The adoption of continuous improvement and innovation strategies in Australian manufacturing firms

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adoption of Continuous Imp rovement (CI) strategies of a large random sample of Australian manufacturi ng firms. The study was undertaken as part of a wider international survey investigating continuous improvement practices in Australia, Denmark, Finla nd, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK. The survey was mailed to 1200 mana gers responsible for manufacturing organisations in Australia. A response r ate of 32 per cent was obtained. The quantitative data was analysed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data analysis revealed that the motivation to adopt CI was related to improved quality conformanc e, increased productivity, reduced costs, and improvement in delivery relia bility. Past experiences of CI were positively correlated with thr: length of time the process had been in use; the breadth of its application; the pe rcentage of employees actively involved in the program (for operators and n on-operators) and training in problem solving. Therefore, the critical impl ication for managers is that future management development initiatives need to include strategies to assist managers with their understanding of the p otential benefits of the CI process, based on "soft" management practices, (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.