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1 – 10 of over 88000John Ovretveit, Brian Mittman, Lisa Rubenstein and David A. Ganz
The purpose of this paper is to enable improvers to use recent knowledge from implementation science to carry out improvement changes more effectively. It also highlights the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to enable improvers to use recent knowledge from implementation science to carry out improvement changes more effectively. It also highlights the importance of converting research findings into practical tools and guidance for improvers so as to make research easier to apply in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides an illustration of how a quality improvement (QI) team project can make use of recent findings from implementation research so as to make their improvement changes more effective and sustainable. The guidance is based on a review and synthesis of improvement and implementation methods.
Findings
The paper illustrates how research can help a quality project team in the phases of problem definition and preparation, in design and planning, in implementation, and in sustaining and spreading a QI. Examples of the use of different ideas and methods are cited where they exist.
Research limitations/implications
The example is illustrative and there is little limited experimental evidence of whether using all the steps and tools in the one approach proposed do enable a quality team to be more effective. Evidence supporting individual guidance proposals is cited where it exists.
Practical implications
If the steps proposed and illustrated in the paper were followed, it is possible that quality projects could avoid waste by ensuring the conditions they need for success are in place, and sustain and spread improvement changes more effectively.
Social implications
More patients could benefit more quickly from more effective implementation of proven interventions.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to describe how improvement and implementation science can be combined in a tangible way that practical improvers can use in their projects. It shows how QI project teams can take advantage of recent advances in improvement and implementation science to make their work more effective and sustainable.
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Kaizen is an umbrella concept for a management philosophy based on a set of principles and values with different tools and techniques that form part of Company-Wide Quality…
Abstract
Purpose
Kaizen is an umbrella concept for a management philosophy based on a set of principles and values with different tools and techniques that form part of Company-Wide Quality Control. The purpose of this study to explore the empirical evidence of Kaizen philosophy practice and its effect on Ethiopian manufacturing industries, chemical companies in particular.
Design/methodology/approach
After the literature review, an exploratory empirical research, supported on a company observation, was adopted. The eight companies visit giveaway collecting annual technical reports and Kaizen award presentations. The review structure encompassed four major approaches. The first approach is conducting extensive literature review and adopting methodologies. The second approach is examining secondary data and developing SWOT analysis. The third is exploring Kaizen practices, developing framework, identifying drivers and barriers using charts, diagrams and graphs. The final approach is proposing way forward and implications based on the findings from the investigative study to emphasize the link between Kaizen practice and its effect on manufacturing industries’ performance.
Findings
The findings indicate practice of Kaizen brought in achieving monetary, nonmonetary and qualitative results. However, results vary from company to company. The average attained improvements of productivity, production volume, machine productivity and sales volume are 2.77%, 28.69%, 10.14% and 31.53% respectively. Moreover, a total of 71,932,472.19 ETB is saved by following structured framework and practice of social and technical factors. However, companies could not sustain Kaizen activities and unable to maintain the attained substantial improvements due to less effort made on some of the Kaizen practices identified as barriers on the cause and effect diagram of this exploratory study.
Research limitations/implications:
A sample size of eight companies is not adequate to generalize key findings of this study. This will be put right by carrying out further surveys in the future using questionnaire and semistructured interviews.
Practical implications
The findings of this study underlined that practice of Kaizen philosophy on chemical companies supported by structured implementation framework, full practice of drivers, eradicating barriers, sustaining practices and maintaining improvements enable in enhancing chemical companies performance through achieving quantitative (monetary and nonmonetary) and qualitative results.
Originality/value
Although there are a number of studies published on Kaizen, currently it is found that there is lack of literature on practice and effect of Kaizen philosophy. Based on this exploratory study and assessment, the framework and circumstance of Kaizen philosophy practices are providing valuable insights for chemical companies, other manufacturing industries and organizations, which will be on board on this voyage including Ethiopian Kaizen Institute, practitioners and academicians.
Mandeep Kaur, Kanwarpreet Singh and Inderpreet Singh Ahuja
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contributions of synergic implementation of total quality management (TQM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) paradigms towards…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contributions of synergic implementation of total quality management (TQM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) paradigms towards improving business performance in the Indian manufacturing industry.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a large number of manufacturing organisations have been extensively surveyed, to ascertain contributions made by TQM‐TPM paradigms in the Indian manufacturing organisations towards realizing business performance improvements. The correlations between various organisational initiatives towards TQM‐TPM implementation and business performance improvements have been evaluated and validated by employing various statistical tools.
Findings
The research focuses upon the significant contributions of TQM‐TPM organisational initiatives like quality related queries; top level support and level of total employee involvement; culture of continuous improvement; TQM and TPM core strategies; and transfusion of TQM and TPM, towards affecting improvements in business performance. The inter‐relationships between various TQM‐TPM organisational initiatives with the business performance improvement parameters have been evaluated, to efficiently manage the synergic TQM‐TPM paradigms to realize organisational objectives of growth and sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
The study establishes that focused TQM‐TPM implementation over a reasonable time period can strategically contribute towards realization of significant manufacturing performance enhancements.
Practical implications
The study stresses upon the need for improving the synergy between maintenance and quality functions in the organisations for meeting the challenges of highly competitive environments. The study highlights that significant achievements in manufacturing performance can be achieved through strategic synergic TQM‐TPM implementation over a considerable period of time.
Social implications
The analysis of initiatives adopted by Indian entrepreneurs towards TQM‐TPM implementation has been presented in the study to demonstrate the commitment for quality and maintenance aspects of organisations to realize manufacturing excellence through TQM‐TPM paradigms.
Originality/value
The study highlights the strong potential of synergic TQM‐TPM implementation initiatives in affecting business performance improvements. The achievements of Indian manufacturing organisations through proactive TQM‐TPM initiatives have been evaluated and critical TPM success factors identified for enhancing the effectiveness of TQM‐TPM implementation programs in the Indian context.
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Lina Stålberg and Anders Fundin
The purpose of this paper is to examine how holistic improvement work can be organized and what challenges can be observed in the process of adopting a holistic perspective on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how holistic improvement work can be organized and what challenges can be observed in the process of adopting a holistic perspective on production system improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study and a questionnaire have been carried out. Data for the case study has been collected through semi-structured interviews, archived documents and participatory observations. The questionnaire was done in order to increase the generalizability of the findings from the case study and further validate the conclusions.
Findings
The improvement work at the case company is organized as a continuous improvement approach in a Lean Production system in the form of a company-specific production system (XPS), in which two other improvement approaches are incorporated. Some of the identified challenges are: the establishment of a holistic perspective on improvement opportunities; the development of a process to update the production strategy; the continuous update of the Operational Management System during the XPS implementation; aggregating measures for the improvement work and measuring the effect of improvement work.
Research limitations/implications
As the current case study is limited to one case company, future research is interested in expanding to other production systems contexts for further validation.
Originality/value
The present study offers an increased understanding of the integration difficulties of improvement work that many production companies face regarding operational effectiveness, and based on the findings, some implications for management are presented.
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Raed EL-Khalil, Zachary Moran Leffakis and Paul C. Hong
This paper empirically examines the implementation pattern of different types of lean management (LM) techniques on the shop-floor. Based on the socio-technical systems framework…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper empirically examines the implementation pattern of different types of lean management (LM) techniques on the shop-floor. Based on the socio-technical systems framework, LM techniques are classified as social improvement tools and technical process standardization and stability practices. This categorization facilitates investigating their implementation relationship in a complex production system.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the survey data from managers of the three major US auto-manufacturers and their suppliers (n = 137), measurement scales are developed using confirmatory factor analysis for the LM process improvement, stability, and standardization constructs. Hypotheses are tested by applying the Sobel test technique for mediating regression.
Findings
Statistical results confirm the mediation role of LM improvement tools between standardization and stability goal practices, indicating that technical process-oriented practices are not directly related and that their association is impacted by the corresponding implementation of social tools on the shop-floor.
Practical implications
The results indicate that LM practices should not be randomly implemented on the shop-floor but rather adopted and executed based on a systematic pattern. In LM systems, the implementation of process stability, standardization, and improvement practices on the shop-floor are more tightly integrated than traditionally assumed.
Originality/value
This study establishes a new categorization of specific LM tools based on social and technical characteristics. The conclusions highlight the importance of adopting a social emphasize of continuous improvement to establish a technical focus of process standardization and stability for LM implementation success.
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Wilfred H. Knol, Jannes Slomp, Roel L.J. Schouteten and Kristina Lauche
This paper examines whether and when improvement routines are critical for implementing lean practices in small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). Improvement…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines whether and when improvement routines are critical for implementing lean practices in small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). Improvement routines such as “employees initiate and carry through improvement activities” are generally seen as an important means to achieve the full benefit of structural lean interventions. Womack and Jones (2003) suggest that these improvement routines should be developed as the company becomes more experienced in lean. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relative importance of individual improvement routines at various degrees of lean practice implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
A Between-Case Comparison Analysis (Dul and Hak, 2012) and a Necessary Condition Analysis (Dul, 2016) were performed on self-assessment data from 241 respondents at 38 Dutch manufacturing SMEs.
Findings
The importance of improvement routines depended on the degree of lean practice implementation. Lean practices could be implemented to some extend without developing specific improvement routines, yet certain routines were necessary for more advanced implementations of lean. These routines relate to employees conducting shared improvement activities and in the most advanced cases to aligning different improvement activities.
Originality/value
These findings question existing lean implementation models that neglect improvement routines and indicate the need to integrate improvement routines into every lean transformation for it to be sustainable.
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Richard Scott McLean and Jiju Antony
The purpose of this paper is to review current continuous improvement implementation models and frameworks, and present a new conceptual framework tailored specifically to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review current continuous improvement implementation models and frameworks, and present a new conceptual framework tailored specifically to the needs of UK manufacturing companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper details the in-depth review of 20 existing models or frameworks for continuous improvement implementation, demonstrating the need for a new industry and region specific solution. Through the incorporation of previous findings from literature, coupled with the positive aspects of the current offerings, a new conceptual framework for continuous improvement implementation in UK manufacturing companies is presented.
Findings
The paper demonstrates the need for industry and region specific frameworks and demonstrates that current models and frameworks do not completely fulfil the objective of the research. A new continuous improvement implementation framework is therefore presented in a user friendly format, comprising positive aspects of previous models and frameworks where applicable.
Research limitations/implications
The focus of the research is limited to the UK and the manufacturing industry. It is therefore not clear the applicability of the framework presented to other regions and industries. The framework presented is also conceptual at this stage and requires validation through interview and application.
Practical implications
The framework presented will provide senior managers wishing to implement continuous improvement an understanding of the high level process, as well as awareness of their role within the roll out. Overall, the framework provides a clear guide whilst also allowing for individual tailoring of the elements contained to the needs of the company.
Originality/value
The paper presents a new conceptual framework; the first to be tailored to the needs of UK manufacturing companies. The framework has also been demonstrated to be a more robust solution than those currently in existence.
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Can we speed the testing, implementation and spread of management innovations in a systematic way to also contribute to scientific knowledge? Researchers and implementers have…
Abstract
Can we speed the testing, implementation and spread of management innovations in a systematic way to also contribute to scientific knowledge? Researchers and implementers have developed an approach to test and revise a local version of an innovation during its implementation. The chapter starts with a case example of an application of this combination of implementation and quality improvement sciences and practices (improve-mentation). It then summarizes four examples of this approach so as to help understand what improve-mentation is and how it is different from traditional quality improvement and traditional implementation of evidence-based practices. It considers gaps in knowledge that are hindering both more use of improve-mentation to generate scientific knowledge about spread and implementation, as well as more use of improve-mentation by health care service organizations and researchers. It closes by proposing fruitful research and development that can address these knowledge gaps to speed the implementation, sustainment and spread of care and management innovations.
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Annette Boaz, Glenn Robert, Louise Locock, Gordon Sturmey, Melanie Gager, Sofia Vougioukalou, Sue Ziebland and Jonathan Fielden
The potential for including patients in implementation processes has received limited attention in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different roles…
Abstract
Purpose
The potential for including patients in implementation processes has received limited attention in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to explore the different roles adopted by 63 patients that emerged during and after four participatory quality improvement interventions, and the nature of their impact upon implementation processes and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-case ethnographic comparison of Experience-based Co-design in two clinical pathways in two UK NHS Trusts.
Findings
Two key themes emerge from the data. First, the authors found a range of different roles adopted by patients within and across the four projects; some were happy to share their experiences, others also helped to identify improvement priorities alongside staff whilst others were also involved in developing potential solutions with the staff who had cared for them. A few participants also helped implement those solutions and became “experts by experience” through engaging in the whole co-design process. Second, in terms of the impact of patient engagement with the co-design process whilst the changes championed by patients and carers were often small scale, as co-designers patients provided innovative ideas and solutions. Through their involvement and contributions they also acted as catalysts for broader change in the attitudes of staff by providing a motivation for wider organisational and attitudinal changes.
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in two clinical pathways in two NHS trusts. However, the findings complement and add to the growing body of knowledge on experience based co-design.
Practical implications
Patient engagement is likely to require support and facilitation to ensure that patients can play a meaningful role as partners and co-designers in service improvement and implementation. Different roles suited particular individuals, with participants stepping in and out of the co-design process at various stages as suited their needs, capacities and (albeit sometimes perceptions re) skills. In this context, facilitation needs to be sensitive to individual needs and flexible to support involvement.
Social implications
Patients and carers can play active roles in service improvement, particularly where the approach facilitate active engagement as co-designers.
Originality/value
Analysis of the role patients and carers in implementation and improvement.
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Ann-Kathrin Hirzel, Michael Leyer and Jürgen Moormann
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of increasing employees’ level of continuous improvement (CI) empowerment, i.e. employees’ knowledge and understanding of CI…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of increasing employees’ level of continuous improvement (CI) empowerment, i.e. employees’ knowledge and understanding of CI, the possibility of open communication and support from the work environment regarding CI, in the implementation of CI over time.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the theory of structural empowerment, the authors test the research question using evidence from a case study in a European financial services provider. Data are gathered with questionnaires on a team level and cover a period of 2.5 years including 780 participants.
Findings
The findings show that after conducting a CI programme in the case, there is a significant increase in employees’ CI empowerment over time, which has a positive but time-lagged relationship with the level of CI implementation.
Research limitations/implications
Implications are that CI empowerment can be created sustainably and is an important factor in establishing CI in a company, but that it takes time until empowerment leads to changes in behaviour. However, it has to be considered that these implications are solely derived from empirical results from a single company.
Practical implications
Financial service providers should invest in establishing CI empowerment and consider a delay in realising measurable benefits in terms of the level of CI implementation.
Originality/value
This paper is the first empirical study to examine the relationship between employee CI empowerment and the implementation of CI from a longitudinal perspective.
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