Through a collaborative consulting project with a public accounting firm, three School of Business faculty – Lisa Walters, associate professor of Management; Mark Nickerson, Accounting lecturer; and Linda Hall, interim director and professor of Accounting – have published the results of their study in “Improving the 1040 Process by Applying Lean Principles: A Case Study” in the TQM Journal.
The trio’s research investigates an accounting firm’s existing workflow processes for preparing individual tax returns with an emphasis on identifying predominant areas of process waste. Specific Quality and Lean tools were applied to qualitative data secured from on-site visits to the firm.
Quantitative data analysis of productivity measures was performed to identify additional sources of muda (waste) and to validate the findings from the qualitative analysis. Corrective actions were recommended as applicable.
The TQM (Total Quality Management) Journal publishes research, prepared by academics, researchers and practitioners from around the world, that cover the theoretical development and practical application of both “hard” and “soft” aspects of TQM.
