Ungefär en tredjedel av all mat som produceras runt om i världen går förlorad eller slängs, vilket resulterar i negativ påverkan på klimat och miljö, ekonomiska förluster samt bortfall av mat som annars kunnat tillgodose människor med mat. Att förebygga matsvinn har således flera positiva synergieffekter, men det behövs mer kunskap om orsaker till varför det uppstår samt ett fortsatt arbete för att företag, myndigheter och organisationer gemensamt ska kunna arbeta med svinnproblematiken. Ett aktivt samarbete mellan aktörer i livsmedelskedjan har internationellt och nationellt lyfts som viktiga förutsättningar för att kunna minska matsvinnet. I Sverige startades i fjol den frivilliga överenskommelsen Samarbete för minskat matsvinn (SAMS). Detta examensarbete ämnar att kartlägga var matsvinnet uppkommer i värdekedjor för två livsmedel, nötkött och potatis, samt identifiera orsaker till varför det uppstår. Vidare syftar rapporten till att bistå SAMS i sitt fortsatta arbete för att minska matsvinn genom att identifiera möjliga förebyggande åtgärder till de identifierade orsakerna. Tillvägagångssättet bestod av fyra huvuddelar: kartläggning av värdekedjan och dess förluster, hotspot-analys för att identifiera orsaker som SAMS kan påverka och som bidrar till stora mängder svinn, rotorsaksanalys för att identifiera rotorsaker och till sist lösningsplanering för att föreslå förebyggande åtgärder. Arbetet genomfördes via en systematisk litteraturstudie, semistrukturerade intervjuer med aktörer i livsmedelskedjan samt workshop-tillfällen med SAMS-medlemmar.  Resultaten visar att flertalet orsaker uppstår i minst två av leden i värdekedjorna och att orsaker kopplade till nötkött och potatis inom primärproduktionen och industrin skiljer sig från varandra. Samtidigt har orsaker kopplade till de senare leden av värdekedjorna från grossist och framåt mer liknande karaktär, som till exempel utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. Av de kartlagda orsakerna gjordes en bedömning kring orsaker som har stor påverkan samt orsaker som kan påverkas av ett samarbete mellan aktörer, vilket resulterade i hotspot-orsaker. För både nötkött och potatis erhölls 17 hotspot- orsaker som analyserades vidare i en rotorsaksanalys med hjälp av fiskbensdiagram. Utifrån fiskbensdiagrammen och vilka orsaker som var vanligt förekommande under arbetets gång applicerades fem-varför-metoden på orsaker kopplade till utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. Sju rotorsaker identifierades vilka berör avtal, förpackningar, riktlinjer, förvaring, kundpreferenser och beställningar. Lösningsförslagen adresserar förändrade avtal och förpackningar, underlättning av nedfrysningsmöjligheter, medvetandegörande av konsument, samt förändrad förvaring i butik och beställningsrutiner. Det visade sig att många rotorsaker grundar sig i flera hotspot-orsaker vilket indikerar att åtgärderna som föreslås har potential att förebygga fler hotspot-orsaker än utgånget hållbarhetsdatum. / Nearly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which results in negative impact on the environment and climate, economic losses and people who are undernourished. Therefore, preventing food losses and food waste has several positive synergy effects. However more knowledge is needed regarding the causes of losses and waste as well as continued work for companies, authorities and organizations to be able to work effectively with the waste problem. Active cooperation between stakeholders in the food supply chain has proven to be one of four important prerequisites for successful work to reduce food waste. In Sweden, a voluntary agreement called Samarbete för minskat matsvinn, SAMS was initiated last year. This thesis aims to map where food losses and waste arise in the value chain of two products, beef and potatoes, and to identify causes why it occurs. Furthermore, the report aims to contribute to SAMS in their continued work to reduce food losses and waste by identifying opportunities to prevent the identified causes. The aim is answered through an approach that consists of four parts: mapping the value chain and its losses, hotspot analysis to identify causes SAMS can impact and that contribute to the most wastage, root cause analysis to get down to the root causes and lastly solution generation to propose preventive measures. The study was carried out through extensive literature review and interviews, as well as workshops.  The results show that most causes occur in at least two of the links in the value chain, whereas the causes for beef and potatoes differ within the primary production and industries. Meanwhile, causes within retailers and forward towards the value chain are of similar characteristics. Of the identified causes, an assessment was made of which have a major impact and can be improved by SAMS, resulting in hotspot causes. For both beef and potatoes, 17 causes were obtained which were further analyzed in root case analysis using fishbone diagrams. Based on the fishbone diagrams and often occured causes during the work process, the five-why method was applied to causes correlated to expiration date. Seven root causes were identified which are related to contracts, packaging, guidelines, storage, customer preferences, and orders. Solution proposals presented to the root causes encompass contract changes, packaging solutions, freezing options, changing consumers’ behaviors, storage opportunities and different ordering routines. It showed that many root causes are based on several hotspot causes, which indicates that the proposed solutions have potential to prevent several causes than only passed expiration date.

Stadium AB prognostiserar en markant försäljningsökning av specialtryckt sportklädsel. För- säljningsplanen ställer högre krav på företagets avdelning Solutions, vars lokaler huserar tryc- keriet samt dess stöttande logistik. Lokalerna anas redan nu börja närma sig gränsen för antal ordrar de kan hantera, samtidigt som man tror att det befintliga processer innehåller slöse- rier av resurser. Därmed krävs en genomlysning av nuläget för att identifiera och eliminera slöserier, för att utnyttja befintliga faciliteter på bästa sätt. Studiens syfte blir därmed:  Utföra en flödesanalys av Stadiums Solutions verksamhet för att sedan ta fram förbättringsförslag för avdelningens logistikflöde.  Syftet bröts ner till två olika huvudfrågor som arbetet sedan har utgått från. Huvudfrågorna som togs fram är följande: Vilka slöserier kan identifieras i Stadium Solutions nuvarande lo- gistikflöde? och Vilka förbättringar rekommenderas till Stadium Solutions nuvarande logistik- flöde?. Innan arbetet med huvudfrågorna påbörjades genomfördes en förstudie som syftade till att framställa korrekta processkartor för alla delar av Stadium Solutions flöde. Dessa kartor var nödvändiga för att påbörja arbetet med huvudfrågorna.  Den första huvudfrågan besvarades med hjälp av värdeflödesanalys och spaghettidiagram. Totalt framställdes fyra spaghettidiagram, medan värdeflödesanalysen resulterade i fyra flö- deskartor. Dessa togs fram med hjälp av observationer i form av tidmätningar, intervjuer samt dokumentinsamling. Utifrån dessa flödeskartor och spaghettidiagram klassificerades varje ak- tivitet och lagring som antingen “Värdeskapande aktivitet”, “Hjälpaktivitet” eller “Muda”. Se- dan studerades vissa aktiviteter vidare för att identifiera slöserier. Totalt kunde tre kategorier av slöseri identifieras: Köer, Onödig lagerhållning och Onödiga transporter.  Den andra huvudfrågan utgick sedan från de framtagna slöserierna och besvarandet inleddes med hjälp av en rotorsaksanalys av slöserierna där fiskbensdiagram och metoden 5-varför har använts. För de rotorsaker som identifierades togs förbättringsförslag fram som ämnade att minska slöserierna och på så sätt öka antalet ordrar som Stadium Solutions kan hantera. Ett insats/effekt-diagram användes för att bedöma förbättringsförslagens effekt och vilken insats som krävs för att införa dem och således kunna dela in dem som “Genomföra”, “Över- väga”, “Undersöka” eller “Avfärda”. Tre förbättringsförslag delades in som “Genomföra” och ges därför högsta prioritering. Ett förslag hamnade på “Överväga” som får andra prioritering och ett förslag i “Undersöka” som får tredje prioritering. / Stadium AB predicts a significant increase in sales of custom-printed sportswear. The sales plan imposes tougher requirements on the company’s Solutions department, whose premises contain the printing and the supporting logistics. These premises are believed to approach capacity for the number of orders than can be shipped, while it is believed that the existing processes contain waste of resources. Therefore, a thorough examination of the current situation is required to identify and eliminate waste, in order to utilize existing facilities to the best advantage. The purpose of the study is thus:  Conduct a flow analysis of Stadium’s Solutions operations to then develop improvement proposals for the department’s logistics flow.  The purpose was broken down into two main questions, which are as follows: What waste can be identified in Stadium Solutions’ current logistics flow? and What improvements are recommended for Stadium Solutions’ current logistics flow? Before work on the main questions began, a preliminary study was conducted aiming to produce accurate process maps for all parts of Stadium Solutions’ flow, which were necessary to continue the study.  The first main question was answered using value-stream mapping and spaghetti diagrams. In total, four spaghetti diagrams were produced, and the value-stream mapping resulted in four current state maps. These were made utilizing observations in the form of time measurements, interviews, and document collection. Based on these current state maps and spaghetti diagrams, each activity and storage was classified as either “Value-Adding”,“Auxiliary”, or “Muda” (waste). Certain activities were then further studied to identify the specific waste they caused. In total, three types of waste were identified: Queues, Excessive Inventory, and Unnecessary Transport.  For the second main question, a root cause analysis was done for the identified waste using fishbone diagrams and the 5-why method. Suggestions were developed with the the root causes identified, aiming to reduce waste and thus increase the number of orders that Stadium Solutions can handle. An Input/output diagram was used to assess the effect of the suggestions and the effort required to implement them, thus categorizing them as either “Implement”, “Consider”,“Investigate”, or “Dismiss”. Three suggestions were categorized as “Implement” and therefore given the highest priority. One suggestion fell under “Consider”, receiving second priority, and one suggestion under “Investigate”, receiving third priority.

People's inability to cope with the demands of modern life, has led to a significant increase in the incidence of anxiety being experienced by people from all walks of life. People are suffering from anxiety without knowing the root cause of it and it was found from the anxiety cases studied that its origin can in many cases be traced to the birth experience where specific negative suggestions were imprinted on the subconscious. In this study the influence of the birth experience as the underlying cause of anxiety and the effect of it on the formation of the self-concept and self-actualisation have been explored. The research shows that a subconscious origin exists in the development of anxiety. In the research for this study, Medical Hypnoanalysis, which is based on a process of diagnosis and therapy, was used as therapeutic method with several clients suffering from anxiety symptoms. In this research the perceptions formed in the subconscious during the birth experience were examined and related to the anxiety experienced during childhood and later life. The case studies, their diagnoses and the follow-up therapeutic sessions relating to the birth experience were investigated and discussed. Educational Psychologists show a specific interest in and a tendency to get involved with, or implement Medical Hypnoanalysis in therapy. It became obvious from this study that Medical Hypnoanalysis supplements the needs of the Educational Psychologist as a tool in therapy. In this study guide lines have been presented to the Educational Psychologist for the treatment of anxiety originating from the birth trauma by regressing the client back to this traumatic experience. Suggestions on how to conduct the birth regression sessions have also been presented and clarified. Through the case studies the identification and removal of the highly charged emotional and negative beliefs that were responsible for the anxiety symptom have been demonstrated. The case studies have furthermore demonstrated the successful utilisation of positive and healing suggestions to achieve the therapeutic goals. The results of this study show that Medical Hypnoanalysis can be used effectively in the treatment of the root causes of anxiety. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Bakgrund: På grund utav den ökade globala konkurrensen, den snabba teknologiska utveckligen och skiftet till ett kundorienterat synsätt, ställs högre krav på ständiga förbättringar inom verksamheter. Detta ställer i sin tur högre krav på effektiva processer och flöden. Genom att tillämpa Lean och verktyget Value Stream Mapping kan icke- värdeadderande aktiviteter, relaterade till slöserier, identifieras och minimeras för att maximera både material- och informationsflödet inom processer. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera slöserier inom Företagets inleverans- respektive utleveransprocess genom tillämpning av verktyget Value Stream Mapping. Vidare syftar studien till att urskilja rotorsakerna för respektive identifierat slöseri. Därefter avser studien att föreslå åtgärder som slutligen bidrar till att de identifierade slöserierna kan minimeras, alternativt elimineras. Metod: Studien baseras på en kvalitativ fallstudie av Företagets inleverans- respektive utleveransprocess, utifrån ett deduktivt angreppsätt. Den teoretiska referensramen utgår främst ifrån litterära källor från Linnéuniversitetets bibliotek samt vetenskapliga artiklar hämtade ifrån databaser. Empirisk data har samlats in under observationer samt semistrukturerade intervjuer. Urvalet av respondenterna utgår ifrån ett bekvämlighersurval som bottnar i ett snöbollsurval. Slutsatser: Utifrån de CSM som har illustrerats för inleverans- respektive utleveransprocessen kunde slöserierna väntetid, rörelse och överarbete identifieras, relaterat till icke-värdeadderande aktiviteter. Genom att undersöka dessa närmare identifierades rotorsaker layout, begränsade resurser och bristande rutiner. För att nå det tillstånd som beskrivs i FSM och minimera, alternativt eliminera, slöserierna har studien resulterat i följande förbättringsförslag; nedmontering av kontor och stängsel vid inleveransytan samt implementering av FIFU-system, implementering av 5S rapportering av felaktiga pallar och implementering av ett elektroniskt orderplockningsystem. / Background: As a consequence of the increased global competition, the rapid technological changes and the shift to a customer-oriented approach, it becomes more important with continuous improvements to achive efficient processes and flows. By applying Lean and Value Stream Mapping wastes can be identified, minimized in order to maximize both the material- and the information flow within a business process. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify wastes in a company’s inbound- and outbound process by applying the tool Value Stream Mapping. Furthermore, the study aims to identify the root causes and propose actions that contribute to minimize or eliminate the identified wastes. Method: The study is based on a qualitative case study of a company’s inbound- and outbound process. Empirical data has been collected during observations and semi- structured interviews. The theoretical framework is primarily based on literary sources that are retrieved from the Linnaeus University’s library and also scientific articles retrieved from databases. The selection is based on a convenience sample, a snowball sample. Conclusions: Based on the two CSMs that has been illustrated for the inbound- and outbound process, wastes were identified as waiting, motion and over processing, related to non-value added activities. By examining these wastes the root causes were identified as layout, limited resources and inadequate procedures. To reach the state described in the two FSMs by minimizing, or eliminating, the identified wastes, the study results in following proposals; dismantling of office and fence at the inbound area together with the implementation of a FIFU-system, implementation of 5S to report incorrect pallets and implementation of an electronic orderpicking system.

Epiroc har åtnjutit en längre period av kraftig tillväxt samtidigt som flertalet effektiviseringsprojekt har genomförts med syfte att öka produktionsvolymen för att möta marknadens efterfrågan. Detta genom att bland annat implementera en variant av Lean production – The Way We Produce. En av dessa förändringar är en takad flödesorienterad montering med just-in-time sekvenserad materialförsörjning. Detta har i sin tur ökat kraven på materialförrådet Logistikcenter (LC) där ledningen nu börjat undersöka möjliga effektiviseringsåtgärder. Därav är studiens syfte till att ta fram realiserbara förbättringsförslag för logistikverksamheten vid Logistikcenter tillhörande Epiroc Rock Drills AB i Örebro för att öka effektiviteten och leveranssäkerheten. Studien har genomförts i två faser; identifieringsfasen och fördjupningsfasen. Under identifieringsfasen genomfördes en kartläggning av nuläget i LC, där underlaget för kartläggningen baserar sig på intervjuer, observationer och analyser. Genom en rotorsaksanalys, med målet att identifiera källor till ineffektivitet, kunde nio förbättringsområden identifieras varav en av dessa vidare skulle utredas i fördjupningsfasen. Dessa utvärderades utifrån en effekt-insats matris för att välja det förbättringsområde med störst effektiviseringspotential i förhållande till den förväntande insatsen. Analysmodellen för effekt-insats matrisen var de åtta slöserierna i Lean (Petersson, et al., 2015), dess förväntade påverkan på effektiviteten samt den förväntade komplexiteten av en implementation. Resultatet från rotorsaksanalysen gav artikelklassificering som det primära förbättringsområdet där den undersökta åtgärden var en alternativ tillämpning av frekvensläggning för att minimera rörelsetiden mellan lagerplatser vid plock. Under fördjupningsfasen undersöktes den nuvarande artikelklassificeringen och frekvensläggningen genom syntes av en alternativ modell för klassificeringen av artiklar och lagerplatser utifrån en fördjupad litteraturstudie. För att undersöka om en alternativ klassificering kan öka effektiviteten utvecklades en utvärderingsmodell som modellerar rörelsetiden för historiskt data från plocklistor. Den användes för att testa vilken kombination av storlekar på artikelklasserna som gav den minsta möjliga totala rörelsetiden. En kombination av 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) av det ackumulerade antalet plock gav den lägsta totala rörelsetiden för en plockhistorik på 15 månader med en reduktion av rörelsetiden motsvarande 33 % (1760 h) jämfört mot nuläget. Vidare undersöktes en alternativ sortering av plocklistorna för automathissar respektive pallställage med utvärderingsmodellen som gav en reduktion på 4 % respektive 11 % mot nuläget. Slutligen undersöktes olika former på zonerna för klassificering av lagerplatser i pallställage W3, där utlämningsplatsen är placerad halvvägs in i ställaget. En tyngdpunkt placerat centralt mellan ingången och utlämningsplatsen gav det bästa simuleringsresultatet. Sammanfattningsvis fastställdes artikelklassificering som det förbättringsområde med störst realiserbar effektiviseringspotential med lägst komplexitet utifrån en rotsorsaksanalys. Epiroc rekommenderas att implementera klassificeringsmodellen med tre klasser av storleken 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) av den ackumulerade antalet plockrader, samt att implementera att den alternativa sorteringen av plockrader på plocklistor för pallställage. / Epiroc has had a long period of strong growth, where several efficiency projects have been implemented to increase production volume in order to meet market demand. A variant of Lean production has been implemented over several years – called The Way We Produce by Epiroc. A large part of that change has been the implementation of sequenced flow-oriented assembly with just-in-time sequenced material deliveries to the assembly floor. This, in turn, has increased the requirements for the warehouse Logistic Center (LC) and management has now begun to investigate ways to improve efficiency at LC. Hence, the aim of the study is to develop realistic improvement proposals for the logistics operations at Logistics Center of Epiroc Rock Drills AB at Örebro to increase efficiency and delivery reliability. The study has been conducted in two phases; the identification phase and the in-depth phase. During the identification phase, a mapping of the current situation in LC was carried out, where the basis for the survey is based on interviews, observations and analyzes. Through a root cause analysis, with the goal of finding sources of inefficiency, nine areas of improvement could be identified, one of which would be chosen for further investigation in the in-depth phase. The areas of improvement were evaluated with an effect-input matrix to choose the area of improvement that provides the greatest efficiency potential in relation to the expected effort. The analysis model for the effect-input matrix was the eight wastes of Lean based on Petersson et al. (2015), its expected impact on efficiency and the expected complexity of an implementation. The result of the root cause analysis gave article classification as the primary area of improvement, where the measure is an alternative slotting strategy to minimize the movement time between storage locations. During the in-depth phase, the current article classification and frequency setting were examined by synthesis of an alternative model for the classification of articles and storage locations based on an in-depth literature study. To investigate whether an alternative classification can increase efficiency, an evaluation model was developed that models the movement time from historical data from pick lists. It was used to test which combination of sizes for the article classes gave the smallest possible total movement time. A combination of 60/30/10% (A/B/C) gave the lowest total movement time for a picking history of 15 months with a reduction corresponding to 33% (1760 h) compared to the current situation. Furthermore, an alternative sorting of the pick lists for the vertical lift modules and pallet racking was examined with the evaluation model, which gave a reduction of 4% and 11% respectively. Finally, various forms for the zones were examined for the classification of storage locations in pallet rack W3, where the delivery site is located three-quarter way into the pallet rack. A center of gravity for the for the A-class placed between the entrance and the delivery point gave the best simulation result. In summary, the article classification improvement area was established with the greatest realizable efficiency potential with the least effort based on the root cause analysis. Epiroc is recommended to implement the classification model with three classes of size 60/30/10 % (A/B/C) of the accumulated number of picking rows, and to implement that alternative sorting of pick rows on picklists for pallet racking.

Research shows that, when unintentional harm to patients in outpatient and hospital settings occurs, root cause analysis (RCA) investigations should be conducted to identify and implement corrective actions to prevent future patient harm. Executives at a small healthcare consulting company that employs patient safety officers (PSOs) responsible for conducting RCAs were concerned with the low quality of RCA outcomes, prompting this postinvestigation assessment of PSOs' RCA training and experiences. Guided by adult learning theory, the purpose of this study was to assess PSOs' RCA training and investigation experiences by examining self-reported benefits, attitudes, barriers, and time since training, and the relationship between time since training and the number of barriers encountered during RCA investigations. This quantitative study used a preestablished survey with a purposeful sample of 89 PSOs located at 75 military health care facilities in the United States and abroad. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and Kendall's tau-b correlations. Results indicated that PSOs had positive training experiences, valued RCA investigations, varied on the time since RCA training, and encountered barriers conducting RCAs. Kendall's tau-b correlation analysis showed that the time since training was not significantly associated with the frequency of barriers they encountered. Findings suggest that the transfer of technical RCA knowledge was applied during actual RCA investigations regardless of time since training, and barriers contributed to subpar quality RCA outcomes. RCA professional development was designed to enhance nontechnical, soft competency skills as a best practice to overcome encountered barriers and promote social change in the field.

People's inability to cope with the demands of modern life, has led to a significant increase in the incidence of anxiety being experienced by people from all walks of life. People are suffering from anxiety without knowing the root cause of it and it was found from the anxiety cases studied that its origin can in many cases be traced to the birth experience where specific negative suggestions were imprinted on the subconscious. In this study the influence of the birth experience as the underlying cause of anxiety and the effect of it on the formation of the self-concept and self-actualisation have been explored. The research shows that a subconscious origin exists in the development of anxiety. In the research for this study, Medical Hypnoanalysis, which is based on a process of diagnosis and therapy, was used as therapeutic method with several clients suffering from anxiety symptoms. In this research the perceptions formed in the subconscious during the birth experience were examined and related to the anxiety experienced during childhood and later life. The case studies, their diagnoses and the follow-up therapeutic sessions relating to the birth experience were investigated and discussed. Educational Psychologists show a specific interest in and a tendency to get involved with, or implement Medical Hypnoanalysis in therapy. It became obvious from this study that Medical Hypnoanalysis supplements the needs of the Educational Psychologist as a tool in therapy. In this study guide lines have been presented to the Educational Psychologist for the treatment of anxiety originating from the birth trauma by regressing the client back to this traumatic experience. Suggestions on how to conduct the birth regression sessions have also been presented and clarified. Through the case studies the identification and removal of the highly charged emotional and negative beliefs that were responsible for the anxiety symptom have been demonstrated. The case studies have furthermore demonstrated the successful utilisation of positive and healing suggestions to achieve the therapeutic goals. The results of this study show that Medical Hypnoanalysis can be used effectively in the treatment of the root causes of anxiety. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Purpose: Explore how historical data from a CMMS can be used in order to improve maintenance effectiveness and efficiency of activities, and investigate the possibilities for CBM in the manufacturing industry in the context of digitalization.  Research questions: RQ1: To what extent could condition-based maintenance or other maintenance types being used in order to predict, prevent or in other way eliminate historical breakdowns/faults?  RQ2: Which significance has an organization's degree of maturity to reduce the number of breakdowns?  Method: A case study was performed at Volvo Construction Equipment Operations in Eskilstuna, who manufactures machinery for the construction industry. The case study was compiled in two phases. Phase one was a quantitative study where raw data were collected from a CMMS and tabulated in order to later perform in-depth analysis. Phase two was designed to collect information that generated a wider understanding of the research area, by performing interviews and observations. A literature study was performed to compare the empirical findings with peer-reviewed information to ensure the quality of the study. The data is compiled and analyzed with an abductive approach. The analysis was followed by a discussion of how the research findings could support identifying possibilities of different maintenance types in the future.  Conclusion: The result showed that using historical breakdown data from a CMMS can be useful in order to identify organization’s current state and what possibilities different maintenance types have to decrease the number of breakdowns. To what extent the breakdowns can be decreased relies not only on the maintenance type but also an organizations maturity level. The case study´s result showed that by combining different maintenance types and increasing degree of maturity, Volvo could decrease the historical breakdowns with 86,5%. By only using CBM with current maturity level, 56% of the historical breakdowns could be predicted. However, to decide how many breakdowns that is cost-effective to prevent and precisely what maintenance type that should be used requires a cost analysis which this study is not covering.

Diplomová práce se zabývá návrhem procesů oddělení System Activation & Deactivation společnosti IBM Česká Republika, s.r.o. s cílem zlepšení těchto procesů a navýšení efektivity těchto procesů v rámci firmy.

Problem-solving ability is now the most sought-after trait in up-and-coming executives, according to a survey of 1 000 executives conducted by Caliper Associates, reported in the Wall Street Journal by Hal Lancaster (Hoenig, 2002:338). This trait would include the ability to solve human performance problems, something many people tend to steer clear of. According to Piskurich (2002:57-58) and Rothwell, Hohne and King (2000:67-71), the most common problem-solving tools that are used when solving human performance problems are brainstorming, cause-and-effect analysis, and the five why’s technique. Although techniques such as these have proven to be robust and useful, what is required to solve human performance problems is a logical and verifiable process that can establish a data point about which relevant information can be recognized and gathered, and against which the conclusion can be evaluated, to have confirmed knowledge of the root cause of the problems. Unfortunately, existing root cause analysis processes tend to focus on processes and systems, rather than on individual performance (Bowling, 2003). The main objective of this study was to develop a root cause analysis process that would uncover the root cause(s) of uncontrolled variation(s) in human performance and prevent the recurrence of events causing the variation. In addition to addressing individual human performance incidents, it is also necessary continually to manage people’s performance to detect and address any occurrences (or recurrences) of performance variations. Therefore, in addition to the main objective, the study also aimed to develop a Human Performance Management Model that incorporated the root cause analysis process as a problem-solving tool. Action research was used in this study, because of the cyclical iterative nature of this type of research, and because it is a rigorous, responsive and flexible process. The study consisted of three cycles. The end result was a structured root cause analysis process – the Human Performance Variation Analysis (HPVA) process – that enables the systematic collection of valid and reliable information, as is required to solve variation in human performance. The HPVA process is a three-part process that consists of 11 steps. The process is in turn a tool that forms part of a ten-step Human Performance Management Model. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on human performance management by presenting the following: • a systematic root cause analysis process that uncovers the root causes of human performance problems effectively and consistently and that controls these causes of problems in a way that prevents the problems from recurring; and • a Human Performance Management Model that will help to sustain the new, improved performance; prevent the same or similar performance problem(s) in other areas of the organisation; and ultimately, create an environment and culture of continuous human performance improvement. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted