Title: What is the role of expert intuition in process control?

Authors: Mark D. Hanna; Dirk Pons; Venkateswarlu Pulakanam

Addresses: Department of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Parker College of Business, Georgia Southern University, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Private Bag, 4800, Christchurch 8014, New Zealand ' Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury, Private Bag, 4800, Christchurch 8014, New Zealand

Abstract: Rules of statistical process control (SPC) suggest that processes should not be adjusted by workers without an explicit data-driven management directive. By contrast, in many workplaces, workers are empowered to improve processes and seen as uniquely knowledgeable due to their experience in close proximity to the process. Thus, it absolutely is expected that operators will commit acts of personal agency as they apply their expert intuition. Based on observations of industry practice, we develop a description of expert intuitive process control (EIPC) and a conceptual framework which enables comparison of this approach to SPC and development of postulates regarding the contexts in which each approach is likely to be valued from a practical perspective.

Keywords: statistical process control; SPC; personal agency; tacit knowledge; expert; intuition; expert intuitive process control; EIPC.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2020.110026

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2020 Vol.31 No.2, pp.227 - 243

Received: 12 Mar 2019
Accepted: 07 Jun 2019

Published online: 01 Oct 2020 *

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