Papers by Jennifer Farris
Engineering Management Journal, 2008
Page 1. 10 September 2008 Vol. 20 No. 3 Engineering Management Journal Learning From Less Success... more Page 1. 10 September 2008 Vol. 20 No. 3 Engineering Management Journal Learning From Less Successful Kaizen Events: A Case Study Jennifer A. Farris, Texas Tech Eileen M. Van Aken, Virginia Tech Toni L. Doolen, Oregon ...
The brutal fact that about 70% of change initiatives fail clearly demonstrates that more research... more The brutal fact that about 70% of change initiatives fail clearly demonstrates that more research is needed to develop knowledge and guidelines to support organization development and change. According to various action researchers, this also provides evidence that the dominant approach of positivist science has failed to generate ‘knowledge for use’ within this field. Action Research (AR) aims to complement positive science by focusing on complex real life problems, participation, joint-meaning construction and workable solutions: the desired results of AR are solutions to immediate problems and, equally important, learning from both intended and unintended outcomes of the change. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how principles of various AR methodologies have been important to support the creation of a learning organization within a technical support unit of the Belgian Armed Forces. Such an evolutionary multimethod approach adds new insights to the AR methodology: in l...
IIE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering, 2015
ABSTRACT The discharge scheduling process presented in this paper proposes a new paradigm for dis... more ABSTRACT The discharge scheduling process presented in this paper proposes a new paradigm for discharging inpatients from a hospital and was developed through collaboration with the Medical Center Hospital in Odessa, Texas. An optimization model that incorporates systematic capacities and patient preferences into generating target discharge times for patients is presented together with a system design to achieve the practical implementation of such. The mathematical model is an extension of an assignment model whose inputs and outputs may be incorporated into patient tracking software through a series of queries. The model considers physician loads and rounding patterns, available transporters, nursing staff workloads, and patient characteristics and preferences in assigning a time for which a patient is scheduled for discharge. In addition, the model has built in the ability to relax constraints so as to prevent solution infeasibility in practice.
2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings, 2015
Despite the anecdotal recognition of factors that may influence Kaizen outcome sustainability, th... more Despite the anecdotal recognition of factors that may influence Kaizen outcome sustainability, there has been little empirical investigation of sustainability determinants. This research reports on the preliminary sustainability results from one manufacturing organization. The organization is participating in an ongoing field study of Kaizen events containing multiple manufacturing organizations. Researchers collected data on event characteristics, follow-up mechanisms, goal sustainability, and work area context for 14 events from the case study organization. A preliminary set of perceptual follow-up mechanism measures is identified and summarized. The study results also provide preliminary evidence of how the follow-up mechanisms may influence goal sustainability.
Iteration is a central issue in the management of product development (PD) projects. Iteration is... more Iteration is a central issue in the management of product development (PD) projects. Iteration is often recognized as a major source of increased PD lead-time and cost, a key driver of schedule risk, and a source of major uncertainties in the commitment of resources. However, iteration, when planned and managed effectively, can overcome the uncertainties inherent in interdependent development activities and thus, improve and accelerate PD projects. Based on case study insights, we argue that effective iteration management not only entails the elimination of unnecessary iterative loops due to ill-defined process structures but also a combination of iteration front-loading and iteration end-front separation. As such, this work complements the front-loading principles from the Lean PD literature by providing an alternative approach based upon improved iteration management. First, we use the design structure matrix to identify sets of iterative loops and then, we apply a binary ordering...
Engineering Management Journal, 2007
ABSTRACT This article presents an approach for assessing the effectiveness of engineering design ... more ABSTRACT This article presents an approach for assessing the effectiveness of engineering design tools applied within new product development (NPD). In this approach both the quality of the proccss used to apply the design tool and the quality of outputs generated by the design tool are assessed. The approach described was developed and piloted in an engineer-to-order (ETO) company. The specific assessment instruments created are also presented. Future work Will include investigating the use of the approach for additional design tools and analyzing how design tool effectiveness relates to overall product launch effectiveness.
International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 2011
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate an application of a structured ... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate an application of a structured approach to assess and improve an organization's performance measurement review process. Design/methodology/approach – This approach was implemented within an ongoing action research project in a large telecommunications organization. Assessment elements were defined based on literature review, and the assessment approach was designed based
Engineering Management Journal, 2011
LPD systems, e.g., functional, project, and portfolio, and in order to achieve improvements in LP... more LPD systems, e.g., functional, project, and portfolio, and in order to achieve improvements in LPD, organizations must not only improve value creation and work flow efficiency within levels but also across levels. This clearly requires a holistic understanding of the characteristics of effective LPD systems both within and across levels; however, most LPD research to date has focused on only a single level. Practitioners and researchers lack organizing frameworks to capture key LPD system principles at different organizational levels, to identify effective tools and practices for implementing principles at each level, and to define effective approaches for managing the interactions between levels. This article uses literature review and a longitudinal case study from an engineering PD department within a European governmental organization-the Department for Technical Studies and Installations (TSI) of the Belgian Armed Forces (BAF)-to develop a multilevel framework that can be used to understand the characteristics of effective LPD system design both within and across levels. Specifically, the article identifies three levels to be considered in LPD system design-functional, project, and portfolio-and proposes that two specific principles need to be considered both within and across levels-value definition and work flow optimization. A contribution of the framework proposed here is, first, that it can ultimately be used to guide LPD system improvement efforts and to assist in evaluating the results, and, second, that it is strongly connected to the literature on new product development (NPD), which is typically only tangentially associated with LPD. As a final contribution, the article reports on the LPD improvement journey of a case study organization that is very different from the Japanese and aerospace best practice organizations that are traditionally studied within the literature. The remainder of this article is organized as follows: first, the development of an initial conceptual framework based on literature review is described, followed by a description of the research methodology and the case study organization, presentation of case study results, discussion of study findings and presentation of the refined framework, and, finally, discussion of lessons learned and areas for future research.
Engineering Management Journal, 2014
ABSTRACT With the increasing popularity of Kaizen events as a process improvement initiative, the... more ABSTRACT With the increasing popularity of Kaizen events as a process improvement initiative, the amount of Kaizen event literature has also increased. This article includes a systematic literature review of the Kaizen event body of knowledge, assessing the quality of the literature and synthesizing the literature to find convergent, variant, and divergent practices. The findings indicate that the literature is dominated by trade press and industry case works, with a growing number of academic publications. Several identified themes from the data synthesis were convergent, e.g., the importance of team member authority/autonomy and having a well-defined problem scope, while others were divergent, e.g., the level of functional and hierarchical heterogeneity and Kaizen event deployment. In order to advance the Kaizen event body of knowledge, future research should include more systematic academic investigations and theory-testing works, particularly of these divergent findings.
Engineering Management Journal, 2011
ABSTRACT Lean Product Development (LPD) is one of the leading approaches currently being adopted ... more ABSTRACT Lean Product Development (LPD) is one of the leading approaches currently being adopted by organizations attempting to maximize value, increase quality, shorten lead times, and lower costs for product development (PD) processes; however, it appears that the mere translation of lean manufacturing principles into PD settings does not necessarily equate to an effective lean PD process, and many organizations continue to struggle to deploy LPD. In order to better understand the theoretical content of LPD research, as well as the potential reasons for implementation difficulties, this article presents results from a systematic review of the LPD literature over the past 21 years. Findings are used to identify trends and themes in the current research, areas for future research, and implications for practicing engineering managers. In particular, we find that current themes in LPD research can be mapped to seven knowledge domains, and we identify practices and principles that have been proposed for dealing with core problems, as well as future research needs, within each of these domains.
International Journal of Production Research, 2014
ABSTRACT While rapid improvement efforts, e.g. Kaizen events, and continuous improvement efforts,... more ABSTRACT While rapid improvement efforts, e.g. Kaizen events, and continuous improvement efforts, i.e. kaizen, remain popular approaches to operational excellence, it is rare that organisations fully sustain change from these initiatives. The impact of both Kaizen events and kaizen may be substantially lower, if not entirely eliminated, after significant time has elapsed from initial implementation of changes. In this paper, we examine how having a continuous improvement culture can support rapid improvement sustainability via an examination of the impact of Kaizen events several months after implementation. Employing a dynamic capabilities perspective and using the institutionalisation of planned change framework, we empirically examine this relationship via a field study of 65 Kaizen events in eight manufacturing organisations. In short, we find that the extent to which work area employees exhibit peer learning, as well as awareness and responsibility both inside and outside of their work area, and the extent to which changes are accepted are significantly related to the perceived impact of Kaizen events several months after implementation. This research adds to current understanding of Kaizen events and kaizen, providing evidence to guide the use of Kaizen events and to inform areas for future research.
Administrative Sciences, 2013
ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that military units operating in the context of risky missio... more ABSTRACT Previous research has shown that military units operating in the context of risky missions display the characteristics of a Learning Organization. The present work provides preliminary exploratory evidence about the association between Learning Organization characteristics and leadership styles used by military leaders in the field. Based on the literature, we hypothesized that higher Learning Organization characteristics would be associated with a more transformational style of leadership that inspires followers. With this purpose, the five characteristics of a Learning Organization as defined by Peter Senge (Systems Thinking, Team Learning, Shared Vision, Mental Models, and Personal Mastery) and leadership styles as defined by the multifactor leadership model of Bass and Avolio (Transformational, Transactional, and Passive-Avoidant), were measured among commanding officers who had recently served in a mission abroad. Associations with organizational outcomes (Extra-Effort, Effectiveness, and Satisfaction) were also investigated for both Learning Organization characteristics and leadership styles. The correlations showed that Learning Organization characteristics were highly related to Transformational leadership dimensions, and also with Transactional leadership based on Contingent Rewards; meanwhile no association was found with a Passive-Avoidant leadership. Organizational outcomes were also related to Transformational leadership, Contingent Rewards and to various characteristics of a Learning Organization. Implications of these results, as well as avenues for future research, are also discussed.
Journal of Enterprise Transformation, 2013
Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2003
Electronic commerce and associated business-to-business transaction capabilities have changed the... more Electronic commerce and associated business-to-business transaction capabilities have changed the way in which the supply chain operates. The Internet has enabled information exchange on an unprecedented scale, often at a pace too fast for normal consumption. Companies are not equipped to make effective use of data from warehouse and transportation management systems. These systems are key factors in integrating the physical flow of goods along the extended supply chain. We explore the potential for this "virtual warehouse" paradigm to improve customer service through improved efficiencies, reduced costs, and reduced lead-time variability.
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2008
Home > International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management > Volume 57 issue 8... more Home > International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management > Volume 57 issue 8 > Kaizen events and organizational performance: a... ... Icon: Abstract. Icon: Backfiles. Icon: Print. Icon: Reprints & permissions. ... This research was supported by the National ...
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2005
Design/methodology/approach – Assessment elements were defined based on the literature, and the s... more Design/methodology/approach – Assessment elements were defined based on the literature, and the scoring approach was designed based on performance excellence frameworks such as Baldrige and EFQM. A research case application in a Belgian public sector ...
International Journal of Production Economics, 2009
... including actual authority to implement changes during the event, is frequently cited as one ... more ... including actual authority to implement changes during the event, is frequently cited as one of the key task design characteristics contributing to Kaizen event effectiveness (eg, Adams et al., 1997; Bicheno, 2001; Bradley and Willett, 2004; Foreman and Vargas, 1999; Kumar and ...
International Journal of Production Economics, 2011
International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 2012
Purpose -Many of the benefits of Six Sigma (SS) programs stem from the proper use of tools within... more Purpose -Many of the benefits of Six Sigma (SS) programs stem from the proper use of tools within team-based improvement projects. However, teams often struggle with selecting and integrating the best tools to use in their projects, compromising not only the project completion but also the solution implementation and sustainability over time. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic approach to articulate SS tools based on team learning, in order to facilitate tool selection and alignment, team collaboration, solution ownership, and overall solution quality and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach -The action research approach was adopted to explore the link between team learning practices and tool application that combined participation in and reflection upon a successful SS project from the electronic manufacturing industry. Findings -SS tools can be more effectively aligned and integrated with team learning practices. Team discussions and dialogues on SS tool outcomes are pivotal to the development of practical interpretations, allowing the team to create new knowledge, change mental models regarding pre-conceived solutions, and enable team members to collectively select and interpret tools in a coherent way, leading to the buy-in of the final solution and the SS program as a whole. Originality/value -The paper yields value to practitioners and researchers interested in successful SS project execution and program sustainability, by providing a team-learning approach for effective tool integration. In addition, this paper highlights the need for additional research on team learning within SS programs.
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Papers by Jennifer Farris