Academic Research on Continuous Improvement Plan

• The role of performance measurement in continuous improvement, Bond, T. C. (1999). The role of performance measurement in continuous improvement. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 19(12), 1318-1334. A research study of both kaizen and reengineering programmes in a leading international company indicated that the process life cycle has four characteristic stages. A newly designed process commonly suffers from a variety of teething problems during the initial postcommissioning phase. Once these have been eradicated achieving smooth product flow becomes important in accordance with JIT philosophy. A stable process may be improved by applying a kaizen continuous improvement programme. A dramatic stepchange in performance may be achieved by radical reengineering. It is suggested that each of these phases has its own characteristics which should be taken into account when determining performance metrics and designing approaches to process monitoring and control. Explicitly recognising the stage a process has reached in the life cycle provides guidance for practitioners effectively to direct and manage a programme of performance improvement. 
• Continuous improvement and kaizen: standardization and organizational designs, Berger, A. (1997). Continuous improvement and kaizen: standardization and organizational designs. Integrated manufacturing systems, 8(2), 110-117. Proposes to delineate a set of core principles from the Japanese kaizen concept and illustrate the contingent nature of the design and organization of continuous improvement (CI) processes, especially with respect to product/process standardization and work design. Given differences in the overall degree of standardization related to product design and process choice, two types of standards to reduce variability at operator work process level should be considered: indirect system standards, e.g. for skills, organization, information and communication; and direct standard operating procedures (SOPs). It is proposed that two teambased organizational designs for CI (organic CI and widefocus CI) are functionally equivalent to the Japanese kaizen model, particularly when combining indirect system standards of skills with a group task design and low degree of product/process standardization. Expert task forces and suggestion systems are complementary organizational designs for improvement processes, particularly when work design is based on individual tasks and direct SOPs. 
• Development of a continuous improvement self-assessment tool, Caffyn, S. (1999). Development of a continuous improvement self-assessment tool. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 19(11), 1138-1153. During the 1990s a growing number of firms have been encouraging continuous improvement (CI) in all aspects of working life, and some impressive results have been achieved. However, the process of implementing CI is long and challenging. Companies need to know what progress they have made, and the outcome of any interventions, in order to consolidate and further develop CI. The CIRCA CI selfassessment tool is a researchbased tool which helps users to make an objective assessment of CI in their company. It is designed to be used by any organisation regardless of size, industry, length of time working with CI, and the particular approach taken. The tool went through several phases of development, culminating in a paperbased Version 3.0 in 1997. Since then further development and testing of the tool has taken place in the UK and abroad, and future plans include an electronic version.
• High-involvement innovation through continuous improvement, Bessant, J., & Caffyn, S. (1997). High-involvement innovation through continuous improvement. International Journal of Technology Management, 14(1), 7-28. Continuous improvement (CI) in all aspects of the business is essential for meeting the challenge of todays turbulent environments. One increasingly popular strategy for enabling continuous improvement is through mobilising a high level of involvement of the workforce in sustained incremental problem-solving. Although the potential benefits of such high involvement innovation are considerable, implementing programmes of this kind is not easy. This paper reports on a five year research programme exploring implementation issues in CI and presents a framework model for the development of CI which draws upon extensive case study work. In particular, it identifies a series of levels of CI performance and the blocks and enablers associated with them.
• An evolutionary model of continuous improvement behaviour, Bessant, J., Caffyn, S., & Gallagher, M. (2001). An evolutionary model of continuous improvement behaviour. Technovation, 21(2), 67-77. In today's complex and turbulent environments the need for continuous improvements in products and processes is widely recognised. But the mechanisms whereby such a continual stream of innovation can be achieved are often less clearly identified. One option is to mobilise a high proportion of the workforce in a process of sustained incremental problem-solving, but experience with this approach suggests that successfully doing so is far from simple. Although many programmes for kaizen or continuous improvement based on employee involvement are started, the failure rate is high. This paper reports on extensive case-study based research exploring how high involvement in continuous improvement can be built and sustained as an organisational capability. It argues that this phenomenon needs to be viewed as a cluster of behavioural changes which establish innovation routines in the enterprise, and presents a reference model for assessment of progress in the evolution of such capability. 
• Need radical innovation and continuous improvement? Integrate process reengineering and TQM, Davenport, T. H. (1993). Need radical innovation and continuous improvement? Integrate process reengineering and TQM. Planning review, 21(3), 6-12. Initiatives to enhance operational performance can include some programs that strive for continuous improvement and others that attempt radical innovation. But implementation depends upon learning how to integrate the substantially different approaches of total quality management (TQM) and business reengineering. 
• Developing strategic continuous improvement capability, Bessant, J., & Francis, D. (1999). Developing strategic continuous improvement capability. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 19(11), 1106-1119. In developing CI capability, organisations need to move to a level of development in which strategic goals are communicated and deployed and where improvement activity is guided by a process of monitoring and measurement against these strategic objectives. Policy deployment of this kind is more prevalent in Japanese examples and in a handful of cases in Western firms. Implementing it poses significant challenges and requires a different and additional toolkit of enabling resources. This paper reports on the experience of policy deployment in Japan and in Western enterprises and explores some of the implementation issues raised. 
• The adoption of continuous improvement and innovation strategies in Australian manufacturing firms, Terziovski, M., & Sohal, A. S. (2000). The adoption of continuous improvement and innovation strategies in Australian manufacturing firms. Technovation, 20(10), 539-550. The purpose of this study was to investigate the adoption of Continuous Improvement (CI) strategies of a large random sample of Australian manufacturing firms. The study was undertaken as part of a wider international survey investigating continuous improvement practices in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK. The survey was mailed to 1200 managers responsible for manufacturing organisations in Australia. A response rate of 32 per cent was obtained. The quantitative data was analysed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data analysis revealed that the motivation to adopt CI was related to improved quality conformance, increased productivity, reduced costs, and improvement in delivery reliability. Past experiences of CI were positively correlated with the length of time the process had been in use; the breadth of its application; the percentage of employees actively involved in the program (for operators and non-operators) and training in problem solving. Therefore, the critical implication for managers is that future management development initiatives need to include strategies to assist managers with their understanding of the potential benefits of the CI process, based on soft management practices. 
• Continuous improvement, Bernhardt, V. L. (2004). Continuous improvement. It takes more than test scores. ASCA Leadership, 16-19.
• An overview of benchmarking process: a tool for continuous improvement and competitive advantage, Elmuti, D., & Kathawala, Y. (1997). An overview of benchmarking process: a tool for continuous improvement and competitive advantage. Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, 4(4), 229-243. The continuous pursuit of excellence is the underlying and ever present goal of benchmarking practices. Benchmarking is an external focus on internal activities, functions, or operations in order to achieve continuous improvement. It is the process of judging a companys processes or products by comparing them to the worlds best, including those in other industries. Benchmarking is emerging in leadingedge companies as a tool for obtaining the information needed to support continuous improvement and gain competitive advantage. In order to benchmark effectively, there needs to be a strong strategic focus and some flexibility in achieving the goals set forth by management. Perhaps the most important aspects of effective implementation are adequate planning, training, and open interdepartmental communication. 
• Continuous improvement capability: assessment within one case study organisation, Kerrin, M. (1999). Continuous improvement capability: assessment within one case study organisation. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 19(11), 1154-1167. Continuous improvement (CI) programmes have been recognised as one way of contributing to the productivity and efficiency within the manufacturing setting. However, the development of a sustainable CI programme has proved more problematic and in some cases fails to proceed any further than oneoff improvement activities. The research presented here illustrates the utility of Bessant and Caffyns framework for the development of CI capability, by assessing the structure of CI within one case study organisation. The structure of the CI programme and examples of CI activities provide evidence of the link to top down strategic business targets. The discussion suggests that the organisation has moved to a goal oriented CI where there is formal deployment of strategic goals through the structure of the CI activities and the relationship with business activities. Practical and theoretical implications of using this framework are considered. 
• From continuous improvement to continuous innovation, Cole, R. E. (2002). From continuous improvement to continuous innovation. Total quality management, 13(8), 1051-1056. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the need for an alternative to how those in the quality community think about continuous improvement in those business environments characterized by rapid change and uncertainty. This involves a re-examination of the role of error and a recognition of the weakness of conventional marketing techniques in understanding customer needs. Compared with conventional thinking about continuous improvement, the probe-and-learn process and rapid prototyping are presented as better suited to dynamic but uncertain business environments. Probe-and-learn is seen as a new form of Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) that underweights Plan and overweights Do in a rapid-fire iterative process. The author examines Beta testing as a mode of probe-and-learn. Finally it is argued that probe-and-learn is applicable throughout the production chain.