This paper describes a branch and bound approach for optimizing a media selection problem, namely, to choose the best set of mailing lists to maximize audience reach. Prompted by a national retailer's interest in more effective and efficient direct mail catalogue distribution, the algorithm...

The Six Sigma phenomenon has followed the TQM movement as the latest thrust for many companies seeking to improve their performance and effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to review the basic concepts of Six Sigma, its benefits, and successful approaches for implementation. In...

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to analyze and interpret some empirical results, obtained from an online survey, on the types of review and analysis approaches used by organizations in manufacturing, service, education, health care, and not‐for‐profit sectors and their...

Purpose – Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful technique for managing, monitoring, analyzing and improving the performance of a process through the use of statistical methods. The purpose of this paper is to present results of a survey on SPC in the software industry. The focus is...