Rick Middel

Action research in collaborative improvement

There is an increasing need to apply and transfer continuous improvement (CI) to inter-organisational processes. As such collaborative improvement (CoI) is emerging as a new concept within managerial literature and practice. This paper begins with a discussion on the logic and value of applying action research (AR) in empirical research in the field of CI and CoI to contribute to both theory and practice. It introduces the theory and characteristics of AR and describes the implementation of an AR process in an inter-organisational setting through the adoption of an AR model. Finally, it discusses the generation of theory through AR and concludes that AR is relevant and valid in research on CI and CoI as it contributes both to concerns of practitioners and the body of knowledge.

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

Continuous Improvement (CI) is a well-known and consolidated concept in management literature and practice, and is considered vital in todays 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.

Managing and organising collaborative improvement: a system integrator perspective

More than ever, companies are challenged to improve their performance and respond quickly and accurately to changes within the market. Because of external dynamics, competition is moving towards the level of networks of organisations, and thus the individual firm is an inadequate entity for identifying improvements. The concept of continuous improvement must be applied and used in inter-organisational settings, leading to the concept of collaborative improvement. In order to gain an insight and develop knowledge of the process of collaborative improvement from a system integrator perspective, we use the network model of actors. This paper will discuss some empirical findings on the scope, scale, skill and value, and social networking of collaborative improvement as part of the network model.

Driving collaborative improvement processes

Continuous improvement is a consolidated concept in theory and practice, mainly in the context of stand-alone companies. However, the battlefield of competition is increasingly moving from the level of individual firms to that of organizational settings based on loose company boundaries and collaborative relations among different units, such as the extended manufacturing enterprises (EMEs). The concept of continuous improvement has hardly been applied in inter-organizational settings. The purpose of this paper is to propose preliminary theory on collaborative improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature study on supply networks and continuous improvement, evidence from an in-depth case study of a large Dutch system integrator in the automotive industry and three of its suppliers, a model of CoI is proposed, explaining how collaborative improvement takes place within the EME context.

Continuous Improvement and Collaborative Improvement: Similarities and Differences

A substantial body of theoretical and practical knowledge has been developed on continuous improvement. However, there is still a considerable lack of empirically grounded contributions and theories on collaborative improvement, that is, continuous improvement in an inter-organizational setting. The CO-IMPROVE project investigated whether and how the concept of continuous improvement can be extended and transferred to such settings. The objective of this article is to evaluate the CO-IMPROVE research findings in view of existing theories on continuous innovation. The article investigates the similarities and differences between key components of continuous and collaborative improvement by assessing what is specific for continuous improvement, what for collaborative improvement, and where the two areas of application meet and overlap. The main conclusions are that there are many more similarities between continuous and collaborative improvement. The main differences relate to the role of hierarchy/market, trust, power and commitment to collaboration, all of which are related to differences between the settings in which continuous and collaborative improvement unfold.

Cultivating collaborative improvement: an action learning approach

The process of implementing collaborative initiatives across disparate members of supply networks is fraught with difficulties. One approach designed to tackle the difficulties of organisational change and interorganisational improvement in practice is action learning. This paper examines the experiential lessons that arise when cultivating collaborative improvement in an interorganisational learning environment. The authors, acting as action researchers, facilitated a practical learning program in an Extended Manufacturing Enterprise (EME). Based on this experience, a practical learning model is offered to promote and facilitate interorganisational change as part of a collaborative improvement process.