Integrative action research (IAR) on improving the operations review process of the Platforms and Initiatives Unit

• Main Author: Mañaol, Marc Christian
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2021
• Subjects: Bank management; Management audit
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_manorg/19; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_manorg/article/1029/viewcontent/Manaol2.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Insider Action Research improved the Operations Review process for the Platforms and Initiatives Unit (PIU) of Banco De Oro Unibank, Inc. Clients are the lifeblood of any business. These clients can either be external or internal. External clients are the ones that avail the different services of the bank while Internal Clients are the ones that provide those services. Both types of client are important and this is why the continuous improvement of services is essential for both. Operations review aims to improve the internal process so that internal clients can provide better services to the external clients while at the same time, make the work less tedious for internal clients. Our unit uses time and motion to get observation data from our internal clients. Our tools involve timer apps in our phones and activity list templates in performing time and motion studies. This manual process of timing and logging it to our observation template increases the time spent in computing the manpower utilization rate that is needed for our analysis. Through Action Research, methods of inquiries, and process analysis, the action researchers decided on improving the Operations Review process. The DMAIC framework, modified RACI Matrix and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Framework were used as third-person frameworks to guide the researchers in each cycle. After establishing the first version of the Time and Motion Tracker, Cycle 1 showed that the tracker can be used effectively to collect observation data from our internal clients. Diving deeper to how the team foresees the function of the Time and Motion Tracker, we upgraded it to include functions like auto-computation of average time per activity that would make computing for the manpower utilization rate faster and easier. The action research resulted in a more efficient Operations Review process.