Paul Lillrank

Professor

Paul Lillrank´s main research topic is quality, as applied to control information, routine processes, and professional services, particularly healthcare.

Paul is a graduate of Helsinki University majoring in social sciences. He studied Japanese quality management practices and organizations in the 1980s as a Ph.D. – candidate in Tokyo. After a stint as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group he returned to academia in 1992 focusing on the Japanese software industry. At Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) he has, since 1994 managed several research projects studying the implementation of quality management practices in SME´s, quality cultures and attitudes, quality strategy formulation in professional organizations. In 1999 he finished a study on the application of information and communication technology in business processes developing methods for IT-assessment. He has worked closely with several companies, particularly in the software, telecom, retailing, and airline industries. In 2003 he established The Healthcare Engineering, Management and Architechture (HEMA) -institute to consolidate the research on welfare technologies, systems and buildings at HUT.

Paul Lillrank´s ambition is to develop theories of the quality of information, and the management of routines. Information quality is the essential mechanism connecting IT with business performance. While quality engineering is focused on repetitive operations, services are dominated by routines, which would benefit from a deeper theoretical understanding.