Lean tools promoting individual innovation in healthcare

Lean is a management concept that has been implemented in different sectors. This study expands upon lean tools and innovation enabling job resources. Three public sector entities in Sweden participated in a longitudinal quantitative study. Idea generation and idea implementation, as individual innovation, were analyzed. 5S and value stream mapping facilitated employee individual innovation. Hence, these lean tools are considered job resources for such innovation in the initial phase of implementing lean. After controlling for the lean context, job resources and job demands, visual follow‐up boards and standardized work had no significant influence upon individual innovation, while development resources and information as participation promoted individual innovation. These results add to the knowledge of methods and resources promoting individual innovation when initiating a lean implementation.     

Work functions shaping the ability to innovate: insights from the case of the safety engineer

Cognition, Technology & Work - To perform as intended, firms are divided into work functions that contribute to the behaviour-shaping constraints under which individuals build their skills,...     

Influence of the Storage Material on the Storage of NOx at Low Temperatures

The NO _x storage performance at low temperature (100–200 °C) has been studied for model NO _x storage catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by sequentially depositing support, metal oxide and platinum on ceramic monoliths. The support material consisted of acidic aluminium silicate, alumina or basic aluminium magnesium oxide, and the added metal oxide was either ceria or barium oxide. The NO _x conversion was evaluated under net-oxidising conditions with transients between lean and rich gas composition and the NO _x storage performance was studied by isothermal adsorption of NO₂ followed by temperature programmed desorption of adsorbed species. The maximum in NO _x storage capacity was observed at 100 °C for all samples studied. The Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃ catalyst stored about twice the amount of NO _x compared with the Pt/Al₂O₃ and Pt/CeO₂/Al₂O₃ samples. The storage capacity increased with increasing basicity of the support material, i.e. Pt/Al₂O₃·SiO₂ < Pt/Al₂O₃ < Pt/Al₂O₃ · MgO. Water did not significantly affect the NO _x storage performance for Pt/Al₂O₃ or Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃.     

The effect of cooking on the location and concentration of oxalate in three cultivars of New Zealand‐grown oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol)

Oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol) originates from South America but is now also grown commercially in New Zealand. It contains moderate amounts of oxalate, which is only present in its soluble form. The skin of the oca tuber is thought to contain more oxalate than the flesh. In this study the concentration of soluble oxalate was measured in the skin and outer and inner flesh and in the whole tuber of raw, boiled, baked and steamed oca. The analysis was carried out on the traditionally pinkish‐red New Zealand cultivar and on the newly introduced cultivars ‘Mellow Yellow’ and ‘Apricot Delight’. In the raw oca tuber the oxalate concentration in the skin is significantly higher than in the flesh (mean value 7.3 g kg^?1 fresh weight (FW) compared to 1.7 and 1.4 g kg^?1 FW in the outer and inner flesh respectively). The highest concentration was found in the skin of the pinkish‐red cultivar (10.9 ± 1.0 g kg^?1 FW). All cooking methods seemed to cause a migration of oxalate from the skin to the underlying flesh. On a fresh weight basis, baking significantly increased the oxalate concentration in the whole tuber, whereas boiling decreased the concentration and steaming had no significant effect (p < 0.001). Boiling might therefore be a better way of cooking oca than baking when a low intake of oxalate is desired. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry