Continuous improvement framework to develop cultural change: case study, capital goods company

PurposeIn this study, a frame of reference was developed to adapt and execute a continuous improvement process (CIP) for reinforcing a continuous improvement (CI) culture in an organisation. The study was undertaken in a mature capital goods company that did not succeed in institutionalising CI despite deploying many CI tools over the years. The organisation thus needed a model that was adapted to its reality and strengthened the aspects of CI through cultural changes at the organisational level.Design/methodology/approachAction research was used to implement the CIP, and this research method was reinforced using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to analyse the results.FindingsThe CIP was validated in four units of analysis within the organisation. For the validation, aspects relevant to organisational cultural change and their metrics were identified. The results showed that the main barriers to the development of CI in the case organisation were lack of teamwork and poor assimilation of new CI routines.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was applied only in one organisation. Therefore, results cannot be generalized although the process and methodology followed to adapt and implement the CIP could be applied within other organisations.Originality/valueThe paper presents a CI frame of reference and describes how a CIP applied to a small- and medium-sized industrial enterprise generated cultural changes and promoted organisational excellence in the pursuit of CI, by using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology approach.