Bessant's continuous improvement model: revisiting and revising

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that a redevelopment of Bessant's continuous improvement (CI) model makes a useful contribution to the research and understanding of the development of performance improvement in the public sector.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a conceptual discussion that develops the case for a three stage CI model from an analysis of the literature and feedback from key management stakeholders across a range of public sector organisations.Findings – Although Bessant's five stage model presents a useful way of understanding how CI culture evolves, it is less useful as a framework for measuring the level of CI maturity as it does not provide indicators against each of the five stages of development. It is argued that a three stage model which contains a set of indicators for each level may be useful in the current public sector context where self‐assessment is seen as central to driving organisational improvement.Research limitations/implications – The a...

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