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The theory and practice of Quality Assurance in Health is drawn from and involves many disciplines and professions. The dangers of imprecisions in the use of terms can lead to confusion. The glossary prepared by the author aims to provide a firm foundation of definition, thereby avoiding squabbles over semantics.

Using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation literature as an organising framework, the purpose of this paper is to explore the initial steps in a continuous improvement (CI) journey taken by an Irish university in order to identify the motivations, highlight key challenges and considers the capabilities required to initiate and sustain a CI programme.

This study focusses on one case organisation. A participative approach is adopted to learn from the initial steps taken in the establishment of a CI programme. Given this approach, the researchers had access to all documents and related archives associated with this initiative. Hence an iterative learning approach is adopted with the analysis of data from the first 12-month plan informing the next planning and implementation phase.

This paper provides a reflective account of why and how a university went about commencing a CI programme. The motivation to establish the CI programme not only reflects the current fiscal environment but also one characterised by a need to respond to a number of increasingly demanding stakeholders. The insights gained highlight the importance of alignment with strategy, role of specialists and use of a structured method informed by a LSS approach. Of particular note is the role of expertise, both internal and external, and within this context the interplay between a formal top-down approach and the coming together enthusiast staff, some of whom had CI experience from previous employment. A number of practical implications were identified as a result of the study including the key role of the project sponsor; the criticality of an understanding of the fundamental LSS concepts and tools and techniques by management; and the key role played by improvement specialists.

While in recent times a strong case for the application of LSS in HEIs has been made, there is a paucity of case studies based on the reflective practice in the field. This paper is novel in that it aims to address this and contribute to an emerging body of CI literature in the HEI area.

This paper aims to contribute to a developing literature on continuous improvement (CI), enabled by Lean Six Sigma (LSS), in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports on the key learning points arising from the initial steps taken by an Irish university on its CI journey.

A case study strategy was adopted following a participatory research approach. This approach supports reflexivity and also provides access to all relevant documentation and staff within the case university. Thematic analysis was supported by data reduction and display techniques.

The introduction of a LSS approach rather than a reliance on lean alone introduced a structured methodology (DMAIC) that supported simplification of a number of administrative processes. A number of specific improvements were achieved including: Cycle time and cost reduction; customer or employee satisfaction; and rework and error reduction. The findings support the importance of the Readiness Factors as identified by Antony (2014), with particular insight into the role of senior and middle management, the impact of training and deployment of expertise.

This paper is based on an ongoing, longitudinal, empirical study of a single case study in Ireland.

This paper tracks the development of CI in a HEI in a longitudinal manner and adds to the emerging the literature in this area. The paper evaluates the role of management at various levels, analyses the use of LSS tools and techniques and evaluated the role of training and capacity building. Implications for Management are shared including: design and role of training programmes, role of champions at various organisational levels, including key functional areas and sustaining momentum.

Implementing lean management (LM) provides universities with a variety of benefits and utilities. The purpose of this study is to systematically analyze the existing literature on the implementation of LM in universities.

A systematic literature review is undertaken to identify, select and evaluate the literature. A total of 68 articles were identified in Web of Science and Scopus, analyzed and synthesized from the first article published on the topic (2003) to mid-2020.

Literature analysis and evaluation have enabled us to offer a novel literature classification based around four research lines that summarize the empirical evidence on LM implementation in universities, namely, lean applied to academic management processes; lean applied to administrative management processes; factors that facilitate lean implementation and results obtained with lean. Finally, the gaps and challenges for future research into LM in universities are presented.

This study provides a characterization of the research carried out into LM implementation in universities, which facilitates the work of both scholars wishing either to begin or to dig deeper into this sphere and university professionals and managers pursuing the best outcomes from LM.

To convey the findings of an investigation into the relationship between poetry and business thinking, which began with the hypothesis that regular reading and analysis of poetry and its levels of meaning, subtle verbal and nonverbal contextual nuances, emotional content, and required associative thinking will help people deal with ambiguity, delay closure on decisions, and result in more systemic thinking and in better business decisions.

The research and workshops indicate that reading poetry can expand thinking space by enhancing associative thinking and access to preconceptual areas.

The findings are based on extensive interdisciplinary research and a small number of seminars and workshops. No formal studies have yet been conducted.

This provides a way to open thinking spaces that may be often unused by the business strategist, and that can lead to better decisions. By focusing on how executives can refine their thinking abilities to take them beyond the ordinary limits of cause‐and‐effect approaches, encourages the application of those radical judgments that can help differentiate one organization from another.

The authors believe they are the first to explore this relationship between reading poetry and business thinking.

Electronics exhibitions are the same the world over, very tiring affairs. If your stand is busy, time flies; if not, the strain is more noticeable.

The International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene's (IFH) approach to infectious disease prevention is “targeted hygiene”, which means identifying the routes of transmission of infection in the home and community, and targeting hygiene measures at “critical points” (CPs) to break the chain of transmission. This paper aims to identify and prioritise CPs in the home kitchen environment during food preparation in order to inform food safety campaigns.

This study involved: filming participants (n=60) while they prepared a meal according to a specified recipe (30 beef/salad burgers and 30 chicken salads); swabbing key potential contamination sites in the participant's kitchen for microbiological testing; sampling the meat and salad components of the cooked meal for microbiological testing; visual inspection and temperature check of the meat after cooking; and administering a survey of knowledge, attitudes and demographic factors.

This study has identified the critical points (CPs) during domestic food preparation as: CP1: correct cooking practices; CP2: prevention of cross‐contamination; and CP3: correct food storage practices. Statistically significant links were found between food safety knowledge and behaviour as well as between food safety attitudes and demographic factors.

This is the first study to link all aspects of observed consumer food safety practices in the home to food safety knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, psychosocial and demographic factors to identify these CPs.