Transformative Learning and Lean Six Sigma Programs

In the competitive world of recruiting, the better an applicant can apply what has already been learned to a new environment, the greater the career opportunity. This study captured the transformative learning experience of students, guided by their instructors and industry partners, related to learning and executing Lean Six Sigma principles in a variety of environments. Lean Six Sigma principles which seek to reduce inefficiencies and thus improve the customer experience have long since been associated with manufacturing. Expanding the application of Lean Six Sigma from blue-collar settings to include white-collar and green-collar work provides students additional problem-solving approaches to process challenges in all-collar environments. Additionally, the experience aided students in viewing customers from both internal and external lenses, linked customer loyalty to organization success, and demonstrated the value such skills were to both personal career growth. Suggestions for faculty and recommendations for future studies are included.

Kreowanie zielonych miejsc pracy w polskim sektorze energetyki odnawialnej

The concept of green jobs began to spread with the development of the theory of green economy, which is conceptually linked to the idea of sustainable development. Its introduction requires structural changes, including the creation of green jobs. Green jobs (colloquially referred to as green-collar jobs) exist in various sections and sectors. Their creation is important from an economic, ecological and social point of view. Hence, the aim of this article is to evaluate the development of green jobs in Poland in the years 2010–2015 against the EU, with an emphasis on renewable energy. In the study the author used desk research and indicator analysis for changes in the number, structure and dynamics of green jobs to demonstrate progress in their creation and in meeting Poland’s commitments under the Europe 2020 strategy. Although the study has shown positive changes in green employment, they are insufficient.

The Projected Impact of a Neighborhood-Scaled Green-Infrastructure Retrofit

Climate change and its related factors are increasing the frequency of hurricanes, coastal storms, and urban flooding. Recovery from disasters can be slow, with jurisdictions failing to rebuild better, wasting time and money without improving resilience for the next disaster. To help attenuate floods and mitigate their impact, Low-Impact Development (LID) and the incorporation of green infrastructure (GI) is gaining in popularity. LID includes more natural methods of absorbing, redirecting, retaining, and filtering water through GI installations such as rain gardens, detention ponds, and the reduction of impervious surfaces. LID is, however, primarily implemented and evaluated only on a local scale; few studies have assessed the broader impact of GI on a larger scale. In fact, most performance calculators that evaluate the effects of GI are only useful at the site scale. Further, most GI advocates propose its use in new developments without much attention to retrofitting existing suburban development. This article seeks to determine what the potential effects of retrofitting an existing suburban neighborhood with GI for flood protection at a larger scale could be, using Sugar Land, Texas, United States as a case site. First, low-impact facilities are proposed and schematically designed at a site scale for a typical single-family lot. The volume of rainfall that can be retained on site, due to each incorporated feature, was then derived using the Green Values National Stormwater Management Calculator. Using these data, the total volume of rainfall that could be retained if all residential sites in Sugar Land incorporated similar facilities was then projected. The results show that Sugar Land has the capacity to annually capture 56 billion liters of stormwater if all residential properties use LID. Additional benefits of the use of GI include reduced heat (37%), improved aesthetics and property values (20%), increased recreational opportunities (18%), improved water quality (12%), improved air quality (5%), increased green collar jobs (4%), reduced damage from harmful gas emissions (3%), and increased energy savings (1%), thereby surpassing conventional stormwater management techniques.

The Morphosemantic Transparency/Opacity of Novel English Analogical Compounds and Compound Families

This study deals with novel English analogical compounds, i.e. compounds obtained via either a unique model (e.g. beefcake after cheesecake) or a schema model: e.g., green-collar based on white-collar, blue-collar, pink-collar, and other X-collar compounds. The study aims, first, to inspect whether novel analogical compounds maintain the same degree of morphosemantic transparency/opacity as their models, and, second, to find out the role played by the compound constituents in the constitution of compound families, such as X-collar and others. To these aims, the study proposes a scale of morphosemantic transparency/opacity for the analysis of compound constituents. In particular, the compound constituents in our database (115 examples) are analysed in connection with: 1) their degree of transparency (vs. opacity, including metaphorical/metonymic meaning), linked to their semantic contribution in the construction of the whole compound’s meaning, and 2) their part-of-speech. Against the common assumption that productive word-formation rules mostly create morphosemantically transparent new words, or that rule productivity is closely connected with transparency, the study of our database demonstrates that novel analogical compounds tend to maintain the same transparency/opacity degree as their models. It also shows that, in nuclear families and subfamilies of compounds, the part-of-speech of the constituents, their degree of transparency/opacity, and their semantic relation are reproduced in all members of the analogical set.