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- Nilsson, Lars, 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Quality Practice : An Empirical Investigation of Product Development and the Goods-To-Service Continuum
- 2002
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- During the past 20 years, there has been steady growth not only in the service sector but also in the service content of most products. Traditional manufacturing companies have become more dependent on the services they provide and this part of their business is very important for their business result. A large proportion of the activities in these traditional manufacturing companies consists of activities related to services. This will place new demands on how these organizations work with quality management and on how they manage their product development process. With an increased attention to services, the ability to incorporate new knowledge regarding the service part of products in product development will become all the more important.The overall purpose of this thesis is to contribute empirical evidence and knowledge in quality management. During the course of the research process, both survey and case study research have been conducted. Two of the surveys are cross-sectional investigations of quality practices in Swedish organizations. The third study using survey data is an investigation of the relationship between quality and customer satisfaction. The three case studies have been conducted in order to better understand how Swedish organizations work to improve their product development process.A contribution of this research is the framework for linking quality practices to performance. Such a framework makes it possible to identify how product and service companies are both similar and different with respect to the effects of quality practices on customer satisfaction and business results. The results of the empirical investigation show that quality management processes work differently depending on the product versus service nature of a company and the associated production processes.In addition, a quality perspective on continuous improvement in product development is presented. The investigation of improvement programs and quality principles shows that there are distinct differences between the three case companies. Different quality principles are promoted and the meaning of the quality principles is different. The research strengthens the claim that organizations introducing improvement programs without considering the related quality principles cannot expect the same results as organizations where improvement programs and principles work in harmony.
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- Dahlgard, J., et al.
(author)
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A Route to Understand and Improve Quality In: Six Sigma and Related Studies in the Quality Disciplines
- 2003
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In: Edited by Kenneth S. Stephens, The Best on Quality Book Series of the International Academy for Quality, ASQ Quality Press, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In 1997, after some years of negative trends in financial as well as other performance indicators, Post Denmark experienced a management crisis. After serious considerations, top management decided to try changing the negative trend by using the principles, practices and techniques of Total Quality Management (TQM), which was re-named to TIQ (Total Involvement in Quality). The name TIQ signalled that everybody's participation was expected and required. In addition, this route to understand and improve quality was complemented with a self-assessment process - that was initiated in 1997 and is still going on in Post Denmark. The purpose of this chapter is to show how organizations can use a quantitative self-assessment process to understand and improve quality. This is achieved through an in-depth case study in Post Denmark. In addition, Post Denmark conducted a benchmarking study in two European post offices. Altogether about 2000 questionnaires have been completed by managers and employees and thereafter used in the improvement process. The chapter provides guidance for how self-assessment with the EFQM-model can be used to identify improvement areas, to benchmark performance with competitors and to track improvements over time
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- Franco-Belussi, Lilian, et al.
(author)
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Internal pigment cells respond to external UV radiation in frogs
- 2016
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In: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 219:9, s. 1378-1383
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fish and amphibians have pigment cells that generate colorful skins important for signaling, camouflage, thermoregulation and protection against ultraviolet radiation (UVR). However, many animals also have pigment cells inside their bodies, on their internal organs and membranes. In contrast to external pigmentation, internal pigmentation is remarkably little studied and its function is not well known. Here, we tested genotoxic effects of UVR and its effects on internal pigmentation in a neotropical frog, Physalaemus nattereri. We found increases in body darkness and internal melanin pigmentation in testes and heart surfaces and in the mesenterium and lumbar region after just a few hours of UVR exposure. The melanin dispersion in melanomacrophages in the liver and melanocytes in testes increased after UV exposure. In addition, the amount of melanin inside melanomacrophages cells also increased. Although mast cells were quickly activated by UVR, only longer UVR exposure resulted in genotoxic effects inside frogs, by increasing the frequency of micronuclei in red blood cells. This is the first study to describe systemic responses of externalUVRon internal melanin pigmentation, melanomacrophages and melanocytes in frogs and thus provides a functional explanation to the presence of internal pigmentation.
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| 8. |
- Franco-Belussi, Lilian, et al.
(author)
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Regulation of eye and jaw colouration in three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus
- 2018
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In: Journal of Fish Biology. - : Wiley. - 0022-1112. ; 92:6, s. 1788-1804
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fish can change their skin and eye colour for background matching and signalling. Males of Gasterosteus aculeatus develop ornamental blue eyes and a red jaw during the reproductive season, colours that are further enhanced during courtship. Here, the effects of different hormones on physiological colour changes in the eyes and jaws of male and female G. aculeatus were investigated in vitro. In an in vivo experiment, G. aculeatus were injected with a receptor blocker of a pivotal hormone (noradrenaline) that controls colour change. In males, noradrenaline had aggregating effects on melanophore and erythrophore pigments resulting in blue eyes and a pale jaw, whereas melanocyte-concentrating hormone (MCH) and melatonin resulted in a pale jaw only. When noradrenalin was combined with melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) or prolactin, the jaw became red, while the eyes remained blue. In vivo injection of yohimbine, an alpha-2 adrenoreceptor blocker, resulted in dispersion of melanophore pigment in the eyes and inhibited the blue colouration. Altogether, the data suggest that noradrenalin has a pivotal role in the short-term enhancement of the ornamental colouration of male G. aculeatus, potentially together with MSH or prolactin. This study also found a sex difference in the response to MCH, prolactin and melatonin, which may result from different appearance strategies in males, versus the more cryptic females.
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- Gustafsson, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Quality Practice in Service Organizations
- 2003
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In: International Journal of Service Industry Management. 14(2), 232-244, Presenterad vid.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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