International Journal for Quality Research

12

Authors: Vyacheslav Shebanin, Olena Shebanina, Yuri Kormyshkin, Alona Kliuchnyk, Valentina Umanska, Georgy Reshetilov

The European Cohesion Policy is probably the largest of all development programs, aiming to promote the development of lagging regions and, hence, long-term convergence. However, the effectiveness of the policy has been increasingly scrutinized in the literature, and the findings point to a heterogeneous impact on economic growth. This article aimed to assess cohesion policies on the quality of local economic and regional development of European Union (EU) countries. The research methodology was built on correlation and regression analysis, propensity score matching (PSM) techniques to analyze unique data across different EU countries that received funding for regional development projects during 2014-2020 from The Cohesion Fund (ESIF, 2014-2020). This research analyzed the impact of Cohesion Policy on economic growth in the member states of Gross domestic product (GDP) less than 90% of the GDP of the EU 27, finding heterogeneity in terms of economic structure as well as the development strategy adopted by regional governments. The heterogeneity in the financing of projects within the Cohesion Policy and regional economic development is determined by the structure of the economy and the growth potential of the country. It was found that the amount of funding from the Cohesion Fund is directly related to GDP and gross value added of the countries, with a 1% increase in investment GDP will increase by 0.4228%, the unit labor cost will decrease by -0.0457%, and gross value added will increase by 0.4258%. This heterogeneity is also a consequence of the smart specialization approach to regional development policy, which is now being discussed in the European Commission. Smart specialization of countries is extremely important in the context of the strategic role of sectors and economic growth.

12

Authors: Saso Krstovski, Daw Alwerfalli

A This paper focuses on using Lean Six Sigma principles incorporated with TRIZ to develop a strategic approach to establish the level of empowerment. Leadership decisions can either overly empower individuals beyond acceptable levels or under empower them and do not provide any benefits. The latest trend within all organizations is to invert the organizational triangle. All organizational leadership seeks to leverage the workforce to make decisions and prevent bureaucracy by empowering individuals closest to the process. One area that gets a lot of focus and attention is the Inventory Management department, where goods are purchased for the services. Researching historical spending via the Six Sigma DMAIC program structure and fundamentals of the TRIZ principles were exploited to develop the optimal value ensuring there is significant satisfaction of the customer.

14

Authors: Rudi Čop, Tadeja Jere Jakulin

The paper first introduces the sunspot cycles and discusses the relationship between the solar cycles and the 12?year Chinese calendar. The latter has a significant impact on the lives and thinking of some East Asian countries and the emigrants from those countries. Western civilization considers solar cycles and their impact on human life only as solar astronomy and geomagnetism. Through the established effects on life on Earth, the life span of an individual is the starting point through which the paper represents the long-term influence of the Sun on us.

14

Authors: Andrey Balakin, Alexey Roslyakov, Yury Klochkov

The aim of this research is the study of negative physical processes in diesel engines, which are induced by the low value of cetane number of ethanol that characterizes the efficiency of the ignition process. The authors present the calculation assessment of thermodynamic state of methanol and diesel fuel mix combustion products in various proportions and calculations of the thermal state of injector elements by analytical and computational methods. Analytical dependencies are taken from traditional branches of science such as heat engine theory, heat transmission. As a technical solution to compensate the low value of the cetane number the authors use diesel fuel as an ignition dose and ethanol as the main fuel. The paper shows that having other conditions equal the power of a diesel engine slightly increases due to raise of water vapor in combustion products. The authors present the methods and calculation of fuel heating in the boundary layer of the injector nozzle channel during the injection cycle of the D240 diesel engine. With the decrease of the fuel priming in the boundary layer the temperature rises, and that is the reason of the gumming which leads to the needle jamming.

14

Authors: Maria Radkevich, Kamila Shipilova, Oleg Pochuzhevskyi, Abdusamin Gapirov

Oxygen content is one of the most important indices of the atmospheric air quality, on which the health and working capacity of the population depend. Many researchers do not consider a constant decrease in oxygen concentration to be dangerous for human health. Nevertheless, a local drop in the oxygen content in the air near the highways can cause negative consequences for human health. Undoubtedly, the constant growth of motorization in Tashkent leads to intensive oxygen absorption from the urban atmosphere to realize the fuel combustion processes. The purpose of this study is to assess the decrease in oxygen concentration in the air of Tashkent city near the highways due to the motor transport traffic. As was experimentally determined, a decrease in the oxygen concentration in the atmospheric air was observed near the highways; and the intensity of the decrease was related to the intensity of vehicle traffic. During rush hours, oxygen concentration near the highways could reach the values that are hazardous to humans, up to 19.6 - 19.5% O2. A modified Kitsenko equation was proposed to perform an express assessment of the oxygen concentration; the authors have introduced the coefficients of irregularity of movement into this equation. The proposed method will make it possible to assess the oxygen content by an indirect indicator (traffic intensity) and timely inform the population about the air quality.

14

Authors: Maciej Urbaniak, Dominik Zimon

The aim of the article is to identify, on the basis of the analysis of the literature and the results of empirical research, the expectations of enterprises towards suppliers regarding the improvement of their operational processes. It can be noticed that manufacturing companies, while improving their processes, also require actions in this area from suppliers. The article presents the results of empirical research conducted using the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) technique in medium and large manufacturing companies operating in Poland. The results of these studies show that manufacturing companies focus their expectations towards suppliers mainly on the improvement of quality control processes (deliveries, semi-finished products, as well as the finished products). The research results presented in the article have several important implications for representatives of science and business.

16

Authors: Tatyana V. Kokoreva

The article aims to determine the prospects for improving the service quality management of bank financing based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the digital economy in the interests of sustainable development. The results of economic and mathematical modeling of the impact of the service quality management bank financing based on corporate social responsibility in the digital economy on sustainable development results, using the method of regression analysis, showed that standard corporate social responsibility in the digital economy does not have a positive effect on sustainable development. The novelty of the article lies in the development of a digital approach to the service quality managing of bank financing based on corporate social responsibility for sustainable development. All three areas of the service quality management of bank financing in a new approach - the manifestation of CSR, FinTech development and SDG support - are systemically interconnected and support each other. This ensures a constant improvement in the service quality of bank financing. Improving the security of banking (it is recommended to increase it by 97.28%) and development of Internet banking (it is recommended to increase it by 96.81%) are proposed as measures for the practical implementation of the new approach. Due to the practical implementation of the proposed author's recommendations, the level of sustainable development will become the maximum (reach 1st place), that is, increase by 96.64%. The results obtained underline the prospects of implementing new measures of the service quality management of bank financing based on corporate social responsibility in the digital economy.

16

Authors: Anastasia A. Sozinova, Nadezhda K. Saveleva, Aleksei V. Bogoviz, Elena G. Popkova

The purpose of this paper is to study and reconsider the order of implementing temporary government regulation of commodity prices in the EAEU from the positions of quality and to develop recommendations for improving this order for the comprehensive fight against poverty and support for the middle class amid economic crises. This paper is based on the scientific provisions of the systems approach. The authors perform economic and mathematical modelling of the influence of implementing temporary government regulation of commodity prices on their quality in the EAEU based on the method of regression analysis. For the qualitative research of the practical experience of implementing temporary government regulation of commodity prices in the EAEU amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the method of case study is used. The scientific novelty of this paper consists in the fact that it is for the first time that the order of implementing temporary government regulation of commodity prices in the EAEU is treated from the positions of quality. The originality of this paper consists in the systemic view at the quality of life and the well-balanced consideration - during the determination of its level - of not only the inflation factor (price affordability of commodities) but also the factor of quality of commodities (level of satisfying population's needs during consumption of goods).

20

Authors: Syed Ali Raza Shah, Khairur Rijal Jamaludin, Hayati Habibah Abdul Talib, Jalal Shah, Shari M. Yusof, Abdul Qadeer

SMEs are well-known as the economic backbone of any country. Similarly, in Pakistan, they play a vital role in socio-economic development and income generation. However, some of Pakistan's Food Processing SMEs are reportedly less involved in the country's exports due to their inability to meet the quality of produce required for global markets. Pakistan's food industry is transforming from a traditional food processing system to higher-value-added products due to the demand from lifestyle - and health-conscious customers. This study aims to identify the critical success factors of quality management and analyze their impact on operational performance amongst food-processing SMEs in Pakistan. Previous studies demonstrated that critical Success Factors provide an effective way of focusing strategic direction, and enable management to focus on critical areas. Toward that end a questionnaire was developed and employed for data collection from respondents selected using a snowball sampling technique. A total of 302 food processing SMEs responded the survey. SPSS- Version 23 and Smart-PLS 3 were used for data analysis. It is believed that this study will help food manufacturers in Pakistan to improve their operational performance and product quality by practicing certain critical factors.

22

Authors: Edvaldo de Farias, Luis Mendes, Maria Nascimento, Eva Morais

A survey focused on 34 specific attributes of service quality in fitness centres was applied to 657 fitness centre clients in the city of Rio de Janeiro, following a stratified sampling process. The article aims to identify the most relevant attributes of service quality, from clients' perspective, necessary for potential future excellence-based classification schemes of fitness centres in Rio de Janeiro. A quartile analysis determined that the most critical attributes, i.e., with greatest average relevance, are related to the following aspects: (i) fitness centre environment, (ii) location and access, (iii) instructors' qualifications and (iv) results of training plans, while the items considered less relevant on average concern the following aspects: (i) additional services provided by the fitness centre, (ii) social interaction promoted by the centre and (iii) administrative employees. There is no similar research on the evaluation of service quality, from users' perspective, in fitness centers in Rio de Janeiro, and there is still no consensus in literature concerning instruments for such purpose and concerning what are the most relevant attributes to customers, when assessing service quality. In accordance, this research is relevant through providing data which are necessary to construct a hierarchical classification of fitness centres in relation to the quality of services provided.