A survey of continuous improvement practices in the United Kingdom and Mexico

With the advent of globalisation companies all around the world must improve their performance in order to survive. The threats are coming from everywhere, and in different ways, such as low cost products, high quality products, new technologies, and new products. Different companies in different countries are using various techniques and using quality criteria items to strive for excellence. Continuous improvement techniques are used to enable companies to improve their operations. Therefore, companies are using techniques such as TQM, Kaizen, Six-Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and quality award criteria items such as Customer Focus, Human Resources, Information & Analysis, and Process Management. The purpose of this paper is to compare the use of these techniques and criteria items in two countries, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which differ in culture and industrial structure. In terms of the use of continuous improvement tools and techniques, Mexico formally started to deal with continuous improvement by creating its National Quality Award soon after the Americans began the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The United Kingdom formally started by using the European Quality Award (EQA), modified and renamed as the EFQM Excellence Model. The methodology used in this study was to undertake a literature review of the subject matter and to study some general applications around the world. A questionnaire survey was then designed and a survey undertaken based on the same scale, about the same sample size, and the about the same industrial sector within the two countries. The survey presents a brief definition of each of the constructs to facilitate understanding of the questions. The analysis of the data was then conducted with the assistance of a statistical software package. The survey results indicate both similarities and differences in the strengths and weaknesses of the companies in the two countries. One outcome of the analysis is that it enables the companies to use the results to benchmark themselves and thus act to reinforce their strengths and to reduce their weaknesses.

Translation and the EU - conditions and consequences

Translation plays an important role in the EU institutions. The description and explanation of the conditions of translation work and of the products of this work pose challenges to Translation Studies. For example, it needs to be tested whether traditional concepts do apply to the translation activity and its products, or whether modified or new concepts need to be introduced. Some of these concepts are reconsidered in view of the new contexts. Cross-references are made to the individual contributions in this issue which provide specific information.

The co-ordination chemistry of tellurium and related selenium ligands

2-(2-pyridyl)phenyl(p-ethoxyphenyl)tellurium(II), (RR1Te) reacts with HgC12 at room temperature to give white HgCl2.RR1Te. On setting aside, or on warming the reaction mixture a yellow material, [R1HgCl.(RTeCl)2] is formed. Multinuclear NMR(125Te, 199Hg, 1H) and mass spectroscopy confirm the formulation, and confirm the ease of transfer of the p-ethoxyphenyl group (R1) between the metal centres. The crystal structure of the yellow material consists of two discrete RTeCl molecules together with a R1HgCl molecule. There is no dative bond formation between these species, hence the preferred description of the formation of an inclusion complex. The reaction of RR1Te with Copper(I) chloride in the cold gives an air sensitive yellow product Cu3Cl3(RR1Te)2(0.5CH3CN); under reflux in air changes to the green Cu2Cl(RR1Te)(0.5 EtOH). By contrast, the reaction of RR1Te with acetonitrile solution of Copper(II) salts under mild conditions affords the white materials CuCl(RR1Te) and CuBr(RR1Te)H2O. RR1Te reacts with PdCl2 and PtCl2 to give materials albeit not well defined, can be seen as intermediates to the synthesis of inorganic phase of the type M3XTe2XCl2X. Paramagnetism is associated with some of the palladium and platinum products. The 195Pt NMR measurement in DMSO establishes the presence of six platinum species, which are assigned to Pt(IV), Pt(III) or Pt(II). The reactions show that in the presence of PdCl2 or PtCl2 both R and R1 are very labile. The reaction of RHgCl(R= 2-(2-pyridyl)phenyl) with SeX4(X= Cl, Br) gives compounds which suggest that both Trans-metallation and redox processes are involved. By varying reaction conditions materials which appear to be intermediates in the trans-metallation process are isolated. Potentially bidentate tellurium ligands having molecular formula RTe(CH2)nTeR,Ln, (R= Ph,(t-Bu). C6H4, n = 5,10) are prepared. Palladium and Platinum complexes containing these ligands are prepared. Also complex Ph3SnC1L(L = p-EtO.C6H4) is prepared.