Continuous improvement enablers: Defining a new construct
Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management
JIEM
2013-0953
Continuous Improvement Enablers: Defining a New Construct
Lidia S?nchez-Ruiz 0
Beatriz Blanco 0
0 , Raquel Go?mez-Lo?pez
Purpose: Continuous improvement is a means of promoting and working through business excellence. However, due to the complexity of the implementation process, many companies fail. Some authors consider that this is partly due to the lack of studies which develop and validate theoretical constructs in order to push theory in the CI field. Therefore, this study aims at identifying and better understanding the factors that could act as enablers when implementing a CI initiative by designing and analyzing a new theoretical construct. Design/methodology/approach: After conducting a rigorous literature review and consulting a group of experts, Rasch Measurement Theory was used in order to validate the construct and rank the enablers. Findings: After validating the construct, a hierarchy of priority was obtained, being the following enablers the most important ones: establishing clear objectives, training, recognizing the achievements and learning from the CI process itself and motivation. Practical implications: Identifying the key enablers could help those companies that are about to start with the implementation process. Additionally obtaining a general classification could help managers to make good decisions and handle these enablers, fostering the most important ones. Originality/value: This paper provides additional evidence regarding the main enablers that an organization that decides to implement CI can foster. Additionally, as far as authors are concerned, this is the first paper that defines a theoretical construct concerning continuous improvement enablers. Going one-step further, this paper obtains a hierarchy of priority, identifying the main enablers according to managers' opinions.
continuous improvement; kaizen; enabler; construct; rasch
1. Introduction
At present, companies are operating in an extremely complex and dynamic environment. This fact forces
companies to implement good practices that allow them to be competitive and survive in the global marketplace
(de Jager, Minnie, de Jager, Welgemoed, Bessant & Francis, 2004; G?mez-L?pez, L?pez-Fern?ndez &
Serrano-Bedia, 2017; Laugen & Boer, 2008; Quesada-Pineda & Madrigal, 2013)
. Companies have a wide range of
improvement approaches at their disposal to do it (Kettinger & Grover, 1995) and continuous improvement (CI) is
one of them. In fact, many authors consider CI a must for those companies that desire to achieve business
excellence (de Leede & Kees Looise, 1999; Al-Khawaldeh & Sloan, 2007).
CI has been widely studied. During the last decade it seems that the number of publications on this subject has
suffered several ups and downs, however, ?lvarez-Garc?a, Dur?n-S?nchez and del R?o-Rama (2018) recently stated
that the interest in the subject is going up. It should be said that in their study the concept of Kaizen is understood
as a synonym of CI. The authors of this paper agree with that interpretation due to the fact that, as
Newitt (1996)
explained Kai means Change while Zen means Good, so Kaizen could be understood as continuous improvement and
innovation.
Throughout this broad trajectory the concept has been defined by multiple authors. Thus, Deming (1982) defined
CI as improve constantly and forever the system of production and service (Principle 5 of transformation).
Similarly, Masaaki Imai, who was one of the pioneers in this field and developed several works about it
(Imai, 1997)
,
defined CI as progressive improvement involving everyone in the company (including both workers and managers)
(Imai, 1986)
.
Among the last decade, the definition of Chang (2005) should be mentioned. According to this author, the CI cycle
consists of establishing customer requirements, meeting the requirements, measuring success, and continuing to
check customers? requirements to find areas in which improvements can be made.
For its part, Cuatrecasas (2005) mentioned that CI consists of the slow but constant improvement of the
environment we work in, of the workstation, and the achievement of small improvements in processes,
departments, people? The huge scope of CI could be seen in this last definition. Not only could CI be focused on
improving performance indicators related to processes, but also on improving working conditions so that, for
instance, employees work under better conditions.
More recently, Bhuiyan, Baghel and Wilson (2006) defined CI as a culture of sustained improvement aimed at
eliminating waste in all organizational systems and processes, and involving all organizational participants. This
definition introduces a new twist by underscoring the importance of eliminating wastes.
On the basis of all the above, it could be seen that, due to the countless number of existing definitions, there is not
a unique and commonly accepted definition of (...truncated)