Chinas Unfinished Economic Revolution or Shifting Gears

China's Unfinished Economic Revolution

Author: Nicholas R R Lardy

analyzes the new reform initiatives China has launched in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, suggests additional steps that must be taken, and evaluates the implications for U.S. policy.

Finance & Development - Aasim Husain

This book gives the reader a rich understanding of the interrelationships among enterprises, banks, and fiscal policy during China's gradual but impressive economic transformation. Lardy's comprehensive analysis of the problems in the banking sector suggests that China will face daunting challenges in the future.

Go to: The Bloodless Revolution or Pregnancy CookbookRevised and Expanded Edition

Shifting Gears: Applying ISO 9000 Quality Management Principles to Trucking

Author: James J DePillo

While formal quality management systems are a basic requirement for carriers doing business with the automotive industry, it is a company?s understanding of key items such as leadership, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction that is needed to survive and excel in today?s market. Shifting Gears brings a unique approach to quality in the trucking industry, clearly defining the issues that challenge a carrier?s very survival of business and, through the principles embodied in ISO 9000, discusses practical measures for addressing these challenges. It identifies ISO 9000 as an effective management tool, offering information on how business leaders can reduce their costs, improve their overall business efficiency, and improve their competitive advantage in the marketplace. This quality management principles book moves beyond quality management principles to include methods for use in day-to-day operations, helping carriers easily ?shift gears? to make these tools a part of the company culture.

Table of Contents:

	About the Authors	vii
	Foreword	ix
	Commentaries	x
Chapter 1	Introduction	1
	Overview	1
	Summary	3
Chapter 2	Challenges Facing the Trucking Industry	5
	Identifying the Challenges	6
	What Can Be Done?	9
	Summary	9
Chapter 3	Quality as a Framework for Improvement	11
	Quality Approaches in Trucking	12
	A Long-Term Approach Yields Best Results	12
	The Eight Quality Management Principles of ISO 9000 Apply	14
	The Quality Management Principles	14
	Applying the Principles to the Trucking Industry	17
	Summary	17
Chapter 4	Principle 1: Customer Focus	19
	Who Is the Customer?	19
	Stay Customer Focused	20
	Customer Needs Drive Improvement	20
	Get Customer Feedback	21
	Meet and Exceed Customer Needs	22
	Involve Your Customers	22
	More Tips to Improve Customer Focus	23
	Summary	23
	Case Study: Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys in Trucking	24
Chapter 5	Principle 2: Leadership	29
	Giving Leadership a Focus	29
	Clarify the Company's Mission, Vision, and Objectives	30
	Is Your Mission a Statement of Quality?	31
	Using Teams as Leadership Tools	32
	Training Is a Key Factor for Building Quality Organizations	32
	Fund the Plan	33
	Monitoring Your Business	33
	Summary	35
	Case Study: Award-Winning Carriers Benefit from ISO 9000	37
Chapter 6	Principle 3: Involvement of People	41
	Importance of People in the Improvement Process	42
	How Many of Your Employees Really Know What Is Expected of Them?	42
	Do Your Employees Know How Their Jobs Relate to the Quality Plan?	43
	Training Needs to Be Ongoing and Generic	44
	How Can Employees Benefit from Career Planning?	45
	Reinforcing, Recognizing, Rewarding, and Retaining Employees	46
	Ensuring Effective Teamwork	47
	Encouraging Innovation--Taking the Time to Fiddle	48
	Do You Know How Satisfied Your Employees Are?	48
	Summary	50
	Case Study: Using Teams for Improving Carrier Performance	51
Chapter 7	Principle 4: Process Approach	55
	What Is a Process?	56
	A Process View of the Business	56
	Define Processes	57
	The Process Approach Adds Value	58
	Assess the Effectiveness of Processes	59
	ISO 9000 Uses a Process-Based Model	59
	Summary	61
	Case Study: Defining Processes Aids in Transition Training	62
Chapter 8	Principle 5: Systems Approach to Management	67
	Viewing the Business as a System of Processes	67
	Identifying the Interaction of Processes	68
	Inter- versus Intradepartmental Communications	69
	Encouraging Employees to Know More Than Their Own Jobs	69
	Monitoring and Managing Separate but Interrelated Variables	69
	Summary	70
	Case Study: New ISO Standard Emphasizes a Systems Approach	71
Chapter 9	Principle 6: Continual Improvement	75
	What Is Continual Improvement?	75
	Begin with Known Problems	76
	Get at the Root Causes	77
	Corrective and Preventive Action	77
	A Common Technique for Improving	78
	Summary	80
	Case Study: Process Improvement in Trucking: A Case Study on Reducing Billing Errors	81
Chapter 10	Principle 7: Factual Approach to Decision Making	89
	Use of Data in Decision Making	89
	Understanding the Difference between Data and Information	90
	Why Measure?	91
	What Is Important to Measure?	92
	Tools for Collecting and Measuring Data	94
	Matching People and Information	99
	Summary	100
	Case Study: Benefits of Using Measures in Trucking	101
Chapter 11	Principle 8: Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships	105
	Supplier Relationships Are Changing	105
	The Purchasing Process Needs Guidance	106
	The Purchasing Process	106
	Evaluation of Suppliers	107
	Supplier Surveys: A Valuable Tool	108
	Monitoring and Measuring Product	109
	The Valuable Use of Teams and Supplier Resources	109
	Building a Partnership Takes Time	110
	Recognizing and Rewarding Suppliers	111
	Summary	112
	Case Study: Trailer Dealer Embraces the Benefits of ISO 9000	113
Chapter 12	Benefiting More from the Eight Quality Management Principles	115
	Use the Principles to Address Company-Wide Problems	115
	Emphasizing the Principles in Addressing Driver Turnover	116
	Applying the Principles in Day-to-Day Operations	120
	Emphasizing the Principles in the Dispatch Operation	121
	Formalize Your Quality System	123
	Summary	123
Chapter 13	Shifting Gears	125
	Making These Tools a Part of the Company Culture	125
	A Call to Arms	126
	Summary	127
	References	129
	Index	131