K Mclafferty Thesis

Operational Efficiency of Industrialised Information Processing Systems Kevin McLafferty Thesis submitted to the Cardiff School of Management in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration Director of Studies: Professor Nick Rich Date of Submission 1st July 2016 Cardiff School of Management Cardiff Metropolitan University Western Avenue Cardiff, UK, CF5 2YB Declaration This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed ............................. Date .......1th July 2016 Statement One This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit reference. A bibliography is appended. Signed ........................... Date .......1st July 2016 Statement Two I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access approved by Cardiff Metropolitan. Signed Date .......1st July 2016 i Table of Contents Declaration .................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ ii Table of Figures .......................................................................................................... ix Table of Tables........................................................................................................... xii Table of Equations .................................................................................................... xv Table of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. xvi Abstract .................................................................................................................... xvii Chapter One: Introduction & Backdrop .................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Personal Motivations ..................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Background and Importance ........................................................................................ 2 1.3.1 Signature of a Sector in Crisis................................................................................... 2 1.3.2 The Banking Sector ................................................................................................... 3 1.3.3 Stability of the Banking System ................................................................................ 3 1.3.4 Increased Regulation ................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Volume and Capacity ................................................................................................... 12 1.5 The Uniting Thread ...................................................................................................... 13 1.6 The Research Gap........................................................................................................ 14 1.7 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................................... 15 1.8 The Importance of Study ............................................................................................. 16 1.9 Chapter Layout and Purpose ...................................................................................... 16 ii Chapter Two: Background Literature ..................................................................... 21 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 21 2.2 Background Literature ................................................................................................ 21 2.2.1 Systems Theory....................................................................................................... 21 2.2.2 Defining the Organisation ........................................................................................ 26 2.2.3 Contingency Theory ................................................................................................ 29 2.2.4 The Learning Organisation ...................................................................................... 33 2.2.5 Quality and System Performance ........................................................................... 39 2.2.6 Fragility of Sequential Processes ............................................................................ 42 2.2.7 System Scheduling and Feed-Forward Processes ................................................ 42 2.2.8 The Uniting Thread: What Does It Mean for Alpha Bank ....................................... 43 Chapter 3: Focal Literature ...................................................................................... 45 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 45 3.2 Operations Management ............................................................................................. 45 3.3 Quality ........................................................................................................................... 51 3.3.1 Early American Quality ............................................................................................ 51 3.3.2 Emerging Japanese Quality .................................................................................... 53 3.3.3 America Reacts to Japanese Quality Prowess - an Era of Emulation ................... 55 3.3.4 Section Summary .................................................................................................... 58 3.4 Management Information Systems ............................................................................ 59 3.4.1 Information to Improve ............................................................................................ 59 3.4.2 Information Feedback.............................................................................................. 60 3.4.3 Management Information Systems Integration ....................................................... 61 3.4.4 Extracting Management Information from IT Systems ........................................... 62 3.5 Flow Performance ........................................................................................................ 64 3.5.1 What is flow? ........................................................................................................... 64 3.5.2 The Importance of Flow........................................................................................... 67 iii 3.5.3 Inhibitors of flow....................................................................................................... 69 3.5.4 Measurement of Flow .............................................................................................. 70 3.5.5 Flow in the Service Environments ........................................................................... 71 3.5.6 Flow Summary ......................................................................................................... 73 3.6 Quality and Six Sigma ................................................................................................. 74 3.6.1 TQM ......................................................................................................................... 75 3.6.2 Origins of Six Sigma ................................................................................................ 76 3.6.3 The Modern Application of Six Sigma ..................................................................... 77 3.6.4 Six Sigma Versus TQM ........................................................................................... 82 3.6.5 Six Sigma Mechanics .............................................................................................. 85 3.6.6 The Impact of Variation ........................................................................................... 89 3.6.7 Six Sigma and Financial Organisations .................................................................. 91 3.7 The Uniting Thread ...................................................................................................... 92 3.8 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 94 Chapter 4: Research Strategy and Methodology .................................................. 99 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 99 4.1.1 Conducting Research .............................................................................................. 99 4.2 Philosophical Research Paradigms ......................................................................... 100 4.2.1 Ontological, Epistemological, Axiological Perspective ......................................... 100 4.3 Research Philosophies

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