Stephen A Ruffa Popular Books
Stephen A Ruffa Biography & Facts
The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence is an award for operational excellence given to organizations worldwide by the Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. In order to be selected as a recipient of the Shingo Prize, an organization "challenges" or applies for the award by first submitting an achievement report that provides data about recent business improvements and accomplishments and then undergoing an onsite audit performed by Shingo Institute examiners. Organizations are scored relative to how closely their culture matches the ideal as defined by the Shingo Model™. Organizations that meet the criteria are awarded the Shingo Prize. Other awards include the Shingo Silver Medallion, the Shingo Bronze Medallion, the Research Award, and the Publication Award. History of the Shingo Prize Beginnings: 1988–2000 In 1988, Utah State University conferred an honorary doctorate to Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer and author credited for his contribution to many of the principles, elements, theories, and tools associated with the Toyota Production System. That same year, Utah State University established what was then called the North American Shingo Prizes for Excellence in Manufacturing in his honor. The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing was first only awarded to organizations within the United States. By 1994, however, Ford Electronics in Markham, Ontario, became the first Canadian organization to receive the award. By 1997, the award was given to the first Mexican organization, Industrias CYDSA Bayer. In 2000, BusinessWeek referred to the Shingo Prize as the "Nobel Prize for manufacturing." Evolution of the Prize: 2004–2008 In 2004, a "Finalist" category was added to recognize challengers that scored well but didn't meet the Shingo Prize level. In 2005, a separate awards system was established for public sector organizations. Three levels existed in the public sector awards category: Gold, Silver and Bronze. In 2008, Utah State University changed the name of the award to the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in order to reflect altered criteria that made the award available to organizations from all industries, not exclusively manufacturing. The focus of the award was also shifted away from recognizing only the use of lean manufacturing tools to recognizing the overall organizational culture. This was in response to growing concern about the validity of what the Shingo Prize was supposed to signify about its recipients. According to Robert Miller, former executive director of the Shingo Institute, "...we began to see small signs of fracture along the edges. Critics of our selection process began to emerge in blogs and websites and eventually began to confront us directly. They told us they were beginning to lose confidence in recommending, carte blanche, our recipients as benchmarking sites for their members. Over time a great many recipients had not only not moved forward but in fact had lost considerable ground and were no longer considered as role models... Without realizing it, we were evaluating the effective use of tools, the numbers and impact of events, the effectiveness of a lean program, the commitment to have full-time lean coaches, the personality of a change leader – but not deep cultural transformation of the thinking and natural behavior of leaders, managers, and associates." That same year, the Shingo Model™ was released to demonstrate the role of principles within organizational culture. Shingo examiners began assessing organizational culture more on the degree to which it reflected the Shingo Guiding Principles than on the use of lean manufacturing techniques or tools. The Shingo Prize Today: 2008–present With a change in scoring criteria in 2008, the average number of organizations receiving the Shingo Prize each year decreased from 11 to 2. However, Utah State University also established the Shingo Silver and Shingo Bronze Medallion award levels for challengers that scored well but did not meet the Shingo Prize standard. Gold, Silver and Bronze levels had previously been awarded to public sector organizations only, but the public sector awards program ended that year. Since then, public sector organizations have been evaluated to the same criteria as private sector organizations. In 2009, Ultraframe in Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK, became the first European organization to receive a Shingo award, the Shingo Bronze Medallion. International interest has grown from that time such that in 2014, nine of the 11 Shingo awards were claimed by organizations outside of the United States. In 2011, Denver Health, Community Health Services received the Shingo Bronze Medallion, becoming the first healthcare organization to receive a Shingo award. In 2012, State Farm Insurance Operations Center in Bloomington, Illinois, also received the Shingo Bronze Medallion, becoming the first financial organization to receive an award. Awards Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence According to the Shingo Institute, the Shingo Prize "is the world’s highest standard for operational excellence" and "a worldwide recognized symbol of an organization's successful establishment of a culture anchored on principles of enterprise excellence." These principles are found as part of the Shingo Model. Shingo Silver Medallion The Shingo Silver Medallion is awarded to "those [organizations that are] maturing on the journey [to excellence] with primarily a tool and system focus." Shingo Bronze Medallion The Shingo Bronze Medallion is awarded to "those [organizations] in the earlier stages of cultural transformation with primarily a tools focus." Shingo Publication Award The Shingo Publication Award recognizes and promotes writing that has had a significant impact and advances the body of knowledge regarding operational excellence. The Shingo Institute is most interested in recognizing thought leadership. The award is given to authors, practitioners, and academicians. Publications can be nominated in three separate categories: • Historic A publication that has stood the test of time. It is still one that is commonly used and referenced when referring to organizational excellence. It has historic significance to the development or discovery of principles, systems, concepts, tools, and techniques of organizational excellence. Its content has been expanded upon to build the body of knowledge. • Impact A publication that has demonstrated high sales and/or distribution. The content is currently used successfully by many organizations to improve their ability to sustain a culture of organizational excellence. The publication has been widely recognized as new knowledge or an expansion to existing knowledge. The author or authors have a track record of speaking engagements as a result of the publication. • Up & Coming A new publication with the potential to be impactful. Sales and/or distribu.... Discover the Stephen A Ruffa popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Stephen A Ruffa books.
Best Seller Stephen A Ruffa Books of 2024
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His Girl Next Door
Khardine GrayFrom USA Today Bestselling author Khardine Gray comes a sizzling hot single dad romance you won't want to miss. No strings attached fun with the ubergorgeous single d...
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Peace on Earth
Maia RossCrime never takes a holiday. Why should Irma? Irma Abercrombie is an energetic retiree with a shadowy past, a mean right hook, and a profound love of Christmas. Surrounded by seaso...
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A Bookshop to Die For
M.P. BlackDitching her fiancé at the altar, Alice Hartford bolts to her childhood hometown to reconnect with the last, happy remnant of her past: her mom's old bookstore. But the bookst...
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The Icing on the Cake
Linda SeedShe’s a baker without a kitchen. He’s got a double oven to spare. It’s a recipe for success, until his mother starts stirring up trouble … Cassie Jordan has a sweet dream to open a...
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Get Lucky
Lila MonroeFall for the hot and hilarious romcom spin on 'The Hangover', perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Ali Hazelwood, and Emily Henry! What happens when you wake up in a hotel s...
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Noxious
Lexy TimmsStop setting yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. Brady and Levi have been together since high school, since before he became famous and started thinking only about himself....
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The Stoic Mind
Addy Osmani & GoLimitlesssDiscover the timeless wisdom of Stoicism in a modern context with "The Stoic Mind," an enlightening visual guide by Addy Osmani and GoLimitlesss. This rich exploration co...
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The Cupcake Cottage
Jean OramNHL player Maverick Blades could fall in love with anyone... But he had to fall for a woman who falls under the Bro Code as untouchablehis best friend’s beautiful ex, DaisyMae Ray....
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Hard Love
Peyton BanksHe was football royalty. Legendary quarterback. A champion.  Reiner Strickland had led his team to three national championships and playing a knight in shining armor was a...
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Nothing to Hide
Scarlett FinnPrize of a lifetime: travel the world with a celebrity billionaire. Come to LA with us, Roxie… It will be so much fun! We have tickets for a latenight talk show! What could possibl...
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
L. Frank BaumAn Apple Books Classic edition. You’ve seen the iconic 1939 movie, but do you know about the talking field mice, the Winkies, and the Witch of the North that appear in the original...
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Teach Me
Cassandra DeanFrom awardwinning author Cassandra Dean comes a tale where lessons of pleasure between a curious, sunshine widow and a dissolute, grumpy earl leads to passion and allconsuming love...
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Little Women
Louisa May AlcottAn Apple Books Classic edition. Meet the Marches! Louisa May Alcott’s classic introduces us to four unforgettable sisters: beautiful Meg, tomboyish Jo, delicate Beth, and Amy, the ...
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Whiskey Girl
Melissa BelleThey'll do anything for each other…except commit. Logan Wild isn’t just the hottest broncriding cowboy in Texas. He’s also my best friendwith benefits. And that’s all we’ll ev...
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Dream Psychology
Sigmund FreudAn Apple Books Classic edition. Written by the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s 1899 book is the definitive text on learning to interpret dreams. Freud’s groundbr...
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Becoming Lady Dalton
Carrie LomaxA dance of desire and deceit... In the glittering world of London's ton, Mrs. Viola Cartwright revels in her newfound freedom as a lady of leisureuntil a series of jewel theft...
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The Art of War
Sun TzuAn Apple Books Classic edition. It’s believed that Sun Tzu wrote this Chinese military primer during the 5th century BChundreds of years before the Bible. The book’s 13 chapters ex...
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Dracula
Bram StokerAn Apple Books Classic edition. Few characters have seized readers’ imaginations quite like Count Dracula of Transylvania, the hero of Bram Stoker’s classic. The 1897 novel put vam...
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Silver Santa
Lacey SilksTrapped together on Christmas, their unintended onenight stand becomes a lifechanging encounter amidst the snow. Laura Young's professional role as a security guard at the Sil...
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Hot Off the Press
Lexy Timms"This is what really happened… reported by a free press, for a free people…" Wes Shaw leads a secret double life. As the secret owner of a billion dollar newspap...
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Escape, A New Life
David J AntocciTo save herself, she had to lose everything. Trapped in a tropical paradise with no memory of how she got there, Abby is thrust into a fight for her life. Hunted by a madman, and c...
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Christmas in Sweetbriar Cove
Melody GraceCelebrate the holidays in Sweetbriar Cove with this festive romance collection, containing two sizzling smalltown holiday stories perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Sophie Kinsella...
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How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days
Lila MonroeThe only thing more hilarious than the movies is… real life?! Fall in love with the sizzling grumpysunshine romantic comedy perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Ali Hazlewood! ...
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Never Enough
Lexy TimmsBe good enough never is... Anthony Accardi is a man on a mission: make his father's watch company a success while bringing in millions of dollars. To do that, he needs an assi...
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The Target
Lexy TimmsWhen you seek revenge be sure to dig two graves… Revenge was the only thing I had going for me. It kept me awake at night and drove me into desperate situations in dive bars across...
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Holy Bible
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe 2013 edition of the Holy Bible contains all of the study aids contained in the 1979 edition and includes revisions to the study aids, several new photos, updated maps, and adju...
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The Honeymoon Homicide
J. R. Mathis & Susan MathisEnjoy this SmallTown Murder Mystery Featuring A Unique Sleuthing Couple I'm Father Tom Greer, a Catholic Priest in a smalltown parish who never expected this . . . When I came...
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Enemies With Benefits
Roxie NoirI don’t love him. I don’t even like him. I just want him. Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to...
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A Green Kind of Witch
Sierra CrossCinderella crossed with Mean Girls.   That's what Hazel's daily existence feels like. Born to a family of elegant yet shallow Beige Witches, seventeen y...
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All Fired Up
Kathryn ShayCaptain Jarek Zenko, a war veteran and firefighter, meets Lacey Roth at a bar one night. They don’t share their real identities, even when they retreat to a hotel. When they meet t...
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Death at Hazel House
Betty Rowlands‘Riveting, can't put it down! I love this story… a wonderfully twisted tale of a crime that has more twists than I thought possible... fantastic.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ...
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Rogue Alpha
Kimber WhiteOne touch made her crave him. But the pull of fate could be the path to ruin. College student Laura Prince lands a plum internship deep in the Michigan wilderness. When she discove...
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A Christmas Carol
Charles DickensAn Apple Books Classic edition. It’s Christmas Eve in Victorian England. While some families don’t know where their next meal will come from, Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his large hom...
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Man In The Water
Jon HillAn attempted murder. A missing spouse. And an international conspiracy that could change the world. Jack Green has always been skeptical of socalled facts. Though he's forced ...
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Wuthering Heights
Emily BrontëAn Apple Books Classic edition. If you’ve only ever seen Wuthering Heights on screen, you may have an image of Catherine and Heathcliff as the ultimate starcrossed lovers. But that...
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Silenced Girls
Roger Stelljes“ Wow wow wow!  Grips you in a choke hold and  does not let go … Oozes suspense and  bonechilling twists and turns .  Astonishing … One of those...
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Salvation
Meghan O'FlynnIf you like mouthy detectives, serial killers, and suspenseful mysteries that don't quit, this chilling and actionpacked hardboiled detective series has you covered! Try this ...
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Pride and Prejudice
Jane AustenAn Apple Books Classic edition. Jane Austen’s beloved classic opens with this witty and very memorable line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possessio...
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The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel HawthorneAn Apple Books Classic edition. Hester Prynne lives in infamy. After committing adultery and bearing a child with a man whose name she refuses to divulge, the heroine of Nathaniel ...
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Bewitching a Highlander
Roma CordonDefying all for the love of a bewitching lass. Breena MacRae, a healer from Skye with a touch of witchery in her blood, embarks on a dangerous search for her missing father. She ar...
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Awaken Me
Jenna JacobHe was more than a ghost haunting my dreams…he was real. By day, I’m Julianna Garrett …a prim, proper accountant. By night, I’m tormented by dreams of an alpha, ambereyed Adonis wh...
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Caught Up with the Captain
Kait NolanCan a retired naval commander and the love he left behind overcome a 34yearold secret to find their way to a second chance? Captain Mitchell Greyson is a man who believes in duty. ...
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Teased by Fire
Molly O'HareFrom USA Today bestselling author Molly O’Hare comes an enemiestolovers, older brother’s best friend, romantic comedy with a curvy, antisocial, supernaturalobsessed, allyearround h...
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Good Guy
Kate MeaderHe's a Special Forces veteran making his pro hockey debut. She's a dogged sports reporter determined to get a scoop. She's also his best friend's widow . . . Fa...
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Eternal
W.J. MayShe will fight for what is hers. When the king is murdered, Katerina, his only daughter, must flee for her life. She finds herself on a strange and dangerous path. Alone for the fi...
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Become A Better Version of Yourself
Ben LeightonThis ebook contains golden nuggets on how to motivate, inspire and improve your current situation. It encompasses the holistic view of self improvement from mental& emotion...
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Saltwater Cove
Amelia AddlerSecond chances...and the secrets that sabotage them. At 48 years old, Margie Clifton never expected to be starting her life all over again. But when her brother gifts her a propert...
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The Great Gatsby
F. Scott FitzgeraldAn Apple Books Classics edition. The Roaring Twenties are in full effect in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s riveting classic. Manabouttown Jay Gatsby seems to have it all, including loads of...
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The Three Little Pigs
Mark LeskyClassic fairy tales, legends and folk stories in short version without violence retold with lovely illustrations in simple language. Perfect for reading aloud to small chi...
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The Next Girl
Carla KovachIF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS YEAR, MAKE IT THE NEXT GIRL... You thought he’d come to save you. You were wrong. ‘ Absolutely the best thriller I’ve read this year! ’ Goodreads Rev...