Barriers to Continuous Improvement: Perceptions of Top Managers, Middle Managers and Workers

Abstract Continuous improvement [CI], as culture, tools and methods, is critical to manufacturing companies’ competitive position. Research has documented that as many as two out of three CI programs fail, in the sense of not meeting goals and expectations. While poorly designed CI systems and misguided use of tools and methods may explain some failed CI initiatives, surveys and expert polls indicate that the main barriers to CI success are organizational and managerial. This paper reports on a case study of barriers to CI. The case company, a medium-sized manufacturer of maritime systems, has achieved only partial success with CI, despite repeated efforts. Unsurprisingly, both technical and organizational barriers are important, but the relative importance attributed to the different barriers is strikingly dissimilar across hierarchical levels in the organization. While top managers attribute the limited success to shortcomings of information systems and improvement methods, workers primarily point to limited support and commitment from management, in addition to other organizational factors such as lack of involvement, motivation and teamwork. Middle managers acknowledge both groups of barriers, but tend to agree more with the workers’ view. If these findings are generalizable beyond the single case-company, there are important implications for both research and practice. Research should appreciate the complex attribution of barriers, by complementing conventional surveys with in-depth qualitative analysis. Practically, unless the opinions of different occupation groups at different hierarchical levels are listened to, efforts to overcome the barriers may be misguided. In addition, top managers should learn to take the roles of CI champions, who not only allocate resources to CI, but also actively encourage, follow-up and reward the appropriate use of CI tools and methods.