تصویب استراتژی بهبود مستمر و نوآوری در شرکت های تولیدی در استرالیا

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.

Organisations can build competitive advantage through superior manufacturing or service delivery, but sustaining the competitive advantage over time requires comparable skills in developing a continual stream of new products and services. The increasing pace of technological change and the accelerating globalisation of business has meant that competitive advantage for many corporations now lies in their ability to effectively implement on-going product, service, and process innovations. As product innovation cycles become shorter and more frequent, and innovation becomes a dominant strategic weapon, companies will be forced to exploit synergies between products, services and processes. As product innovation is a knowledge-based process, this requires mastering the overall process of knowledge creation, dissemination and application. This progressive accumulation and sharing of knowledge fosters the process of organisational learning that is the essential engine for the continuous improvement process. Hence, long term competitiveness is increasingly dependent on how well a company can continuously improve its product development capabilities by fostering organisational learning and utilising individual and group knowledge within the company.

The analysis shows that respondent organisations preferred the use of techniques such as problem identification tools, checklists and the seven basic quality tools rather than the more advanced problem solving techniques such as failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), quality function deployment (QFD) or so-called “soft” options which relate to people and teams. Other Australia research by Terziovski et al. (1999) indicates that areas such as customer surveys, leadership and communication, and other qualitative interventions tend to be used in preference to quantitative quality management tools requiring numerical skills. Motivational factors for introducing CI included production efficiency and improved quality of performance. The implications of the current survey findings suggest that the majority of the organisations participating in the study have introduced CI to at least part of their operations. For approximately half of the respondents, CI appears to be quarantined to manufacturing/production rather than being applied organisation wide. Organisational performance was found to be linked to the length of time CI had been implemented and the extent of CI involvement. Organisations with partial implementation of CI will need to examine more extensive development of CI through other organisational systems in addition to those areas devoted to manufacturing and production. These findings have implications for the large, multinational corporations as well as the small–medium enterprises (SMEs). In the first instance there is a need for large corporations to develop strategic plans which support product development and innovation, communication networks, and disciplined, sophisticated problem solving across all business units. This includes international as well as national sites involved in the development and production of a particular product range, as well as different companies owned by the corporation. Furthermore business units need to introduce CI across all functional areas, not just manufacturing and production. This will also further enhance cross-national learning to facilitate Innovation Management, by enabling the organisation to develop a global pool of skills and resources. Globalisation for SMEs may include joint venture projects, with individual organisations being responsible for a particular aspect of the project. These enterprises need to not only have effective CI processes within their own organisation, but also establish links between the product and process development, communication networks, and problem solving strategies of the partners in the venture.