The role of Management Support and Shared Understanding of 20 Keys for Continuous Improvement: An employee perspective

Abstract

Continuous improvement (CI) has become a strategic option for many Cape Town (CT) manufacturing organisations that want to compete successfully in the global economy. To successfully survive in this modern competitive environment companies should continuously improve in order to manufacture better products and render better services faster and cheaper than their competitors. According to Kobayashi companies must strive to be better, faster and cheaper than their competitors. Despite the benefits of CI, its effects are claimed to induce high pressure on shop floor workers and increase stress. The change process should be about people and about unlocking their innate human potential to be the best they can be. This study investigated the role of Management support and shared understanding (interpretation) of the CI initiative on successful CI implementation, from an employee perspective. This study aimed to assess employee’s responses with regard to the implementation of a new workplace improvement programme. The purpose of this research was to focus on the understanding that could be gained about employee’s responses to organisational change using qualitative research. Case study research was conducted in Cape Town at a manufacturing company in order to assess how shop floor employees responded to CI implementation. Qualitative data was collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews with shop floor employees. Unstructured interviews were conducted as informal conversations on the shop floor with the researcher asking follow-up questions in response to statements made by the interviewees.