Productivity and quality improvement: an implementation framework

Richard A. Reid

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2006, vol. 1, issue 1/2, 26-36

Abstract: Most managers realise that their success is directly related to effective and continual implementation of process improvements in their organisations. A major managerial problem has been the inability to successfully implement change in many firms. Research shows that the effective application of team-oriented and data-focused total quality (TQ) improvement tools is not sufficient to assure the efficacious implementation of change. Nor were teams that utilised solely the logic tools of the theory of constraints (TOC) totally successful in implementing change in their organisations. Firms were more likely to achieve their improvement goals when they used a structured and repeatable method, rather than an ad hoc approach, for continuous improvement (CI). Viewing the situation from an operations management perspective, this paper presents a logical and well-structured framework for implementing the CI managerial philosophy to improve the productivity and quality of the organisation as a whole, as well as its work-performing processes.

Keywords: continuous improvement; kaizen; operations management; P-D-S-A cycle; structured framework; TOC five-step focusing process; productivity; quality improvement; theory of constraints; total quality management; change management; organisational change; TQM. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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