Job-shop innovation survey – How basic management principles can impact job-shop innovation in Australia

By Mile Katic, PhD Candidate and Casual Academic at University of Technology Sydney

As we are approaching one of the busiest seasons of the year, it would be quite easy to assume one of the main things on your mind would be to clear the order book and get as many jobs out the door as quickly (and efficiently) as possible. Whilst undeniably an important part of job-shop success, it doesn’t tell us the whole story – you still have to explore new opportunities towards long-term growth whilst leveraging the flexibility that makes your organisation what it is in the first place. When jobs vary from customer to customer, attempting to exploit your existing assets towards greater efficiency and exploring new opportunities at the same time becomes particularly difficult to achieve – no matter what time of year it is.

This nation-wide survey, part of my PhD research project being conducted at the University of Technology Sydney, aims to understand the impact of day-to-day operations (deemed “better” management practices) on the ability to innovate and improve operational efficiency at the same time, as well as how this effects overall organisational performance. The question, in this instance, is how do some basic management principles impact the ability of a job-shop to simultaneously improve efficiency and innovate.

By participating in this research project, you will be eligible to receive an individual participant report allowing you to benchmark your organisational capabilities and performance against others. We also offer discounted entry to the Australasian Conference on Information Systems – a conference focused on organisational resilience and sustainability through digital transformation held at UTS.

The survey is valid only for Australian Job-Shops and can be completed by anyone with a keen understanding of the operations and general strategic objectives of the organisation. It is divided into 4 sections (A-D) and should take around 15 minutes to complete.

Responses are anonymous and all data will be treated with absolute confidentiality. No identifiable company data (including names and other company specific comments) will appear on any reports stemming from this research. The survey participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.

Click the link below to start the survey. Should you have any questions regarding the research or the survey, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thank you for your participation and contribution!

Mile Katic* (PhD Candidate)

Email: [email protected]

Associate Prof. Dilek Cetindamar Kozanoglu*,

Associate Prof. Renu Agarwal**

*School of Information, Systems and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and IT, UTS.

**Management Discipline Group, UTS Business

This research meets the requirements of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) and has been approved by UTS HREC ref. no: ETH18-3137

The survey is linked here.