Continuous improvement and the mini-company concept

The key issue of continuous improvement (CI) seems to be the problem of com bining extensive employee involvement with market orientation and continuat ion of CI: In this article toe review some existing organisational designs far CI on these three essential characteristics of Cf. As an alternative to the shortcomings of current organisational designs for CI we present the m ini-company concept, related to the sociotechnical concept of the self mana ging team The mini-company concept incorporates the three key issues: it ha s a self-propelling capacity for CI, involving everyone on the shop floor A constant and market-oriented source for improvement is found in the client s and suppliers of the mini-company. Results of an in-depth case-study are presented; showing some strong effects of the mini-company concept.