Hello all,
I am Musli, a PhD student at the Centre for Organisational Excellence Research, Massey University (www.coer.org.nz). I am conducting a survey on business improvement initiatives. This survey is part of my doctoral study, which is supervised by Dr. Robin Mann and Dr. Nigel Grigg.
Can you help?
All practitioners, managers, executives, consultants and/or academicians who have a good understanding and experience on business improvement initiatives are invited to complete the survey.
What is the purpose?
There are numerous business improvement initiatives that can be used by organisations to improve quality, productivity and sustainability towards achieving excellence. The initiatives can be approaches, systems, tools and/or techniques, such as, Six Sigma, Lean, ISO9000, ISO14000, Business Process Reengineering, and Benchmarking. The right initiatives to be used may vary depending on several factors, for instance, the current maturity level of the organisation, areas in which the initiatives are implemented, organisation type and size, and the capabilities and responsibilities of the workforce. Moreover, there is also a lack of clear understanding by people regarding when, where and how to implement the initiatives. In order to help organisations to select suitable initiatives according to the contexts, this survey attempts to identify where the main business improvement initiatives should be used according to the following areas: leadership and social responsibilities, strategy and policy, customers, processes, workforce, and, partnerships and resources.
How much time does it takes?
It will take approximately 5 to 60 minutes of your time to complete this questionnaire depending on your knowledge and experience of different business improvement initiatives. There are 53 main initiatives listed in Section 2 of the questionnaire. You are
not expected to answer all the listed initiatives. Instead,
please answer the initiatives that you are familiar with. If you are only familiar with two or three initiatives, it will probably only take you 5 to 10 minutes to complete the survey.
Do you want to participate?
Returning the completed questionnaire is taken as your consent to participate in this survey. Your feedback will be used solely for research purposes and resultant research reports or publications will not disclose the identity of the participants. Confidentiality is assured. You are under no obligation to accept this invitation. If you decide to participate, you have the right to:
- Ask any questions about the study. If you require any further information, you are welcome to contact me. My contact details are shown below.
- Provide information on the understanding that your name will not be used unless you give permission to the researcher.
This project has been reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics Committee: Southern B, Application 09/27. If you have any concerns about the conduct of this research, please contact Dr Karl Pajo, Chair, Massey University Human Ethics Committee: Southern B, telephone +64 4 801 5799 ext. 6929, email humanethicsouthb@massey.ac.nz. Alternatively, you may also contact my main supervisor: Dr. Robin Mann, by telephone +64 6 350 5445 or email R.S.Mann@massey.ac.nz.
What benefit will you get?
If you have completed the questionnaire and request form, you will be sent a copy of the survey findings through email, once it is ready.
I hope you can participate. Thank you in advance for sharing your opinions.
Yours sincerely,
Musli Mohammad
PhD Student
Centre for Organisational Excellence Research (COER)
Industrial Management and Innovation Cluster
School of Engineering and Advanced Technology
Massey University, Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand
Office Phone: +64 6 356 9099 extn 7439
Mobile Phone: +64 21 027 15357
Fax: +64 6 350 5604
Email: M.Mohammad@massey.ac.nz or muslimailbox@gmail.com
