BTech(Hons) MTech(Hons) (Massey) DPH(Dist) PGCertPH (Otago) PhD (Massey)
Associate Professor in Operations Management
Room: OBS 6.12
Tel +64 3 479 5196
Email jeff.foote@otago.ac.nz
Jeff Foote teaches operations management, social responsibility and systems thinking. His research focuses on the application of systemic and participative methods to address ‘wicked problems’ in areas such as healthcare quality, sexual violence prevention, and freshwater management. He is an applied researcher focusing on interdisciplinary and bicultural research. Jeff has undertaken research and consulting projects for central and local government, non-government organisations, business and hāpu. Jeff is an active member of Te Maea: Māori Economy and Enterprise Network.
Teaching Responsibilities
Jeff's teaching includes:
- BSNS 411 Business Principles for the 21st Century
- MANT 251 Managing Organisations
- MANT 450 Governance and Social Responsibility
- MANT 447 Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Business
- BDBA 912 Strategy and Growth
Supervision
Jeff is interested in supervising students with interests in the following areas:
- The application of systems thinking and problem-structuring methodologies such as Boundary Critique, Soft Systems Methodology, Interactive Planning, Viable System Model, Critical Systems Heuristics and Strategic Choice
- Healthcare quality improvement
- Service dominant logic and service ecosystems
- Corporate social responsibility
- Theory of Constraints’ thinking processes
Current supervision
Jeff is supervising the following students:
PhD
- Mohammad Alshadiefat – Sustainability of quality improvement in healthcare
Supervisors: Richard Greatbanks and Jeff Foote - Kaylē Baker – To transition or sustain? Understanding how neoliberal capitalist ideology shapes sustainability principles, practices and policy within the New Zealand regime
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Jekope Maiono - Nigel Brown – Power, policy and practice in supply chains: unravelling strategic action fields in social housing construction
Supervisors: Lincoln Wood and Jeff Foote - Chen Gao Chen – Business model innovation in intelligent aged care in China
Supervisors: Richard Greatbanks and Jeff Foote - Renee Lawson – Developing a culturally responsive performance measurement system for funding contract reporting in Aotearoa, New Zealand’s Addiction Sector
Supervisors: Jeff Foote, Gareth Treharne, Richard Greatbanks and Takurua Tawera - Sequoia Short – Tikanga of social procurement
Supervisors: Katharina Ruckstuhl and Jeff Foote
Completed
- Farhana Firoz – Mumpreneurs’ well-being
Supervisors: Diane Ruwhiu and Jeff Foote
DBA
- Kylie Campbell-Clarke - Mothers matter: how lived experiences can inform change in perinatal mental health care management
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Michelle Leach; Advisor: Tracie Leckie - Morne Cross – The application of service dominant logic to procurement services
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Lincoln Wood - Amanaki Misa - Pacific children’s engagement with Christchurch community dental service
Supervisors: Robin Gauld, Jeff Foote and Losa Moata’ane - Daniel Norris – The Development of Chronic Unease in Hazardous Industry Leaders
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Richard Greatbanks - Vicky Rombouts – Understanding behavioural drivers of information manipulation: influencing capital allocation decisions
Supervisors: Jeff Foote, Nathan Berg and Piet Beukman - Gihwan Song – The role of health management and patient autonomy in cancer care
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Kirsten Roberston; Advisor: Tracie Leckie
Completed
- Sharen Paine – The application of the Viable System Model to the management of specialist health services
Supervisor: Jeff Foote - Peter Sinclair – Complexity of concrete systems: a socio-technical perspective on quality improvement
Supervisors: Lincoln Wood and Jeff Foote
MCom
- Chris Eastham – The features of a prison unit in Aotearoa
Supervisors: Jeff Foote and Fiona Edgar
MA
Completed
- Jorden Doughtery – Theory driven sexual violence prevention
Supervisors: Melanie Beres and Jeff Foote
Research Interests
Jeff's research interests are:
- Systems thinking and problem structuring
- Systemic service design
- Reorientation of health services
- Systems approaches to sexual violence prevention
- Collaborative processes in freshwater management
- Interdisciplinary and bi-cultural project work
Externally funded projects (current)
- Co-Principal Investigator (with Edmond Fehoko [co-PI], Andrea Clark, Takurua Tawera and Renee Lawson), “Should I stay or should I go? Systemic analysis of barriers and enablers to access to problem gambling services”, funded by Te Whatu Ora, 2024 – 2025
- Associate Investigator (with Andrea Clark [PI], Edmond Fehoko, Kirsten Roberston and Marara Rogers-Koroheke), “Co-designing co-commissioning with and for mental health services”, funded by the Health Research Council, 2024 – 2025.
- Associate Investigator (with Mona Koushan [PI], Lincoln Wood, Tyron Love, Abtin Maghsoodi, Matthew Parsons and Janine Cochrane), “System-wide perspective on surgical delays: ethnicity and socioeconomic factors”, funded by the Health Research Council, 2023 – 2024
