Continuous change, process and performance improvement : a holistic systems perspective

Ellerker, SC

Abstract

The business market of today is much more complex than it has ever been before,
making it much more difficult for businesses to not only enter the market place, but to
also survive and compete successfully against rival firms. The relatively recent pressures
of rapid technological development, changing markets and market forces, as well as the
fast-paced dynamic nature of the individual markets themselves, all demand that
organisations change and adapt on a continuous basis.
Various approaches to change and continuous improvement that currently exist within
available literature, all of which suggest different methods for changing and improving an
organisation. The available literature was used to create a comprehensive
implementation program/methodology that guides organisations through the process of
change and improvement. This change and improvement program was then tested within
several case study organisations within the North West of England.
The selected case study organisations represent a cross-section of industries: world class
organisations, who have been recognised for their excellence through Excellence North
West (an independent organisation that audits companies using the European Foundation
Quality Model - EFQM - refer to appendix Q); organisations that plan and either
succeed or fail and finally organisations who do not formally plan for
change/improvement and who either succeed or fail.
The conclusions of the case study research show that organisations could make use of an
holistic implementation guide to help them manage the change and improvement process.
The implementation program developed from best practice and theory provides an
original holistic systems approach that has proven itself to be a robust methodology
within several companies in the North West, through its convergence with company best
practice. The originality stems from the implementation process which was developed by
the author, from the various approaches available in current literature, and from the fact
that it combines strategic organisational change management with continuous
improvement - a need identified by Choi (1995). Further work and testing of the
implementation program would be required to determine if it is generic.

Citation

Ellerker, S. Continuous change, process and performance improvement : a holistic systems perspective. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Vol.1
• Award Date: Jan 1, 1998