Continuous Improvement Acceptance Model (CIAM)towards understanding employee participation

Abstract

Continuous improvement (CI) is a very important strategy that companies have at their disposal to achieve business excellence and innovation. Yet CI initiatives fail to a large degree, mostly because of a lack of employee engagement with these initiatives. Based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this thesis contributes to resolving this problem by presenting a comprehensive relationship model called CIAM (Continuous Improvement Acceptance Model), in order to understand the variables that predict employee participation in CI. The theoretical model is based on an extensive literature review followed by a Delphi study and ISM modelling. An empirical validation of the model, using data from a single manufacturing company, was done using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach with Partial Least Squares (PLS). The originality of the model is that it brings together two theories by mixing concepts from typical behavioural models and concepts related to CI enablers. In particular, the model presented here emulates the findings of the technology acceptance model (TAM) by showing that employee participation in CI can be predicted by employee intention to participate in CI, which in turn can be predicted by two other variables called ease of participating in the CI system and usefulness of participating in the CI system. The model also presents statistical relationships between all these constructs and the CI enablers gathered from the literature (factors that, according to the existing literature, are essential for the success of CI systems). The CIAM model could help academics and practitioners to better understand employee participation in CI activities, which would make it possible to design better CI systems in order to achieve long-term sustainability. CIAM also presents new variables and interactions that help to explain employee participation in CI activities, some of which are barely cited in the CI literature. These new variables and interactions will be worth investigating in greater depth in the future. The findings from the CIAM model have been used to develop a diagnostic methodology. This methodology has been used in two different cases: in an industrial company and in a public service organization. The results from these two applications show that this methodology can help managers to detect the main strengths and weaknesses of their organization’s CI system from the employee perspective (users of the CI system), as well as help them to identify improvement opportunities that will motivate employees to participate more in the CI system. In summary, this thesis presents an innovative approach to understanding and managing employee participation in CI activities. The positive results obtained from the empirical validation in a particular case and the results derived from the application of the diagnostic tool derived from the CIAM model should serve as a good first step towards future research on employee participation in CI and the improvement of the CIAM model itself.