Required enablers for successful Continuous Improvement initiatives across management levels

Transcription

1 Required enablers for successful Continuous Improvement initiatives across management levels Abdullah Alhaqbani Dr Deborah Reed Dr Barbara Savage Dr Jana Ries Department of Operations and Systems Management, Portsmouth Business School University of Portsmouth United kingdom 1 June

2 Overview Continuous improvement (CI) is a never-ending effort to improve an organisation s activities that requires management and employee commitment. Improving organisation performance is the base for successful implementation of quality management and other CI initiatives. 2

3 Key assumption Reviewing 112 studies in continuous improvement (CI) field has shown that: Top management commitment is considered to be among the most critical factor of CI. Reviewing literature that focuses on CI and its Critical Success Factors (CSFs) showed a lack of studies that identified CI enablers in each management level of public sector organisations. Lack of identifying success factors at each level might influence the implementation processes of CI 3

4 Research purpose Investigates the key enablers that need to be considered in each management level of the public service organisations to facilitate CI initiatives 4

5 CI studies Analysis [1] Management commitment& leadership; [2] Training & learning; [3] Employees focus; [4] Customer management; [5] Focus on Strategic objectives and goals / integration CI into strategic objectives; [6] Ongoingmeasurement& improvement; [7] Team problem-solving; [8] Communication; [9] Process management; [10] Organisational culture; [11] Tools, technique, methodologies used; [12] Resource availability; [13] Rewards & Motivation; [14] IT support; [15] Partnership and supplier management; [16] Product or service design [17] Quality policy, system, & department; [18] Organizational change; [19] Organizational structure; [20] Benchmarking; [21] Project management skills. 5

6 Research context Organisation type: Eight public service organisations Size: 1,214 employees Operating System Structure: Vertical Structure that include: Top management Middle management Lower management Non-management staff 6

7 Data collection and analysis methods Data collection method Semi structured interview Questionnaire (Closed questions) Questionnaire (Opened questions) Research sample Analysis method 15 senior managers. Template Analysis 617 of 1,214 questionnaires were completed, covering 50.82% of the population. 167 participants of 617 commented on views expressed. Descriptive Analysis *One-way ANOVA *Two-way MANOVA Template Analysis 7

8 Factor Analysis result Development and learning Communication Key improvement factors Strategic Performance Customer focus Process and Management support Employees focus Team problemsolving 8

9 Measurement Scale SA Key improvement factors N=61 5 4, ,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 SD 1 Development and learning support Communication Strategic Performance Management Customers focus Process and Management Support Employee focus Team Problem Solving factor 9

10 The Analysis of Variance / Management Levels The analysis of variance across Management Levels showed that there are significant differences between views of participants across research cases. Source Dependent Variable Sig. Development and learning Communication Strategic Performance.054 Management Customer focus.193 levels Process and management support.018 Employees focus Team problem-solving

11 The Analysis of Variance / Research Cases across Management Levels The general linear model (including multivariate analysis) is used to measure the outcomes of analysis for two factors, such as organisations and the management levels of participants Source Dependent Variable Sig. Organisations * Management levels Development and learning Communication Strategic Performance Customer focus Process and management support Employees focus Team problem-solving

12 Summary of Analysis results (1) The levels of communication between organisations and between management levels were different based on organisational structure and management behaviour. The measurement approaches that applied in public service organisations and the type of operations processes were different which indicate that there were differences between the organisations in implementing CI. The culture of individual organisations and management levels might cause differences in the way that teams solved problems. 12

13 Summary of Analysis results (2) The results showed that key players of public service organisations agreed on nine enablers for successful CI implementation. The statistical analysis identified seven factors for successful CI. The analysis of the open questions suggested that there are a further 10 enablers for successful CI across management levels. The combination of qualitative and quantitative findings concluded that there are similarities and differences in determining CI factors between management levels. 13

14 The Key enablers for CI Factors Senior Management Middle Management Lower Management Nonmanagement Staff Availability of resources X X X X Customer management X X X X Decentralization X X X Development & learning support X X X X Employees focus X X X Employees motivation X X X Integration of CI initiatives with strategic X X X X objectives Internal and external communication X X X X IT support X X X Management & employees commitment X X X X Ongoing measurement X X Organisational culture X Organisational structure X X Process & management support X X X X Team problem-solving X X X Trust between managers & employees X X 14

15 Common key enablers for CI 1/06/16 1. Availability of resources 2. Communication (including collaboration, sharing information and experience) 3. Customer management 4. Decentralization 5. Development and learning 6. Employees focus (including employees empowerment, involvement) 7. Employees motivation system 8. IT support 9. Managers and employees commitment 10. Process and management support 11. Integration of CI initiatives with strategic objectives 12. Team problem-solving 15

16 Challenges and suggested solutions Improvement teams often lack the authority to implement their suggestions for change through their organisations. Upper management involvement is needed within improvement teams to facilitate the decisions on these changes and support their implementation. The role and commitment from other management levels is crucial to implementing the changes suggested by improvement team problem solving. The key enablers of CI should be part of the organisation s structure. 16

17 Research Value Understanding the critical enablers for CI at each management level will encourage management and employee commitment, support CI processes, reduce the resistance level, and provide necessary resources for each management level. 17

18 Conclusions and Remarks The findings of this research determine the required enablers of CI at each management level which then support the organisation s efforts to facilitate CI at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. This work supports CI practices by enhancing awareness and understanding of an organisation s managers and employees of the importance of CI in their organisations. It will also help the public service sector in developing countries to identify and measure factors for improving public service performance. 18

19 The suggested Room for Improvement framework will help organisations management to mitigate the centralisation impact and lack of empowerment in the vertical structure that exists in public organisations. This study is viewed as a training opportunity for managers and employees to start thinking of other areas in the organisation that need to be considered in determining CSFs of CI. 19