Reference model for implementing an MRP system in a highly diverse component and seasonal lean production environment

Companies are currently choosing to integrate logics and systems to achieve better solutions. These combinations also include companies striving to join the logic of material requirement planning (MRP) system with the systems of lean production. The purpose of this article was to design an MRP as part of the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) in a company that produces agricultural implements, which has used the lean production system since 1998. This proposal is based on the innovation theory, theory networks, lean production systems, ERP systems and the hybrid production systems, which use both components and MRP systems, as concepts of lean production systems. The analytical approach of innovation networks enables verification of the links and relationships among the companies and departments of the same corporation. The analysis begins with the MRP implementation project carried out in a Brazilian metallurgical company and follows through the operationalisation of the MRP project, until its production stabilisation. The main point is that the MRP system should help the company's operations with regard to its effective agility to respond in time to demand fluctuations, facilitating the creation process and controlling the branch offices in other countries that use components produced in the matrix, hence ensuring more accurate estimates of stockpiles. Consequently, it presents the enterprise knowledge development organisational modelling methodology in order to represent further models (goals, actors and resources, business rules, business process and concepts) that should be included in this MRP implementation process for the new configuration of the production system.

Partnership in Practice Research: a Norwegian Experience

This article outlines some of the issues involved in developing partnerships between service users, practitioners and researchers. It discusses these through some experience in Oslo as part of a national level agreement (HUSK) to improve social services in Norway through research and knowledge development. It begins with a review of the main concepts and debates involved in developing collaborative partnerships for practice-based research, particularly in the social services arena. The HUSK program is then described. The article then traces some specific developments and challenges in negotiating partnership relations as discussed by program participants (users, practitioners and researchers) in a series of workshops designed to elicit the issues directly from their experience.

Choosing and Maintaining Programs for Sex Education in Schools: The CHAMPSS Model

Background: Despite effective solutions to reduce teen birth rates, Texas teen birth rates are among the highest in the nation. School districts can impact youth sexual behavior through implementation of evidence-based programs (EBPs); however, teen pregnancy prevention is a complex and controversial issue for school districts. Subsequently, very few districts in Texas implement EBPs for pregnancy prevention. Additionally, school districts receive little guidance on the process for finding, adopting, and implementing EBPs. Purpose: The purpose of this report is to present the CHoosing And Maintaining Programs for Sex education in Schools (CHAMPSS) Model, a practical and realistic framework to help districts find, adopt, and implement EBPs. Methods: Model development occurred in four phases using the core processes of Intervention Mapping: 1) knowledge acquisition, 2) knowledge engineering, 3) model representation, and 4) knowledge development. Results: The CHAMPSS Model provides seven steps, tailored for school-based settings, which encompass phases of assessment, preparation, implementation, and maintenance: Prioritize, Asses, Select, Approve, Prepare, Implement, and Maintain. Advocacy and eliciting support for adolescent sexual health are also core elements of the model. Conclusion: This systematic framework may help schools increase adoption, implementation, and maintenance for EBPs.

El desarrollo profesional del psicólogo en el campo educativo : Formación, contextos y práctica profesional

El Proyecto de Investigación 'El desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo: estudio de graduados de la U.N .L.P.; su inserción en el campo educativo' se configura a partir de los estudios sobre la formación de los profesores en psicología que realizamos previamente. Ellos nos fueron situando en el proceso de construcción del conocimiento profesional tanto en profesores como en psicólogos que ejercen la docencia, visualizando el papel que en dicho proceso asumen los conocimientos construidos en los ámbitos académico y profesional y la relación entre ambos. Desde esta perspectiva, consideramos relevante centrar la investigación en la construcción del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo graduado en la UNLP. Delimitamos el campo educativo como el contexto para estudiar dicho proceso, pues observamos que, en forma creciente, los licenciados en Psicología y los estudiantes próximos a graduarse optan por culminar el profesorado con el propósito de insertarse laboralmente en dicho campo. El objetivo central de la investigación es estudiar el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo que se desempeña en el campo educativo. Focalizamos en el proceso de profesionalización como proceso de formación y cambio en las maneras de ser y estar en la profesión. Entendemos que el mismo se estructura a partir del conocimiento práctico, se basa en el sentido-significado que se le da al trabajo y supone los conocimientos que guían las acciones-intervenciones, la interacción con el contexto en el que se interviene y las formas que asume el ser y estar en la profesión que lo convierten o no en un profesional competente. Para ello consideramos relevante tanto problematizar el campo de la Psicología Educacional como disciplina y profesión, como reconstruir la historia en torno a la formación de los psicólogos en la UNLP con especificidad en el área educacional, teniendo en cuenta las representaciones/valoraciones que el propio psicólogo y otros agentes construyen sobre su ejercicio profesional en el campo educativo. El proyecto se inscribe en un enfoque de investigación cualitativo. La lógica que se intenta seguir es de comprensión e interpretación a partir de situar un objeto, el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo

El desarrollo profesional del psicólogo en el campo educativo : Formación, contextos y práctica profesional

El Proyecto de Investigación 'El desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo: estudio de graduados de la U.N .L.P.; su inserción en el campo educativo' se configura a partir de los estudios sobre la formación de los profesores en psicología que realizamos previamente. Ellos nos fueron situando en el proceso de construcción del conocimiento profesional tanto en profesores como en psicólogos que ejercen la docencia, visualizando el papel que en dicho proceso asumen los conocimientos construidos en los ámbitos académico y profesional y la relación entre ambos. Desde esta perspectiva, consideramos relevante centrar la investigación en la construcción del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo graduado en la UNLP. Delimitamos el campo educativo como el contexto para estudiar dicho proceso, pues observamos que, en forma creciente, los licenciados en Psicología y los estudiantes próximos a graduarse optan por culminar el profesorado con el propósito de insertarse laboralmente en dicho campo. El objetivo central de la investigación es estudiar el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo que se desempeña en el campo educativo. Focalizamos en el proceso de profesionalización como proceso de formación y cambio en las maneras de ser y estar en la profesión. Entendemos que el mismo se estructura a partir del conocimiento práctico, se basa en el sentido-significado que se le da al trabajo y supone los conocimientos que guían las acciones-intervenciones, la interacción con el contexto en el que se interviene y las formas que asume el ser y estar en la profesión que lo convierten o no en un profesional competente. Para ello consideramos relevante tanto problematizar el campo de la Psicología Educacional como disciplina y profesión, como reconstruir la historia en torno a la formación de los psicólogos en la UNLP con especificidad en el área educacional, teniendo en cuenta las representaciones/valoraciones que el propio psicólogo y otros agentes construyen sobre su ejercicio profesional en el campo educativo. El proyecto se inscribe en un enfoque de investigación cualitativo. La lógica que se intenta seguir es de comprensión e interpretación a partir de situar un objeto, el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo

El desarrollo profesional del psicólogo en el campo educativo : Formación, contextos y práctica profesional

El Proyecto de Investigación 'El desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo: estudio de graduados de la U.N .L.P.; su inserción en el campo educativo' se configura a partir de los estudios sobre la formación de los profesores en psicología que realizamos previamente. Ellos nos fueron situando en el proceso de construcción del conocimiento profesional tanto en profesores como en psicólogos que ejercen la docencia, visualizando el papel que en dicho proceso asumen los conocimientos construidos en los ámbitos académico y profesional y la relación entre ambos. Desde esta perspectiva, consideramos relevante centrar la investigación en la construcción del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo graduado en la UNLP. Delimitamos el campo educativo como el contexto para estudiar dicho proceso, pues observamos que, en forma creciente, los licenciados en Psicología y los estudiantes próximos a graduarse optan por culminar el profesorado con el propósito de insertarse laboralmente en dicho campo. El objetivo central de la investigación es estudiar el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo que se desempeña en el campo educativo. Focalizamos en el proceso de profesionalización como proceso de formación y cambio en las maneras de ser y estar en la profesión. Entendemos que el mismo se estructura a partir del conocimiento práctico, se basa en el sentido-significado que se le da al trabajo y supone los conocimientos que guían las acciones-intervenciones, la interacción con el contexto en el que se interviene y las formas que asume el ser y estar en la profesión que lo convierten o no en un profesional competente. Para ello consideramos relevante tanto problematizar el campo de la Psicología Educacional como disciplina y profesión, como reconstruir la historia en torno a la formación de los psicólogos en la UNLP con especificidad en el área educacional, teniendo en cuenta las representaciones/valoraciones que el propio psicólogo y otros agentes construyen sobre su ejercicio profesional en el campo educativo. El proyecto se inscribe en un enfoque de investigación cualitativo. La lógica que se intenta seguir es de comprensión e interpretación a partir de situar un objeto, el desarrollo del conocimiento profesional del psicólogo

Changing Attitudes And Expectations In A University Setting: A Case Study

First and second year students enrolled in a four-year movement education based university Physical Education program completed a questionnaire regarding their expectations on entering university. In addition, graduates of the program were interviewed, one year after graduation, with regard to their understanding of and attitude towards movement education and how these had developed relative to their overall degree program. Most students had no knowledge of movement education prior to entering the program and the selection of this particular program was simply coincidental with their desire to pursue physical education. Whereas the students did participate in an activity course and a theory course in Year 1, it was only when participating in a Year 2 movement course which combined theory and practice within the same course that students recognized the movement base of the content. The progress of the students through the program reflects distinct declarative and procedural stages in knowledge development followed by an ability to generalize that knowledge a conceptual stage. The real understanding of movement education came as the students were required to teach movement education to students, children, and other groups.

Making the processes of designing explicit within an information technology environment

In this paper, technology is described as involving processes whereby resources are utilised to satisfy human needs or to take advantage of opportunities, to develop practical solutions to problems. This study, set within one type of technology context, information technology, investigated how, through a one semester undergraduate university course, elements of technological processes were made explicit to students. While it was acknowledged in the development and implementation of this course that students needed to learn technical skills, technological skills and knowledge, including design, were seen as vital also, to enable students to think about information technology from a perspective that was not confined and limited to 'technology as hardware and software'. This paper describes how the course, set within a three year program of study, was aimed at helping students to develop their thinking and their knowledge about design processes in an explicit way. An interpretive research approach was used and data sources included a repertory grid 'survey'; student interviews; video recordings of classroom interactions, audio recordings of lectures, observations of classroom interactions made by researchers; and artefacts which included students' journals and portfolios. The development of students' knowledge about design practices is discussed and reflections upon student knowledge development in conjunction with their learning experiences are made. Implications for ensuring explicitness of design practice within information technology contexts are presented, and the need to identify what constitutes design knowledge is argued.

Supporting English language teachers doing further degrees at a distance:a web based strategy researched

This thesis explores how the world-wide-web can be used to support English language teachers doing further studies at a distance. The future of education worldwide is moving towards a requirement that we, as teacher educators, use the latest web technology not as a gambit, but as a viable tool to improve learning. By examining the literature on knowledge, teacher education and web training, a model of teacher knowledge development, along with statements of advice for web developers based upon the model are developed. Next, the applicability and viability of both the model and statements of advice are examined by developing a teacher support site (bttp://www. philseflsupport. com) according to these principles. The data collected from one focus group of users from sixteen different countries, all studying on the same distance Masters programme, is then analysed in depth. The outcomes from the research are threefold: A functioning website that is averaging around 15, 000 hits a month provides a professional contribution. An expanded model of teacher knowledge development that is based upon five theoretical principles that reflect the ever-expanding cyclical nature of teacher learning provides an academic contribution. A series of six statements of advice for developers of teacher support sites. These statements are grounded in the theoretical principles behind the model of teacher knowledge development and incorporate nine keys to effective web facilitation. Taken together, they provide a forward-looking contribution to the praxis of web supported teacher education, and thus to the potential dissemination of the research presented here. The research has succeeded in reducing the proliferation of terminology in teacher knowledge into a succinct model of teacher knowledge development. The model may now be used to further our understanding of how teachers learn and develop as other research builds upon the individual study here. NB: Appendix 4 is only available only available for consultation at Aston University Library with prior arrangement.

The Library of Birmingham project:lifelong learning for the digital age

The Library of Birmingham (LoB) is a £193million project designed to provide a new space for lifelong learning and knowledge growth, a physical and virtual portal for Birmingham's citizens to the wider world. In cooperation with a range of private, public, and third-sector bodies, as well as individual citizens, the library, due to open in June 2013, will articulate a continuing process of organic growth and emergence. Key delivery themes focus on: arts and creativity, citizenship and community, enterprise and innovation, learning and skills and the new media ecology. A landmark design in the heart of the cultural district of the city, the LoB aims to stimulate sustainable economic growth, urban regeneration and social inclusion by offering a wide range of new digital learning services, real and virtual community spaces, and new opportunities for interpreting and exploiting internationally significant collections of documentary archives, photography, moving image, and rare printed books. Additionally, the LoB will offer physical space for creative, cultural, enterprise, and knowledge development. This paper outlines the cultural and educational thinking that informs the project and the challenges experienced in developing innovative service redesign.

Interactively developed capabilities:evidence from dyadic servitization relationships

Purpose – The paper challenges the focal firm perspective of much resource/capability research, identifying how a dyadic perspective facilitates identification of capabilities required for servitization. Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory study consisting of seven dyadic relationships in five sectors. Findings – An additional dimension of capabilities should be recognised; whether they are developed independently or interactively (with another actor). The following examples of interactively developed capabilities are identified: knowledge development, where partners interactively communicate to understand capabilities; service enablement, manufacturers work with suppliers and customers to support delivery of new services; service development, partners interact to optimise performance of existing services; risk management, customers work with manufacturers to manage risks of product acquisition/operation. Six propositions were developed to articulate these findings. Research implications/limitations – Interactively developed capabilities are created when two or more actors interact to create value. Interactively developed capabilities do not just reside within one firm and, therefore, cannot be a source of competitive advantage for one firm alone. Many of the capabilities required for servitization are interactive, yet have received little research attention. The study does not provide an exhaustive list of interactively developed capabilities, but demonstrates their existence in manufacturer/supplier and manufacturer/customer dyads. Practical implications – Manufacturers need to understand how to develop capabilities interactively to create competitive advantage and value and identify other actors with whom these capabilities can be developed. Originality/value – Previous research has focused on relational capabilities within a focal firm. This study extends existing theories to include interactively developed capabilities. The paper proposes that interactivity is a key dimension of actors’ complementary capabilities.

A hermeneutic phenomenology of graduate education students' understandings of instructor power in a higher education classroom

Higher education is a distribution center of knowledge and economic, social, and cultural power (Cervero & Wilson, 2001). A critical approach to understanding a higher education classroom begins with recognizing the instructor's position of power and authority (Tisdell, Hanley, & Taylor, 2000). The power instructors wield exists mostly unquestioned, allowing for teaching practices that reproduce the existing societal patterns of inequity in the classroom (Brookfield, 2000). ^ The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore students' experiences with the power of their instructors in a higher education classroom. A hermeneutic phenomenological study intertwines the interpretations of both the participants and the researcher about a lived experience to uncover layers of meaning because the meanings of lived experiences are usually not readily apparent (van Manen, 1990). Fifteen participants were selected using criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling. The primary data gathering method were semi-structured interviews guided by an interview protocol (Creswell, 2003). Data were interpreted using thematic reflection (van Manen, 1990). ^ Three themes emerged from data interpretation: (a) structuring of instructor-student relationships, (b) connecting power to instructor personality, and (c) learning to navigate the terrains of higher education. How interpersonal relationships were structured in a higher education classroom shaped how students perceived power in that higher education classroom. Positive relationships were described using the metaphor of family and a perceived ethic of caring and nurturing by the instructor. As participants were consistently exposed to exercises of instructor power in a higher education classroom, they attributed those exercises of power to particular instructor traits rather than systemic exercises of power. As participants progressed from undergraduate to graduate studies, they perceived the benefits of expertise in content or knowledge development as secondary to expertise in successfully navigating the social, cultural, political, and interpersonal terrains of higher education. Ultimately, participants expressed that higher education is not about what you know; it is about learning how to play the game. Implications for teaching in higher education and considerations for future research conclude the study.^