• an assessment methodology for a national health service
• its implementation in China

Diversification

Traditional engineering and manufacturing business in the UK are increasingly suffering from competition from the Far-East. This project explores diversification, specifically into Medical Healthcare Technologies, as a strategy for survival. It should focus on the HOW of diversification and address following questions:

• Is there a process for diversification?
• What are the steps and phases for diversification?
• Are there any business models for diversification?

The objectives of this project are:

• Assess successful strategies and methodologies for diversification
• Suggest or develop new practical models for diversification

Implementing healthcare innovation

Many people consider that the job is done after a new product is manufactured or a new service is operational. In the health service, this is just the beginning. The challenge is to get other hospitals, healthcare organisations and practitioners to adopt and use these new products and services. This study will analyse the adoption of innovation in a healthcare setting.

The objectives of the project are to develop a methodology for accelerating the adoption of healthcare innovations.

Beyond Lean

There is a strong focus on Lean Thinking in the NHS. It is considered by many to be a panacea; one solution for all the challenges in an organisation. But recently companies that use Lean, such as Ford and even Toyota, have experienced big problems and demonstrated that the assumption is not correct.

Lean is about process improvement; in fact, in Womack & Jones book ‘Lean thinking’ the word innovation –essential for improvement- does not appear. So what is the next thinking? What is the next tool?

This study should analyse what organisations really need to improve effectively.