http://humanware-kt.com/news/ Consulting and Education news by HumanWare en-us Nucleus CMS v3.2 Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://humanware-kt.com/news//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://humanware-kt.com/news/ http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=183
Historically, design has been treated as a downstream step in the development process—the point where designers, who have played no earlier role in the substantive work of innovation, come along and put a beautiful wrapper around the idea. To be sure, this approach has stimulated market growth in many areas by making new products and technologies aesthetically attractive and therefore more desirable to consumers or by enhancing brand perception through smart, evocative advertising and communication strategies. During the latter half of the twentieth century design became an increasingly valuable competitive asset in, for example, the consumer electronics, automotive, and consumer packaged goods industries. But in most others it remained a late-stage add-on. Read more...]]> Management http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=183 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:30:00 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=182
We all know that people “hire” products and services to get a job done. Office workers hire word-processing software to create documents and digital recorders to capture meeting notes. Surgeons hire scalpels to dissect soft tissue and electrocautery devices to control patient bleeding. Janitors hire soap dispensers, paper towels, and cleansing fluid to help remove grime from their hands.

While all this seems obvious, very few companies use the perspective of “getting the job done” to discover opportunities for innovation. In fact, the innovation journey for many companies is little more than hopeful wandering through customer interviews. Such unsystematic inquiry may occasionally turn up interesting tidbits of information, but it rarely uncovers the best ideas or an exhaustive set of opportunities for growth. Read more...]]> Management http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=182 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:00:00 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=181
This whitepaper contains the results of a study initiated by the Chartered Management Institute, carried out by the Centre for Applied HR Research at Oxford Brookes Business School. The purpose of the study was to analyse the value from on-line learning in management development. ]]> e-learning http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=181 Fri, 30 May 2008 10:30:00 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=180
For many years, theories of collaborative learning tended to focus on how individuals function in a group. More recently, the focus has shifted so that the group itself has become the unit of analysis. In terms of empirical research, the initial goal was to establish whether and under what circumstances
collaborative learning was more effective than learning alone. Researchers controlled several independent variables (size of the group, composition of the group, nature of the task,
communication media, and so on). However, these variables interacted with one another in a way that made it almost impossible to establish causal links between the conditions and the
effects of collaboration. Hence, empirical studies have more recently started to focus less on establishing parameters for effective collaboration and more on trying to understand the role
which such variables play in mediating interaction. In this chapter, we argue that this shift to a more process-oriented account requires new tools for analysing and modelling interactions. Read more...]]> e-learning http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=180 Fri, 30 May 2008 10:20:00 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=179
Lean manufacturing is a management philosophy focusing on reduction of the seven wastes (Over-production, Waiting time, Transportation, Processing, Inventory, Motion and Scrap) in manufactured products or any type of business.
The five core concepts of lean are:
1. Specify value in the eyes of the customer
2. Identify the value stream and eliminate waste
3. Make value flow at the pull of the customer
4. Involve and empower employees
5. Continuously improve in the pursuit of perfection.

This is an excellent presentation (.Pdf) which describes:
1. The origins of Lean and Six Sigma,
2. What makes Lean Six Sigma effective,
3. How organizations are implementing it,
4. Some keys to success.]]> Six Sigma http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=179 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:21:35 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=178
This paper (.PDF) aims to provide a literature survery on managers' learning in the workplace. The survey of the two authors was conducted between June and September 2007 and was mainly focused on the research questions: why, when and how managers learn whilst going about their daily work. And more specificially, how action learning can be a benefit for management development whilst an organisational problem can be solved in addition.]]> Training http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=178 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:57:33 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=177
Quality is an old and nevertheless current subject in the field of education. This article (.PDF) deals with the questions how to measure and continuously improve quality of online programs (for instance in distance education). Based on the so-called five pillars of quality which were published in by the Sloan Consortium in their report "Elements of Quality: The Sloan-C Framework", the author takes a closer look at the current movement towards quality assurance for online programs, reviews benchmarks recommended by accreditation agencies and provides an overview on current best practices for quality assurance. Quality assurance is not only demanded by the state and national accreditation agencies, but also by students, their parents or employers. This movement towards the need for more information may be partly due to the recognition of the knowledge worker by the economy and society, but also due to the fact that we have moved towards an information society where knowledge and information, also about educational programs, is "the key competitive advantage".
Quality assurance can provide a means for educational institutions to stand out from the growing crowd of competing providers of online programs. In the meantime, a number of guidelines, principles, and benchmarks were developed by accreditation agencies and other institutions. ]]> e-learning http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=177 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:37:55 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=176
Professor John Stein, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, made an admirable attempt to show how knowledge about the brain is relevant to educational ICT. For example, it turns out that males are better visuospatially than verbally, which means that the visual world of ICT will favour their style of learning. Read more...]]> e-learning http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=176 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:22:57 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=175 Read more...]]> Six Sigma http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=175 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:16:22 +0200 http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=174 Read more...]]> Six Sigma http://humanware-kt.com/news/index.php?itemid=174 Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:35:57 +0100