Rate My Professor Richard Greatbanks

Professor Richard Greatbanks is a Professor of Operations Management in the Department of Management at the Otago Business School, University of Otago. A Chartered Manufacturing Engineer (CEng MIEE), he holds a BSc (CNAA), MSc, and PhD (University of Manchester). His career began with over thirteen years in technical and managerial positions in the UK aerospace industry, followed by academic roles at three UK universities. He joined the University of Otago School of Business in 2005, focusing on business excellence to improve productivity in New Zealand's service industries, particularly healthcare, not-for-profits, and public sector organisations.

Greatbanks' research interests encompass operations management, quality process improvement, performance measurement especially in SMEs, and operational excellence in services. He teaches MANT251 Managing Organisations, MANT333 Quality and Operational Excellence, and MANT456 Operations Excellence, and supervises PhD students on Lean Thinking in healthcare, performance measurement in nonprofits, and quality improvement in New Zealand service contexts. Key publications include Koushan, M., Wood, L. C., Greatbanks, R., & Duong, L. N. K. (2026). Enhancing sustainability in surgical service delivery: Exploring the intersection of comprehensive surgery scheduling and operating room capacity management policies. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 211, 111563; Koushan, M., Wood, L. C., & Greatbanks, R. (2025). Sustainable enhancement of healthcare delivery: a comprehensive surgery scheduling model for stakeholder benefit and resource utilisation. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 212, 111656; Norris, D., Foote, J., & Greatbanks, R. (2025). Mode 2 critical systems practice for complex safety decisions: Reflections from New Zealand's dairy industry. Systems Research & Behavioral Science, 42, 189-205; Beatson, N. et al. (2024). An examination of self-efficacy and sense of belonging on accounting student achievement. Accounting & Finance, 64, 723-738; and Manville, G., & Greatbanks, R. (2024). Institutional isomorphism and performance management: exploring the linkage and relationship in English social housing. Housing Studies, 39(10), 2626-2653. He delivered the Inaugural Professorial Lecture 'Performance and leadership: Two sides of the same coin' on 24 September 2024, commissioned a report for Philanthropy New Zealand on grantmaking practices, and authored an opinion piece on university governance.