A comparative analysis of diagnostic tools and techniques for manufacturing business support

The overriding objective of diagnostic assessment is change. Assessment processes are a mechanism to identify areas that merit change. In order to maximize the possibility that a company will adopt recommended changes following a diagnostic assessment, the assessment process itself must be matched to the companies needs. This research presents a model of factors that affect the level of change adoption in firms. From this model, a framework was developed to evaluate the degree to which diagnostic assessment processes facilitate change adoption in a firm. The framework was then applied to the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), a business support service in the UK. Operational aspects of the MAS are also explored. The lessons of the MAS are then applied in the larger context of business support through policy recommendations for the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

Department dc:contributor.department

Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Vallely, Amy S. (Amy Susan), 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Charles L. Cooney and Donald Rosenfield.

• Sloan School of Management.
• Chemical Engineering.
• Leaders for Manufacturing Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34763

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34763