Lean management

30 November 2009

LJMU graduate Debbie Green has had her dissertation chosen to feature in a world conference on quality and improvement which will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, next year.

After completing a work placement at Roberts Partnership, a finance company in Manchester, Debbie went on to produce a dissertation in her final year entitled ‘The Application of Lean to a Financial Services Firm’.

The dissertation achieved a first and has now been chosen to feature in the American Society for Quality’s conference, after it was reworked into an extended abstract for the prestigious event. The conference is practitioner orientated and attracts over 1500 delegates from a range of 40 countries around the world.

Dr Alex Douglas, Reader in Service Quality Management at Liverpool Business School, was Debbie’s supervisor on placement and throughout her dissertation work.  Of her success, Alex said: “Getting a paper accepted is competitive unlike other conferences.” Alex also aims for Debbie’s research to be published in a high quality journal after the conference.

Debbie commented: “I approached the managing director at Roberts Partnership regarding carrying out research for my dissertation, and he expressed a keen interest in concentrating on lean principles. With Alex being an expert in this field I then gained the best possible supervision I could for my dissertation project.”

Commenting on Debbie’s progress, Alex said: “Under my guidance, Debbie learned, then applied, lean management principles to the company she was on work placement with as part of her sandwich degree course. She is now looking to get a job in the financial services sector with an organisation that is keen to apply the same lean principles. This skill should enable her to get the job she wants.”

Debbie, who graduated with a first in Business Studies, also won the ‘Best Student’ prize on a Level 3 ‘Managing Service Quality’ module.

Pictured: Debbie accepts the Best Student award from Alex Douglas and Barry Barnes from Liverpool Business School