Continuous Improvement In Organizations

Our world changes faster today than at any time in the history of mankind. Organizations, like living breathing organisms, must learn to adapt to changes in the environment in which each operates. It is generally held today, by those who study organizations, that those who fail to adapt to seemingly unending change are certainly doomed but those able to adapt to constant change tend to thrive. The purpose of this book is to describe the leadership required to successfully implement continuous process improvement in organizations. The author begins the journey with a discussion of organizational culture as he sets out to describe how leaders develop a culture where continuous improvement can thrive. The challenges of organizational change faced by all leaders who strive to take advantage of the benefits of continuous process improvement is discussed, as well as what leaders must do to make change stick. The goal is to provide a description of the leadership necessary to make continuous process improvement a reality in any organization.

This text contains practical information for continually improving all aspects of an organization. It presents real examples from all types of organizations including schools, hospitals and private sector companies. It is designed to be easy to use with clear step-by-step instructions.

According to Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, long waits for treatment are a function of the disjointed manner in which most health systems have evolved to accommodate the needs and the desires of doctors and administrators, rather than those of patients. The result is a health care system that deploys its most valuable resource--highly trained personnel--inefficiently, leading to an unnecessary imbalance between the demand for appointments and the supply of open appointments. This study makes the case that by using the techniques of systems engineering, new approaches to management, and increased patient and family involvement, the current health care system can move forward to one with greater focus on the preferences of patients to provide convenient, efficient, and excellent health care without the need for costly investment. Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access identifies best practices for making significant improvements in access and system-level change. This report makes recommendations for principles and practices to improve access by promoting efficient scheduling. This study will be a valuable resource for practitioners to progress toward a more patient-focused "How can we help you today?" culture.

This book shows how organizational frame-breaking changes can be used in order for an organization to learn from its own experience and continually improve.

If you are: overwhelmed by the amount of change and the difficulty in making it happen, finding failure - or limited success - with the implementation of changes, disappointed in the growth or financial performance of your organization, and are looking for a strategy for improving your organization's capacity for planned and proactive change, this book is for you. The world is continuing to change at a rapid pace, while most organizations are focused on maintaining stability and certainty. The price of this growing gap is the diversion of limited resources to reactive, fire-fighting behaviors and the inability to lead and be proactive. Allowing the gap to continue to grow is the formula for failure, this book gives you the formula for success. In The EverChanging Organization, the authors present a model of the EverChanging Organization(ECO). This is a systems model for understanding an organization's needed capacity for change in a range of change orientations from change averse to change seeking. The book includes diagnostic scales, tools for assessing need and status as an ECO, and a process for selecting and implementing change initiatives to achieve the needed capacity for change in timely and cost effective ways.

This book enables enterprise business leaders - from CEOs to supervisors - to understand what "Continuous Improvement" is, why it is probably the best answer to improved business performance in years, and how to put it to work in the unique environment of a specific organization. The book examines what is at the core of "Continuous Improvement" and delves deeper into the elements and constituents necessary to take an organization to the next level to ensure its continued, long-term existence. It provides guidance to enterprise management and to professionals engaged in the implementation of a "Continuous Improvement" initiative and enables them to structure and manage its implementation successfully. It also provides tools to quickly assess where an enterprise business stands in terms of strategic management and "Continuous Improvement".​

Kaizen means gradual, unending improvement, doing "little things" better; setting --and achieving --ever higher standards. It is Kaizen, says Masaaki Imai, that is the simple truth behind Japan's economic "miracle" and the real reason the Japanese have become the masters of "flexible manufacturing" technology -- the ability to adapt manufacturing processes to changing customer and market requirements, and do it fast ... For the first time, Western managers have a comprehensive handbook of 16 Kaizen management practices they can put to work. Using more than 100 examples of Kaizen in action, 15 corporate case studies, and 50 charts and graphs, Mr. Imai examines step by step all the roles Kaizen plays in. --inside cover

This book presents what you need to know to really implement continuous improvement in companies or other organizations. In addition to all the support needed for this to make sense, the importance of the right direction to guide it is unveiled. The reader will find in this book the origins of continuous improvement and all the framing that justifies and demystifies it in the aspects that characterize the socio-technical nature of organizations. This work also explores the need for effective coexistence between technical aspects and behavioral and cultural aspects, so that continuous improvement and excellence are achieved in organizations. Topics discussed in the book include: The origins of continuous improvement The main operational excellence models The invisible side of organizations The visible side of organizations Decoding continuous improvement The maturity levels of continuous improvement Some models and tips for the implementation of continuous improvement Main tools associated to excellence in organizations This book was written with the aim of helping engineering students in courses related to operations management to develop skills in this area, as well as businessmen with curiosity about this subject, production directors, people responsible for continuous improvement and all professionals working in companies or other organizations with responsibility for their performance and their future.