Diagnosing total quality management - Part 2

From extensive literature research a total quality management (TQM) model is developed. This model describes the basic elements of the concept of TQM. It also provides the way in which the basic elements can be made operational in practice. Based on this model a quality-diagnostical instrument is developed to establish the actual TQM-situation in an organization. The instrument has been tested in two cases in an existing company and the results look promising for purposes of using the instrument in the process of realizing TQM and 'measuring' and stimulating continuous quality improvement

Duurzame inzetbaarheid van (oudere) medewerkers : een onderzoek naar de invloed van fysieke en mentale gezondheid

De noodzaak om langer door te werken en daarmee het belang van duurzame inzetbaarheid wordt steeds sterker. In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van een onderzoek naar factoren die de duurzame inzetbaarheid van (oudere) werknemers beïnvloeden. De resultaten wijzen op het belang van fysieke en mentale gezondheid voor de inzetbaarheid van alle werknemers. De invloed van fysieke gezondheid wordt echter vooral bepaald door de hinder die men van fysieke belasting ondervindt. Deze ervaren hinder blijkt belangrijker dan de feitelijke belasting. Ook een correcte naleving van het psychologisch contract, baanrotatie en self-efficay blijken belangrijke beïnvloedende factoren. Wat opvalt is, dat in het onderzoek alleen gedwongen baanrotatie er toe doet. Ouderen rapporteren overigens wel een geringere self-efficacy, een minder goede naleving van het psychologisch contract en een minder goede inzetbaarheid dan jongere werknemers, iets waar werkgevers en leidinggevenden door middel van onder meer baanrotatie en een goede begeleiding door leidinggevenden aan kunnen werken

Parental perception of weight and weight-related behaviour in 2- to 4-year-old children in the eastern part of the Netherlands

Parental perception of weight status and weight-related behaviour of their toddler was determined through a questionnaire survey in child health care centres (CHCs). Complete data on weight, length, sex and age were available for 635 of 682 children (93.1%). The median age of the children was 37.0 months (range 24–56 months). Of all 635 children, 76.5% were normal weight, 16.2% underweight and 7.2% overweight. Parents’ perception of the weight of their child compared with their peers was moderately related to the actual weight status. Of the parents of overweight and underweight children, 87.0% and 89.3%, respectively, were not concerned. Only the parents’ perception of the amount of food eaten by their child was significantly related to the weight status. The primary goal of CHC workers should be to create parental awareness in case of their child being overweight or underweight and to support them in accomplishing a healthy lifestyle

The strategic function of quality in the management of innovation

Quality management can be used to support strategically the management of innovation. Tools in strategic quality management can be useful in: creating the organizational conditions in which innovations can be developed; supervising and initiating innovation processes; producing innovation content; and implementing innovations in the primary processes of the organization. This conclusion is based on the results of a research project in the Dutch construction industry. In a large-scale house-building project the supportive use of quality tools in the management of innovation was studied. The study indicates that quality tools are used implicitly and sometimes explicitly to manage innovation processes

Innovative quality management practices in the Dutch construction industry

Quality management practices do support the management of strategically important innoυation processes. This conclusion is based on empirical research in the Dutch construction industry. A large-scale innovative construction project is intensively studied during a three-year period. The quality management practices that are used in this project to support the management of strategically important innovation processes are described and analyzed. The description and analysis is based on an analytical framework that consists of six quality management practices: design, planning, systems, goal, positioning, and interaction practices. The analytical framework is based on a theoretical study in the field of strategic quality management. The empirical research points out that planning, positioning and interaction practices in quality management support the management of strategic innovation. It also indicates that systems and goal practices in quality management can be supportive to the management of strategic innovation. © MCB UP Ltd

An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Spot Assay Measuring Borrelia burgdorferi B31-Specific Interferon Gamma-Secreting T Cells Cannot Discriminate Active Lyme Neuroborreliosis from Past Lyme Borreliosis: a Prospective Study in the Netherlands.

Two-tier serology testing is most frequently used for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB); however, a positive result is no proof of active disease. To establish a diagnosis of active LB, better diagnostics are needed. Tests investigating the cellular immune system are available, but studies evaluating the utility of these tests on well-defined patient populations are lacking. Therefore, we investigated the utility of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay to diagnose active Lyme neuroborreliosis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of various study groups were stimulated by using Borrelia burgdorferi strain B31 and various recombinant antigens, and subsequently, the number of Borrelia-specific interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-secreting T cells was measured. We included 33 active and 37 treated Lyme neuroborreliosis patients, 28 healthy individuals treated for an early manifestation of LB in the past, and 145 untreated healthy individuals. The median numbers of B. burgdorferi B31-specific IFN-γ-secreting T cells/2.5 × 105 PBMCs did not differ between active Lyme neuroborreliosis patients (6.0; interquartile range [IQR], 0.5 to 14.0), treated Lyme neuroborreliosis patients (4.5; IQR, 2.0 to 18.6), and treated healthy individuals (7.4; IQR, 2.3 to 14.9) (P = 1.000); however, the median number of B. burgdorferi B31-specific IFN-γ-secreting T cells/2.5 × 105 PBMCs among untreated healthy individuals was lower (2.0; IQR, 0.5 to 3.9) (P ≤ 0.016). We conclude that the Borrelia ELISpot assay, measuring the number of B. burgdorferi B31-specific IFN-γ-secreting T cells/2.5 × 105 PBMCs, correlates with exposure to the Borrelia bacterium but cannot be used for the diagnosis of active Lyme neuroborreliosis