Thursday, September 3, 2020

International Relations - International Development (Proposal Outline) Essay

Universal Relations - International Development (Proposal Outline) - Essay Example In actuality, ladies as a rule are kept at lower than auxiliary level and in a large portion of the social orders regardless of her administrations essentially to families that are additionally unpaid. Taking all things together, ladies has been given less benefits on social, political, and monetary force than they merit as contrast with men with one and only explanation of being Woman. Also the bias has fortified itself and ladies, in numerous pieces of the world particularly creating nations, are growingly denied of the essential rights as person. Monetary underestimation of ladies alludes to the hindrance and hardship that lady is represented against man on the financial fronts. Monetary minimization incorporate all angles, for example, destitution, hardship from dynamic rights and positions as for financial issues and all the more significantly access to financial assets. The threat of mistreating person with sexual orientation disparity, by and large and financial abuse in expli cit, additionally didn’t permit further developed areas of the countries that guarantee to be pioneers being developed. For example, just 12 organizations from fortune 500 are driven by ladies; down from the check of 15 than earlier year (CNN, 2011). Nations that are accepting driving places of development as rising countries for example China with a normal development pace of above 8% in worldwide monetary emergencies time; weakness and underestimation of ladies has expanded with increment in movement from country to urban regions for their financial development. These ladies, however, got opportunity from low compensation paid occupation at ranch yet faces in urban communities progressively troublesome circumstance of imbalance, for example, badgering and other city-variant of minimization including work segregation, pay hole and opportunity disparities and so forth (Tam, 2006). Confirmations from created and rising countries when hold such circumstances it at that point ge ts simple the condition winning in creating countries, for example, India and Pakistan. The two nations being the social center point of the South East Asia hold all the more firmly those old oblivious qualities that supported the strength of men even in most instructed segments of society; denying ladies of social, social, open and financial winning too dynamic (Nelasco, 2012). As of late in two meetings, ladies have attested notwithstanding exchange progression and globalization, ladies are becoming turning into the casualty of joblessness, underemployment, relocation for employment to urban and abroad and so forth. All these have put duplicated sway on ladies imbalance with disintegrating food weakness; work escalated businesses exploiting modest work with deluge of enormous number of ladies fundamentally with their families for employments and thus, presenting high frailty thinking the gigantic work pool. Given beneath are a few insights that presents start real factors of victi mization ladies (Nelasco, 2012) Importance of the ladies strengthening â€Å"When we enable ladies, we engage networks, countries and the whole human family.† â€UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon (UN Women, 2011) For exertion identified with lessen this disparity sociologies has introduced enormous writing; be that as it may, the affectivity has just picked up progress to the point that UN segments understood the significance of truth that world will currently create mindfulness in regards to ladies strengthening and year 2011 UN checked debut of formal endeavors for ladies strengthening (UN Women, 2011). President of UN (Women Empowerment segment of UN) has vision of this area to have future

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

The Plight of Genetically Engineered Food Essay -- Analysis, Ronald an

I was one of those individuals who accepted that there was something substance or fake about hereditary designing. To be very legitimate, I had never truly considered the procedure of GE and I believe that is the issue with the normal customer. In the wake of perusing the book Tomorrow’s Table by Pamela C. Ronald and Raoul W. Adamchak, I understood exactly how far my observation was from reality. Hereditary designing is legitimately identified with natural cultivating, which endeavors to make increasingly nutritious, better tasting food without the utilization of synthetic concoctions. The book portrays natural cultivating as â€Å"better cultivating through biology† using living life form (Ronald and Adamchak, 13). The broadly acknowledged technique for cultivating in the US includes utilizing synthetic concoctions like pesticides and manures. It is unusual to feel that we, as a general public, have gotten so familiar with devouring nourishments presented to pesticides , yet many are reluctant to eat GE food sources. Hereditary designing has been utilized for more than thirty years with no proof of hurting anybody. More than one billion sections of land of GE crops have been developed and conveyed all through the world without a solitary real instance of wellbeing hazard (Ronald and Adamchack, 52). This is rather than pesticides, again a generally acknowledged nearness in cultivating, which is accepted to harm (and in some cases slaughter) a few thousand individuals every year, yet, for the most part ranchers who have a more straightforward introduction (Ronald and Adamchak, 87). It is agitating how little consideration is paid to a substance nearness which has been recorded to hurt, while hereditary building, a natural procedure is dreaded and unjustifiably judged. I am certain this impossible to miss result is because of how little the normal individual comprehends about hereditary building of food, and the manner in which it has been pres... ... individuals; the correct individuals, with the goal that it can accomplish the most useful for the biggest measure of individuals. Without appropriate government contribution and execution to guarantee ranchers and customers advantage, the advancement of such innovation has little use (Ronald and Adamchak, 150). This innovation should be aimed at the open great, and not private interests of partnerships. Tomorrow’s Table helped me comprehend a great deal about hereditary designing that I didn't already. I figure this book would be a superb asset for the individuals who are unconscious of the procedure and about GE nourishments. I imagine that in general, in view of what I have perused, GE innovation is a positive apparatus that can help settle or if nothing else ease a significant number of the issues we will look in the coming fifty years and past. This is cultivating for the following period of our general public and I believe is essential with the goal for it to flourish.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

How do the brain and eyes jointly process information?

Presentation The complexities of the natural eye empower us to decipher light and recognize shading to create vision. It is, be that as it may, the multifaceted nature of the preparing in the visual pathway from eye to mind along which this data is deciphered and showed that permits us to make a portrayal of the encompassing scene, also called visual observation (Gibson, 1950). While vision starts with the eye and finishes with the cerebrum, the manner in which these organs cooperate and the relative impact every ha on our observation is crucial to creating what we see. Light is first refracted onto the cornea of the eye before going to the understudy and focal point. A picture is then anticipated onto the retina, bringing about the creation of ganglion cells particular to depict profundity, shading, shape, movement, and light power (Nelson, 2007). Nerve spikes from the ganglion cells containing this data transmit to the brain’s optic nerve, by which visual data is passed for understanding in the visual cortex. The privilege and left visual cortices contain some portion of the occipital projection of the cerebrum, both accepting data from the inverse hemisphere’s visual field. The evaluated 140 million neurons in the essential visual cortex (V1) (Lueba and Kraftsik, 1994) fire when visual upgrades show up inside their responsive field, and these fields are tuned to get boosts of explicit directions and hues (Kandal et al., 2000). The responsive fields of neurons in progressively complex visual handling territories can identify increasingly mind boggling upgrades, for example, faces (Kanwisher, McDermott and Chun, 1997) or bearing (Allman et al. 1984). The five distinguished visual regions (V1-V5) are interconnected with differing qualities, permitting data to be anticipated forward starting with one then onto the next and input to be given. As the visual data goes through this progressive system, it is suggested that is prepared by two pathways of neural portrayal. These pathways, na med the dorsal and ventral streams, are speculated to manage spatial consideration and the acknowledgment and view of visual upgrades individually, and include the death of visual data and portrayal further into the mind incorporating it with mindfulness, consideration, and memory capacities (Ungerleider and Mishkin, 1982). The procedure of visual recognition, as the eye’s tangible information is deciphered all through the cerebrum empowers us to see and build our own visual world. Gibson (1966) proposed an immediate hypothesis of recognition, bearing the extravagance of the tangible contribution with the development of the apparent visual result. He asserted that an assortment of ecological signals, or affordances, help the understanding of the visual scene. These incorporate splendor, surface angle, relative size, and superimposition (where one article hinders another). Gibson accepted that when joined with invariants (constancies inside the earth ie. equal lines seeming to meet toward a skyline) and optic stream (the example of light development inside a visual scene) this was sufficient to empower the perceiver to situate themselves and the general condition. There are, be that as it may, complexities to Gibson’s base up hypothesis of visual preparing. It might be excessively oversimplified to disparage the job of a top-down impact from the mind. Gibson’s hypothesis doesn't represent times when the visual framework is tricked, or gets subject to a deception. Rubin’s Vase (Rubin, 1915) is a great case of how the human visual framework is dependent upon vagueness, where one single visual upgrade can be seen as two unmistakable pictures. On the off chance that the visual framework legitimately forms light into a picture, it would follow that a solitary visual information would prompt an all inclusive and particular yield. Be that as it may, the presence of equivocalness in the view of a visual improvement proposes there might be times when the cerebrum can't choose with respect to what portrayal to appoint to the visual info. Further inquiries are raised when taking a gander at the impact of setting, and how this can lead us to misconstrue visual boosts. The Ebbinghaus Illusion, exhibits perceptual bending, featuring the job of logical signals, where a hover encompassed by enormous circles is decided as littler than a similar hover encompassed by little circles (Obonai, 1954). This is reminiscent of a more elevated level procedure in which the cerebrum applies setting important rationale to the understanding of a visual improvements. Furthermore, experience gives solid impact over the handling of visual data. ‘Impossible illusions‘, for example, Escher’s Waterfall, and the Hollow Face Illusion (Gregory, 1997) abuse ideas of experiential perceptual learning, for example, information that contiguous edges must join, and human countenances are consistently arched. These figments show how the mind intends to see rationality in 3D articles to bode well out of its visual condition, making a dazzling Catch 22 between what we know and what we are really observing. Visual observation can be uncertain, misshaped, confusing, and even invented (Gregory, 1980). It has all the earmarks of being affected by setting, experience, and desire, an idea stated by Richard Gregory (1970) who conjectured observation as a top-down procedure. Concluded from perceptions of when the human visual framework makes mistakes, Gregory recommended that the mind develops a visual speculation from data prepared by the eye dependent on previous experience and information. In the event that the top-down, constructivist hypothesis remains constant, there are suggestions for the steadiness of percepts between people. We as a whole have idiosynchratic information and experience. Do contrasts in interior portrayal lead people to see visual upgrades uniquely in contrast to each otherAdditionally, what is to be said for the impression of those that have no information or experienceDoherty et al. (2010) watched a nonappearance of suceptibility to the Ebbinghaus figment in various youngsters under seven years old, maybe intriguing that experience and information has an impact on visual data handling. Without the information base, the kids were not influenced by the logical prompts. MacLeod (2007) recommends that top-down hypotheses depend on times when visual conditions are poor, and base up speculations are established in perfect review conditions; neither of which is a widely inclusive clarification of observation. Ongoing exploration features the association of both constructivist and direct procedures (MacLeod, 2007), with the suggestion that when base up, tactile data is rich there is less contribution from logical theories, and when there is a nonattendance of upgrade data, the mind draws on its earlier information and experience to appreciate the information (Ramachandran, 1994). It becomes obvious that the investigation of human observation and how it is affected by not just the anatomical structure of the visual pathway, yet in addition mental segments, for example, experience and information will empower us to additionally see how the eyes and the cerebrum associate to process visual data. References: Allman, J., Miezin, F., McGuinness, E. (1985) ‘Direction-and speed explicit reactions from past the old style open field in the center transient visual zone (MT)† Perception, 14(2), pp. 105 †126. Doherty, M., Campbell, N., Hiromi, T., and Phillips, W. (2010) ‘The Ebbinghaus deception misleads grown-ups however not youthful children’, Developmental Science, 13(5), pp. 714-721. Gibson, J. (1950). The impression of the visual world. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gibson, J. (1966). The faculties considered as perceptual frameworks. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gregory, R. (1970). The Intelligent Eye. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Gregory RL. (1980) ‘Perceptions as hypotheses’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 290(B), pp. 181-197. Gregory, R. (1997) ‘Knowledge in discernment and illusion’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, vol. 352, pp. 1121â€1128. Kandal, E., Schwartz,J., and Jessell, T. (2000). Standards of Neural Science. fourth Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division. Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., and Chun, M. (1997) ‘The fusiform face territory: a module in human extrastriate cortex particular for face perception’, Journal of Neuroscience, 17, pp. 4302-4311. Leuba, G., and Kraftsik, R. (1994) ‘Changes in volume, surface gauge, three-dimensional shape and all out number of neurons of the human essential visual cortex from midgestation until old age’, Anatomy of Embryology, 190, pp.351-366. McLeod, S. (2007). Basically Psychology. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 February 2012]. Nelson, R. (2007) Visual reactions of ganglion cells. In: H. Kolb, E. Fernandez, and R. Nelson (eds.), The Organization of the Retina and Visual System. Salt Lake City (UT): University of Utah Health Sciences Center. Obonai, T., (1954) ‘Induction impacts in evaluations of extent’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, pp. 57-60. Ramachandran, V. (1994). In: R. Gregory, and J. Harris, (eds.) The Artful Eye. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 249â€267. Rubin, E. (1915). Synsoplevede Figurer: Studier I psykologisk Analyze. Forste Del’ [Visually experienced figures: Studies in mental examination. Part one]. Copenhagen and Christiania: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag. Ungerleider, L., and Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual frameworks. In: D. Ingle, M. Goodale, and R. Mansfield, (eds). Examination of Visual Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 549â€586.

Theme of the divided self within Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay Example For Students

Subject of the isolated self inside Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay Specifically, the partitioned self is one of the most fascinating topics inside the two books and is critical to the turn of events or ruin of the characters in both Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein. The two creators when fundamentally investigating this subject concentration upon the physical, mental or otherworldly division inside specific characters. In Emily Brontes tale Wuthering Heights, the chief characters Cathy and Heathcliff are introduced as requiring this division inside themselves to perceive their requirement for one another. This continuance of physical, mental and otherworldly division while alive, permits them possibly lamentably to encounter when in death, complete substance inside themselves. Principally Cathy isn't delineated as isolated; rather, she is introduced as having a place with a nuclear family, which appears to remain flawless until the appearance of a rover rascal. In spite of the fact that Heathcliff makes a gap inside the family because of his appearance, Cathy supposedly gains a companion with whom she believes she has a proclivity both truly, profoundly and intellectually, which will turn out to be progressively clear as the novel advances. Notwithstanding, this partnership all through the novel is every now and again tossed into strife by outside impacts or factors. As we are educated from the beginning, the best discipline that could be offered to Cathy was division from Heathcliff. Cathy and Heathcliffs detachment just in this way follows because of their underlying trip to Thrushcross Grange. Their guarantee to grow up together as inconsiderate as savages, is obliterated when Cathy and Heathcliff are isolated truly by numerous elements coming about because of this appearance. Similarly as the Lintons hound holds Cathy, so too is the Lintons house emblematically introduced as isolating her from Heathcliff, when Heathcliff resorts to peering in through their incredible glass sheets to see Cathy, in the wake of being truly hauled out of Thrushcross Grange. Cathy is additionally delineated as truly isolated from Heathcliff in any event, when she comes back to Wuthering Heights. Rather than a wild, hatless minimal savage with whom Heathcliff has a proclivity with, she returns as a stately individual. Heathcliff is presently in this way isolated truly from Cathy, by appearance as well as he said in the past section, her prevalence over everyone, including him. The introduction of Cathy and Heathcliff as genuinely separated isn't just truly observed through the varying families yet additionally through Cathys own activities and clothing. In spite of the fact that Thrushcross Grange is emblematically depicted as stifling Cathy and isolating her from Heathcliff, Cathy is introduced as promptly tolerating from the Lintons, fine garments and adulation, which would thusly recognize her from Heathcliff when she returns. Upon her appearance, she is promptly observed as isolated when she sits above every other person upon an attractive dark horse. This is underlined further when in spite of the fact that Cathy is euphoric to return, she abstains from contacting the pooches, in case they should grovel upon her breathtaking pieces of clothing. So also, when Cathy experiences Heathcliff, in spite of the fact that she races to grasp him, she looks concernedly at her dress, which she fears has becomeâ embellished. Emily Bronte obviously portrays the physical condition of the isolated self likewise through Cathy and Heathcliffs relationships. Just when Cathy weds Edgar and Heathcliff weds Isabella, can we genuinely observe the division inside oneself. As we see all through the novel, Heathcliffs nonattendance has a significant impact upon the consistent decrease of Catherines physical and mental condition of wellbeing. Because of their partition, Catherine no longer perceives her own appearance as Heathcliff reflected all that she spoke to. Dont you see that face?㠢â‚ ¬Ã¢ ¦ It was yourself Mrs Linton: You knew it some time since. The connection among male and female in Frankenstein is additionally dependent upon division. While Cathy and Heathcliff need each other to make due all in all, Frankensteins relationship with Elizabeth can't get by as the beast won't permit it because of Frankensteins refusal to make a female for the beast. Similarly as Frankenstein sought after bliss with his union with Elizabeth, the beast likewise wants for a partner equivalent to him that will, thusly, perfectionate as Elizabeth would do with Frankenstein, his feeble and broken natures. Frankensteins union with Elizabeth would empower him to recover his lost honesty, which was lost, because of the production of his loathed beast, along these lines making inside Frankenstein an interior division, until this association happens. As the beast is declined a chance to be liberated from hopelessness, he along these lines demolishes his makers possibility. I will be with you on your wedding night. Similarly as the beast is partitioned because of absence of friendship, one may likewise observe his maker enduring a similar destiny that has not come about, as in Wuthering Heights from outside impacts, yet because of his own activities. Emily Bronte further creates Catherines condition of division through where she lives, either in Wuthering Heights or Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff and Edgar speak to the outrageous feelings felt by Cathy in specific pieces of the novel. Both represent the contrasting families and how, when Cathy is contained inside one of these situations with either Edgar or Heathcliff it has a detectable impact upon her character and future. To a limited degree, both are required with the goal for Cathy to be finished. Without them she can't make due as Heathcliff speaks to her sole being, hes more myself than I am, her longing for opportunity again to those slopes where she may come back to again with her previous mate and recover what was subdued inside her because of her first excursion to Thrushcross Grange and from her union with Edgar. Be that as it may, despite the fact that she is introduced as partitioned in any event, when they are viewed as genuinely together, because of her predominan ce in social class. It would debase me to wed Heathcliffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He will never know how I love him. The significance of social class is underscored through Cathys union with Edgar. Edgar speaks to a greater amount of the forced request of society, the ordinary and developed, everything that Cathy tries to acquire. You love Mr Edgar since hes attractive, rich and adores you. She realizes she can depend uponâ his consistency in any circumstance that may emerge. In spite of the fact that Catherine wants the energy that Heathcliff presents to her, she is at present portrayed as trusting Edgars quiet love will spare her. As Catherine can't live inside the two conditions, eventually she feels confined when she picks Edgar as her better half and decides to move to Thrushcross Grange, as profoundly Cathy is introduced as requiring Heathcliff as whatever their spirits are made of they are the equivalent. Without him, Catherine views herself as a unimportant shadow of her previous self, wishing to be a young lady once more, half savage. Inside Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, the divisional part of the two chief characters, Frankenstein and the beast, rather sabotage the subject of being genuinely isolated. Mary Shelley presents this subject through her utilization of juxtaposition while depicting both Frankenstein and the beast shaking in a similar section. Phonetically she reflects Frankenstein as turning out to be a piece of his creation right now of its introduction to the world. Similarly as Frankenstein depicts how in his fever each appendage became shook, so too does the beast reflect, viably through Shelleys utilization of elucidating language, how when made it had a convulsive movement which disturbed its appendages. As Mary Shelley presents Frankenstein and the beast as one through her near language, her utilization of grammar inside the depiction of the beasts birth additionally adds accentuation to this topic. James Kelman: How Late it Was, How Late EssayThe connection among male and female in Frankenstein is additionally dependent upon division. While Cathy and Heathcliff need each other to make due overall, Frankensteins relationship with Elizabeth can't get by as the beast won't permit it because of Frankensteins refusal to make a female for the beast. Similarly as Frankenstein sought after satisfaction with his union with Elizabeth, the beast additionally wants for a buddy equivalent to him that will, thus, perfectionate as Elizabeth would do with Frankenstein, his frail and broken natures. Frankensteins union with Elizabeth would empower him to recover his lost guiltlessness, which was lost, because of the making of his detested beast, in this manner making inside Frankenstein an inward division, until this association happens. As the beast is rejected a chance to be liberated from wretchedness, he in this way crushes his makers possibility. I will be with you on your wedding night. Similarly as the beast is isolated because of absence of friendship, one may likewise observe his maker enduring a similar destiny that has not come about, as in Wuthering Heights from outside impacts, however because of his own activities. Emily Bronte further creates Catherines condition of division through where she lives, either in Wuthering Heights or Thrushcross Grange. Heathcliff and Edgar speak to the extraordinary feelings felt by Cathy in specific pieces of the novel. Both represent the contrasting family units and how, when Cathy is contained inside one of these conditions with either Edgar or Heathcliff it has a noticeable impact upon her character and future. To a limited degree, both are required with the end goal for Cathy to be finished. Without them she can't make due as Heathcliff speaks to her sole being, hes more myself than I am, her craving for opportunity again to those slopes where she may come back to again with her previous mate and recapture what was subdued inside her because of her first excursion to Thrushcross Grange and from her union with Edgar. Be that as it may, despite the fact that she is introduced as isolated in any event, when they are viewed as truly together, because of her pred ominance in social class. It would corrupt me to wed Heathcliffà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦He will never know how I

Friday, August 21, 2020

Account for the Development of Public Health Reforms in the 19th Century and Assess Their Role in Improving the Populations Health by the Early 20th Century Essays

Record for the Development of Public Health Reforms in the nineteenth Century and Assess Their Role in Improving the Populations Health by the Early twentieth Century Essays Record for the Development of Public Health Reforms in the nineteenth Century and Assess Their Role in Improving the Populations Health by the Early twentieth Century Essay Record for the Development of Public Health Reforms in the nineteenth Century and Assess Their Role in Improving the Populations Health by the Early twentieth Century Essay OOO o 233,000, of Glasgow from 77,000 to 345,000, of Liverpool from 82,000 to 376,000 and of Manchester from 75,000 to 303,000 (Alcock,Daly,Griggs,2008) Small regions of home developed rapidly until they developed into the significant urban areas. Birmingham and Sheffield got acclaimed for their assembling exchanges. London, Liverpool and Bristol developed due to the docks, railroads and channels that empowered merchandise to be sent out. The phenomenal quantities of individuals moving to, and in reality making these towns and urban areas implied that lodging arrangements should have been discovered rapidly; to this end some processing plant proprietors fabricated convenience for their laborers, hese would be manufactured near the industrial facilities with the goal that the laborers could without much of a stretch be called to work by the production line ringer, as most specialists didn't have their own timekeepers. As the manufacturing plant proprietors were roused fundamentally by benefit, and would in general view laborers as Just another asset settlement was regularly built to the most minimal conceivable norm. Salford, again significant than Manchester, was then the main town of the encompassing locale to which it despite everything gives its name, Salford Hundred. Henceforth it is that an old and in this way unwholesome, grimy, and ruinous region is ouses could be incredibly essential with mutual toilets and without running water, and without any game plans made for the removal of human waste. Stuffed, poorly depleted, gravely ventilated, and hopeless residences which line the thin paths and grimy back streets having large amounts of most huge town (Roberts, 1855) With the quantities of individuals moving to the towns and urban areas there couldn't be sufficient houses worked to adapt to request; in these cases individuals would be compelled to live in basements and other unacceptable home s, regularly close by different families and even creatures. It frequently appens that an entire Irish family is packed into one bed; regularly a store of messy straw or blankets of old sacking spread all in an aimless load, where all similar are corrupted by need, stolidity, and wretchedness. Frequently the overseers found, in a solitary house, two families in two rooms. All dozed in one, and utilized the different as a kitchen and lounge area in like manner. Frequently more than one family lived in a solitary soggy basement, in whose pestilent environment twelve to sixteen people were packed together. To these and different wellsprings of sickness must be included that pigs were kept, nd other disturbing things of the most repulsive kind were found. (Engels, 1844) Although the blast in lodging made issues with the expulsion of human waste, anyway this had been a component of urbanized zones for quite a while before the modern transformation; as Samuel Pepys recorded in a journal passage for twentieth October 1660, Going down to my basement I put my feet into an extraordinary store of butt nuggets, by which I find that Mr Turners place of office is full and comes into my basement (Halliday, 2007) With the issue of waste removal and congestion in disgusting conditions came he unavoidable increment in illnesses. In one spot we found an entire road following the course of a trench, on the grounds that along these lines further basements could be made sure about without the expense of burrowing, basements not for putting away products or waste, however for homes for people. Not one place of this road got away from the cholera. (Engels, 1844) There had consistently been infection in the towns and urban communities, notwithstanding, with the expanded populace it spread quicker than at some other time, and there appeared to be no real way to end its encouraging. There were numerous infections that prospered in these situations, ncluding Influenza, Tuberculosis, Typhoid, Typhus, and the most dreaded at that point, Cholera. Once more, the rehashed appearances of cholera, typhus, smallpox, and different plagues have indicated the British middle class the critical need of sanitation in his towns and urban areas, on the off chance that he wishes to spare himsel f and family from falling casualties to such sicknesses. (Engels, 1844) During this century, clinical science progressed at up to this point exceptional speed, and a larger number of individuals than at some other time entered the clinical calling, In the main portion of the century the clinical world was raising the xpectation that treatment of the body could become as careful a science as information on the body. All through the land, much cash and vitality was being committed to clinical consideration and its investigation. Somewhere in the range of 1801 and 1850 greater college taught men entered the calling in Great Britain (more than 8,000) than in all of past history. (Haley 1978) However, there was still a great deal to be found out about the idea of ailment, and the reasons for plagues were inadequately comprehended. The hypothesis of miasma (the conviction that sickness was spread by smell and foul air) was as yet well known as a clarification of how infections were spread. Cholera was enormously dreaded being a water-borne infection, assaulted all, prominently the white collar classes with their better water supplies and struck dread into the hearts of the governors, nearby and national. The reaction to the episode of irresistible malady shifted from town to town, anyway police in Manchester reacted to one flare-up of Cholera, by clearing and purifying the region. The principal court underneath Ducie Bridge, known as Allens Court, was in such a state at the hour of the cholera that the sterile police requested it emptied, cleared, and sterilized with chloride of lime. (Engels, 1844) Towards the century's end, Britain was engaged with clashes the world over so as to safeguard her domain from the developing powerhouses of Japan and Germany who were quick to manufacture their own realms and exchanging courses. In 1899 clash emitted between the British and the Boers, being the South African descendents of Dutch pilgrims. The Boer armed force ended up being decidedly ready, very much prepared and gave enough food and arrangements to guard themselves for a long time, while the British, having accepted that the war would be rapidly finished, were not even close also arranged. The Boer war featured a major issue for the powers, explicitly that the enlisted people being called upon to guard the country, being to a great extent drawn from neediness stricken regions where the conditions examined above were overflowing, were frequently frail and of unexpected frailty. Around then, it became evident that there were not kidding issues with general wellbeing in Britain: up to 40% of enlisted people in Britain were unfit for military assistance, experiencing clinical issues, for example, rickets and other destitution related ailments. 80% of men introducing for administration in the Boer War were seen by the Army Medical Corps as truly unfit to fght. wrww. powers war-records. co. uk) The acknowledgment that the populace had gotten too powerless to even think about defending the country, close by the undeniably regular flare-ups of malady emerging from confined, unsanitary day to day environments of laborers prompted the Report of the Interdepartmental Committee in to Physical Deterioration in 1904, which called for changes to be made to guarantee the countries wellbeing didn't break down farther than it previously had. In the 1906 general political decision the Liberal Party picked up power after a broad time of Conservative government and promptly set out on an arrangement f Acts to improve the strength of the country. These incorporated the arrangement of free school dinners in 1906, wellbeing checks for younger students in 1907, the Notification of Births Act in 1907 to permit maternity specialists to guarantee that infants were being taken care of and thought about accurately and the Childrens Act of 1908, which was intended to keep vagrants out of detainment facilities and set up childrens homes for them. By concentrating fundamentally on the soundness of youngsters, they were attempting to improve the wellbeing of the people to come, consequently guaranteeing a consistent flexibly of fit and solid people who could be called upon to protect the country, if essential. The Labor Exchange Act of 1909 and the National Insurance Act of 1911. were the principal that the country had seen that attempted to handle the issue of joblessness and sick wellbeing. The Labor Exchange Act tried to unite those individuals who were searching for work with the individuals who required specialists. The National Insurance Act was part into two phases, initially giving individuals a privilege to clinical treatment and debilitated compensation as a byproduct of an installment every week out of their wages, and besides giving individuals the privilege to joblessness pay for up laborer before guaranteeing it. There are varying hypotheses about the viability of hese changes in improving the wellbeing of the populace toward the finish of the nineteenth century and the start of the twentieth century. What can't be denied, be that as it may, is that the demise rate fell in this period, from 22. 6 passings for each 1000 in England and Wales in 1860 to just 14. 4 for each 1000 by 1905 (Gascoigne, S, 2012) Thomas McKeown, in his book the Modern Rise in Population (1976) took a gander at the point by point passing records that were saved for Britain at the hour of the changes to survey their impact on the recorded passings. He closed, after broad research, that the upgrades to he countries wellbeing during the period 1850-1914 was because of a consistent ascent in expectations for everyday comforts and the related ascent in normal wholesome admission (McKeown, 1976) which was an auxiliary aftereffect of the changes as individuals had the option to help themselves while jobless and had the option to move rapidly from Job to Job, not, at this point subject to the vacillations of business which may have recently prompted a reliance on a poor law that could no longer help them. The dim shadow of the Malthusian way of thinking has died, and no perspective on a definitive plan of thi

Monday, August 17, 2020

My Summer Reading Challenge

My Summer Reading Challenge Summer 2015 If you are a college student, or even in high school, you may have found that your busy lifestyle leaves little time for reading for pleasure. And if you are like me, this makes you sad, because you were one of those kids that spent half their time in various awkward positions on a couch reading books for upwards of six hours a day sometimes. Figure 1: An informative diagram that I doodled Here’s a list of all the books I’ve read in college so far (I might be forgetting a few, but this is most of them!) and my (incomplete) list of 10 books for this coming summer! Suggestions welcomeI’d actually like to have way more than 10 books, maybe more like 20, on my list, so that I always have back-ups whenever one of them is checked out at the library ^^; (nf = nonfiction) Summer 2015 New Reads: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddartha Mukherjee (nf) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Re-Reads: 6-12. The Harry Potter Series (yes, the whole thing) by J.K. Rowling 13. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Summer 2016 New Reads: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (nf) White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan Re-Reads: 7. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Honorable Mentions Things I managed to read during Not Summer The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Winter ‘16) The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley (nf) (Spring ‘15) ^(Everyone!! should!!! read!!! this book!!! Everyone!! Check it out now!!!!!! iT’s RIDICULOUSLY Good!!!! And!!! IMPORTAnT!!!!) The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu (Spring Break ‘17) (it was the MIT Reads book selection so I got it from the MIT bookstore for free :D) (ridiculously good book by ridiculously good Asian American author) The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Summer ‘14) (I read this before I came to MIT and it made me want to take his class so bad) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (I read this book for a class, 21G.046: Modern Chinese Fiction and Cinema) Started but never finished, and why: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (nf) (this is ridiculous as it’s very short and honestly more of a long essay that happens to be bound than a book, but I got back to school and got busy ;__; will finish (starting from the beginning) as soon as finals is over!) A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace (nf) (ran out of time on the library loan, and had to get back to school) (through this cool library network we have, I managed to borrow it all the way from Princeton lol) The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (the first few pages told from the womanizer’s first person super turned me off, and I just stopped theremy freshman year roommate really recommended it though so maybe I should try again) Summer ‘17 List I’m quite determined to get through all 10 this time. So far, I have Nonfiction: The Gene by Siddartha Mukherjee (the sequel-ish to a book above) (was too popular last summer to check out) Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang (tried before, also too popular) Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (one of few mixed celebrities that actually talks about the experience of being a mixed person, which I really appreciate) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks Fiction: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Paradise by Toni Morrison 1984 by George Orwell Inevitable Re-Read: 5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe I’d really like to read more Asian or Asian-American authors and more nonfiction, as I’ve been trying to diversify the books I read. I’ve at least successfully read a few African and African-American authors by now, and Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie was really great and the first book I’ve read that also really reflected on the Asian/Asian American experience, through sci-fi stories (!!!!), in a very organic way. Going to try and add to that~ Some Thoughts If there is one book that you read after reading this post, make it The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told by Alex Haley. I promise you that it is not what you are expecting. It is not some dry book of a vaguely important historical figure, and the writing is not super dated or hard to understand. Rather, Malcolm X is like an action movie script, a teen comedy, a coming of age novel, a Shakespearean tragedy, and almost sci-fi-like in its weirdness (particularly Malcolm’s experience with Black American Islam and his rift with Elijah Muhammad), all rolled into one. This man lived an incredible life in ridiculous conditions. While reading it, I could hardly believe that it was all real. I really can’t emphasize that enough!! Another comment I’d like to make is about the book that I have re-read every summer of college, from 2014 til now, which is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I really like how Achebe rolled together almost everything I feel about colonialism and now neo-colonialism. It’s a lot more complex than simply “the colonialists were bad”, and I feel like Things Fall Apart really reflects that. As much as you can see that colonialists profit more than you do from your own work, if your rural area now receives health care, how do you justify keeping them away? If your quality of life is generally better even though you’re being exploited, how do you actively combat that? How does this war of feelings manifest inside a person, destroying them from the inside as they are pulled apart by traditional culture and colonial exploits and fear for survival of a family(ok I’m waxing poetic here, but the point is, the book is really good). This summer I’ll probably re-read it again along w ith a short story, “The Headstrong Historian” in The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which also discusses colonialism. It’s really interesting to read the differences between two amazing Nigerian authors in two different time periods, with different ideologies, and yet handling some of the same key issues that have, for better or worse, been woven into the societies of many nations. Happy Reading!! Whatever book that you enjoy, whether it’s a new one or an old one or that one you keep meaning to start or finish, I hope you’ll find time to read this summer! It can be on the train, the plane, to work, at lunch, in the evenings, or my personal favorite, while “sitting” improperly on an armchair :) Post Tagged #comics

Sunday, June 21, 2020

The role of the dutch business system in effectively implementing lean management - Free Essay Example

1. Introduction 1.1 Problem Indication Nowadays lean management is being implemented in many organizations all over the world. Lean management is about reducing waste as much as possible and about doing things simple and thereby constantly improving those things (Slack, Chambers Johnston, 2007). It has been implemented effectively in many industries and organizations such as Wal-Mart and emergency departments (Dickson, Singh, Sheung, Wyatt Nugent, 2009; Schonberger, 2007). However, there is also evidence that lean management is often not effectively implemented or even considered as a failure (Schonberger, 2007). Multiple studies have been trying to explain what kind of factors influence the success or failure of implementing lean management in organizations (Bhasin Burcher, 2006). For decades authors have argued that organizations and industries are influenced by institutions in their environment (Tempel Walgenbach, 2007; Scott, 1995). It therefore seems important to have a better understanding of the institutions around us. The term institutions, however, is very broad. According to North (1991, p. 97) institutions are the humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic and social interaction. They consist of both informal constraints (sanctions, taboos, customs, traditions, and codes of conduct), and formal rules (constitutions, laws, property rights). Practical examples of institutions are the educational and the financial system. Formal institutions are easier to identify and to discern than informal institutions. In this study the focus will be on formal institutions, thereby limiting the field of investigation. Furthermore, this study follows the business systems approach developed by Whitley (1992b). According to this approach, business systems are explained by institutions. A business system is seen as particular ways of organizing, controlling and directing business enterprises that become established as the dominant forms of business organization in different societies (Whitley, 1992b, p. 125). In other words, the characteristics of a business system show how the economy is organized. According to Whitley (1992a) nations have a highly significant influence on their domestic institutions, because state actions determine the effectiveness and role of formal institutions in governing many important aspects of economic coordination (Whitley, 1999, p. 44).Therefore business systems are situated at the national level and this is also the reason why they are different among nations. A practical example of a business system is the compartmentalized business system, to which e.g. the U.S.A. belo ngs. It is characterized by a highly mobile workforce, shareholder control, well-developed capital markets, and an unregulated labor market. This is very different from the business system in the Netherlands, but its characteristics will be discussed later. It should be stated that some characteristics of the Dutch business system are quite similar to the characteristics of other business systems such as the German. Furthermore, this study recognizes that institutions are sometimes not situated at the level of the nation because e.g. EU institutions overrule national institutions (Koen, 2005). It focuses, however, on the institutional features and the business system in the Netherlands. The implementation of lean management in organizations has shown mixed results. Organizational and institutional studies have argued that organizations are influenced by institutions. It seems quite important for organizations to know how their institutional environment influences the effective implementation of lean management. However, little is known in research about how this is influenced by formal, societal institutions. The aim of this study is to show, by using the business systems approach, whether institutions in the Netherlands facilitate the organizational implementation of lean management effectively. The study will therefore look into the features of the Dutch business system and investigate if they fit with the characteristics of lean management. 1.2 Problem statement The aim of the study is to investigate whether the Netherlands facilitate an institutional environment where lean management can be applied effectively in organizations (see figure 1). In this study, a deeper understanding about institutions will be acquired to see how formal, societal institutions influence the implementation of lean management. These institutional features influence the way an economy is organized (business system) in a country. It therefore investigates the fit between the features of the business systems in the Netherlands and the characteristics of lean management. To this end, the following problem statement will be used: Do the Netherlands facilitate aninstitutional environment to effectively implement lean management in organizations? 1.3 Research Questions The following research questions will be used to answer the problem statement. The first two research questions have a somewhat broader scope, whereas the final research question has a narrower one. 1. What are the features of the Dutch business system? First, the study shows that institutions have an influence on the economic organization (business system) in a nation. Thereafter, the study is able to identify the distinct features of the Dutch business system, which is essential for this study. What are the characteristics of lean management? Here lean management and its characteristics are explained extensively. Furthermore, important coordination characteristics of lean management will be described. 2. How do the features of the Dutch business system influence effective implementation of lean management? This question links the features of the business system in the Netherlands to the characteristics of lean management. This question makes clear whether the business system in the Netherlands facilitates effective implementation of lean management in organizations. 1.4 Research Design and data collection Firstly, this study is a literature review on the effective implementation of lean management by taking an institutional perspective, more specifically a business systems approach. It makes use of secondary data sources to answer the problem statement. The advantage of a literature review is that it ensures no important variables are overlooked during the definition of the problem (Sekaran Bougie, 2010). A limitation of the literature review is that it requires a lot of finesse to identify useful resources (Marrelli, 2005). This study contains old as well as new literature. However, it is possible that data becomes obsolete; therefore the main focus will be on quite recently published literature. Secondly, little research has been done on how formal, societal institutions influence the effective implementation of lean management. Therefore this thesis is an exploratory research since it tries to better comprehend the nature of the problem, which is in this case the fit between insti tutions and lean management (Sekaran Bougie, 2010). Thirdly, this is a causal study that indicates the causal relationship between institutions and the effective implementation of lean management. 1.5 Structure of the thesis In the coming chapters the research questions mentioned earlier will be answered. In the next chapter the institutional features of the Netherlands and the Dutch business system are discussed. In the third chapter Lean management and its characteristics are defined. Thereafter, in the fourth chapter, the fit between on the one hand lean management and on the other the institutional features and the business system in the Netherlands will be discussed. Thereafter this study is able to tell to what extent the Netherlands facilitate a societal, institutional environment to effectively implement lean management in organizations. In the last chapter the thesis is completed with a conclusion, which discusses some limitations of this study and recommendations for future research are given. 2. The Dutch institutional environment Whitley (1999) argues that institutions are significantly influenced at the national level. This chapter will make clear that nations differ from each other because of different institutional features. There are e.g. institutional differences between countries with regard to the financial system (capital-based vs. credit-based), the regulation of markets, and ownership coordination. These different institutional features have as a consequence that nations have different forms of economic organization (business system) that fit with their institutional environment. Hereafter, the existence of institutions is explained. Furthermore, a clear overview of the four crucial institutions and their features will be given and the characteristics of business systems are discussed. Lastly, the Dutch institutional features and the characteristics of the Dutch business system are identified. 2.1 The existence of institutions Why do institutions exist in the first place? According to North (1993) human beings do not make rational decisions because they make decisions based on restricted information and furthermore they do not have the mental capacity to do this. In order to be able to structure interaction between human beings and thereby lowering the transaction costs between them, people have developed institutions. Thus, they are developed by people to diminish uncertainty by constraining human interaction (North, 1993). 2.2 Four crucial institutions Whitley (1999) has identified four formal, societal institutions, which are also interconnected to each other, that are crucial for organizing an economy (see figure 2). These institutions are identified as the state, the financial system, the skill development and control system, and trust and authority relations. Whitley (1999) selected these institutions because in his view they control access to critical resources, particularly capital and labor. Some examples may show what kind of features these four institutions have in the Netherlands. Furthermore, they show how these four institutions operating at the national level affect organizations (Tempel Walgenbach, 2007). 1. According to Whitley (1999) the first important feature of the state is to what degree it dominates the economy and shares risk. This determines to what degree organizations are dependent on policies and actions of the state. Secondly, there are significant differences to what extent nations regulate markets, such as the labor market (Koen, 2005). According to van Iterson and Olie (1992) labor mobility in the Netherlands tend to be quite low because of market regulation in the labor market. They state that changing jobs often causes a pension loss and furthermore the majority of promotions are done internally, thereby reducing the labor mobility of Dutch employees. Lastly, enmity of the state to intermediary associations, which could facilitate collaboration between firms, is considered as an important feature (Whitley, 1999). 2. The second institution Whitley (1999) discusses is the financial system. He makes a distinction between capital-market based financial systems, which depend on the market to effectively allocate resources, and credit-based financial systems, which mainly depend on banks to effectively allocate resources. Although most nations more or less fit into either of these financial systems, the Dutch financial system does not fit into one of these. Like in more European countries such as Germany, not only shareholders, but also other stakeholders are taken seriously. However, it is rather unique that Dutch organizations are also depending on the relatively well-developed capital-market in the Netherlands (van Iterson Olie, 1992). Here a limitation of the business systems approach is identified, because Whitley (1999) suggests that organizations in a specific business system are largely credit financed or capital financed. In the Netherlands and in some other countries, organizations make use of a mix of credit and capital finance. 3. Whitley (1999) states that the third key institution for structuring a business system is the skill development and control system. Here attention is given to how the educational system and the training system develop skills (Koen, 2005). It also focuses on to the functioning of the labor market, in particular the way it is organized and controlled. Whitley (1999) argues that national institutions differ from each in the strength of independent trade unions and labor organizations and in the centralization of bargaining power.In the Global Competiveness Report 2010-2011, written by Schwab, the Netherlands score very high on the quality of the educational system and on the extent of staff training (Schwab, 2010). This indicates that the Netherlands have a very well educated and trained workforce. Schwab (2010) also reports that wage determination is done at a high level of centralization in the Netherlands, which is an indication for high centralization of bargaining in the Netherl ands. Lorenz and Valeyre (2005) argue that higher-level forms of coordination are still important for determining wages in the Netherlands. 4. Lastly, Whitley (1999) considers authority and trust relations as a crucial institutional feature because it influences the governance structure of organizations. Hotho (2009) states that these relations influence how employees and employers interact with each other and how exchange relations between firms are structured. Both Hotho (2009) as Snderskov (2008) argue that the level of generalized trust appears to be relatively high in the Netherlands. Meaning that Dutch people are more likely to trust each other, even if they do not know each other. A high level of generalized trust facilitates transactions between people or organizations. 2.3 Business systems approach To analyze the societal, institutional environment in the Netherlands this study makes use of the business systems approach. In academic literature this approach is used for analyzing organizations from an institutional perspective. By using this approach salient features of the Dutch business system can be identified. As mentioned earlier, a business system is seen as particular ways of organizing, controlling and directing business enterprises that become established as the dominant forms of business organization in different societies (Whitley, 1992b, p. 125). Below the features used by Whitley (1999) to distinguish business systems will be discussed (see table 1). Thereafter we will stipulate the unique characteristics of the Dutch business system. 2.3.1 Work management and employment The first characteristic is to what extent employee-employer interdependence is long-term (Whitley, 1999). The question here is whether organizations rely on the external labor market for employees or that employees are trained and have developed skills within an organization, thereby increasing interdependence on each other. The second characteristic is to what extent employers delegate decision-making to employees and to what extent employers trust in them (Whitley, 1999). 2.3.2 Non-ownership coordination The second feature is the way non-ownership activities are coordinated between organizations, thereby taking a closer look at the relationships between organizations (Whitley, 1999). Whitley (1999, p. 37) identified extent of alliance coordination of production chains, the extent of collaboration between competitors, and the extent of alliance coordination of sectors as the key characteristics of a business system concerning non-ownership coordination. 2.3.3 Ownership coordination Whitley (1999) argues that the first characteristic of ownership coordination is the way ownership is coordinated, which is about the relationship between managers and owners. Whitley (1999) identified three different ways for coordinating ownership: By direct control, organizations are controlled by their managers, who usually also are the owners. By market control, organizations are controlled by their shareholders (owners). By alliance control, in which both owners and managers are involved in taking decisions with respect to managing organizations. Koen (2005) argues that the second and the third characteristic are the degree of the organizations integration into other production chains and sectors, which basically is the degree of horizontal and vertical diversification of organizations. Characteristics Work management and employment Employer-employee interdependence Delegation to, and trust of, employees Non-ownership coordination Extent of alliance coordination of production chains Extent of collaboration between competitors Extent of alliance coordination of sectors Ownership coordination Primary means of ownership control (direct, alliance, market contracting) Extent of ownership integration of production chains Extent of ownership integration of sectors Table 1: Key characteristics of business systemsSource: Whitley (1999, p. 34) 2.4 Studies about the Dutch business system Studies have come to different conclusions about the characteristics of the Dutch business system (Brookes, Brewster Wood, 2005; Hotho, 2009; Whitley, 1999). Whitley (1999), founder of the business system approach, concluded that the Netherlands are part of the collaborative business system, which is one of the six ideal business systems identified by him. They are ideal in a sense that, because of the interconnection of business system characteristics, only six business systems are likely to sustain for a longer period because its characteristics are balanced. According to Whitley (1999) collaborative business systems organizations are characterized by alliance control, high vertical integration and limited horizontal integration. Furthermore, he stated that organizations in this business system have limited vertical alliances and few horizontal alliances, but there is a lot of collaboration between competitors. Lastly, he states that there is some employer-employee interdependence ; in addition, there is high delegation to employees and high trust of employees. Hotho (2009), although agreeing on most institutional features, does not believe that the Netherlands fit into the collaborative business system because he has found evidence that the Netherlands have different institutional features as Whitley (1999) argues. Besides that, Hotho (2009) claims to have evidence that the Dutch business system is a distinctive one and is likely to sustain for a longer period. Hothos research seems to be more credible than Whitleys with regard to the Netherlands, because Hotho investigated the Netherlands much more thoroughly than Whitley did. Furthermore, he found empirical evidence confirming these institutional features. His research is also more recent, making it more reliable. Most importantly, Whitley argues in his research that the Dutch institutional environment is very similar to the German institutional environment. Although they have many similarities, there are some major differences which are better recognized and empirically supported by Hot ho (2009). This study takes this into consideration when finding contradicting information between the two researches. 2.5 Characteristics of the Dutch business system 2.5.1 Work management and employment Hotho (2009) and Whitley (1999) both agree that the generalized trust in formal institutions is relatively high in the Netherlands. Snderskov (2008) also shows in his article that the Netherlands, together with most Scandinavian countries, have a relatively high level of trust compared to other European countries, which fits with the results of Hothos (2009) paper. Moreover, the two studies agree that Dutch employers are very willing to delegate authority to employees. According to Schwab (2010) Dutch employers have a high willingness to delegate authority to employees; in fact, the Netherlands belong to the top five countries. Brookes et al. (2005) argue that in the Netherlands there is some employee-employer interdependence. However, this study concludes that there is a considerable commitment to each other. Firstly, according to Schwab (2010) the Netherlands have an excellent education and training system which according to Whitley (1999) has a positive influence on the employee-employer interdependence. Higher skilled employees are less easily replaced by new ones because of their acquired specialized skills. Secondly, Hotho (2009) argues that in the Netherlands unions are strong and thereby enhance the development of long-term interdependency of employees and employers. Lastly, van Iterson and Olie (1992) state that commitment and loyalty to an organization is rewarded in the Netherlands, which also increases employee-employer interdependence. However, employer-employee interdependence is not as high as in countries such as Japan, where it is normal for employees to stay at the same company all their w orking life. 2.5.2 Non-ownership coordination Alliance forms, both horizontally as vertically, are not common in the Netherlands according to Whitley (1999). He argues that in general, alliance forms are discouraged by a dominant and risk-sharing state because this threatens state dominance. Van Iterson and Olie (1992) and Klaver and Ypma (2006) show that state involvement and risk sharing in the Netherlands has always been low because of the consensus-based approach and international focus of Dutch organizations, thereby encouraging alliance forms. This is not consistent with the findings of Whitley (1999), who believes that in collaborative business systems there is considerable state dominance. However, the research of van Iterson and Olie (1992) seems to be a more reliable since it is much more focused on the specific institutional environment in the Netherlands. Besides that, Whitley (1999) acknowledges that high trust in formal institutions encourages alliance forms, as organizations are better able to rely on their commit ments to each other because they have trust in the institutions that oversee these commitments. In accordance with Whitley (1999), Snderskov (2008) argues that the general trust of Dutch citizens in formal institutions is high. Steijn (2001) argues that there are some alliance forms in the Netherlands, but that the number is growing steadily. Poot, Faems and Vanhaverbeke (2009) validate that the number of horizontal and vertical collaborations between is increasing. However, with empirical evidence they show that there is considerable vertical collaboration in the Netherlands nowadays. As in the case of collaboration between competitors, an increasing trend is found in the Netherlands (Steijn, 2001; Poot et al., 2009). Whitley (1999) argues that collaboration between competitors in the Netherlands is high because the Dutch institutional environment encourages collaboration between competitors. 2.5.3 Ownership coordination Hotho (2009) has shown in his paper that in the Dutch state is not dominant and has low willingness to share risk. Van Iterson and Olie (1992) argue that high trade and export and the consensus-based approach in the Netherlands have kept Dutch state dominance low. Furthermore, Hotho (2009) has shown that the strength and incorporation of intermediaries is considerable in the Netherlands. Van Iterson and Olie (1992) argue that there is considerable vertical and horizontal ownership integration in Dutch organizations, but it is quite instable. The Dutch structure of the economy is characterized by few, but very big multinationals complemented with an enormous number of small firms and very few medium-sized enterprises, thereby causing an instable environment for organizations to integrate ownership in other production chains and sectors (van Iterson Olie, 1992). The information in the literature on the formal regulation of markets is contradicting. Whitley (1999) argues that there is high market regulation in the collaborative Dutch business system. However, Hotho (2009) has found evidence for low market regulation in the Netherlands. In contrast, Schwab (2010) shows that there is some or maybe considerable market regulation. The Global Competiveness Report 2010-2011, written by Schwab, appears the most reliable source since it based on multiple indicators (Schwab, 2010). The Dutch labor and financial market are quite regulated, whereas the state regulations give a lot of freedom to the Dutch organizations. An overview is given in table 2. Characteristics Degree Work management and employment Employer-employee interdependence Considerable (declining) Delegation to, and trust of, employees High Non-ownership coordination Extent of alliance coordination of production chains Considerable (growing) Extent of collaboration between competitors Some (growing) Extent of alliance coordination of sectors Some (growing) Ownership coordination Primary means of ownership control (direct, alliance, market contracting) Alliance Extent of ownership integration of production chains Some/Considerable (instable) Extent of ownership integration of sectors Some/Considerable (instable) Table 2: Key characteristics of business systems of the Dutch business system 3. Lean management Nowadays lean management is a well known production philosophy all over the world. The development of lean management started in the famous Toyota Motor Company. Thereafter, Japan got acquainted with it and later the rest of the world. In short, lean management is about reducing waste as much as possible and about doing things simple and thereby constantly improving those things (Slack et al., 2007). 3.1 A definition of lean management Although lean management has its roots in the car industry and therefore is extensively being used in the manufacturing industry, Womack, Jones and Roos (1990) argue that lean management can be applied anywhere in the world. Because of its fundamental ideas with regard to managing operations, lean can also be seen as a philosophy which can be implemented in other countries, industries and businesses. It thereby shows the relevance of this study, since it investigates the role of institutions in the effective implementation of lean management in the Netherlands. It also shows the confusion concerning the different terminology with regard to lean. In their search for a clear definition for lean management Shah and Ward (2007) argue that the lean philosophy and the lean production method are not similar. They state that the lean philosophy is more about the theoretical principles of lean, which are mutually reinforcing, whereas the production method is about practical tools and techniqu es, e.g. JIT, which are visible in an organization (Shah Ward, 2007). Since this study investigates the fit between the Dutch institutional environment and the characteristics of lean management, it will focus more on the principles of lean philosophy/management. In other words, the study focuses more on the lean philosophy instead of the lean production method. This study therefore needs to identify salient characteristics of lean management in order to be able to compare it with the Dutch institutional features. Studies have used many descriptions for defining lean (Shah Ward, 2007). Shah and Ward (2007) argue that ambiguity in defining lean is caused by its long evolvement. Furthermore, they state that it is often mistaken with other approaches and that there is a disagreement over the exact content of lean management. In search for a suitable definition for lean management, Warnecke and Hser (1995, p. 38) came up with the following definition: a system of measures and methods which when taken all together have the potential to bring about a lean and therefore particular competitive state throughout the entire company. 3.2 Key elements of lean management 3.2.1 Elimination of waste According to Harrison (1992) the three key elements of the lean philosophy are: elimination of waste, involvement of everyone, and continuous improvement. Harrison (1992) argues that elimination of waste is the most important aspect of the lean philosophy. According to the lean philosophy eliminating waste is similar to eliminating everything which does not add value to a product, process or service. According to Hines and Rich (1997) important sources of waste are inventory, waiting time, transportation, inappropriate processing, over production, unnecessary motions, and defectives. Inventory e.g., is seen as a source of waste since it only adds costs and no value. Furthermore, problems will not immediately appear and throughput time is slow if inventory is high. By eliminating waste, all activities that do not add value for the costumer are eliminated. Hereby organizations remove activities that the costumer is not willing to pay for, which in the end saves costs for the organizati on (Sahoo, Singh, Shankar Tiwari, 2008). Furthermore, Womack and Jones (1996) argue that by eliminating waste the flow of goods or services is increased, allowing a lean organization to faster respond to changing customer demands, thereby making it also more flexible. 3.2.2 Continuous improvement Secondly, continuous improvement of products and processes, also known as kaizen, is argued to be of crucial importance (Harrison, 1992). Bhuiyan and Baghel (2005) see it as a culture in which everyone is involved to make improvements in order to eliminate waste in all parts of the organization. In this culture, performance targets are then also increased, making it necessary to keep improving. Bhasin and Burcher (2006) therefore argue that the ideal of continuous improvement is also the reason why many authors have stressed the point that implementation of lean management in an organization takes time. Continuously improving will eventually lead to improved quality. In lean management, it is essential that these quality improvements are perceived as added value by the customer. 3.2.3 Involvement of everyone Thirdly, everyone in a lean organization is encouraged and involved to look for improvements and tackle problems, with the goal of (continuous) improvement of processes and products and the elimination of waste. Employees are expected to think actively about solutions of encountered problems. Cappelli and Rogovski (1998) argue that employee involvement is increased by giving employees more responsibilities and authority, which is important in a lean organization to e.g. tackle problems instantly. They also have the opportunity to give suggestions for improvements. Hereby the organization hopes that employees in a lean organization are more committed to their organization. Training and skill development encourages employees to be more involved in team-based problem solving and doing multiple tasks, making them more skilful and flexible. However, not only employees are involved, also suppliers and customers are involved in a lean organization to improve operations and eliminate waste. 3.3 Implementation of lean management Bhasin and Burcher (2006) state that numerous academic articles have found empirical evidence for the increased competitiveness of organizations after the lean philosophy was implemented. However, they also state that implementing the lean philosophy is experienced as very difficult, which resulted in the low rates of successful implementation. According to Liker (2004) the lean philosophy is a way of thinking, in which workers are the most valuable resource of an organization. In an organization where lean management is being implemented, workers should no longer be seen as a pair of hands, but as analyzers and problem solvers (Liker, 2004). Scherrer-Rathje, Boyle and Deflorin (2009) argue that implementing the lean philosophy, the human side of lean, is a long-term process which requires full involvement of both managers as employees. If managers are not committed to the lean philosophy, chances of failure increase dramatically (Scherrer-Rathje et al., 2009). Hence, successfully im plementing lean management is highly dependent on the involvement and commitment of everyone in the organization. 3.4 Coordination characteristics of lean management 3.4.1 Delegation of authority to employees Delegation of authority to employees is considered as an important factor of successful implementing lean management in an organization (Scherrer-Rathje et al., 2009). Fairris and Tohyama (2002) argue that giving employees more responsibility should lead to quality improvements of products and higher productivity. Employees with more delegated autonomy will develop unique knowledge in their work field and are therefore better able to tackle problems in their work field than their managers. This idea of delegating authority to employees is crucial for the lean philosophy. Furthermore, it is widely recognized that multifunctional teams are important in the lean philosophy (hlstrm, 1998). In a lean organization, employees working in a team should be capable of performing multiple tasks in this team and even take over work from other team members. Each team is responsible for their work and they are therefore given some form of authority by their managers. It is therefore clear that not only at an individual level, but more importantly on a team level, employees are delegated authority in order to improve productivity and reduce waste. 3.4.2 Training of employees Part of the lean philosophy is constantly improving operations, which will lead to quality improvements. It is essential in the lean philosophy that these quality improvements add value for the costumer. Zu, Fredendall and Douglas (2008) argue that highly trained employees will most likely improve operations and thereby add value to products, services, and processes. Zu et al. (2008) found empirical evidence that highly trained employees had more awareness of quality related issues and they were able to make better decisions. Furthermore, lean management is known as a flexible production method. It allows organizations to be more flexible in reacting to the demands of costumers and to the changing circumstances in the economic environment, which eventually reduces waste. According to Fane, Vaghefi, van Deusen and Woods (2003) argue that organizations can be more flexible, when they have cross-trained employees who are able to perform multiple tasks. Fane et al. (2003) argue that employees must be highly trained and skilled in order to be able to perform multiple tasks in the organization. Besides that, employees in a lean organization should be able to identify and resolve existing and emerging problems, which will help to reduce waste (Vidal, 2007). In order to do this, organizations should have highly trained and skilled employees who are able to do this. 3.4.3 Supplier networks In lean management it is important to have tight relations with your suppliers and customers. It is of crucial importance for a lean organization to have reliable, trustable suppliers where it can depend on (Bhasin Burcher, 2006; Shah Ward, 2007). Information sharing between the supplier and the lean organization is very important to effectively cooperate. Lean organizations coerce that they are being supplied with flawless goods or services that meet the requirements of the organization (Warnecke and Hser, 1995). On the one hand it will therefore focus on fewer suppliers; on the other hand this will result in tight long-term relationships with them, thereby increasing involvement between the supplier and the lean organization. It will then not only be able to (continuously) improve collaboration with its suppliers, but the organization will then also be able to reduce or eliminate waste by this improved collaboration. The lean organization is e.g. able to reduce waiting time of su pplies and avoid unnecessary inventory by better coordinating the flow of supplies, so that they will come at the right place, at the right time. Furthermore, by tightly collaborating requirements of the supplies can be continuously improved to the ever increasing standards of the lean organization, resulting in a reduced amount of defects. Besides that, through intensive cooperation with its suppliers, a lean organization is able to ensure itself already in the design state of a service or good of a functional, reliable and simple design (Levy, 1997). Intensive collaboration and coordination with the supplier will in the end lead to increased customer-value in the final product through elimination of waste, involvement of everyone, and continuous improvement. 4. The role of the Dutch business system in effectively implementing lean management In this chapter, the features of the Dutch business system are linked to the characteristics of lean management. First, an introduction about the Dutch society with respect to lean management is given. After that, this study shows to what extent the features of the Dutch business system fit with the characteristics of lean management. 4.1 Introduction In Dutch organizations learning is promoted, which makes them very responsive to environmental changes (Lorenz Valeyre, 2005). This is also necessary in the Netherlands, because it is a small and open economy. Furthermore, Schwab (2010) argues that Dutch organizations are very competitive because of their unique capability to absorb new technologies that increase productivity, thereby making the Netherlands one of the most competitive countries in the world. Bhasin and Burcher (2006) indicate that lean management, if implemented with complete commitment, increases productivity spectacularly. Most likely Dutch organizations will not have major implementation problems with lean management, because they are experienced in adapting and learning. What further highlights the Netherlands is its consensual decision-making, also known as the polder model. The aim of the polder model is to reduce state regulation through consensual agreements (Klaver Ypma, 2006). Consensus is highly valued in the Netherlands and therefore also in Dutch organizations, which has resulted in a lot of compromises (van Iterson, 1997). According to Liker (2004) Toyota, the company in which lean management was invented, also extensively uses consensual decision-making to come to quality decisions. Everyone involved in the decision-making process can first give their opinion about it. After all opinions have been taken into consideration most likely a consensual decision will be taken at Toyota. At Toyota consensus is reached in a slightly different manner as in the Netherlands, but both Dutch organizations as Toyota trust on consensual decision-making to come a quality decision. This again shows that implementation of lean management in Dutch organizati ons could have a future. In the next part, this study investigates the fit between lean management and the Dutch business system more thoroughly. 4.2 Fit between the Dutch business system and lean management First of all, it should be noted that not every feature of the business system will extensively be linked to lean management because of the lack of relevance. Therefore this part of the thesis will look at the relevant features of the business system that can be linked to the characteristics of lean management. 4.2.1 Work management and employment vs. lean management As mentioned before, Liker (2004) argues that in the lean philosophy workers are seen as the most important resource. Also in the Netherlands, where considerable employer-employee interdependence is present, employees are regarded as a very important resource. Workers in a lean environment should be capable of doing multiple tasks and work in multifunctional teams. In these teams they are delegated relatively much autonomy from management in decision making and problem solving. Lean organizations are in need of highly trained and skilled employees who are able to work according to this philosophy (Fane et al., 2003). There appears to be a fit with the Dutch institutional environment, which has an excellent educational and training system, so that Dutch organizations have access to highly skilled workers (Schwab, 2010). Besides that, Schwab (2010) shows that Dutch employees are to a considerable extent trained further within the organization, resulting in well-trained workers. Zu et a l. (2008) argue that well-trained workers will most likely improve operations, which is essential in lean management. Lorenz and Valeyre (2005) and Schwab (2010) indicate that the Dutch labor market is quite regulated. The restricted labor market has led to low labor mobility in the Netherlands (Van Iterson Olie, 1992). The state has constrained labor mobility by imposed laws; laws that e.g. induce pension loss in case you change jobs or make it difficult and expensive to fire personnel have caused labor mobility to be low. This has supported Dutch organizations to invest in skills and training for their personnel. All together, this also has led to considerable employer-employee interdependence in the Netherlands. Besides that, the imposed laws that constrain the labor market have led to a relatively high job security for employees in the Netherlands. This results in the long run in more employee commitment and involvement in the companys goals (Dessler, 1999). Schrerrer-Rathje et al. (2009) emphasize that implementing lean management is a long-term process which requires full involvement and com mitment of everyone. It therefore appears personnel who enjoy relatively high job security are better suited to work in lean organizations (Womack et al., 1990). Furthermore, delegating responsibility to employees is crucial to effectively implement lean management (Scherrer-Rathje, 2009). Fairris and Tohyama (2002) argue that more responsibility should lead to increased productivity and quality improvements. Schwab (2010) has found evidence that Dutch employers have a high willingness to delegate authority to employees. Also Lorenz and Valeyre (2005) argue that most Dutch organizations demand high levels of autonomy and competence from their employees to solve problems and deal with complex tasks. Furthermore, a high level of trust is present, which is necessary for organizing work this way. This again is an indication that Dutch organizations have an institutional environment to effectively implement lean management. 4.2.2 Non-ownership coordination vs. Lean supplier networks In lean management it is important to effectively cooperate with suppliers. Womack et al, (1990) already pointed out that Toyota, the company that invented lean management, did not want to vertically integrate fully with its suppliers, but it also did not want completely independent suppliers. To effectively implement lean management in Toyota, it needed quasi-independent suppliers (Womack et al., 1990). This way Toyota could closely cooperate with their suppliers. Moreover, in lean management it is of high importance to develop supplier relations by collaborating and making alliances (London Kenley, 2001). To achieve these collaborations and alliances with suppliers, trust is required (London Kenley, 2001). As indicated before, a high level of trust is present in the Dutch society, making it more likely that these collaborations and alliances are achievable. Poot et al. (2009) has indeed found an increasing trend in the amount of vertical collaborations in the Netherlands. Besides that, Schwab (2010) indicates that the quality of local suppliers in the Netherlands is very high, making successful collaborations more likely. All these factors reinforce the successful implementation of lean management in the Netherlands. However, more vertical collaboration is needed to improve implementation of lean management in Dutch organizations. This will eventually lead to more clusters and subsequently increased productivity. In Japan, where lean management has been developed, cluster development is the highest of the world (Dutta Mia, 2009). Dutta and Mia (2009) argue that cluster development in the Netherlands is rather high, but not as high as Japan. In this aspect, the Netherlands do not have the most effective institutional environment for lean management. Furthermore, alliances with competitors are getting increasingly important in the Netherlands, but the number of horizontal collaborations is not very high (Poot et al., 2009). In lean organizations it is not uncommon to work together with your competitors. In the automobile manufacturing industry, in which the lean philosophy has been successfully implemented, there are multiple collaborations between competitors (Perez Sanchez, 2002). E.g., BMW and PSA (Peugeot and Citron) have collaborated in the development of a new engine. Furthermore, information sharing and being transparent is meaningful in a lean organization. Lean organizations do not believe that keeping unique information will lead to a sustainable advantage, but rather that successful collaborations are the key to keep a sustainable advantage. Alliances, not only with suppliers and customers, but also with its competitors are important to a lean organization. However, it should be stated that vertical collaborations are more important to a lean organization than horizontal collaborations because the organization will benefit more from these collaborations in the long run, since they are in the same value chain (Hitt, Ireland Hoskisson, 2009). Clusters facilitate effective implementation of lean management in organizations. Collaborations between sectors are not done in these clusters, because they belong to different clusters or networks, and are therefore rather uncommon in the Netherlands and in lean organizations. However, the invention of the Senseo is an example of this. The product has been developed by a collaboration between Philips and Douwe Egberts, which belong to completely different sectors. 4.2.3 Ownership coordination vs. Lean supplier networks Like Japan, where lean management has been invented, the Netherlands has a form of alliance control to coordinate ownership between owners and managers (Whitley, 1999). Just as in the case of Toyota, the use of consensus is conventional in the Dutch organizations. Shareholders should reach a consensus with stakeholders, in order to be able to come to a decision. In this aspect, the Netherlands have a comparable institutional environment as Japan, where lean management has been successfully implemented. The few, but very large businesses in the Netherlands, are mainly responsible for the instable vertical and horizontal integration in the Netherlands. However, empirical data about the exact degree of horizontal and vertical integration in the Netherlands are missing in the existing literature. In lean management collaboration is more important than integration. Therefore the degree of horizontal and vertical integration should not be too high, so that lean organizations are able to concentrate on its core competences. However, there is still some integration in lean organizations, especially in the form of cross-shareholding. This is rather uncommon in the Netherlands, which is caused by the restricting laws imposed by the government. Hostile takeovers are rare in the Netherlands and furthermore the Dutch Competition Authority is very strict in safeguarding healthy competition in the Netherlands (Roosenboom van der Goot, 2003). Takeovers and mergers are therefore carefully being ob served, to prevent that organizations become too powerful. Although, it should be stated that the relative number of mergers and acquisitions in the Netherlands is still higher than in most EU countries, in which the relatively well-developed capital market plays a role. 5. Discussion This concluding chapter draws conclusions and discusses some limitations. Thereafter the chapter makes suggestions for future research and it provides some recommendations. 5.1. Conclusions From this thesis it can be concluded that the Netherlands facilitate a societal, institutional environment to effectively implement lean management. Not all features of the Dutch business system match the characteristics of lean management, but overall most features of the business system are in line with the characteristics of the Dutch business system. Firstly, the human side of lean is in line with the Dutch institutional environment, which is the basis for the organization of an economy. The organization of the Dutch economy, with regard to employment relations and work management fits very well to the characteristics of lean management. Employer-employee interdependence is rather high in the Netherlands. Also delegation to employees and trust of employees is very high in the Netherlands. These features are of high importance to effectively implement lean management because employees should be able to tackle problems, solve problems and work in multifunctional teams with a rather high degree of delegated authority. These features of the Dutch business system are mainly being supported by the highly developed skill and training system, considerable regulation of the labor market by the state, and reliable trust relations in the Netherlands. Secondly, long-term reliable alliances are necessary to effectively implement lean management, especially alliances with customers and suppliers. By tightly collaborating waste can be eliminated, problems can be tackled and solved, and quality can be improved. The degree of vertical collaboration in the Netherlands should improve to better fit with lean management. Although, it should be stated that the degree of vertical collaboration is quickly growing in the Netherlands, just as the degree of horizontal collaboration and the degree of collaboration between sectors. It is necessary that these degrees of collaboration increase in the Netherlands, so that lean management can be implemented more effectively from an institutional perspective. However, with the current degrees of collaboration in the Netherlands it is not insurmountable to effectively implement lean management. Furthermore, Steijn (2001) argues that collaboration is getting more structural in the Netherlands, which posi tively influences effective implementation of lean management. According to Whitley (1999) the well-developed trust relations and the low state dominance and risk sharing of the state in the Netherlands should support alliances. The way to coordinate ownership does not seem to be important for the effective implementation of lean management. Although, it has to be recognized that e.g. Toyota and other Japanese companies have an alliance form to coordinate ownership, just as all Dutch companies have. So there appears to be a fit between that. Furthermore, we conclude that horizontal and vertical integration are not that important anymore in the Dutch business system, the emphasis nowadays is on collaborating. Just as in lean organizations, the emphasis is on collaborating and not on integration. However, there is still some vertical and horizontal integration present in lean organizations and in Dutch organizations. 5.2 Limitations The primary limitation of this thesis is that it is solely based on secondary data; no research has been conducted on the influence of business systems on the effective implementation of lean management in Dutch organizations. Using primary data would make this study more reliable. Furthermore, research about the extent of horizontal and vertical integration in the Netherlands is very scarce, thereby making it difficult to draw conclusions with regard to this aspect. Besides that, it is hard to measure to what extent the Dutch business system and Dutch institutions influence the degree of ownership integration because ownership integration is not limited by national borders and is therefore also dependent on other national institutional environments, while this research focuses on the Dutch institutional environment. It is not uncommon that ownership integration in the Netherlands goes across borders, because it is a small and open economy. The same problem applies to the degree of collaborations. Besides that, the thesis is quite dependent on the findings of Whitleys (1999) business systems approach. It therefore depends heavily on the features of a business system and the institutions identified by Whitley. Although the approach is widely recognized and published, not that many academic authors have made contributions to this approach. Furthermore, there are contradicting findings with regard to the Dutch institutional environment, making it hard to get a clear view of it. 5.3 Future research and recommendations Little research has been done in this field of investigation, thereby making this thesis an exploratory study. Therefore a lot of future research is necessary to get a better picture of the Dutch institutional environment and the features of the Dutch business system. In particular, more research is needed with regard to vertical and horizontal ownership integration in the Netherlands. Then more reliable conclusions could be drawn about the effective implementation of lean management in the Netherlands. Furthermore, lean management researches in the Netherlands that focus on industries and sectors are abundant; however, research about lean management in the Netherlands as a whole is very scarce and is in need of future research. If lean management is effectively implemented it increases competitiveness (Bhasin Burcher, 2006). This thesis concludes that organizations should definitely consider implementing lean management because the institutional environment in the Netherlands facilitates its effective implementation. Organizations should recognize that the way the Dutch economy is organized in the Netherlands positively influences the effective implementation of lean management and it could thereby increase competitiveness.