Learn About Continuous Improvement (CI) "The things we fear most in organizations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are the primary source of creativity (Margaret J. Wheatley)"

Continuous Improvement (CI)

Concept Overview

Continuous Improvement (CI) Definition

The term continuous improvement (CI) is derived from the Japanese management concept Kaizen. It is a process of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a business in order to improve quality and/or efficiency. Bhuiyan and Baghel (2005) define CI more generally as a culture of sustained improvement targeting the elimination of waste in all systems and processes of an organisation. It involves collective working to make improvements without necessarily making huge capital investments (Bhuiyan and Baghel, 2005).

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Business Evidence

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Business Application

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Further Reading

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Continuous Improvement (CI) References (4 of up to 20) *

  • Bhuiyan, N. and Baghel, A.(2005) An Overview of Continuous Improvement: From the Past to the Present. Management Decision, Vol. 43(5), pp. 761-771.
  • Brown, A. and Eatock, J. (2008) Quality and Continuous Improvement in Medical Device Manufacturing. The TQM Magazine, Vol. 20(6), pp. 541-555.
  • Bullivant, R.N.J. (1994) Benchmarking for Continuous Improvement in the Public Sector. Longman, Harlow.
  • Colman, R. (2002) Shifting into High Gear: Honda Canada Drives Process Innovation with its Employees. CMA Management Magazine, October Edition.

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