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Learning outcomes are as follows: students will discover the importance of process orientation in management; students will determine the root cause of the problem by applying root cause analysis technique; students will identify the failure modes, analyze their effect, score them on a scale and prioritize the corrective action to prevent the failures; students will analyze the processes and propose error-proof system/s; and students will analyze organizational culture and ethical issues.

Purpose: This case study is intended as a class-exercise, for students to discover the importance of process-orientation in management, analyze the ethical dilemma in health care and to apply quality management techniques, such as five-why, root cause analysis, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and error-proofing, in the management of the health-care and service industry. Design/methodology/approach: A voluntary reporting of a case of “radiation overdose” in a hospital’s radio therapy treatment unit, which led to an ethical dilemma. Consequently, a study was conducted to establish the causes of the incident and to develop a fail-proof system, to avoid recurrence. Findings: After careful analysis of the process-flow and the root causes, 25 potential failure modes were detected and the team had assigned a risk priority number (RPN) for each potential incident, selected the top ten RPNs and developed an error-proofing system to prevent recurrence. Subsequently, the improvement process was carried out for all the 25 potential incidents and a new control mechanism was implemented. The question of ethical dilemma remained unresolved. Research limitations/implications: Ishikawa diagram, FMEA and Poka-Yoke techniques require a multi-disciplinary team with process knowledge in identifying the possible root causes for errors, potential risks and also the possible error-proofing method/s. Besides, these techniques need frank discussions and agreement among team members on the efforts for the development of action plan, implementation and control of the new processes. Practical implications: Students can take the case data to identify root cause analysis and the RPN (RPN = possibility of detection × probability of occurrence × severity), to redesign the protocols, through systematic identification of the deficiencies of the existing protocols. Further, they can recommend quality improvement projects. Faculty can navigate the case session orientation, emphasizing quality management or ethical practices, depending on the course for which the case is selected.

MBA or PG Diploma in Management – health-care management, hospital administration, operations management, services operations, total quality management (TQM) and ethics.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement methods for benchmarking the food safety and hygiene between retail outlets at the same time or at the same retail outlets at different times.

A tailor made questionnaire for the collection of food safety and hygiene remarks was designed to be applied in a large chain of retail outlets. The remarks were classified in the five categories of the Ishikawa model (materials, methods, personnel, equipment and environment). The retail outlets were located all over Greece and the audits were performed in a one-year term. Food safety experts were used as auditors after a six-month training period. The data collected were subject to analysis of the benchmarking scores and to cluster analysis to identify regions with similar food safety profiles.

Polar charts were used to illustrate the benchmarking scores for each of the five categories of evaluation per auditing period at the retail outlets. Another polar chart illustrates the benchmarking scores for each of the 12 regions of Greece. Cluster analysis demonstrates that some regions, like Ionian Islands and South Aegean, have similar profiles on food safety for the retail outlets.

The developed methodology can be used by retail companies with several outlets or by a group or an association of companies in order to identify problematic sectors and to set priorities while dealing with issues of food safety and hygiene. The work is limited to the Greek outlets but the methodology has potential application to every other country.

This study aims to empirically investigate the relationship between different global software development (GSD) challenges (management, process, social, technical and environmental challenges) and software project success. Further, the study examines the moderating role of total quality management (TQM) between the relationship of GSD challenges and success of software projects.

Using two field studies, the authors collected data form software developers working in globally distributed teams. In study 1 (n = 194), relationship of different dimensions of GSD challenges (management, process, social, technical and environmental challenges) and project success was examined. In study 2 (n = 138), moderating role of TQM was examined on the relationship of GSD challenges and project success.

The results of study 1 indicate that there is a negative relationship between all dimensions of GSD challenges and project success. Findings of study 2 confirmed that TQM practices moderate the negative relationship between GSD challenges and project success.

The findings of the study provide guidelines to the project managers of software industry to mitigate GSD challenges using TQM practices.

Study adds in the literature of TQM, GSD challenges and project success by (1) empirically investigating the relationship between different GSD challenges and software project success and (2) by examining the moderating role of TQM practices on relationship of GSD challenges and project success in global software development industry.

During recent years Japanese products have made such an impact in foreign markets that the economies of all western countries have been seriously affected. Some markets are now completely dominated by Japanese goods. In Britain we have witnessed the destruction of our motor‐cycle industry; more recently, the Japanese share of our home markets for motor cars, television sets, and many other products have caused serious concern.

This paper aims to provide a review of techniques that support risk management in product development projects using the concurrent engineering (CE) philosophy.

The Australia/New Zealand risk management standard AS/NZS 4360:1999 proposes a generic framework for risk management. This standard was adapted for product development projects in the CE environment. In this paper, existing techniques were reviewed for their applicability to processes in risk management; namely, techniques for establishing context, risk identification, risk assessment and treatment.

Risk management is an activity within project management that is gaining importance due to current business environment with a global focus and competition. The techniques reviewed in this paper are used on an ad hoc basis currently. A more risk focused approach is likely to result in an integration of several of these techniques, resulting in an increased effectiveness of project management.

The techniques reviewed in this paper can be used for the development of risk management tools for engineering and product development projects.

This paper provides a gist of techniques categorized in the form that they are applicable for implementation of risk management functions in product development projects using CE philosophy.

According to the literature concerned with this study, less than satisfactory outcomes have been achieved through implementing business process improvements methods (BPIMs) in industries, in general, and in healthcare, in particular. The existing methods used need to be enhanced in order to create more effective outcomes. There has also been a lack of studies documenting gaps or shortfalls in implementing BPIMs, to be presented to the BPI research community. Therefore, researchers of this paper have attempted to fill gaps between theory and practice. On the contrary, there is also a need to link practical outcomes in the healthcare domain with those of the BPI research community. The purpose of this paper is to review popular BPIMs, techniques and tools applied in the healthcare domain; it seeks to examine and highlight their significant roles, clarify their pros and cons, and find opportunities to enhance their impact on the achievement of more sustainable improvements in the healthcare domain.

This study has been carried out by using a methodology combining an in-depth literature review with a comparison framework, which is called as the “Framework for Comparing Business Process Improvement Methods.” The framework is composed of seven dimensions and has been adapted from four recognized, related frameworks. In addition to the in-depth review of related literature and the adapted comparison framework, researchers have conducted several interviews with healthcare BPI practitioners in different hospitals, to attain their opinions of BPI methods and tools used in their practices.

The main results have indicated that significant improvements have been achieved by implementing BPIMs in the healthcare domain according to related literature. However, there were some shortfalls in the existing methods that need to be resolved. The most important of these has been the shortfall in representing and analyzing targeted domain knowledge during improvement phases. The tool currently used for representing the domain, specifically flowcharts, is very abstract and does not present the domain in a clear form. The flowchart tool also fails to clearly present the separation of concerns between business processes and the information systems processes that support a business in a given domain.

The findings of this study can be useful for BPI practitioners and researchers, mainly within the healthcare domain. The findings can help these groups to understand BPIMs shortfalls and encourage them to consider how BPIMs can be potentially improved.

This researchers of this paper have proposed a comparison framework for highlighting popular BPIMs in the healthcare domain, along with their uses and shortfalls. In addition, they have conducted a deep literature review based on the practical results obtained from different healthcare institutions implementing unique BPIMs around the world. There has also been valuable interview feedback attained from BPI leaders of specific hospitals in Saudi Arabia. This combination is expected to contribute to knowledge of BPIMs from both theoretical and practical points of view.

The purpose of this paper is to review the historical development of Lean Six Sigma and to identify the relevant opportunities for the application of Lean Six Sigma within the university setting. The paper also discusses the challenges of Lean Six Sigma implementation in higher education, as well as the cultural changes necessary to provide an appropriate climate for its long-term success.

The paper contains a comprehensive discussion of the development of Lean Six Sigma over the past three decades. Additionally, the paper describes how Lean Six Sigma may be applied in the university setting to improve processes in curriculum delivery; business and auxiliary services; admissions and enrollment management; and research.

Lean Six Sigma can be applied to facilitate process improvements in curriculum delivery; business and auxiliary services; admissions and enrollment management; and research. While obstacles to Lean Six Sigma implementation exist, the process improvements and resulting cultural changes are worthwhile and noteworthy.

The paper serves as a guide for how Lean Six Sigma processes can be utilized in the higher education setting. Other researchers and practitioners may use the paper as a practical orientation to Lean Six Sigma in the university setting.

Due to the unique culture of higher education, the application of Lean Six Sigma to university processes has been sparse. The paper provides a needed orientation as to how Lean Six Sigma may be applied to improve some of the more important functional aspects of the university.

The stimulus for this research is that as US hospitals and health care organizations become more competitive, wise investments in technology and quality improvement are keys to financial success and survival. A structural equation model is hypothesized using the following five constructs: clinical technology; information technology; clinical quality; process quality; and hospital financial performance. No research to date has examined the relationships between the type of technology, the type of quality, and hospital financial performance. The general research hypothesis tested is that hospital technology directly drives (affects) quality and hospital financial performance. The results indicate that the type of hospital technology (clinical or information) drives different types of quality‐related performance (clinical or process), and directly and indirectly affects hospital financial performance. The simple recursive model documented here is an important first step to defining more complete models that accurately predict hospital financial performance as a function of technology and quality investments and initiatives. The article concludes by summarizing results, discussing their implications, and proposing future research ideas.

The principal application domain for statistical process control (SPC) charts has been for process control and improvement in manufacturing businesses. However, the number of applications reported in domains outside of conventional production systems has been increasing in recent years. Implementing SPC chart approaches in non‐standard applications gives rise to many potential complications and poses a number of challenges. This paper reviews non‐standard applications of SPC charts reported in the literature from the period 1989 to 2000, inclusive. Non‐standard applications are analysed with respect to application domain, data sources used and control chart techniques employed. Applications are classified into five groups according to the types of problem to which control chart techniques have been applied. For each group the nature of the applications is described and analysed. The review does not show a paradigm shift in the types of SPC control chart applications but does show clearly that the application boundaries extend considerably beyond manufacturing and that the range of problems to which SPC control chart techniques can be applied is much wider than commonly assumed. The paper highlights the critical fundamental and technical issues that need to be addressed when applying SPC chart techniques in a range of non‐standard applications. Wider managerial issues of importance for successful implementations in non‐standard applications of SPC control charts are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the critical risk factors affecting mining projects in Ghana.

A purposive sampling approach was used in selecting the respondents for the study. These were practitioners working on mining projects in Ghana.

The study identified 22 risk factors contributing to mining project failure in Ghana. The five most critical mining project risk factors based on both probability of occurrence and impact were unstable commodity prices, inflation/exchange rate, land degradation, high cost of living and government bureaucracy for obtaining licenses. Mitigation measures for addressing the identified risk factors were identified.

This paper is limited to data collected from practitioners working on mining projects. Due to geographic and logistical constraints, the study did not include the perception of local communities in quantifying the risk factors.

This paper has documented the critical risk factor affecting the mining industry in Ghana. Though the identified risk types are also prevalent in other sectors of the construction industry, the key findings of this paper emphasize the need for a comprehensive risk management culture in the mining sector. From an academic research perspective, the paper contributes to a conceptual risk assessment framework.

The information gathered through this research can be utilized in identifying and understanding risks during the early stages of mining project implementation.