CSAIL Event Calendar
Integrating and Sustaining Improvements of Healthcare Delivery and Production SystemsSpeaker: Dr. Wiljeana Glover, MIT, Sociotechnical Systems Research Center -Postdoctoral Associate Date: Tuesday, December 18 2012 Time: 2:00PM to 3:00PM Refreshments: 1:45PM Location: Room E62-587 (Sloan School of Management) Host: Professor Charles Cooney, MIT - Department of Chemical Engineering Contact: Nira Manokharan, 617-253-5977, nira@csail.mit.edu Abstract: This seminar addresses two streams of research, the impact of improvement sustainability and integration on performance. Using a sociotechnical systems approach, I examine these concepts within the production and healthcare sectors. The first half of the seminar presents research that empirically examines the sustainability of social and technically-oriented outcomes after a short-term improvement effort, known as a Kaizen event. The critical success factors for Kaizen event sustainability were identified via a field study and statistical analyses of 65 Kaizen events in 8 manufacturing organizations. The second half of the talk presents theoretical research to examine how integration impacts the performance of systems, e.g., a hospital, accounting for differences in sub-systems, e.g., departments. Based on the theory that a different balance of integrative activities may be best to achieve certain performance outcomes, ongoing empirical studies to test this theory within healthcare systems will be presented.  
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