Continuous improvement in The Netherlands: a survey-based study into current practices

Middel, Rick and Weegh op de, Saskia and Gieskes, José (2007) Continuous improvement in The Netherlands: a survey-based study into current practices. International Journal of Technology Management, 37 (3/4). pp. 259-271. ISSN 0267-5730

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Abstract:	Continuous Improvement (CI) is a well-known and consolidated concept in management literature and practice, and is considered vital in today's business environment. In 2003, a survey, which is part of the international CINet survey, was conducted in The Netherlands in order to gain insight into current practices and the evolution of continuous improvement over the past five years. This article describes the results of the Dutch survey, from a sample of 51 companies. The main motives found for continuous improvement were customer satisfaction, productivity, quality, and delivery reliability. CI contributed to several performance areas, but the implementation of CI was fraught with many difficulties. It appears that it is difficult for companies to design and implement an approach towards continuous improvement that is in line with their own perceptions.
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Limited
Research Group:	Operations, Organization and Human Resources (OOHR)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/57938
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2007.012262
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