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Winner of a Shingo Research and Professional Publication AwardThe new edition of this Shingo Prize-winning bestseller provides critical insights and approaches to make any Lean transformation an ongoing success. It shows you how to implement a sustainable, successful transformation by developing a culture that has your stakeholders throughout the organizational chart involved and invested in the outcome. It teaches you how to successfully navigate the politics in cross-functional process improvement projects, and to engage executives in ways that are personally meaningful to them. If you are a leader at any level in an organization undergoing or considering a Lean transformation, this is where you should start and finish … and start again.Read the Reviews:"This book became an instant classic in the literature of professional operations. In this third edition, David Mann updates and expands his teaching with five additional years of valuable experience and expertise derived from his very active, multi-industry consultancy. I have benefitted greatly from his writing and wholeheartedly recommend this book to be top-of-the desk of any serious Lean practitioner or performance transformation leader."— Raymond C. Floyd, two-time Shingo Prize Winner, President and CEO, Plasco Energy Group"David Mann builds substantially on his seminal work on the Lean management system. The book is full of new insight and polishes the most important ideas about Lean management. The new chapter on engaging executive leadership alone is worth the price of the book."— Peter Ward, Richard M. Ross Professor and Chair, Department of Management Science, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University"This book has long been my ‘go-to’ guide on Lean management practices that help create a culture of continuous improvement and excellence. I have recommended the book to countless healthcare leaders who rave about how helpful it is in translating Lean principles into daily management behaviors. The healthcare examples make it even more relevant as a must read for any hospital leader who aims to move beyond Lean tools.."—Mark Graban, author of Lean Hospitals, co-author of Healthcare Kaizen and The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen"As more companies outside the manufacturing sector pursue Lean transformations, Creating a Lean Culture is as critical a resource as ever. Breaking down silos and navigating tricky internecine politics remain a momentous challenge, and Mann’s case-based insights are an invaluable tool."— Peg Pennington, Executive Director, Center for Operational Excellence, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University"David has once again taken the topics that trip us up and put structure and guidance around them. His new work on executive involvement is worth the price of the book all by itself. Many of us have struggled with this topic and David provides a path to success."— Elizabeth M. King, Vice President Organizational Effectiveness, ESCO CorporationNew in the Third Edition: Contains new chapter on engaging executives in Lean initiativesIncludes 21 new case studiesPresents new examples from the healthcare and process industriesIncludes additional gemba worksheets for learning and teaching LeanProvides expanded coverage of Lean applications in complex cross functional value stream process improvement projectsWatch David Mann discuss how the latest edition of Creating a Lean Culture can help you and your organization succeed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7jrtV3cBA&feature=youtu.be

Chemists are increasingly employing artificial intelligence (AI) for diversified applications. This new volume explores the use of AI and its various computer-aided applications for the design of new drugs and chemical products, for toxicity prediction and biodegradation, and for fault diagnosis in chemical processing plants. The volume explores knowledge and reasoning-based approaches of the field of chemintelligence to make predictions about the right molecules with given structures and properties as precursors or starting materials, reaction pathways, reaction conditions, improvement in reaction efficiency and selectivity, toxicity, metabolism, biodegradation, and more.

The first edition of this book won a Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing Research, and now, following in the tradition of its bestselling predecessor, The Complete Lean Enterprise: Value Stream Mapping for Office and Services, Second Edition details a robust step-by-step approach for implementing Lean initiatives in the service industry and office environments.A must-read for those looking to maximize the value they provide their customers, this new edition describes how to better align value stream improvements to strategic needs. In addition, it engages the entire organization in experimentation and connects a new management system with tiered visuals in support of leader standard work. This updated edition of a Shingo Prize Winner: Features new critical steps in planning and preparing for VSM eventsIncludes new content and examples from the service industry, including healthcareProvides a new examination of future state mappingDetails methods for engaging an entire organization in continuous improvement by focusing on socializationDiscusses the use of experiments to "learn your way" to a future stateProvides examples of tiered visual management and demonstrates the principles of a lean management systemProviding improved ways to involve your organization in transformation and to sustain your efforts, the book expands beyond the "tools focus" to challenge your organization to think and act differently in order to change the culture of your organization as you become more effective and efficient.This book details proven methods for aligning the organization for transformation, creating future state visions of improved effectiveness and efficiency, and engaging all levels of the organization in the transformation. After reading it, you will be better prepared to transform your organization to one that not only sustains improvement gains but is more adaptable to shifts in market and customer needs.

The science of chemistry is so broad that it is normally broken into fields or branches of specialization. The manufacture of drugs and dyes is one of the most practical industrial applications of chemistry. This collection presents the reader with a broad spectrum of chapters on drugs and dyes, thereby demonstrating key developments in this rapidly changing field. It examines dyes in chemical interaction and production of drugs for pharmaceutical use as well as in forensic work and in the production of materials.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.Advances in biochemistry directly influence medicine and the field of human health. The field of biochemistry is constantly changing with new discoveries being made all the time. This new book covers a range of advances in the field of biochemistry, including new research techniques and methods, a classification system, new research, and more.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.This book presents a range of research on important topics in the field. Of the approximately 11 million known chemical compounds, about 10 million are organic. Organic chemists are currently working to produce better polymers with specific properties, such as biodegradable plastics. The understanding of new drug structures from plants and the synthesis of improved pharmaceuticals is another area of great interest. Organic chemists are also researching the reactions that occur in living systems and understanding the molecular causes of disease.

This book provides administrators in public and non-profit organizations with direction and a framework from which to lead their organizations effectively. Taking a global approach to the issues administrators need to examine when managing a group of employees at any level (including budgeting and expenditures, forecasting, policy creation and execution, communication and reporting), this book explores the driving forces in organizational decision making. Author Nick Valcik takes a holistic view on organizational management, beginning with the core aspects of public organizations and the leadership competencies necessary to manage an organization successfully. Designed to be used on undergraduate and graduate courses in public administration and in public affairs programs, the book discusses the basics of organizational structure, delves into risk management issues, and offers a set of tools that can be used by administrators to make informed decisions based on actual data or documented processes. Throughout the book, real world case studies provide students and practitioners with a clear understanding of how exactly the right decision tool may be applied when facing a particular decision in any organization.

Up to date with the third edition of PMI’s Program Management Standard, The PgMP® Exam Challenge! contains more than 300 practice questions to help readers hone their knowledge and test their skills. It covers all five of the program management domains: Strategic Program Management, Program Management Life Cycle, Benefits Management, Stakeholder Management, and Governance. It also examines all of the sub domains of the lifecycle domain. With an easy-to-use format, this is an ideal resource for those preparing to take the PgMP exam.

In order to perform effective analysis of today’s information security systems, numerous components must be taken into consideration. This book presents a well-organized, consistent solution created by the author, which allows for precise multilevel analysis of information security systems and accounts for all of the significant details. Enabling the multilevel modeling of secure systems, the quality of protection modeling language (QoP-ML) approach provides for the abstraction of security systems while maintaining an emphasis on quality protection. This book introduces the basis of the QoP modeling language along with all the advanced analysis modules, syntax, and semantics. It delineates the steps used in cryptographic protocols and introduces a multilevel protocol analysis that expands current understanding. Introduces quality of protection evaluation of IT SystemsCovers the financial, economic, and CO2 emission analysis phaseSupplies a multilevel analysis of Cloud-based data centersDetails the structures for advanced communication modeling and energy analysisConsiders security and energy efficiency trade-offs for the protocols of wireless sensor network architecturesIncludes case studies that illustrate the QoP analysis process using the QoP-MLExamines the robust security metrics of cryptographic primitivesCompares and contrasts QoP-ML with the PL/SQL, SecureUML, and UMLsec approaches by means of the SEQUAL frameworkThe book explains the formal logic for representing the relationships between security mechanisms in a manner that offers the possibility to evaluate security attributes. It presents the architecture and API of tools that ensure automatic analysis, including the automatic quality of protection analysis tool (AQoPA), crypto metrics tool (CMTool), and security mechanisms evaluation tool (SMETool). The book includes a number of examples and case studies that illustrate the QoP analysis process by the QoP-ML. Every operation defined by QoP-ML is described within parameters of security metrics to help you better evaluate the impact of each operation on your system's security.

Optimization algorithms are critical tools for engineers, but difficult to use since none of them are universal in application. This introductery text builds up the knowledge set, from the basics, so that engineering students can understand the processes that govern optimization processes. Reinforcing theory with practice, the book includes discussions on how to match applications to appropiate methods and why certain approaches are not adapted to specific requirements.Following the success and adoption of the French version of this book with undergraduate and graduate students, the author has translated and substantially updated and reworked this new English edition. Featuring more worked problems and supported by a companion website, readers can learn the practical elements of building algorithms to solve real-life problems.

The State of the Art in Intrusion Prevention and Detection analyzes the latest trends and issues surrounding intrusion detection systems in computer networks, especially in communications networks. Its broad scope of coverage includes wired, wireless, and mobile networks; next-generation converged networks; and intrusion in social networks.Presenting cutting-edge research, the book presents novel schemes for intrusion detection and prevention. It discusses tracing back mobile attackers, secure routing with intrusion prevention, anomaly detection, and AI-based techniques. It also includes information on physical intrusion in wired and wireless networks and agent-based intrusion surveillance, detection, and prevention. The book contains 19 chapters written by experts from 12 different countries that provide a truly global perspective.The text begins by examining traffic analysis and management for intrusion detection systems. It explores honeypots, honeynets, network traffic analysis, and the basics of outlier detection. It talks about different kinds of IDSs for different infrastructures and considers new and emerging technologies such as smart grids, cyber physical systems, cloud computing, and hardware techniques for high performance intrusion detection.The book covers artificial intelligence-related intrusion detection techniques and explores intrusion tackling mechanisms for various wireless systems and networks, including wireless sensor networks, WiFi, and wireless automation systems. Containing some chapters written in a tutorial style, this book is an ideal reference for graduate students, professionals, and researchers working in the field of computer and network security.

During the next 10 years, an estimated 40-50 percent of the partners in public accounting firms will retire. This exodus will place an enormous intellectual and financial strain on firms as they scramble to train and promote new partners, retire the existing ones in an orderly manner, and find the profitability to do so in extraordinarily lean economic times. Beyond the Days of the Giants: Solving the Crisis of Growth and Succession in Today’s CPA Firms is a practical, readable implementation guide for your firm to use during this next critical decade. It gives step-by-step guidance on how to: Create a growth culture founded in practitioner-led value creation, Build a no-new-cost practice system to operate within it , andRenew practitioner accountability, not to disappearing Giant-centered value creation systems, but to evidence-based value management practice—led by our New Giants.

It’s no secret that some of the most successful companies, such as 3M, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, and Mercedes-Benz, are also known for their new product development strategies. Creating and Marketing New Products and Services teaches the key business and marketing principles needed to successfully design and launch new products and services in today’s global market. It begins by providing the foundation required to understand the role of new product development in the innovating organization.The book emphasizes marketing research techniques that can help firms identify the voice of the customer and incorporate these findings into their new product development process. It addresses the role of sustainability in innovation, open innovation strategies, and international co-development efforts of new products and services. Explaining how to manage the development and marketing of new products and services, this book will teach you how to:Select a new product strategy that matches the needs of your organizationSet up a disciplined process for new product development Define target market opportunities and search out high potential ideas Understand customer needs, structure them, and prioritize the needs to clearly define the benefits and values that your product will deliver Integrate marketing, engineering, R&D, and production resources to design a high-quality product that satisfies customer needs and delivers value Forecast sales before market launch based on testing of the product and the marketing plan The concepts discussed in the book can help to boost innovation and improve the performance of any type of organization. Some of the concepts presented are generic and others must be modified for each application. Together, they can lead to greater profitability and reduced risk in the new product development activities within your organization.

Most books on environment law focus on the law first, and then look at how environmental problems are dealt with in relation to the law. Taking a fresh approach, Environmental Law from the Policy Perspective: Understanding How Legal Frameworks Influence Environmental Problem Solving examines environmental problems first, followed by an examination of legal frameworks and how they impact environmental issues. This approach provides a clearer understanding of the relationship between the law and environment by examining environmental issues from an applied perspective.By first focusing on environmental problems without constraining the analysis to a particular legal framework, this book fosters a more holistic discussion of environmental issues that include scientific, social, economic, and political contexts. It examines how laws affect the adaptation of policy, how policy is legitimized into statutory law, and how the law is impacted in practice. The text then underscores how interpretation of the law affects its application to different factual settings.Written by an environmental law expert who teaches environmental law to those not trained in legal theory, the book provides insights into the way environmental issues are "ingested" into a legal process. The author demystifies environmental law as a concept by applying it through the lens of environmental problem solving. Once you have a clear picture of the role legal frameworks have in managing environmental issues, you will be able to take a deeper policy-oriented approach to environmental problems.

Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) was one of the first health care organizations to implement Lean and its methodologies. Other organizations have followed VMMC’s lead, but this world class organization still leads in the utilization of innovative Lean tools.Accelerating Health Care Transformation with Lean and Innovation: The Virginia Mason Experience describes how VMMC has systematically integrated innovative structures, methods, and cultural practices into its implementation of Lean. Describing how your organization can create a strategy and build a culture of innovation and learning, it supplies concrete examples that show—not just conceptually, but through VMMC's actual experiences—how Lean and innovation can work hand-in-hand to incrementally improve and radically transform your value streams.Explaining how to use the voices and experiences of patients and their families to drive improvement and innovation in new directions, the book supplies a clear understanding of how Lean can help you achieve your goals in today’s increasingly demanding marketplace.

Understand Video Games as Works of Science Fiction and Interactive Stories Science Fiction Video Games focuses on games that are part of the science fiction genre, rather than set in magical milieux or exaggerated versions of our own world. Unlike many existing books and websites that cover some of the same material, this book emphasizes critical analysis, especially the analysis of narrative. The author analyzes narrative via an original categorization of story forms in games. He also discusses video games as works of science fiction, including their characteristic themes and the links between them and other forms of science fiction.Delve into a Collection of Science Fiction GamesThe beginning chapters explore game design and the history of science-fictional video games. The majority of the text deals with individual science-fictional games and the histories and natures of their various forms, such as the puzzle-based adventure and the more exploratory and immediate computer role-playing game (RPG).

Explaining how to use Lean principles to drive innovation and strategic portfolio planning, The Innovative Lean Enterprise: Using the Principles of Lean to Create and Deliver Innovation to Customers outlines simple, yet powerful, visual Lean tools that can enhance idea generation and product development. It starts with a discussion of Lean principles and then identifies the applicable portions of Lean that can drive customer value.The book discusses customer value in the form of the benefits your customers desire. It walks you through the processes of using Lean techniques to effectively evaluate the quality of any prospective marketing opportunity and includes examples from a variety of industries, including healthcare.The text discusses value creation, reduction of waste, entrepreneurial system designer, set-based concurrent engineering, and Lean project management. It also includes numerous examples of visual management tools as they apply to innovation to help you develop the understanding required to achieve a competitive advantage for your brand, division, or company through Lean.

For some organizations, Lessons Learned (LL) is an informal process of discussing and recording project experiences during the closure phase. For others, LL is a formal process that occurs at the end of each phase of a project. Regardless of when they are performed, if you are a project team member, chances are you will soon be required to present an evaluation of your project using Lessons Learned.Presenting new information that updates the award-winning first edition, The Basics of Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned, Second Edition supplies practical guidance on conducting project Lessons Learned. The first edition won the Project Management Institute's (PMI®) David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award. Following in the footsteps of its popular predecessor, this second edition provides an easy-to-follow, systematic approach to conducting Lessons Learned on a project.Updated to align with the PMBOK® Guide, Fifth Edition Includes three new chapters—PRINCE2®, Agile Retrospectives, and Knowledge Transfer— in response to information requests from readers of the first edition from around the worldEnhanced with valuable new resources in the Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK) found on the downloadable resources, including a fully functional MS Access Lessons Learned DatabaseThe research in this book is based on four years of doctoral dissertation research and is supported by renowned experts in the field of evaluation. The concepts covered are applicable to all types of organizations that implement projects and need to conduct Lessons Learned.Providing tools and techniques for active engagement, the text is founded on the principles of conducting project evaluations as recommended by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession, and PRINCE2® (Project in Controlled Environments version 2), a major governing body of project management.Simplifying and formalizing the methodology of conducting LL in projects, the contents of this book will help organizations, large and small, more effectively implement processes and systems to support effective LL. The text is supported by a Project Evaluation Resource Kit (PERK), which is found in the downloadable resources.

The 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Police Executive Symposium was held in August 2012 at the United Nations Plaza in New York. Chaired by Dr. Garth den Heyer, the symposium focused on the links between economic development, armed violence, and public safety. Drawn from these proceedings, Economic Development, Crime, and Policing: Global Perspectives presents the insight of police leaders and researchers from a number of countries. They provide worldwide perspectives and case studies about the complex interrelations and influence of these issues on police practice in developed, developing, and transitioning countries.Topics include: Youth violence in societyEconomic downturn and global crime trendsRestorative justice and recidivismCommunity-based policingInvestigation techniques applied to financial crimesPolicing gang violenceImplementation of the rule of law in postconflict countriesPolicing transportation infrastructuresThe book organizes these topics according to regional perspectives (global, modern democracies, emerging democracies, and newly industrialized countries). It highlights ongoing response efforts related to challenges facing the police in emerging or newly democratized states. The book concludes with a comprehensive review of the fundamental elements of police reform and explores how such changes might affect society. It discusses the role of society in reforming police systems and suggests new directions for this broad research agenda.This book is a co-publication with the International Police Executive Symposium.

See Why Blender Is Right for Your Studio’s PipelineBlender for Animation and Film-Based Production explores why Blender is ideal for animation films. It demonstrates Blender’s capability to do the job in each production department. Whether you are a beginner or more advanced user, you’ll see why Blender should be taken into consideration in animation and film production.This Blender reference will help you: Manage your projects from start to finishUnderstand the different stages in any animation productionSee how studios work and develop their animation projects Describing the versatility and power of Blender, the book shows you why studios should incorporate Blender in their pipeline. It avoids tedious tutorials and incomprehensible examples. Instead, the book guides you toward finding efficient solutions for issues with your production files or pipeline. It familiarizes you with the animation industry and explores the risks involved in choosing Blender as a primary tool in animation studios.

Design for Manufacturability: How to Use Concurrent Engineering to Rapidly Develop Low-Cost, High-Quality Products for Lean Production shows how to use concurrent engineering teams to design products for all aspects of manufacturing with the lowest cost, the highest quality, and the quickest time to stable production. Extending the concepts of design for manufacturability to an advanced product development model, the book explains how to simultaneously make major improvements in all these product development goals, while enabling effective implementation of Lean Production and quality programs.Illustrating how to make the most of lessons learned from previous projects, the book proposes numerous improvements to current product development practices, education, and management. It outlines effective procedures to standardize parts and materials, save time and money with off-the-shelf parts, and implement a standardization program. It also spells out how to work with the purchasing department early on to select parts and materials that maximize quality and availability while minimizing part lead-times and ensuring desired functionality.Describes how to design families of products for Lean Production, build-to-order, and mass customizationEmphasizes the importance of quantifying all product and overhead costs and then provides easy ways to quantify total costDetails dozens of design guidelines for product design, including assembly, fastening, test, repair, and maintenancePresents numerous design guidelines for designing parts for manufacturabilityShows how to design in quality and reliability with many quality guidelines and sections on mistake-proofing (poka-yoke) Describing how to design parts for optimal manufacturability and compatibility with factory processes, the book provides a big picture perspective that emphasizes designing for the lowest total cost and time to stable production. After reading this book you will understand how to reduce total costs, ramp up quickly to volume production without delays or extra cost, and be able to scale up production rapidly so as not to limit growth.

Updated yearly to match changing requirements, this guide is designed to help you understand the criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige criteria are being used by thousands of organizations around the world to evaluate their progress toward becoming the best in their fields. This 17th edition of The Pocket Guide to the Baldrige Criteria begins with commonly asked questions about the Award criteria. It then breaks down the 19 items under the seven category headings of the Baldrige criteria with concise explanation and quick tips of what excellent companies do in each area.

Part of the Toyota Production System, Kamishibai boards are simple and flexible visual controls for performing audits within a manufacturing process. When used properly, they are powerful tools for performing, managing, and auditing tasks of specific duties.Kamishibai Boards: A Lean Visual Management System That Supports Layered Audits explains how to use this visual management system to identify normal conditions versus abnormal conditions in your organization. Filled with easy-to-follow instructions that require minimal training, it outlines a layered audit system for sustaining continuous improvement that can be applied to any organization in any industry.The book includes downloadable resources with master forms you can use to create your own daily, weekly, or monthly Kamishibai cards for any subject. The downloadable resources also include electronic copies of all examples in the book.Helping you focus on resolving abnormal situations, the book supplies the understanding required to make problems, abnormalities, and variations from the standard visible so corrective actions can be made right away—so you can spend more of your valuable time on achieving sustainable improvement.

Health services are often fragmented along organizational lines with limited communication among the public health–related programs or organizations, such as mental health, social services, and public health services. This can result in disjointed decision making without necessary data and knowledge, organizational fragmentation, and disparate knowledge development across the full array of public health needs. When new questions or challenges arise that require collaboration, individual public health practitioners (e.g., surveillance specialists and epidemiologists) often do not have the time and energy to spend on them.Smart Use of State Public Health Data for Health Disparity Assessment promotes data integration to aid crosscutting program collaboration. It explains how to maximize the use of various datasets from state health departments for assessing health disparity and for disease prevention. The authors offer practical advice on state public health data use, their strengths and weaknesses, data management insight, and lessons learned. They propose a bottom-up approach for building an integrated public health data warehouse that includes localized public health data.The book is divided into three sections: Section I has seven chapters devoted to knowledge and skill preparations for recognizing disparity issues and integrating and analyzing local public health data. Section II provides a systematic surveillance effort by linking census tract poverty to other health disparity dimensions. Section III provides in-depth studies related to Sections I and II. All data used in the book have been geocoded to the census tract level, making it possible to go more local, even down to the neighborhood level.

Delivering excellent service to all customers is the key imperative for many sustainable businesses. So why do so many supply chains struggle to fulfill customer requirements at competitive costs? The answer is simple: traditional supply chain planning, which was tailored to a predominantly stable and predictable business environment, cannot handle the new challenges in the world of variability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—the VUCA world.Companies can either accept the drawbacks that often result in high inventories, poor asset utilization, and unsatisfactory customer service or, they can change their view of the fundamental approach to supply chain management. LEAN Supply Chain Planning: The New Supply Chain Management Paradigm for Process Industries to Master Today’s VUCA World introduces a new paradigm and a new approach to managing variability, uncertainty, and complexity in today’s planning processes and systems.Introducing a cutting-edge supply chain management concept that addresses current problems in the process industry's supply chains, the book presents powerful methods developed by leading research institutes, process industry champions, and supply chain experts. It explains how readers can change their approach to the fundamental planning paradigms in a manner that will help their organizations achieve higher levels of responsiveness, improved levels of customer service, and substantial increases in cost-efficiencies.This holistic practitioner’s guide describes how to establish the right accountabilities for performance management and also provides a set of meaningful metrics to help measure your progress. Supplying detailed guidelines for transforming your supply chain, it includes first-hand reports of leading organizations that have already adopted some of the facets of this paradigm and used the relevant instruments to achieve unprecedented improvements to customer service, supply chain agility, and overall equipment effectiveness.

Since databases are the primary repositories of information for today’s organizations and governments, database security has become critically important. Introducing the concept of multilevel security in relational databases, this book provides a comparative study of the various models that support multilevel security policies in the relational database—illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of each model.Multilevel Security for Relational Databases covers multilevel database security concepts along with many other multilevel database security models and techniques. It presents a prototype that readers can implement as a tool for conducting performance evaluations to compare multilevel secure database models.The book supplies a complete view of an encryption-based multilevel security database model that integrates multilevel security for the relational database with a system that encrypts each record with an encryption key according to its security class level. This model will help you utilize an encryption system as a second security layer over the multilevel security layer for the database, reduce the multilevel database size, and improve the response time of data retrieval from the multilevel database. Considering instance-based multilevel database security, the book covers relational database access controls and examines concurrency control in multilevel database security systems. It includes database encryption algorithms, simulation programs, and Visual studio and Microsoft SQL Server code.

Project planning is generally accepted as an important contributor to project success. However, is there research that affirms the positive impact of project planning and gives guidance on how much effort should be spent on planning? To answer these questions, this book looks at current literature and new research of this under-studied area of project management. The author presents his findings from an extensive review of project planning literature that covers more than 270 sources. He also discusses new research that analyzes data from more than 1,300 global projects. The book confirms that the time spent on planning activities reduces risk and significantly increases the chances of project success. It also concludes that there can be too much planning and shows that the optimum ratio of planning to effort is 25%.The book examines the impact of project planning on different industries. It discusses research in the construction and information technology (IT) industries, and presents a case study of how to plan and track a software development project. The book also looks at the impact of geography on project planning and success.Intended as a basic tool in the library of any project manager or general manager, this book brings to light project planning techniques and information that have never been published previously. It is an important resource on how to plan projects properly and propel your career forward.

If you examine the characteristics of successful organizations, you will find that speed is a common denominator. Once there is a focus on speed, industry-leading improvements follow, momentum is created, and employees become further engaged to continue executing the strategy.The Four Components of a Fast-Paced Organization: Going Beyond Lean Sigma Tools examines the components that must be in place for manufacturing and service organizations to achieve world-class business results at a rapid pace: leadership and mentoring, process design and visual value streams, organization structure for sustainment, and fast knowledge sharing.The book illustrates the author’s experience working on a special Lean Sigma transformation at an organization going through a market alteration and having to consider outsourcing production to low-cost countries. It describes how the four key components helped the company achieve a doubling of productivity, a 75% improvement to its yield, and on-time delivery above 90%.Outlining a simple, yet effective, implementation plan, the book supplies valuable guidance for Lean practitioners and organizational leaders on what needs to be done after Lean Sigma. It presents only the necessary information to allow you to dive right in to proven methods without having to waste time sorting through unnecessary details.We all want a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and customer orientation; and this is what the four components can help you achieve. Follow the implementation steps outlined in the text and you will be on your way to developing and refining these characteristics.