Purpose – The authors analyze the principles and results of lean production and compare the lean production philosophy with the six sigma quality process and the principles of total quality management (TQM). At the end of the paper, it is discussed how to build the necessary company culture...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present and discuss the Kansei engineering (KE) methodology, and to reflect on the future development of KE. The paper presents a model of the KE methodology and illustrates how this model was applied on a simple example which all may understand –...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the development of a system for assessing and improving technology development and innovations. The system components comprise: a framework or model for assessing, measuring, diagnosing and improving innovation enablers and results;...

Purpose – An overall aim with a new human‐oriented TQM metrology is to help managers in giving answers to the questions of what to measure, how to measure and why? It is the purpose of this paper to give input to answering these questions. In doing so the measurement problems are to be...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review and identify the dominating paradigms within management control theories in order to investigate adoptability of the European excellence model (EEM) as an alternative management control model or a framework. Design/methodology/approach – The...

Purpose – Recently, the operations management academic literature has seen articles focusing on the transfer of “lean” thinking or kaizen concept from the private to the public sector. In Spain, during the last 15 years, some local councils have also followed similar improvement...

Purpose – Parallel with increasing awareness of importance in learning during the last few decades, numerous theorists from various disciplines have tried to shape ideas concerning learning seen from their perspectives. One negative consequence of these efforts has been observed as increased...

Purpose – The paper aims to present and interpret excellence through the parchments of the ancient Hellenic philosophy and the different schools of management thought and its application in the university context. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken in the paper is theoretical...

Purpose – Technology is fast transforming how we supply both services and products. With virtual reality technology rapidly becoming available and much user friendlier and affordable than before, the next challenge is to supply not just products but also dreams. The purpose here is to explore...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of economic theory to the point where “economic rationalism” is a commonly used term. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on earlier research and published works examining: the history of economics; economic...