The growing importance of the Open Source development paradigm for industry and public institutions leads to the question of how the efficiency and productivity of projects under this paradigm can be improved. The notable difference to a process improvement effort in an industrial setting (for instance using the CMMI), is the collaborative nature of the project: the absence of hierarchical powe...

The outcome of improvement programmes such as Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma is only partially determined by the success or failure of its individual projects. Also of significance is how well the programme and its projects are projects on their individual merits, rather than with proper reference to their contribution to business strategy. In this manner, it is therefore possible to build por...

BACKGROUND Quality improvement (QI) education in residency training is important and necessary for accreditation. Although the literature on this topic has been growing, some specialties, in particular psychiatry, have been underrepresented. METHODS We developed a didactic and experiential QI curriculum within a US psychiatry residency program that included a seminar series and development of...

Prospects for genetic improvement of Eucalyptus cladocalyx in Western Australia Andrew Callister, David Bush, Sally Collins, Wayne Davis 1 ITC Forestry, PO Box 1421 Albany, WA 6331. [email protected] 2 Ensis Genetics, PO Box E4008 Kingston ACT 2604. [email protected] ITC Forestry, PO Box 1421 Albany, WA 6331. [email protected] 4 ITC Forestry, PO Box 1421 Alba...

AIM The aim of this study was to evaluate the process of accreditation resulting in improvement of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) functioning. METHODOLOGY Randomly selected projects from years 2007 (before accreditation), 2010 (after accreditation), and 2013 (after reaccreditation) were evaluated to assess parameters, namely, submission of good clinical practices (GCPs), completeness of...

Historically, quality assurance studies have received scant ethical attention. The advent of information systems capable of supporting research-grade continuous quality improvement projects demands that we clearly define how these projects differ from research and when they require external review. The ethical obligation for the performance of quality assurance projects, with its emphasis on id...

Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model is developed and maintained by the Supply Chain Council (SCC). The model is a reference model which can be utilized to map benchmark and improve the supply chain operations. SCOR model provides companies with a basic process modeling tool, an extensive benchmark database by defining a set of supply chain metrics. This paper explains the process and...

This research proposes development of socially-constructed metrics for quality assessment and improvement in Agile Software Development (ASD) projects. The first phase of our research includes an extensive literature review, which indicates that traditional (outcome-focused) metrics that evaluate quality are not directly transferable to adaptive, ASD projects. We then conduct semi-structured in...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Knowledge of improvement practices is a critical skill for family medicine residents who will lead patient-centered medical homes. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education includes systems-based practice and improvement knowledge as a core competency for residency education. The objective of this report is to describe the 6-year implementation and devel...