Prescriptive implementation frameworks and inventories of factors that are required for successful continuous improvement (CI) implementation are widely available. However, the available guidance typically assumes linear implementation processes, where an organization is expected to go through a prescribed stepwise implementation framework or overcome clearly specified hurdles. Contemporary insights have confirmed the non-linear nature of CI implementation processes, but left their typical trajectories and characteristics unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine how actual organizational CI processes typically deviate from CI theory and prescribed management guidance.
Twenty-five key informants from multiple industries engaged in designing and implementing CI were interviewed and secondary CI implementation archival company data was reviewed. A systematic approach to data collection and analysis, combined with meticulous documentation and subsequent triangulation procedures were applied to mitigate validity and reliability concerns.
Our findings reveal four distinct CI implementation patterns, ranging from short-lived foundationless implementations to implementations reaching a consolidated state (plateauing). The emergence of these patterns is explained by several factors both internal and external to the CI implementations studied.
The relative priority of both internal and external factors for CI implementation processes, how these are interrelated and their association to the four patterns of CI implementation identified provides an understanding that transcend the fragmented nature of CI implementation theory and guidance to date. The study findings can be used by practitioners to better tailor CI implementation processes and pro-actively identify aversive internal factors and external events.
