Welch, 2005). Actually, the vision is linked to the mission. In the realization of the mission and vision, the values, attitudes, and activities of employees are critical.According to Kaplan & Norton (2004), the actions of employees are guided by their values, and it is therefore important that the values proclaimed by the organization are accepted by the employees if those values are to be influential in guiding the thinking and behavior of the employees. Thus, in contrast to the creation of a mission, which is the responsibility of senior management, everyone in a company should have something to say about values (Welch and Welch, 2005).Organizations can use company-wide meetings and training sessions to encourage as much personal discussion as possible in developing organizational values (Welch and Welch, 2005). The vision and values of the organization should thus motivate individuals and serve as a guide for allocating resources (Smith e t al. , 1991). Effective leadership and successful execution are the prerequisites for achieving the organization’s vision. Execution has to be embedded in the reward systems and in the norms of behaviour that everyone practices.So, focusing on execution is not only an essential part of a business’s culture, it is the one sure way to create meaningful culture change (Bossidy and Charan, 2002) Mission, values, vision, leadership, execution, and organizational culture are all linked. Taken together, they represent the guiding principles for the successful implementation of an integrated business-excellence system. 4. 2. 3 Implementation of strategic performance-management system Drucker (1999) stated that the starting point both in theory and in practice may have to be â€Å"managing for performance†.The goal of an integrated business-excellence system is to go beyond mere ‘customer satisfaction’ to achieve customer loyalty through excellent performan ce (see Figure 4. 1). The management systems, programs, and practices of this integrated model are the tools that can be used to achieve this goal. However, an appropriate performance-management system is needed to monitor and evaluate the performance generated by this integrated business-excellence system. Strategic planning and Hoshin management are two popular strategic management tools (Glaister & Falshaw, 1999; Lee & Dale, 1998), and many organizations implement the two simultaneously.Firms commonly perform a SWOT analysis and develop a vision, objectives, and strategies according to the methodology of strategic management, before deploying the organization’s objectives and strategies to the departments or units by the way of Hoshin management. During the implementation process, they commonly conduct a quality audit according to Hoshin management to produce progress reviews and an annual review. These organizations thus use an integrated model of strategic planning and H oshin management to evaluate the performance of TQM (Kondo, 1998).Balanced scorecard (BSC) was launched in 1992 as a framework of performance measurement that was expected to overcome some of the deficiencies of traditional performance measurement. It gives a holistic view of an organization by simultaneously looking at four important perspectives: (i) financial; (ii) customer; (iii) internal process; and (iv) innovation and learning (Kaplan & Norton, 1992). The main benefit of the BSC is its www. intechopen. com Six sigma and Total Quality Management 23 bility to translate an organization’s vision and strategy into tangible objectives and measures (Kanji & SA, 2002). The process of building a scorecard clarifies the strategic objectives, and identifies the critical few drivers for strategic success. The BSC is thus more than a performance-measurement system, and is commonly adopted as a strategic management system (Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 1996; McClintock, 2000). If a firm ha s adopted other performance management systems or programs before adopting BSC, it is necessary to integrate BSC with any existing systems.Companies that wish to embark on the BSC while continuing to implement strategic planning and Hoshin management need to integrate the three systems. To do so effectively, it is necessary to understand the important features of each of these three performance management systems. They can be summarized as follow: * All three can be used in the development of vision, objectives, and strategies, and in the evaluation of execution performance. * Both strategic planning and the BSC involve strategic analysis, and the linkages among the objectives and strategies. Both strategic planning and Hoshin management impose action plans, and the allocation of resources to support the execution of these action plans. * Both BSC and Hoshin management emphasize goal-setting, the achievement of milestones, and the measurement of progress towards the achievement of s trategic objectives. * Strategic planning focuses on the strategy of business development and competition. In this regard, environmental analysis and SWOT analysis are essential. * BSC emphasizes long-term development, and uses a scorecard of the key performance indicators (KPIs). Hoshin management converts the policies and objectives of senior management to departments, and pays much attention to the daily execution of policies. The features and relationships of strategic planning, Hoshin management, and BSC indicates that it is feasible to integrate these systems, and it is reasonable to expect that such an integrated model will be more comprehensive and powerful than each individual system acting alone. This integrated performance-management system is illustrated in Figure 4. 2. www. intechopen. com 24 Quality Management and Six Sigma Strategic Planning Divisions, Business, UnitsFinancial perspective Customer perspective Process perspective Innovation perspective Do, Check, Actio n Fig. 4. 2. Integrated model of strategic planning, BSC, and Hoshin management In this integrated performance-management system, BSC remains the major construct. According to the model, strategic planning is used to perform an environmental analysis and a SWOT analysis, and to develop the vision and strategies for the organization. Having established its vision and strategies, the firm can then develop a strategy map and performance indicators according to the four perspectives of BSC.The firm can then use the methods of Hoshin management to deploy the strategies and the KPIs of the four perspectives to the departments and units within the organization. In this way, every individual receives the KPIs and a relevant action plan. The audit method of Hoshin management can then be used to manage and monitor the execution of this

Module Text Questions Essay

Review Questions 1. What are the four types of evidence in a criminal investigation? 1. Physical Evidence 2. Demonstrative Evidence 3. Documentary Evidence 4. Testimony 2. What are individual characteristics? Give an example of an individual characteristic? -Individual Characteristics is evidence that have special characteristics that make it possible to trace the evidence back to a specific person, place or item. Some examples are fingerprints, body fluids, tread from shoes, etc. 3. What is the difference between individual characteristics and class characteristics? -The difference between these two are that individual characteristics can be traced to a specific person and be almost exact while Class Characteristics are able to just be associated to a group. 4. What are physical and chemical properties? Give an example of each. -Physical Properties describe a substance or object. For example it could be the size, weight or color of a fragment of glass. -Chemical Properties describe what happen when a chemical reacts with another chemical. For example Heroin with Marquis Reagent turns purple and shows it presence of the drug. 5. What do forensic scientists do to collect and preserve soil samples? To collect the soil they impressions will be photographed with a ruler next to it to show the dimensions. To preserve the soil samples a whole shoe may be taken to the lab to test. Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why do you think forensic scientists are so careful that the tests they do are sensitive, reproducible, and specific? What might happen if they were less careful about this? -The tests are so sensitive because if something is not accurate it could change the outcome of a case. They must make sure that all test results are accurate a reproduce the same results multiple times for it to be reliable. 2. Which type of evidence do you think is most useful in an investigation? Why? -I think physical evidence is more important because it can be tested against suspects and establish what happened during the crime. 3. Why do you think that forensic scientists continue to look for  class characteristics given their limitations? I think they continue to look for class characteristics because even if they are hard to come by when you find them the can give great details about the crime. 4. What do you think would be some of the challenges in collecting and preserving impressions? Why? Making casts of an impression may be difficult because if it is in mud it could distort the tracks. 5. If you were on a jury, do you think you would expect individual characteristics in the evidence? Why or why not? What effects might it have if individuals expect to have individuals characteristics presented? -No, because most of the time criminals are very careful to make sure not to leave evidence of being there. If you expect there to be individual evidence you may be completely mislead during the whole case.