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Although the literature on veteran differences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupational outcomes by gender is established and veteran/nonveteran differences in STEM outcomes are well studied, we fill a gap in the literature by examining the following two research questions in this study: (1) are rural veterans less likely than urban veterans to be employed in a STEM occupation and how does race/ethnicity modify this relationship; (2) among veterans in a STEM occupation, does total income vary by rural/urban location and race/ethnicity? We retrieved data on employed military veterans (n = 845,467) aged 18 to 65 years from the 2008–2020 American Community Survey. Results showed that rural-dwelling Black and Hispanic veterans were less likely than Whites to be employed in a STEM field. Among veterans employed in a STEM field, rural-dwelling Hispanics had lower annual incomes than Whites. As such, future STEM education programs should target rural-dwelling veterans of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last several decades, the United States has experienced a decline in productivity, while the world has seen a maturation of the global marketplace. Nations have moved manufacturing strategy and process technology issues to the top of management priority lists. The issues surrounding manufacturing technologies and their implementations have assumed greater importance in overall manufacturing strategy. Practitioners and researchers have developed strong interest in how advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) can be used as a competitive tool in the global economy to combat the phenomena of fragmented mass markets, shorter product life cycle, and increased demand for customization. The combination of increased production flexibility and higher efficiency contradicts traditional manufacturing strategy. In traditional thinking, efficiency is possible only in the production of large volumes of standard products, while customization is associated with higher costs. Clearly, the impact of AMT is redefining the way multinational corporations are managing manufacturing operations; however, effective implementation of AMT has not occurred as rapidly as the development of technology due to organizational considerations. The key to successful AMT planning and implementation appears to be the choice of an appropriate manufacturing system and the attainment of an organizational infrastructure that will offer maximum support to the chosen system. To achieve the desired benefits from AMTs, marketing and manufacturing must work together to ensure that the marketing strategy reflects the manufacturing capabilities of the new technology. Closer working relationships among all other functions of the organization are also required if the firm is to achieve its innovation objectives. (Contains 1 table.)

The Six Sigma Black Belt (SSBB) certification is granted by many organizations including industry, academia, consultants and professional quality organizations. Each of these organizations has independently developed their own unique body of knowledge (BOK) by which their SSBB certification is granted. This inconsistency in the fundamentals of what a Black Belt (BB) should know, regardless of where he or she attained certification and works, has eroded the credibility of the training, certification, and ultimately the profession. Many Six Sigma leaders have made a call for action to establish a "common core" BOK that all certifying entities will adopt and may add to for their particular needs. This article seeks to determine trainers' perceptions of the relative importance of the ten major topic areas defined in the American Society for Quality's Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge through survey research of independent Black Belt trainers. The quantitative results identified the rank order of importance of the American Society for Quality's (ASQ) SSBB BOK major topics. The qualitative results suggest that the top seven major topics of Measure Stage, Define Stage, Analyze Stage, Control Stage, Business Process Management, Project Management, and Improve Stage, be classified as problem solvers and the remaining three, Enterprise-wide Deployment, Lean Enterprise, and Design for Six Sigma be classified as problem preventers. The top seven major topics should be considered for every certifying organization's common core and the hierarchy importance should receive appropriate amount of emphasis in BB training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]