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
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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