Search results

If readers have picked up any of a number of business periodicals within the past five years, they have probably heard of Six Sigma. They have read about it or heard someone talking about the great successes that resulted from applying Six Sigma. The intent of this paper is not to teach the reader all there is to know about Six Sigma. Instead, it aims to provide a brief overview of Six Sigma (for anyone not familiar with it), explain how Ford Motor Company has approached its implementation and how it has been applied in facility management and maintenance activities.

Behavior problems are common in toddlers and preschoolers. Richman, Stevenson, and Graham (1975) identified difficulties with eating, sleeping, toileting, temper, fears, peer relations, and activity as typical in this young population. While all young children should be expected to experience behavior problems as part of their normal development, an ongoing challenge in the field has been to determine when these “normal” developmental problems rise to the level of being considered “clinical” behavior problems (Keenan & Wakschlag, 2000). For example, when does a two-year-old child's tantrum behavior, a three-year-old's urinary accidents, and a four-year-old's defiance become clinically significant? To answer these questions, clinicians must examine the frequency, intensity, and durability of these difficulties, their potential to cause injury to the child or others, the extent to which they interfere with the child development, and the degree to which they disrupt the lives of their siblings, caregivers, peers, teachers, and others.

This article discusses the statistics and trends surrounding the rapidly aging U.S. population. Older workers will make up an increasing portion of the workforce and these individuals represent an important growing demographic target market. While much has been written about the aging population and the potential for entrepreneurs to target this growing market, little research has been conducted on older entrepreneurs. They are a unique group and this article provides empirical results and discussion about the differences and importance of older entrepreneurs to the economy and as contributors to American society. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:

The integration of migrants into the society of the host country is one of today’s greatest challenges. Recent increases in the number of newcomers are creating great challenges for European nation-states that are receiving migrants, especially for those countries that traditionally do not define themselves as multicultural societies. In order to help newcomers’ economic and social integration into the host country, their specific characteristics, which result from their linguistic and cultural background, need to be considered. Furthermore, migration is often stressful, and it often acts as a stress factor that contributes to lowered mental health (Bhugra, 2004). Thus, migrants’ inclusion into the mental health-care system of the host country is not only essential to prevent lowered mental health, but might serve as an indicator of their integration into the country’s national institutions as well.

This chapter examines migrants’ subjective notions of integration and their psychological well-being in Germany. The first part of this chapter reviews previous research on migrants’ integration in Germany and presents theoretical frameworks that aim to explain migrants’ integration and psychological adaptation. The second part of the chapter describes an empirical study conducted among psychotherapy patients with a migrant background, and discusses migrants’ subjective notions of integration and psychological well-being in the German mental health-care system.

Despite widespread interest in the gig economy, academic research on the topic has lagged behind. The present chapter applies organizational theory and research to compose a working model for understanding participation in the gig economy and how gig work may impact worker health and well-being. Drawing from past research this chapter defines the gig economy in all its diversity and advances a framework for understanding why individuals enter into gig economy. Next, the authors discuss how various characteristics of the gig economy and gig workers can be understood as both demands and resources that influence how gig work is likely to be experienced by the individual. To understand how these characteristics are likely to influence worker health and well-being, we draw from past research on alternative work arrangements and entrepreneurship, as well as the limited extant research on the gig economy. Finally, a research agenda is proposed to spur much needed research on the gig economy and its workers.

The growth of firms is fundamentally based on selfreinforcing feedback loops, one of the most important of which involves cash flow.When profit margin is positive, sales generate cash, which may then be reinvested to finance the operating cash cycle.We analyze simulations of a sustainable growth model of a generic new venture to assess the importance of taxes, and regulatory costs in determining growth.The results suggest that new ventures are particularly vulnerable to public policy effects, since their working capital resource levels are minimal, and they have few options to raise external funds necessary to fuel their initial operating cash cycles.Clearly, this has potential consequences in terms of gaining competitive advantage from experience effects, word of mouth, scale economies, etc. The results of this work suggest that system dynamics models may provide public policy-makers a cost-effective means to meet the spirit of the U.S. Regulatory Flexibility Act