The purpose of this paper is to present the core variables derived from literature that contributes to the failure of continuous improvement (CI) programs in the Egyptian manufacturing industry. The approach used is to find the previous literature reviews of the problem, group the variables affecting the problem, develop the research model and theoretical frameworks, and test the variables through a survey using the appropriate scale and measurements. From the data measurements and analysis, continuous improvement programs can fail due to multi factors; they can be grouped under six themes: strategic planning, change management, knowledge management, performance measurement, CI performance & sustainability, and motivation. The research is limited to the manufacturing industry. Continuous improvement programs/initiatives defined for the purpose of the study as TQM, Lean, Six Sigma, and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle. The value of this research is to create awareness for the manufacturing organizations about the requirements of change in the form of CI implementation.
Many companies aren’t achieving the desired outcomes from the continuous improvement programs. The continuous improvement initiatives are failing to sus- tain, affecting the organizations performance. About 80% of continuous improve- ment projects fail [
Data has been collected about the company’s history, management behavior, employee’s culture and attitudes through direct observation, several visits and inter- views.
An Egyptian crystal manufacturing company produces crystal pieces under its own name. The company produces clear and colored crystals for diverse uses including lighting, accessories, fashion pieces, chandeliers, figurines and special projects. It was considered the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter of cry- stal, having a production capacity that exceeds 100 tons of crystal per day and exporting to more than 50 countries across the globe.
The company established in Cairo, Egypt and began with a 2200 square meter workspace that employed 200 craftsmen and utilized simple, basic production tools. Nowadays, the company had expanded into 5 crystal factories that cover a total build-up area of more than 1.2 million square meters. The factories employ more than 28,000 craftsmen and women, and the company still stands at that status till today.
As the company expanded, the need for custom-made tools and machinery re- sulted in the company’s adoption of a backward integration strategy where these tools and machines were designed, developed and manufactured by the company for itself.
In 2000, the company launched the Crystal Fashion Components division, producing clear and colored crystals for the fashion industry with all its sectors, including accessories, apparel, jewellery and decoration.
The company’s organizational structure is a classic functional structure; it has 5 main divisions/sectors: financial, engineering & design, production, research and development (R & D), and industrial engineering. It has narrow span of control so each manager was responsible for few number of people to improve communication in each department. The management approach is management by objectives (MBO) where each employee is assigned a set of tasks to do and they are being asked to introduce the results quarterly. The rewarding system and the bonus are based on the results achieved by each individual. After doing several interviews it was obvious that targets assigned to employees are divisional targets which aren’t fully aligned with the company philosophy, values and the long-term bu- siness objectives. Each department is working to its own set of purposes and goals.
Senior managers and directors are relying on monthly reported metrics and seem not personally engaged in the problems solving process; they aren’t fully aware of many of the operational problems.
There is a lack of top management commitment to the continuous improvement of the system and the product to improve operational factors: quality, pro- ductivity, and inventory turns. There is no system to discuss customer complaints to improve product quality, safety and reliability.
The R & D department was created to improve quality with no efficient com- munication and cooperation with the other teams working in the production to improve process.
The company is operating using the management by objectives. The system reward individuals and thus don’t encourage teamwork. There are no incentives based on team accomplishments and overall performance. There is a system to encourage new ideas, but no real improvement or implementation of these ideas in real work.
Although employees and workers are very skilled in their technical areas and well-trained, but the company don’t have an effective training system to train their employees on how to accomplish targets and achieve the business goals within the organizational values and behavior. There is no alignment between the divisional targets and the overall company’s business goals.
There is a high level of labors and employee’s turnover, workers quite because they aren’t involved in improving their work, their voices aren’t heard plus the working environment is tough and not healthy. This doesn’t support building royal employees that are willing to improve their work and the system.
When looking at the continuous improvement (CI) initiatives failure and the global statistical around the world, we figure many companies are complaining that continuous improvement programs using lean, TQM, six sigma or PDCA cycle didn’t achieve their long-term goals, and the improvement impact was very short- lived. Reports that most organizational change efforts fail or do not meet targets [
Liker [
Liker and Convis [
Ahmed [
Jaca et al. [
Soliman [
According to many literature reviews, surveys and interviews, factors that can contribute in the success of continuous improvement programs are.
Soliman [
MBO and other traditional management habits focus on managing people based on command and control [
A well management system using hoshinkanri, however, focuses on people― not the process. It details how people can be developed to solve their own problems [
“Management is about teaching and improving” [
MBO | Industrial Management using hoshinkanri for direction planning and deployment |
---|---|
Invented by Peter Drucker 1954 | Originated in Japan in 1961 and used successfully by Toyota and top-tier companies in US and Japan |
Management based on command and control | Management is based on empowering, motivating, and developing people on problems solving skills |
Focus on the results | Focus on the process not the results this include the plan, the method, the innovation, and people development & training on problems solving |
Recognize individuals | Rewarding system is based on teamwork, overall performance and accomplishments |
Promote individualism | Promote teamwork |
Top-down method | Top-down with linkage to shop floor |
Managing process via distance and rely on reported metrics | Managing on shop floor (gemba principle) and base management decisions on facts |
Use metrics to evaluate people and results | Give people degree of autonomy and use metrics to monitor the work progress and understand the obstacles need to be removed to improve the process |
Focus on the strategic thinking only | Link the strategic thinking to shop floor, use gemba as a management principle, and use visualization, standardization to improve the work |
when implementing lean is getting buy-in from the top senior managers and getting the bottom workers involved [
A good strategy should involve managers in the details and they should use the management technique of gemba “go and see” [
Liker and Convis [
In bureaucratic management there is poor linkage between the shop floor’s efforts and the organization’s goals. Every department is working toward its own objectives.
“Linking strategic deployment to the shop floor is one of the ultimate lean goals. The point of having a vision and clear targets is to keep your people focused on clear things, and sooner or later, you will gain their trust, and everything will be easier” [
You have to be clear about what you want to achieve. Reducing scrap by 10 percent is a target, but how might this reflect your business needs and current si- tuation?
Spending too much time on the shop floor won’t get it done. You have to link your strategic deployment to the shop floor. This is Toyota’s ultimate strength [
Efforts should reflect something that serves the business’s needs. This could include doing a lot of kaizen to improve productivity, standardize the work, and reduce quality defects. What needs to be done to improve the business right now? If a business wants to improve cash flow, look to reduce inventory and improve turns. Make cells, manufacture parts in single-piece flow, move to a pull system, level the product mix, and speed up the changeover [
To be one of the leading suppliers in your industry, you need to get new customers. You have to prove your product is superior in quality. To improve quality, you have to improve the process on the shop floor. To reduce defects and improve quality for your customers, you need the jidoka approach, and you need to prevent bad parts from passing to the next process [
Establish metrics for shop floor efforts and use visual boards to present the targets. This way, people can work to achieve the targets and solve problems. They will be able to see how these targets are tied to the bigger stream and the business objectives [
While management’s main role is to teach and improve, management must also support, listen, motivate, empower, and challenge. If you want people to do what you need them to do and do it well and with passion, you have to find the key to motivate and inspire them.
Liker [
Put another way, happier employees are more productive. An employee should be paid enough to provide a decent standard of living (This varies from one person to another). Financial benefits and other motivators should be adapted and paid wisely.
In 1975, Arthur Friedman (a business entrepreneur in the United States) allowed his employees to set their own wages. Friedman’s experiment worked. The organization was profitable, employees didn’t quit, they didn’t steal, and they were rarely absent.
There is a growing body of evidence that direct incentives often undermine performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. Unfortunately, the search for the magic stimulus continues in some business school classrooms to this day [
Liker and Convis [
While Taylor’s approach focuses on individual incentives based on productivity, Toyota focuses on teamwork, and evaluations are based on group performance [
According to many psychologists, incentives based on individual accomplish- ment can discourage teamwork. Remember, no teamwork means no problem solving. Incentives, therefore, should be tied to teamwork, large accomplishments, and overall performance.
What would happen if an improvement project was tied to metrics and the company had to reduce its benefits value due to a financial statement? Would employees still be working with the same productivity? According to Taylor, because the employees’ compensations are linked to output, when compensation is decreased, output would also decrease.
As Liker and Convis [
Soliman [
If the company has clear strategic goals that are broken down into achievable metrics, employees will be able to generate ideas and explain how their ideas are aligned with these goals. The system itself will drive motivation and creativity. There will be no more need for financial motivators that undermine performance and kill motivation [
Any company needs a vision and clear purpose to help people see not just their own improvements but how those improvements tie in to the bigger stream [
Traditionally, your vision should be over five years, and your vision statement should be generic enough that it will fit any future acquisitions. Think of your vision in business terms. This could include number-one market share, zero warranty cost, or 100 percent accountability [
Break it down into stretch goals for your employees and departments to use [
Concrete stretch goals aligned with organizational strategies are the key to making improvement a priority. Stretch goals break down strategic goals into easy-to-understand bites that workers can digest. They are a main way to cascade organizational values down from above to the front lines. For example, it means nothing to your employees that the goal is to be the leading industry supplier or having no.1 market share. However, breaking that aims into stretch goals yields metrics. This could be a 50 percent reduction in defects per year or 20 per- cent productivity gain each year. Those have measurable results [
One of the most fundamental mistakes many companies make is trying to improve something without a clear strategy that serves customer requirements and the success of the business.
Rother [
Classically, companies that want to train their employees tend to ask them what skills they need or lack. This determines what to train them on. The training is then delegated to the training department or human resources. That department assesses the employees’ previous knowledge and performances and trains them accordingly. What about the skills these employees don’t have, though? [
Taking Toyota as an example, while many companies still rely on formal educational programs to train employees, Toyota uses a completely different pattern of learning. Most companies still think of training as teaching people how to solve problems, but Toyota teaches people how to develop solutions for problems. Toyota teaches a routine of thinking and acting that harnesses the human capability to improve and solve problems. Toyota doesn’t teach its employees tools and techniques. In fact, Toyota’s production system doesn’t offer solutions―just the means to develop solutions [
Toyota inserted continuous improvement into its employee DNA by using a different routine [
As a commitment to self-education and continuous development, Toyota uses a different approach. Its coaching system continuously develops people and ensures each mentee has a mentor. For example, the team leader coaches the team member, and the group leader coaches the team leader [
Apart from the fact that most companies don’t have real systems to coach their employees on how to achieve the business’s competitive targets and accom- plish the process results within the organization’s strategies and values [
Continuous coaching at the workplace using the Toyota Way builds strong leaders. Within that system, people are mentored on how to improve a process toward a target. Embedding this into the organization’s daily routine will make improvement everyone’s habit. This is a main reason why continuous improvement has become a pattern for everyone in Toyota’s organization. The learning cycles Toyota leaders have to take, the continuous coaching at the workplace, and the utilization of problems as opportunities to learn and grow have made Toyota a remarkable company.
Toyota doesn’t rely on certifications and formal education programs. In fact, Japanese business culture doesn’t think much of such certifications or MBAs. Instead, these businesses believe management and leaders should be taught at the gemba―where the actual work is done. This is where Toyota and many other Japanese businesses conduct most of their trainings [
The Egyptian manufacturing organization was trying to improve the process without looking at the real operational issues and the management system. The strategic planning process wasn’t adequate. There is no proper link between the continuous improvement efforts and the strategic business goals. Employees aren’t focusing on what’s matter; there is no management system to improve focus, linkage, accountability, buy-in, communication, and involvement in a corporation in order to continuously improve the product. There is no culture of continuous improvement to sustain the results.
・ Align the business goals with the continuous improvement of the process to achieve the CI targets of productivity, quality and costs.
・ Determine business needs, and align business goals with the divisional targets.
・ Improve management buy-ins, communication, and involvement in cooperation and develop future leaders.
・ Improve employees training to embed the culture of continuous improvement throughout the organization.
・ Improve motivation and creativity.
・ What do we need to do to continuously improve the process?
・ How to align the vision and business goals with the continuous improvement efforts?
・ How do we change the employee’s culture to improve the process?
・ What is the best training method to change culture and embed the continuous improvement throughout the organization and with everyone in the company? Can we make the continuous improvement embedded in everyone’s daily routine?
In order for a company to achieve the continuous improvement goals and improve the process it has to improve the strategic planning process, being adaptable to change, in cooperate the performance measurements and indicators, improve training, continuously monitor and measure the sustainability of the results, and improve motivation and creativity. The dependent variable here is the achievement and sustainment of continuous improvement which managers are interested to focus in. The independent variables are the strategic planning, change management, knowledge management (related to training), performance measurements, continuous improvement suitability, and motivation. Those independent variables highly affect the achievement and sustainability of continuous improvement outcomes.
From the previous figure we conclude:
H1: If the strategic planning process is improved and CI goals are in cooperated, then the company can achieve the continuous improvement outcomes and sustain the results.
H2: If the company is adopted to change, the company can achieve and sustain the continuous improvement results.
H3: The more we in cooperate the appropriate measurements into the process, the more the organization can monitor its performance and progress and the less likely processes will slip back.
H4: If the organization provide the continuous improvement knowledge and training to its employees, their skills will improve and they will be able to manage their work with the new methods and techniques and this will improve the sustainability of the process.
H5: If the company is analyzing the performance of CI sustainability by collection data in longitudinal format, then the company can insure the results are sustained.
H6: Employee motivation affect the achievement and sustainability of the
continuous improvement results.
・ Purpose of research: Hypothesis testing.
・ Type of Investigation: Casual study to determine the cause and effect in an artificial environment.
・ Extend of Researcher Interference with the Study: High interference as the study will strongly affect the working routine.
・ Study Setting: Contrived setting as the study is casual and being done in an artificial environment.
・ Unit of Analysis: Individuals.
・ Time Horizon: Longitudinal studies as measurements will be taken before and after to determine if the process has been improved.
The Scale and Reliability
The Measuring elements of the variable strategic planning according to [
Cronbach α value | Variable | Elements of Variable |
---|---|---|
0.95 | H1-Strategic Planning | 1. CI as an element of the vision and mission 2. CI goals are understood at every level of the organization 3. Effective communication of reached goal 4. Alignment of CI and departmental goals 5. CI as strategic plan to meet customer needs 6. Perception of CI as a working value 7. Improvement as core element for company’s permanence 8. Communication of CI goals 9. Use of historical data to develop CI goals 10. Role models in CI initiatives presented by managers 11. CI goals drive day-to-day work 12. Systematic follow-up of CI goals 13. Frequent monitoring of CI goals 14. CI-goal adjustments based on follow-up 15. Accessibility to CI leader 16. Accurate organizational structure to support CI 17. Available resources across the firm to support CI |
The Scale and Reliability
The Measuring elements of the variable change management according to [
The Scale and Reliability
Cronbach α value | Variable | Elements |
---|---|---|
0.96 | V2-Change Management | 1. Openness to suggestion of ideas 2. CI empowers employees 3. Employees’ contribution to meet customer needs 4. Recognition of innovation and creativity 5. Organization learns from CI experiences 6. Active role of manager in the CI process 7. Risk-taking to promote innovation and creativity 8. Failure as a learning opportunity 9. Evolving working environment 10. Mindful responses rather than inefficient solutions 11. Change adoption is supported by success stories 12. Dynamic portfolio of lessons learned 13. Overall support of the organization for adopting change 14. Leaders act as CI role models by embracing change |
The Scale and Reliability
A five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) was used to capture the level of agreement of each respondent on each item. The questionnaire had a total of 5 items (1 to 5 in
The Scale and Reliability
Variable | Dimensions | Elements |
---|---|---|
H3-Knowledge Management | D1-Actionable knowledge support | 1. Experts in my team give valuable suggestions when approached 2. Experts in my team are open to new ideas proposed even by a novice 3. When I seek knowledge, team members encourage me 4. New ways of solving problems are enthusiastically accepted in my team 5. My team members do not hesitate in seeking help from experts in other teams |
D2-Knowledge Sharing | 6. My team members regularly update information on the intranet (share drive, knowledge portals) 7. My team members regularly use information from the intranet (share drive, knowledge portals) Information available on intranet (share drive, knowledge portals) is well organized 8. Knowledge of my team processes is known to many team members 9. If a person of my team leaves, knowledge of my team processes is not lost | |
D3-Knowledge Retention | 10. When a team member develops some know-how, it is shared in the team 11. My team members willingly share knowledge 12. My team members do not hide knowledge to themselves 13. My team members share information on problem-solving strategies that have worked well 14. My team helps me understand knowledge embedded in work processes 15. The team clearly discusses the project details when a new project is initiated 16. My team is able to optimally utilize competencies of its individual members 17. We have regular meetings where people share their knowledge | |
D4-Knowledge Creation | 18. My team members take initiative to develop new knowledge 19. My team actively spends resources (time, effort) in acquiring new knowledge 20. My team members are aware of latest developments in their field 21. My team implements best practices adopted from outside the team 22. My team members develop knowledge keeping in mind a long-term perspective 23. My team continuously rethinks about its work processes 24. My superiors are appreciative of my team members’ effort to create new knowledge 25. My team members show interest in solving challenging problems 26. My team members search outside the team (Internet, books, friends, etc.) for efficient work processes 27. Extraction method: principal axis factoring |
Cronbach α value | Variable | Element |
---|---|---|
0.90 | H4-Performance Measurements | 1. Consistent overall and departmental goals 2. Display of CI metrics 3. CI metrics at operational level 4. CI goals reflect customer requirements 5. Longitudinal collection of CI metrics |
The Measuring elements of the variable CI sustainability according to [
The Scale and Reliability
The measuring elements of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivators are represented in
Because the study required data to be collected in a longitudinal format in order
Cronbach α value | Variable | Element |
---|---|---|
0.84 | H5-CI Sustainability | 1. Defined metric for ongoing CI training in the long term 2. Defined metrics for waste reduction in the long term 3. CI initiatives are defined metrics |
Motivators | |
---|---|
Extrinsic Motivators ・ Provision of fair wages ・ Provision of pay incentives ・ Communication and cooperation in the working environment ・ Opportunities for hierarchal advancement ・ Security in the workplace ・ Working condition | Intrinsic Motivators ・ Opportunities to advance the field of employee’s expertise ・ Need for creative work ・ Need for esteem and reputation ・ Recognition for work ・ Need for competence ・ Opportunities to take responsibilities |
Motivators | Survey Questions |
---|---|
1. Provision of fair wages | In relation to the effort I devote to my work, my position, my prior working experience and educational background, the relevant wages in the private sector and the economic situation of the country, I consider to have a fair wage |
2. Provision of pay incentives | Our organization has introduced performance related pay schemes |
3. Communication and cooperation in the working environment | The management makes any possible effort to create a collaborative work environment, to build relationships of trust and mutual understanding among employees, to rely on open and honest communication and to share knowledge and information in all directions |
4. Opportunities for hierarchal advancement | The organization has set clear criteria for promotions, based on meritocracy and transparent procedures |
5. Security in the workplace | The norm in our organization is that employment is Protected |
6. Working condition | The management cares about the health and safety of employees. It provides adequate and up to date IT support and infrastructure. It respects the individual characteristics of employees’ personality and encourages their development |
7. Opportunities to advance the field of employee’s expertise | Your employment requires different specialized skills and you obtain ongoing feedback indicating success in their accomplishment |
8. Need for creative work | My job is creating and producing something meaningful |
9. Need for esteem and reputation | Your employment provides you the opportunity to “make a difference” to society |
10. Recognition for work | Work evaluation is based on explicit performance criteria. Performance evaluation forms include the roles and responsibilities of employees, the extent of achievement to pre-determined targets and the quality of final deliverables. Evaluations are fair and constructive. Good evaluation has a positive impact on career advancement and/or pay raise of employees |
11. Need for competence | The organization encourages the participation of employees in seminars, workshops and Conferences |
12. Opportunities to take responsibilities | The organization provides employees the freedom in deciding how to carry out their work and encourages them to take initiatives |
to analyze the performance and sustainability of the Continuous Improvement of the process, questionnaires were applied several times (repeated observations) to the company about every 2 months starting from AUG 2015 through March 2016. Questionnaires were handled directly by the Human Resources Manager or the CI Coordinator, who selected the respondents.
The company consists of 2000 employees working in several functional depts. But only a single plant where CI is implemented was considered for the survey. Total no of employees in this plant were 75 employees. The questioners were applied to 63 respondents. The functional area where respondents were working at the time they answered the questionnaire, 43.65% of respondents were employed in the manufacturing/production. The second most common functional area was customer service, which accounted for 24.1% of the respondents.
The respondents were categorized by the level of their job position: team members who worked at the operational level (52 members), and managers who had a supervisory or senior role (11 managers).
In the statistical analysis of the hypotheses, participants were divided into two groups (Managers/supervisors and Team members) in order to see how these principles are perceived from the different points of view.
Hypothesis | Managers | Team Members |
---|---|---|
Strategic Planning (H1) | 3.5 | 2.76 |
Change Management (H2) | 2.2 | 2 |
Knowledge Management (H3) | 3.1 | 2.61 |
CI Performance Measurements (H4) | 3.47 | 3.5 |
CI Sustainability (H5) | 1.66 | 1.83 |
Motivation (H6) | 1.76 | 1.25 |
calculated using the SPSS (statistical package for the social science) software.
Mean has been considered the most suitable method for the Likert-scale data because the target is to get the mean of the answers from all questions for each hypothesis [
Based on the data above, managers believe that strategic planning process is fine and the continuous improvement goals are in cooperated more than what team members think.
Moreover, the company hasn’t adapted the change to match the new method of work.
Both managers and team members think that the correct measurements and performance indicators are used to measure the CI results continuously.
Both managers and team members think that the results are not sustained and the improvement results were very short-lived.
Managers believe they have received the required training on the continuous improvement subjects more than what team members did.
Both managers and team members think that there is no effective motivation system being used.
In conclusion, we can see that hypothesis H1, H2, H5, and H6 are verified taking into account the mean that were calculated from all variables determinations with values of 2.62 for managers and 2.33 for team members. Hypothesis H3 is acceptable for team members and not acceptable for managers.
As previously mentioned, the proposed hypothesis model is partially verified taking into account the mean that were calculated from all variables determinations with values of 2.62 for managers and 2.33 for team members. Hypothesis H4 needs some improvements. Hypothesis H3 is verified in case of team members and needs some improvements in case of supervisory and managerial levels.
・ Strategic planning process is adequate at the high level and continuous improvement goals are in cooperated, but the strategic goals aren’t linked properly to the bottom level. Employees don’t know how their work is going to affect the company’s goals and vision. There is no proper link between the shop floor efforts and the strategic objectives to help people see not just their own improvements but how those improvements tie in to the bigger stream. People need a clear direction. They need to know where you’re taking them [
・ Change management mean is low. The proper management approach is not being used; employees are being managed only by the achieved objectives. Managers are focusing on the results rather than the process and the method of accomplishing the goals. The company didn’t train leaders at the gemba. There is no system to allow employees to share their own ideas for improving their own work and managers decide what should be done.
・ Knowledge management is on the average mean and relativity low in case of team members. Employees haven’t received the required training in order to manage the process with the new method. Managers received training but they haven’t acted as mentors for the team members. Knowledge sharing to create a learning organization is necessary in continuous improvement environments. Training employees in problem solving is one of the most critical steps in achieving targets and removing obstacles. Most companies that fail to make real improvements and achieve good results have neglected training and coaching or haven’t used the correct training behavior [
・ CI performance measurements are on the average mean. Managers use the appropriate metrics to measure the outcomes and the performance of the process. Employees use metrics to measure their own work progress and report to managers.
・ CI sustainability mean is low. Going back to the literature review we can figure out why many companies are suffering from sustainability issues and the improved results are very short-lived. Training must be carried out for every single employee and manager in the company. There is a strong relation between sustainability (hypothesis H5) and knowledge management (hypothesis H3).
・ Motivation mean is low. Basically, employees think wages are low and there is no fair promotion system to upgrade positions based on performance. Furthermore, company uses the wrong motivation behavior. Instead of just using financial incentives and tie them to some metrics, morale motivators can reduce the use of financial incentives [
・ There are a lot of safety concerns in the working place. Apart of any motivational system that people need to feel secured in their work and that the company cares about their safety and health. For example, a clean, safe, and comfortable environment using 5S tool lets laborers know that everyone in the company is committed to employee safety and satisfaction. These good attitudes permeate throughout the organization. Instead of just being things to accomplish, targets become ways to drive improvements, make processes safer and easier, and increase employee productivity.
・ If leaders are practicing gemba walks (a part of the change adoption process) they will be able watch the working environments to see if anything negatively affects employee safety [
The objective of this research was to study the requirements of CI implementation. This research is limited to the manufacturing environments. It adds value to the manufacturing organizations and creates awareness about the transformation requirements in form of CI implementation.
The results show that continuous improvement is applicable in the manufacturing organizations in Egypt. Motivation, training and good planning are the most significant factors in the success of implementation. There is a strong relation between the applicability of the proposed hypothesis model and the success of CI implementation in terms of goals’ accomplishment and sustainability of results.
Implementing CI initiatives in the Egyptian manufacturing industries are a challenged mission especially with the current economic situation which forces companies to cut costs and neglect training. Also culture adaptability is highly important and employees must practice the new behavior so improvement becomes a routine. Management needs to shift completely from command and control to empowerment, motivation, and support.
5S need to be a part of any continuous improvement process. A well-orga- nized, clean, safe and healthy workplace improves employees’ morale and satisfaction, helps organizations reduce wastes and improves quality.
Soliman, M.H.A. (2017) Why Continuous Improvement Pro- grams Fail in the Egyptian Manufacturing Organizations? A Research Study of the Evi- dence. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 7, 202-222. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2017.73016