Topic: Lean Management

Topic: Lean Management

Pages: 20, Double spaced
Sources: 30

Order type: Coursework
Subject: Political Science

Style: Vancouver
Language: English (U.K.)

Order Description
This order is to comprise of the 1st two chapters of a dissertation. Chapter 1 (introduction), and Chapter 2 (Literature Review).
The order is to be based on the attached ‘dissertation proposal’ document.
A critical approach and not descriptive is to be used throughout the order.
Only use sources from peer reviewed journals newer than 2010 only. Sources from the Western Europe, USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.
Indirect referencing only
Do not look for any further information regarding the company, only use the information from the ‘dissertation proposal’

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
Statement of research, aim, hypothesis and sub-objectives. (THIS IS BASED UPON attached document dissertation proposal)
To include:
1. Background (300 words)
2. Research focus (400 words)
3. overall research aim and individual research objectives (400 words)
4. value of research (300 words)

this section should:
provide preliminary background information (place the study in context)
clarify focus of study
specify overall research aim and individual objectives.
point out value of research
should link/flow to next section literature review.
Only use sources from peer reviewed journals newer than 2010 only. Sources from the western Europe, USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.
Indirect referencing only
Structured to present: background; research focus; overall research aim and individual research objectives; and the value of the intended research.
Back ground section should place research area into context, referring to relevant literature sources
Research focus section describes subject of research
Overall aim and individual research objectives section of the introduction clarifys research focus in simple terms, where main research aim is identified and the specific research objectives needed to complete your main aim are enumerated. BASED ON ‘dissertation proposal’ ONLY transform overall aim and individual research objectives into research questions. Provide an overview of the research methods that are to be used for the complete dissertation.
Value of research ie why you think the research is worth doing think in terms of beneficiaries of the work.

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction based upon chapter 1 of order.
To include: (introduction, 5 themes, and conclusion)
a. Introduction 150 words
b. 5 equal sized themes:
1. Define lean. (650 words)
2. Define innovation. (600 words)
3. Identify the evidence/factors that lean support innovation. (800 words)
4. Identify the evidence/factors that lean impedes innovation. (800 words)
5. Analyse and evaluate the evidence (Tasks 3 & 4) and theoretically test the hypothesis (see attached document dissertation proposal). (800 words)
c. Conclusion (300 words)
The order should comply with:
1. Demonstrate understanding your understanding of the general field
2. Explain theoretical stance
3. Contextualising work
4. Show significance of dissertation title
5. Use aims and objectives of introduction part of order to complete themes.
6. The sections of literature should ‘flow’/ ‘link’ together
Also the work should follow the following characteristics:
1. Lays out research done by others relevant to the dissertation
2. It presents the work of others in a clear, interesting and progressive manner (to build up a coherent/logical picture)
3. Provide evidence of in depth critical evaluation (show an opinion and support with argument/evidence)
4. Highlight pertinent/emerging issues
5. Cite a variety of RELEVENT sources properly
6. Highly focused
7. Logical structure
8. Only use sources from peer reviewed journals newer than 2010 only. Sources from the western Europe, USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.
9. Indirect referencing only
BOTH SECTIONS SHOULD BE CRITICAL IN THEIR APPROACH NOT DESCRIPTIVE

Research Proposal:

Title: The relationship of lean to innovation

Rationale: In the contemporary world, lean has cemented itself within business. In many organisations, lean has become important to delivering customer needs. In the majority of environments, lean has been proven to be a positive facilitator to maintain competitiveness and to improve quality systems (Sledzik, 2013). The intention of the proposed research is to explore how lean interacts with innovation at an individual level. Using a theoretical analysis to effectively test the hypothesis using a medium- sized engineering company based in Hampshire (GELtd). The research will be aimed at identifying the value of adopting lean in the nurturing of individual innovation within the organisation. On occasion, it has been suggested that that the adoption of lean hampers the scope to which an organisation can be innovative due to the perceived dilution of the innovative capability of its individuals, and the adversnegative effect on an organisation’s long-term innovative ability, with a concentration on the elimination of ‘non-value added’ activities. Naturally, there is a divide on the merits of this opinion and the value that lean offers, with supporters commenting that reduction in inefficiencies can open-up a healthyusable surplus in resources that can cascade onto innovation opportunities (Reinertsen & Shaeffer, 2005). This research will expand on the current knowledge base, with a practical hypothesis testing focussed on GELtd.

Research Focus: This study aims to explore how lean affects individual innovation. The objective of the research is to add to the literature on the influence of lean the study. Additionally, T the research will test the it hypothesis using GELtd. , building on previous research on the influence of lean on innovation.

Aim: To determine the impact of lean processes on individual innovation within the workplace.

Null Hypothesis: Lean is not a driver of innovation to an individual.

Methodology:

1. Define lean.
2. Define innovation.
3. Identify the evidence/factors that lean supports innovation.
4. Identify the evidence/factors that lean impedes innovation.
5. Analyse and evaluate the evidence (Tasks 3 & 4) and theoretically test the hypothesis.
6. Empirically test the evidence using the case study of GELtd.
7. Collate the results from 5 and 6 present, analyse and discuss the results.
8. Conclusions and recommendations.

Tasks 1 to 5 – Will be primarily conducted as a literature review. This will allow the research to ‘set the scene’, and then establish a base of relevant information in the field to be tested during Task 6 – primary research. A solid examination of relevant studies will aid the design and the implementation of a usable research tool. This will be valuable in ensuring that the correct technique is used to generate a good return on data acquisition, and cruicially, within the limited timescale required.

Task 6 – The empirical hypothesis testing will be based on exploratory research design and will involve conducting interviews with all compliant employeesmiddle managers and above of GELtd. The research takes qualitative approaches which may includvolve informal discussions with relevant study participants (Radnor, et al., 2012) . The study will use a qualitative methodology approach. The nature of the research involves assessment of information that cannot be represented statistically. The data for the studyresearch will be collected through semi-structured interviews, aimed at facilitating the development of qualitative data, giving the respondent a chance to offer deeper explanations to the questions, allowing the interviewer to appreciate the respondent’s responses conceptualisation of the problem (Shao, et al., 2008). The research will involve human participants who will be the respondents to the interviews. Analysis of data collected from the interviews will mainly includvolve comparison and interpretation of the responses. Validity and reliability will be considered when conducting the research. These includvolve conducting an assessment of the soundness of the study with regard to the appropriateness of the research methods employed (Sahyouni, 2013) . The fundamentalkey validity and reliability issue will involve minimisation of bias in the research process especially in designing the interview questions and identifying respondents.

Scope and Limitation: Although the empirical hypothesis testing will be focused on a medium sized Hampshire engineering company, the research will be directed to maximise the future usability, maintaining value for subsequent studies. However, it is inevitable that the primary research may be limited in its value in some fields. Furthermore, the hypothesis testing is to be conducted as a qualitative study. This will have the negative, of the subjective nature of interpretation which is not so present in a quantitative study. Also, it is anticipated that the research sample will be relatively small to allow the research to fully explore the results. This will be attempted to be removed where possible, but will be a limiting factor.
References
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