Environmental and quality management have become an important part of businesses all over the world. This involves changes in understanding and practice at all levels of the organisation and requires the training of the workforce, recognition by senior management that the workforce can contribute and are essential to gaining quality enhancement, and also that customers are important stakeholders, who must be satisfied with all aspects of the operation. There has been an increasing demand for the manufacturing industry to implement sustainable production policies. To meet this demand, environmental management plays an important role as part of the total quality management system of the company. To enhance the environmental management, the total quality management system must be successfully implemented. This research investigates the implementation of total quality environmental management (TQEM) in the Libyan food industry (LFI). This study aims to develop a framework for TQEM implementation to solve problems concerning quality and the environment in the LFI, in order to achieve a better level of environmental and quality management and to develop modern managerial techniques. In particular, this investigation helps the LFI to increase its environmental protection and to achieve a high quality in its services and production. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted for this research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 managers in the LFI as the first phase of the research in order to study the current situation, the barriers to, and motivations for, the implementation of TQEM in the LFI. The questionnaire that was circulated was designed to investigate the TQEM issues, national environmental factors, barriers to, and motivations for its implementation in the LFI. The questionnaire was conducted with managers at three levels (top, middle, and low) and oriented sampling was used with employees from three companies in the LFI. The findings indicate that the LFI does not make sufficient efforts to improve its environmental performance and quality. Further, it was found that the LFI is still at a quite low level of achievement for Environmental Management System (EMS). The national environmental factors for the need to implement TQEM in the LFI were identified, through this research, as technical capability, organisational culture, human resources, competition, government policy, and social responsibility. The barriers to implementing TQEM in the LFI that were identified through this research are: the lack of top management commitment, the misunderstanding of TQEM, insufficient training at all levels, a lack in achieving a knowledge of customers’ needs and satisfaction, the lack of support for employees’ participation, the lack of information systems, and the lack of government environmental control. The motivations for implementing TQEM in the LFI that were identified through this research, including cost savings, increased production efficiency, the reduction of waste and pollution to the environment, the reduction of energy consumption, the reduction of natural resources’ consumption, and improved environmental performance. Based on the findings of this research, a framework and processes for TQEM was developed. The key objective of this TQEM framework designed to help the LFI to get started and to move step by step towards a TQEM culture. This will pay attention to the standards of work and environmental protection that are expected from the LFI, including agreed TQEM objectives, the sharing of relevant information, training programmes, and performance criteria. Some recommendation to aid the LFI’s preparations for TQEM implementation have also been derived from this research.

Lean has been applied in the manufacturing sector for many years now. However, Lean implementation in the education sector has been somewhat slow in comparison, especially in the academic area. This motivates the conduct of this study, which is to identify waste in one of the academic work processes by applying value steam mapping and other lean tools. An experimental study was conducted to examine the effect of Lean kaizen application in the course planning and delivery process on students’ satisfaction level at the end of a semester. The experimental study involved two groups of undergraduate students, one group with lean application and another group without lean application, from two universities in Malaysia. A questionnaire was used to collect the data totalling 205 respondents from University X and 201 respondents from University Y. The empirical results demonstrated that the use of Lean kaizen techniques did help to identify and reduce the waste by focusing on value adding activities. Furthermore, the finding of this study has showed that there is a significant difference in students’ satisfaction between a group with lean application and a group without lean application. The mean of satisfaction for the group with lean application is higher than the group without lean application. Thus, this study has confirmed that Lean kaizen can be successfully applied in the Higher Education Sector to improve the academic work processes. This study has also provided the opportunity and guideline to other universities to change for the better.

This thesis describes the results of research aimed at exploring the relationship between three different practices to improve product development: Concurrent Engineering (CE), New Product Development (NPD), and Project Management (PM). The literature on each approach is abundant, yet studies explaining their inter-relationship are scanty and contradictory. Therefore, the main contribution of this thesis is explanation and clarification of contradictory theories and perspectives. In exploring this relationship four cases studies were developed in companies that were applying these practices. Principles of the grounded theory and qualitative research were applied to gather and analyse data. The results suggest that CE, NPD, and PM are relatively different in practice and purpose and therefore they can be complementary to each other. However, because of a lack of clearer definitions and boundaries they are sometimes considered competing approaches, as has been observed both in the literature and in practice. CE, NPD, and PM were difficult to perceive as a sub-component one of the other as has been suggested in the literature. Rather, inter-linked process models seemed to better explain how the inter-relationship was understood and applied. The data gathered from the case studies suggest cause-effect relationships that may guide practitioners to implement or improve their product development practices. The investigation explores the essence, purpose and the knowledge generation process of CE, NPD and PM. It is suggested that NPD has a higher level of maturity than CE and NPD. This suggestion and the corresponding discussion is thought to be a contribution of current philosophical debates on the subject areas thereby nurturing the research agenda.

The governments of developing and developed countries are all targeting higher value manufacturing in their pursuit of national competitive advantage. Competing with low cost products is no longer a viable solution to the UK. However, from an operations management perspective, there is little understanding of the high-value manufacturing (HVM) sector. From a Darwinian standpoint, HVM sectors cannot survive without being competitive and efficient which presents a major gap in the Operations Management (OM) body of knowledge. Specifically, little is known about how such businesses manage material flow. This theory-building research seeks to redress this imbalance and investigate the HVM sector from the perspective of material flow performance and the lens of the theory of Swift and Even Flow (SEF). SEF is one of the latest OM theories, and it has been heralded as an approach to high performance. Following an extensive literature review, this study found a major gap in the OM body of knowledge. The researcher designed two guiding research questions to frame this study: What are the design features of high performance operations for swift and even flow of materials? How are these design features related to performance in the context of high-value manufacturing? To answer the research questions, the researcher created a literature framework and tested this with academic and industry experts. The validation of the framework allowed the researcher to develop an empirical cross comparative case study methodology from a realist perspective using purposively selected businesses. Ten case studies were selected, using the Technology Strategy Board definition of HVM, and the selection was based on a high probability that the businesses would include sectors where the performance of businesses would vary. Multiple management level informants provided data to the researcher, which allowed for a rounded and systems approach to the organisation to be undertaken. The latter being a deliberate attempt to adopt a socio-technical systems perspective and to overcome the criticisms that OM is poorly integrated with the wider businesses fields of study. The use of data displays and qualitative analysis generated a range of interesting results. After a period of reflection, a questionnaire was crafted to test the findings of the first phase with a broader set of HVM businesses located in the UK. A total of 36 companies of 150 approached completed the questionnaire. The overall study findings show that high performance (material flow) is associated with the key organisational features of a driving feed-forward strategy, an empowered social system that controls the feedback from a robust technical system, and a partnering approach to suppliers and customers to ensure the smooth and even flow of materials. These organisations are synchronized by an effective communications system, and they learn and evolve to accommodate the environmental changes. The study confirms that the model of SEF is appropriate to the sector and understanding what organisational features must be developed to achieve higher material flow performance has added to this theory as well as opened new a potentially fruitful areas of support to such industry by the UK Government.

New product introduction systems are complex socio-technical systems that are used to design, develop, and deliver products and services to users. Lack of design information within such systems results in uncertainties that have an adverse effect on the performance of the whole system by creating a need for rework. Typical performance measurements for new product introduction systems are time, cost, and quality. Rework has a significant influence on time-related aspects of system performance because it consumes additional time resource that could otherwise be dedicated to other activities such as the development of new products. Rework reduces time resource available for information communication which in turn leads to more rework in the future. This results in vicious circles where limited time leads to more rework which further detracts from time to devote to other tasks in the future. Vicious circles have previously been reported in societal systems. The goal of this research was to apply modelling and simulation techniques to understand time-related aspects of the vicious circles phenomenon in new product introduction systems and explore potential management interventions to mitigate the consequences of vicious circles. A case study from an international manufacturing organisation was used to inform the development of a simulation mapping between key elements of the new product introduction system and key concepts that underpin agent-based simulation methods. A simulation model was developed to represent vicious circles in the case study, based on the simulation mapping. The simulation model was verified and validated through a series of seven experiments. Four further simulation experiments were then carried out. The first two experiments explored the impact of different prioritisations of responding to information requests on time-related aspects of the system performance. Results highlighted the importance of prioritising responses to information requests which significantly reduced rework volumes in the model. The final two experiments explored the balancing of time taken for individual product development activities and resources used. In simulations with low response rates, one means to avoid system collapse was to extend the time allowed for product development. Given the need to deliver products to market as quickly as possible, a final experiment explored ways to speed up product development to eliminate adverse effects on product development cycle time. By reducing the time taken to respond to requests, which in a real world system could be achieved in a number of ways, e.g. improving team size or design capability, the product development cycle could be shortened.

Manufacturing and service environments involve decisions on sequencing activities. Some examples are assembly operations in workshops, the elaboration of data by computer systems and the handling of products by operators in warehouses. Scheduling theory studies the mathematical structures of such problems with the objective of designing theoretical models and solution algorithms that can be used in practice. In this thesis we investigate scheduling models with time-lags and release/due dates inspired by two realworld problems: transportation of goods and appointment scheduling for chemotherapy patients. The first part of this thesis studies the minimisation of the maximum lateness for two batch scheduling problems with release/due dates and equal processing times: one with a single machine and one with parallel machines. These theoretical models represent the problem of scheduling the delivery of goods within given time windows using one or more limited capacity vehicles. We design two enhanced polynomial-time algorithms that, for the single machine case, outperform the best algorithms known in literature, and, for the parallel machine case, establish the first solution algorithm. In the second part we investigate the coupled-operation scheduling model with timelags which characterises some important features of the problem of booking treatment appointments for chemotherapy patients. The objective is to develop a solution algorithm that minimises the maximum completion time (makespan). Initially we investigate a possible compact representation of a solution considering the sub-problem with a fixed sequence of the first operations of the jobs. We prove that this special case of the problem is NP-hard in the strong sense even in the case of unit processing times. Then we adapt a technique used for solving job shop problems with no-wait constraints to our coupled operation problem and develop an efficient tabu-search heuristic that outperforms the algorithms known in literature. In the last part, we introduce the problem of booking appointments for chemotherapy treatments in an outpatient clinic which is an example of real-world scheduling problem with complex time-lags and release/due dates constraints. We design an innovative 4-stage approach based on the concept of a multi-level template schedule which is generated solving a number of multi-objective integer linear programs. The evaluation of our approach using historical data shows that, using available resources, 20% additional appointments could be scheduled in the clinic eliminating peaks of workloads, maintaining short waiting days/times and improving the overall patient and staff experience.

The aim of this research is to understand employees' contribution to the successful implementation of total quality management (TQM) within construction companies in Kuwait. A research model was developed based on previous studies to guide the research and understand the different factors that contribute to employee contribution and implementation of TQM. The research begins with reviewing different literatures on employee contribution and TQM. The factors studies the implementation and usage of quality management in the construction companies and factors such as leadership, employee, teamwork, and information technology on TQM. To understand employee contribution, data was collected from employees in the construction companies in Kuwait. The data was collected using quantitative survey and using questionnaires that were distributed by hand to the companies. The collected data was entered in statistical software to generate different types of analyses. The types of analyses were descriptive, crosstab, correlation, factor, regression, Kruskall Wallis and Mann Whitney. Based on the results leadership, employee, teamwork and information technology were found to be significant to the role of TQM in the construction companies. The recommendations were towards practicing continuous improvement, strengthening employee training, increasing and enhancing communication between managers and employees. The future research recommendations are towards gathering information from senior managers and CEO. The data needs to be compared with this study to understand the role of senior managers towards success of TQM in construction companies.

Fashion trend forecasting is often personnel and company dependant and is more likely to be influenced by intuition and personal inspiration. Trend forecasting had been regarded as a driving force of the fashion industry in determining the new fashion trends in fabric, colour and style. There is a dearth of information on the utilisation and application of trend forecasting. There was a need to explore the application of trend forecasting within contemporary design and retail environments. Hence, the rationale of this investigation was to identify how and where trend forecasting is incorporated in the product development process. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) provided the framework to the primary research. The process focussed on the trend forecasting agencies and how trend forecasting was used by the fashion industry. The concept of fast fashion and its role in changing the model of fashion trend forecasting was critically analysed working through the stages of SSM. Interview data and process mapping were used to establish theoretical models which were tested, refined and validated for the timescales and process used in seasonal and fast fashion contexts. The research was addressed within the context of the UK clothing sector. From an initial analysis of the issues, shortcomings were identified in the seasonal process. These were linked to the buyers and designers having limited communication and fragmented decision making during the range planning process. The ‘open to buy’ process conducted at the end of the range planning season to address ‘close to season’ fashion relies upon repeated orders and unplanned inputs, copied from their competitors. This is because it is difficult to design completely new garments for the required timeframe. In the fast fashion process, it was found the designers had no input into the ‘bought-in’ fashion range resulting in a lack of continuity of how the total range would appear. Fast fashion relies upon ‘bought-in’ fashion and the ‘open to buy’ process relies upon trends based on ‘current influences’ and repeat orders because it is quicker than producing completely new garments within a reduced timescale. The final phase of this research contributes to a new synthesis of information relating to trend forecasting in contemporary design, marketing and retailing environments. A critique of the theoretical models was carried out for areas not discussed before with trend forecasters, buyers and designers. These industry personnel explained how trend forecasting was used in the model stages, alternatives to trend forecasting, the process, timeline and how ‘bought-in’ fashion is used as a solution to fast fashion. This research has resulted in revised models where trend forecasting is successfully located within the seasonal and fast fashion product development. The crux of this research identified the consultation meetings and communication channels which were accurately located in the new models. The models document how key personnel interact, specifically the trend forecaster, the product line manager, the designer and the buyer. In the fast fashion model the ‘bought-in’ range is clearly distinguished from the seasonal range. The new models quantify the timeline for seasonal fashion, fast fashion and ‘open to buy’. The current fashion forecasting system is derived from seasonal fashion and therefore reliant on long lead times. The rise of fast fashion provided the opportunity to identify a taxonomy of models with a shortened time frame. The original contribution to knowledge lies in the seasonal and fast fashion models directly arising from this research, that would facilitate the key personnel involved in the fashion industry to incorporate in their new product development. This results in greater involvement of personnel leading to efficient utilisation of time, resources and expertise in the trend forecasting process.

Since two decades ago, Service Design as a design-led approach to service development and innovation has expanded its scope of interventions and contributions. It has been repositioning itself from a rendering activity for supporting the development of service concepts and structures to a human-centred and holistic approach to service development. However, this expanding conceptualization of Service Design has not drawn much attention from wider service research communities. It may be partly because Service Design has had weak connections to other service disciplines while remaining as a design-centred description of knowledge and practice within the boundary of Design. To address this issue, this thesis paid attention to New Service Development (NSD) theory as a frame of reference for studying Service Design. Relating Service Design to NSD theory may be helpful in enhancing the legitimacy of Service Design by demonstrating how the ‘designerly’ approach could contribute to organizational NSD practices and processes. Yet, Service Design has seldom been investigated systematically in relation to NSD theory. This thesis aimed to understand how Service Design practice is involved alongside the NSD process in terms of its interventions, characteristics, outcomes, and what are the contributions and implications for NSD theory. The literature review and expert interviews were conducted to build a theoretical relationship between Service Design and NSD theory as a foundation for studying Service Design in the context of NSD theory. Also, 10 case studies were undertaken to explore Service Design approaches and contributions to the service development process and practices. As a result, four Service Design intervention areas: INFORMING; SPECIFYING; ACTIVATING; and SUSTAINING were identified with associated key design activities. The intervention areas and design activities were then positioned into the existing NSD process literature to identify Service Design contributions to NSD theory, and they were interpreted through the lens of the Service Logic. The Service Logic served as a useful framework through which to articulate how Service Design practice can operationalize the user-centred perspective and approach in NSD. Moreover, the case studies indicated that different designer-client relationships can influence the quality of Service Design practices and can have different degrees of transformative impacts on the client’s service development and operations. The design practices in the ‘Delivering’ relationship stayed at a peripheral level, just providing the client with user-centred reference data. The designer’s activities in the ‘Assisting’ relationship motivated the client to design and realize user-centred service experiences. In the ‘Facilitating’ relationship, the design practices transformed the client to become a main agent for sustainable user-centred service innovation. This finding, on the one hand, can help organizations to recognize the potential contributions of service designers while encouraging them to be more receptive to the Service Design approach to reap the full benefits of it. On the other hand, the finding suggests that service designers need to learn more about organizations to better implement the design outcomes and affect organizational NSD practices and processes. Also, it implies the needs for developing more specialized Service Design strategies and approaches geared toward different project purposes and different organizational contexts.

This thesis investigates factors which promote design management success and considers how design management capabilities in businesses and organisations can be assessed. The investigation is based on exploration and identification of important factors for the successful use of design management. A review of the literature confirms the assimilation between the design process and NPD process success factor research, resulting in the development of the concept design management. A comprehensive list of the nine most frequently referenced NPD process success factors is derived from 64 research studies. A contextual review confirms the validity of the Design Management Staircase Model, the only known model to evaluate design management capabilities. The validity of the nine factors for promoting design management success is analysed based on a dataset gathered through the Design Management Europe (DME) Award. This validity is confirmed through an analysis of qualitative data gathered with DME Award entrants. The third part of the analysis builds the basis for a comparison between the Design Management Staircase Model and the NPD process success factors. This investigation provides insight into the design management capabilities of companies, identifying which factors are of greatest importance for design management capability assessment. Further, the analysis demonstrates that a complete process more important than any single factor. The PhD contributes to new knowledge regarding the importance of design management to business resourcing, a meta-analysis that reveals the nine most important factors for design management, the importance of a process driven approach to factor implementation, and a set of recommendations for the development of an improved design management capability assessment model. The underlying message of the results in this PhD thesis is that successful design management capabilities are highly dependent on the right expertise and building a complete process which consists of nine success factors.