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End date: 2009Subject: search.filters.subject.350000 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services

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    Towards a systemic understanding of a hospital waiting list : boundaries, meaning and power : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Systems at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Foote, Jeffrey Lawrence
    Hospital waiting lists are a feature of public health care services that result when demand appears to exceed supply, and serve as mechanisms to ration health care resources. While waiting lists are usually conceptualised as rational queues, the dynamics of waiting lists, especially radiology waiting lists, are more complex and still poorly understood. The present study has attempted to better understand a problematic waiting list by adopting a systems approach known as boundary critique. A case study of an ultrasound waiting list was undertaken in which in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with a variety of stakeholders. Viewing the ultrasound waiting list systemically highlighted the role that a radiologist boundary surrounding the detection and confirmation of abnormal pathology played in constructing the ultrasound waiting list as a problem. This boundary was enacted through the process of double scanning, a symbol of radiologist expertise. General practitioners and patients employed a wider boundary, which focused on the management of clinical uncertainty. When the system in focus was widened to include this boundary, the process of double scanning became problematic. Double scanning contributed to the growth of the ultrasound waiting list and exacerbated the difficulty faced by general practitioners and waiting patients in managing diagnostic uncertainty. To manage the tension created between radiologist and general practice boundaries, non-radiologist stakeholders undertook unrecognised and under-valued work that helped maintain the radiologist-centred systems of process and structure. Radiologists also employed a discourse of inappropriateness that downplayed the significance of delayed general practitioner referrals, which served to reinforce the primacy of the radiologist boundary. Conflicting boundaries highlighted that the ultrasound waiting list was managed in a way that did not act in the interests of non-radiologist stakeholders such as general practitioners and waiting patients. Stakeholders proposed a number of interventions to manage the growing ultrasound waiting list. However, these primarily served to further strengthen the radiologist boundary and viewed as such represented a narrow improvement in terms of the interests of non-radiologist stakeholders. The process of boundary critique helped to reframe the ultrasound waiting list in terms of radiologist dominance. Interventions based on the boundary judgements of general practitioners, waiting patients and sonographers were developed. The present study argues that the ultrasound waiting list can be better understood in terms of the role that boundary judgements play in constructing notions such as expertise, illness and appropriateness, which underlie a common-sense understanding of need, demand and supply.
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    Search and rescue management : modelling and development of heuristic strategies within a simulation environment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Operations Research at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2000) Wharton, Fiona Helen
    The search for a lost person on land has been the subject of relatively little research to date in comparison to other search problems. This thesis addresses this imbalance by examining the search for a stationary object that does not attempt to avoid detection. The problem is defined as a synthesis of the coverage, routing, and allocation problems that exist in the literature, and its complexity and unique aspects are discussed. A physical model of the search terrain is developed using a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN). This model incorporates the vegetation and natural features of the terrain, and is extended to model access paths and traversal speeds between any two points. A visibility model is developed over the TIN in order to define a detection model for both a human subject and any clues placed by him. Correction factors are used to model visibility and traversal speeds under different search environments. Methods to define search regions as components of the elements of the TIN are described. Heuristic resource allocation methods are then developed for both the reconnaissance and general phases of a search operation. These methods allocate search tasks to resources individually or in parallel, and in real-time. Dynamic heuristic search strategies to respond to changing search conditions and the discovery of new information are then developed. A Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model of a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation is developed. This model incorporates: siting a search base; search resource deployment and searching; clue and subject detection; communication between resources and search management; flooding and resource deployment under adverse weather conditions; and responsiveness of the subject over time. The simulation model is used to perform some preliminary computational experiments on a restricted set of resource allocation methods and search strategies. Initial trends indicated from these experiments are: the general superiority of methods which do not restrict the set of regions to be allocated for searching to an initial primary search area; the dominance of a night searching strategy; the dominance of using a sound detection method when a subject is responsive; and the benefits of applying diversifying search strategies.
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    Community based strategic planning for sustainable regional tourism development in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management and International Business at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Simpson, Kenneth George Munro
    This thesis is concerned with the processes involved in the determination of tourism policies and development plans, at a sub-national level in New Zealand. In particular, it pursues a broad goal which aims: To investigate the validity of stakeholder participation and strategic orientation as significant contributors to sub-national tourism planning effectiveness in New Zealand. The thesis builds upon the premise that attention to these two foundation issues, at the outset of the planning process, creates a secure base for future planning activity, and that the additional effort required by this approach is rewarded by enhanced support for the development direction subsequently chosen. Within this context, five specific research objectives are established: 1. Describe the structural arrangements that have been established to guide tourism planning activities in New Zealand. 2. Ascertain the methods used by national, regional, and local agencies to determine tourism development strategies at a national, regional and local level. 3. Evaluate the extent to which sub-national tourism development strategies incorporate the principles of stakeholder participation and strategic orientation. 4. Establish quantitative levels of local resident support for a cross-section sample of sub-national tourism development strategies. 5. Evaluate the implications of stakeholder participation and strategic orientation in terms of subsequent levels of local resident support for sub-national tourism development strategies. This research was conceptualised as a challenge to what are argued to be two key assumptions in the tourism literature, assumptions which are essentially unsupported by empirical evidence. Firstly, there is a commonly accepted suggestion that multiple stakeholder participation throughout a planning process will generate enhanced levels of support for the subsequent planning outcomes; and secondly there is parallel advocacy of a strategic planning model as the most appropriate framework for developmental effectiveness. Research into the validity of these two propositions was considered to be vital, in terms of refining our understanding of long-term tourism development at a sub-national level. Objective 1 was addressed through a secondary data search which assessed the extent to which New Zealand's political system allocates strategic tourism planning responsibility to individual agencies. Objective 2 used a mail census, of all 116 tourism policy and planning institutions in New Zealand, to measure the extent of their involvement and to obtain a copy of their current tourism plan. Objective 3 required the construction of an evaluative checklist to objectively assess the planning processes used, and to establish a rank order of plans by quality of stakeholder involvement and strategic orientation. Objective 4 required the selection of three plans, taken from the top, middle and bottom of the rank order. These three examples were then re-formatted to reflect a common presentation style, and a random mail sample of 400 adult residents in each of the three chosen areas was invited to complete a written evaluation of their own tourism plan. A total of 185 useable responses was eventually received, and these were statistically analysed to satisfy the requirements of Objective 5. The results showed that tourism policy and planning responsibilities are not well defined in the New Zealand legislation and that, as a result, they are progressively delegated from national to regional government, regional to local government, and local government to joint public/private sector tourism organisations. Though there is some evidence of the acceptance of stakeholder participation and strategic orientation as desirable components of the tourism planning process, levels of enthusiasm for these concepts are variable, and it was not possible to find a planning process which could be described as an excellent example of either element. Local stakeholder evaluations were moderately favourable in each of the three study sites, and there was some support for the suggestion that stakeholder participation and strategic orientation makes a useful contribution to resident approval for the resultant tourism plan. However, conclusive identification of positive relationships was hampered by the absence of an excellent example; and by a potentially substantial element of demographic bias in the available data set of resident evaluations. These results indicate that stakeholder participation and strategic orientation remain superficially attractive, but empirically unproven, as essential components of an optimum sub-national tourism planning process. In this respect, the contribution to knowledge made by this research could be perceived as negative rather than positive. However, there is some evidence to suggest that further research into the relationships examined by this thesis could prove to be profitable. In particular, it would be valuable to sponsor the implementation of a specific sub-national tourism planning process which consciously adopts all of the elements defined as desirable during the current research, and to measure the levels of stakeholder support engendered by such an approach. The planning process assessment instrument, included as a central component of this thesis, is presented as a useful model by which such research efforts might be guided.
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    The tactical management processes used by pastoral-based dairy farmers : a multiple-case study of experts : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Farm Management at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2001) Gray, David Ian
    A competitive advantage of the New Zealand dairy industry is the ability of its farmers to produce milk from "low-cost" pastoral-based systems. Despite the importance of these systems to the New Zealand economy little is known about how farmers actually manage them. It has long been recognised that considerable variation exists between farmers in terms of milksolids production. An important reason for this is management capability. Some farmers have greater expertise in the management of pastoral-based dairy systems than others. Analysis of the management processes used by "expert" dairy farmers may help identify management practices "less expert" farmers could adopt to improve productivity. Such research would provide a cornerstone for maintaining the competitive advantage of New Zealand's dairy industry. A particularly important period in relation to the management of a pastoral-based dairy farm is summer-autumn. Management decisions made during this time affect milksolids production in both the current and subsequent lactations. Management is also particularly difficult during this period because pasture growth, the farmers' primary source of feed, is highly variable. Therefore, this study set out to develop a model to explain the tactical management processes used over the summer-autumn by "expert" pastoral-based dairy farmers. From a review of the normative and descriptive farm management literature, important concepts relevant to research into tactical management were identified. A longitudinal (three years), embedded multiple-case study approach was used to investigate the tactical management processes used by selected "expert" dairy farmers. From this investigation, a general model of tactical management was developed and compared to the literature. Importantly, the adoption of a suitable theoretical framework for case selection allowed more consistent and effective cross-study comparisons within the farm management discipline. Several theoretically important findings were identified through the study. Factors that determined the case farmers' choice of planning horizon were identified, as were the termination targets they used to overcome the planning problems of interdependency and consequences. The case farmers used both qualitative and quantitative planning processes. A model of the informal planning process was developed that demonstrated how the case farmers modified their "typical" or predefined plan in response to prior learning, strategic and tactical decisions made previously, and the farm state at the start of the planning period. The importance of targets (standards) and contingency plans (components of the plan) for control was confirmed. New typologies for classifying targets and contingency plans were also generated. A more refined model of the control process was developed. This focused on models of the important sub-processes: monitoring, decision point recognition, control response selection, opportunity recognition and selection, diagnosis, evaluation and learning. Similarly, typologies for classifying aspects of these sub-processes were developed or extended. Differences between "structured" and "unstructured" decisions were identified. The next challenge is to find ways to effectively transfer the practices of "expert" farmers to their less proficient colleagues.
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    Family preparedness for life with a traumatically brain injured relative : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Winthrop, Rachel C.
    The numbers of people surviving traumatic brain injury are increasing, as medical technology and crisis management systems improve. The demand for rehabilitation and support services outstrips supply and typically it is the families of individuals with brain injury who step in to meet the shortfall in services. Yet families are rarely prepared for the changes traumatic brain injury brings. It was a premise of this study that well prepared families would be more likely to understand what was required to effectively facilitate their injured relative's recovery, and be more capable of doing so, than families that were not well prepared. Using an evolving methodology, this three-phase mixed method study set out to investigate family preparation for life with a brain injured relative, focusing on the period where the injured relative was an inpatient at a rehabilitation facility in the Manawatu, New Zealand. Semi structured interviews and a self-administered mail questionnaire were employed to examine the roles performed by family members following their relative's brain injury, and their perceptions of the preparation they received for these roles and for the effects of role performance on their own lives, while their relative was an inpatient at the Rehabilitation Centre. The study found that family members often played a critical part in their relative's recovery from injury, assuming one or more of the roles of caregiver, case manager and therapist. Consistent with the literature, many family members considered they had not been adequately prepared for these roles during the period of inpatient treatment and suggested many changes were required to the way in which the process of family preparation was approached. From the experiences reported by family members, an evidence-based model of family preparation was developed to guide family preparation initiatives during the period of inpatient rehabilitation. The model is based on the premise that each family has unique preparation needs, reflecting the different capabilities of their brain injured relative, the family's social capital, and the range of professional and lay services available to the injured relative and the family at any given time. The changes to family preparation proposed in the study include enhanced collaboration between families, practitioners and agencies, greater inclusion of families in the inpatient phase by practitioners, and the adoption of a more planned approach to family preparation. These changes are largely achievable within existing resource constraints.
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    Preparedness for and management of organisational disruption in New Zealand : a descriptive exploration from the human resource management perspective : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Ewing-Jarvie, Simon Antony
    Business continuity planning and crisis management are the main terms used to describe the processes that organisations undertake when faced with disruption. Despite the economic and social importance of maintaining effective commercial activity most related research has been focussed on civil emergency and natural disaster or accident. There are a limited number of studies into organisational preparedness and no large studies in New Zealand. In particular, no studies have been found that focus on the human resource elements of organisational disruption. This research has sought to answer these questions through mail surveys, interviews and subsequent analysis. It has utilised the general style of an established questionnaire from researchers at the University of Southern California's Centre for Crisis Management to survey 1000 New Zealand organisations over two consecutive years. In addition, techniques developed in the field of knowledge engineering have been applied to the transcripts of the interviews conducted with senior executives and these have been developed into the domain layer of a knowledge model. The findings highlight that New Zealand organisations are poorly prepared for the complexities of the hazardscape, which is the term applied to a full spectrum approach to crisis management. In addition, the attitudes that prevail are similar to those found in the United States study of 1992. However, some unique findings have also been established. In particular, the influence of the Polynesian cultures has influenced some organisational cultures in a fatalistic manner. There are clear divisions of performance between the public and private sector and also within the public sector. New Zealand executives appear to be very compliance focussed. These and other findings now require the confirmation that will result from a continuation of a longitudinal study.
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    The building of strategic capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage : case studies in the New Zealand seafood industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Strategic Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Bess, J Randall
    The aim of this study was to identify the process by which selected New Zealand seafood firms built firm-specific resources, referred to as strategic capabilities, to gain and sustain a competitive advantage in the context of New Zealand's economic reforms and transformation of the fisheries management system. Having identified several contextual factors unique to the seafood industry and the macro-environment, this study examined the capabilities building process using broad organisational, environmental and historical contexts. A case study approach was used to conduct the research. The case study design consisted of four medium to large-sized, highly vertically-integrated seafood firms. Data were collected from interviews, internal documents, industry documents and observations. The study concludes that the strategic capabilities building process is predominantly systemic, that is utilising and combining several firm-specific resources to develop simultaneously sources of advantage so that firms can compete successfully in the highly competitive international seafood market. The systemic nature of the strategic capabilities building process requires seafood firms to build up intangible processes and routines that link all of their value chain activities in the best possible way. Processes and routines are dynamic; they change, therefore, with the acquisition and integration of new knowledge about a firm's operations, its products and those external environmental forces that impact on the firm. This study suggests that the greatest potential gain for highly vertically-integrated firms lies in senior managers' reviewing the nature and extent of their interactions, their comprehension of value chain activities, and their firm-wide communication-oriented processes and routines that support the capabilities building process. This study also confirms that for vertically-integrated firms operating in resource-based industries, secure access rights to the resource play a critical role in firm-level competitiveness.
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    The impact of internet on business : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Wallace, Catherine May
    The purpose of this thesis is to critically examine the impact of Internet on business with a particular emphasis on the New Zealand business situation. The focus is on the human elements rather than the technical aspects affecting organisations. The literature review establishes the context for the study with an overview of the development and progress of the Internet as a key component of the business environment. The information gathered from early stages of the research provided a cross-sectional analysis of Internet use in New Zealand industry sectors. Information gained served as a basis for selecting businesses for a more in-depth analysis for face-to-face interviews. A range of interviews were held with participants from organisations that were in the high, moderate and low Internet adoption sectors as identified by the questionnaire responses. Questionnaires were sent to businesses representing the full range of industry sectors via traditional paper channels. An industry- wide, New Zealand- wide sample was sought to give baseline data on New Zealand organisations to gain an understanding of current and future uses. To assess the issues involved in the future application of modern computer communications, issues such as cost-benefit analysis, privacy, security, access to information services and databases, competitive advantage, information management, public relations, marketing and electronic commerce will be explored. A range of issues identified from both the online and offline literature that seemed indicative of emerging and future trends formed the basis of the questions. Once the paper questionnaires had been returned, a comparable sample of respondents was sought, again indicative of all seventeen industry sectors. All respondents in this sample were from organisations that at least had email, even if they did not yet have a presence on the Internet. These customers of Internet Service Providers were sent a largely identical questionnaire by email. The aim was to gather data about organisations already online to identify any early-adopter characteristics and to gather more specific detailed information applicable to this group as existing Internet users. The final research phase was a longitudinal study using a case study methodology. Selected organisations were followed through a three-part process of planning for technology, acquisition and implementation of technology and the final stage of evaluation and audit. Trends from the literature and the questionnaires were examined in the context of New Zealand organisations. Structured interviews were conducted with these organisations. The results of the investigation form the success factors with discussion on the necessary planning, implementation and evaluation for businesses wishing to embrace the medium. As 94% of New Zealand business are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), the majority of findings are relevant to that context in particular although a number can be extrapolated to Internet-connected organisations in general. Three objectives run through the various research phases. The research objectives are: - to identify the nature and extent of Internet based business activities by organisations in New Zealand - to examine the motives and impacts of these initiatives - to determine factors that contribute to the success of these endeavours The first research phase focusses on the planning issues including perceived and actual information needs of organisations using the Internet. The process of selecting appropriate technology and Internet providers is considered and study made of the competitive advantage offered by the Internet. Implications for organisations such as knowledge gaps, changing power structures with new technology and issues of privacy and controls are also considered. Implications for individuals including workload, communication patterns, training, reskilling and deskilling are pursued. The second research phase focusses on the acquisition and implementation of the Internet by organisations. Comparisons are made between organisations and their strategies for getting online and managing the process of changeover and transition to an Internet-based business environment. The third research phase compares expected and actual outcomes from Internet implementation in organisations. A review is carried out with participating organisations by examining the role of the Internet on business effectiveness. The area of Internet use in organisations needs investigation as the majority are faced with devising an Internet strategy, yet most companies have barely considered the online world till relatively recently. This research considers the implications of this for successful Internet use and presents success factors for organisations. The recent downturn in dot.coms has increased interest in the factors determining success although the cases included in this thesis are not dot.coms as such but ordinary businesses that want to use the Internet.
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    The relationship between market research and business performance : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2001) Raguragavan, Ganeshasundaram
    Over recent years, academics and practitioners alike have been taking a growing interest in the evaluation of market research activities. Discussions of the relationship between market research and business performance emphasise a logical link between useful information and good decisions. While many marketers agree with this logic, and think that market research and business performance are positively related, the sole empirical study conducted so far did not confirm this. A possible reason for the lack of confirmation is that different types of market research have different effects on business performance. This study tested two hypotheses: that the type of research makes no difference to the usefulness of research projects as evaluated by the managers; and that business performance is unaffected by the type of research companies predominantly employ. These hypotheses were empirically tested by assessing the usefulness of the different types of market research projects, and by assessing whether the company performance is affected by the type of research employed by the company. Two substantive issues arise from these assessments: the classification of projects, and of companies, into types, and the evaluation, by type, of usefulness and business performance. Market research projects conducted by the surveyed companies, were classified as "decision research" or "background research", based on the purpose for which each project was undertaken and how it was used. The companies were then classified on the basis of the type of research they predominantly commissioned. The assessment of usefulness indicated that background research is carried out much more often than decision research, yet is regarded as less useful by managers. The assessment of company performance suggested that companies carrying out more decision research perform better than those that place more emphasis on background research. This evidence, if replicated, would justify a re-orientation from background research to decision research.
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    Sustaining lean in New Zealand manufacturing organisations : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Engineering and Industrial Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2009) Murti, Yashwant
    This study has focused on the NZ manufacturing sector. The weak productivity rates of this sector over the last few years prompted the Government (through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise) to take steps to help manufacturers’ boost productivity growth through a directed campaign to apply lean manufacturing. Several high-growth potential companies were selected to participate in NZTE’s Aichi lean programme which ran from 2005 through to 2008. Several companies also joined NZTE’s current Direct lean programme which kicked-off in 2007. Overseas experience shows that a majority of organisations attempting lean transformations fail to sustain improvements. This study looked at the experiences of a sample of organisations that participated in NZTE’s Lean Programme in sustaining their lean transformations. This study utilised case study research techniques to extract qualitative data from nine manufacturing companies. Eleven organisations were originally selected for study but two companies went into receivership prior to the commencement of data collection. The organisations were assessed for lean sustainability using a recognised sustainability model. In general, lean improvements were not sustained across NZ manufacturing organisations. NZTE’s Lean Programmes were successful in promoting lean but proved poor in ensuring sustained improvements. Only one case study organisation looked likely to sustain improvements. There were several common problems experienced by the organisations. These problems were; erroneous understanding of lean, poor change strategy, poor SMT commitment, NZTE funding ‘pushing’ change, high staff turnover, high staff resistance and failure to develop the lean champion’s capabilities. The root-cause of these problems was lack of organisational leadership. The majority of the leaders chose to attempt lean simply as a tool for short-term gains. Many organisations experienced good initial gains from implementing lean but the majority failed to sustain these improvements. Overseas experience shows that to sustain improvements organisations need to focus on and invest into life-long learning. This study showed that there is a distinct lack of focus on learning within the sample. It is recommended that the 5P model be used as a guide to creating learning organisations within NZ. The 5P model has been developed from the 4P model (Liker 2004) which is based on the philosophies and principles used by Toyota to become a learning organisation. The 5P’s are Preparedness, Philosophy, Process, People and Partners and Problem Solving. Organisations first establish their strengths and weaknesses through a period of preparedness. The next step is to establish a long-term philosophy to enable the successful roll-out of the other P’s. Process improvements provide the setting in which to challenge and develop people, which is necessary to achieve a true learning organisation focused on continuous improvement through problem solving.