Readers unfamiliar with the semiconductor industry might find the text daunting but the essential information is useful in...
Horev brings 20 years of experience to bear in this methodical treatment of problem solving in the semi-conductor industry, written with wider use of these analytical techniques in mind.
The processes by which silicon ingots are cut into wafers, etched and assembled into microchips are highly complex, meticulous down to microscopic detail and demanding complete cleanliness and quality-control on both macro- and microscopic levels. Horev’s manual emerges from the management of these systems, encompassing the problem solving necessary to suss out production issues on an active line where controlling time and material loss, as well as maintaining quality control and product reliability, are paramount. Such manufacturing processes are so complex that exhaustive monitoring of every parameter would require, according to Horev’s calculations, millions of monitoring sights for a single process parameter, or the allowable range of results for a certain component. But with a more realistic quantity of monitoring sites, data collection and analytical acumen, the sources of problems can be deduced. He begins by cataloging the types of process noise, or deviation from anticipated results, and how these scenarios will appear in measured fluctuations over time, as visualized in trend charts, ranging from single events to patterns of repetition that might be rooted in either human or machine defects—the wearing out of a polishing disk or incorrect maintenance by workers. He outlines the sequence of cause analysis, a continuous cycle that encompasses problem definition, problem characterization, model building and model validation. Here, the complete and useful model has three components: conditions or initial qualities; properties, or the impact that these conditions have; and behavior—how these conditions reflect on the system. While simpler models work in the description of sequential events, coincidental events might be involved in the root cause, requiring the pursuit of a number of simultaneous and interrelated conditions, effects, symptoms, etc. This is where property trees and other models are used to enumerate then eliminate paths from observed effects to possible root causes as well as the interplay between a model’s many elements. In emphasizing human factors in both the manufacturing processes and the problem-solving team, and connecting problem-solving technique in a specific environment to applications in the world at large, Horev stresses the importance of ingenuity on the part of investigators, as well as a pragmatic observance of boundaries to an investigation—the extent, for example, to which an investigation ought to usefully be pursued.
Readers unfamiliar with the semiconductor industry might find the text daunting but the essential information is useful in its application across disciplines.Pub Date: July 14, 2008
ISBN: 978-1425139773
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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