Projects
The following is a selection from over 70 projects that I have been involved with, either as principal investigator, investigator, supervisor or team member.
The list begins with eight (8) significant projects funded by - and conducted for - governmental and other major sectoral sponsors. This is followed by a list of sixteen (16) 4+ year long doctoral research projects that I have supervised or co-supervised. Research Masters projects I have supervised are not included in the lists, as these are too numerous.
2017-2019
Project: Development of an innovative performance measurement system for New Zealand healthcare sector
My role: Principal Investigator
Funder: Health Research Commission (Explorer Grant)
This two year government-funded project resulted in a set of proposed metrics for measuring the performance of New Zealand's 20 District Health Boards. Myself and two colleagues developed the successful application for this highly competitive funding round. The methodology employed structural equation modelling and expert surveys of high level DHB staff.
2015 - 2017
Project: Development of a Quality Auditor education framework
My role: co-investigator
Sponsor: The Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ)
In this project I worked alongside researchers from Monash University and Universiti Teknologi MARA to develop a syllabus of content that today's quality auditors should know. A Delphi study was used to develop the framework, involving experts from Australia and New Zealand.
2015 - 2016
Project: Development of a knowledge framework for New Zealand Health Professionals
My role: Development team member
Funder: Health Quality & Safety Commission
This voluntary role involved me joining a panel of experts from across New Zealand healthcare to develop a syllabus of required knowledge in relation to quality and continual improvement. The project resulted in the report shown on the left, of which I was an author.
2016 - 2017
Project: An investigation of the mechanism for improving the supply of graduate engineers into New Zealand industry
My role: Co-Investigator
Sponsor: The Tertiary Education Commission (NZ)
This project was a follow-up to the previous project (below) which investigated perceived gaps in New Zealand's engineering education staircase. In this project we examined ways in which the supply of engineers into industry could be improved.
The report proposes local knowledge 'hubs' as one effective means of increasing the supply of fresh undergraduates into STEM subjects at school and/or technical college, and subsequently into engineering courses.
2014 - 2015
Project: Examining the Educational Staircase for Engineers in New Zealand
My role: Co-investigator
Funder: the Tertiary Education Commission (NZ)
In this project my colleague Dr Greg Frater and I investigated the adequacy of the formal educational 'staircase' to produce engineers and technologists in New Zealand. We found that while there is sufficient supply of honours and graduate engineers, there were insufficient pathways to produce technologists at levels 5 & 6. This led to a dearth of technically skilled people to take on operator middle management roles in technical operations.
The report identifies a need for a return of the funded apprenticeship that were popular in New Zealand twenty years previously. The merging and dissolution of technical colleges has contributed much to the lack of level 5-7 engineers and technologists, while competiton between universities has led to a growth of honours level courses and graduates.
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2013 - 2014
Project: Testing the conceptual validity of the Toyota Way
My role: Research team member
Funder: Toyota Global Knowledge Centre (Ca)
In this project we used large sample of Toyota facilities across the world and conducted a survey to test theoretical causal linkages within the Toyota Way and Toyota Production System.
The research enabled Toyota to determine the degree of empirical validity behind the constructs within the Toyota Way model.
The journal paper shown is one of the tangible outcomes of this project.
2010 - 2011
Project: Determining the antecedents and requirements for sustainable lean in New Zealand.
My Role: Co-Investigator
Sponsor: New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE)
In this project we reported to NZTE on the necessary and recommended requirements for New Zealand to be able to implement and sustain lean programmes across manufacturing. We conducted a longitudinal study focusing on a selection of organisations that had been through a lean acceleration process, including funded consultancy and visits to Japan.
We found that lean was unlikely to be sustained within these organisations, as the initial impetus faded quickly and many returned to old working practices very rapidly. There was a lack of an underpinning model or culture.
2004 - 2005
Project: Enhancing the Design, Development & Deployment of the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF)
My Role: Co-Investigator
Sponsor: Standards Australia International (SAI) Global Ltd.
This project was undertaken under the auspices of the Centre for Organisational Excellence Research (COER) located partially within Massey University. In this project we undertook a major global survey of Business Excellence model custodians to determine where best practices lay in relation to the the design, the development, deployment and utilisation of Business Excellence Models worldwide. We produced two reports for SAI Global, and around a dozen book chapters, journal papers and conference papers on the current state of Business Excellence.
Successfully completed Ph.D. projects
This list is present in reverse chronological order of date the thesis was submitted. Links take you to the library database at Massey University where the full abstracts can be viewed.
2024 Achinthya Perera
2017 Zafar Iqbal
2017 Alan Samuel
2016 Pramila Gamage
Applicability of Taguchi’s Quality Philosophy and methods within a lean manufacturing environment
