| There are two ways to improve your company | | | | improvements. |
| operations; through continuous improvement or | | | | Radical improvement is likely to be effective when |
| through radical improvement. | | | | an organisation needs to completely change its |
| (1) Incremental improvement: is the pursuit of | | | | performance to compete effectively or even just |
| improvements through a process of small, | | | | to survive. However it is often much more risky |
| ongoing changes. This kind of improvement is | | | | than continuous improvement, since it disrupts |
| associated with bottom-up, people driven | | | | established ways of managing operations. |
| continuous improvement. It is based on the belief | | | | Before thinking about improving your company's |
| that an organisation should never be satisfied, and | | | | operations, you should be aware of what to |
| should always seek to do better. Some of the | | | | improve in the first place. Whether you are a |
| techniques associated with incremental | | | | service organisation or you are running a |
| improvement include: | | | | manufacturing firm, there are two ways in which |
| * quality circle-regular meetings of groups of | | | | the performance of service delivery might be |
| workers to tackle quality problems and undertake | | | | improved. |
| improvement activities in their immediate work | | | | (1) Increased customer involvement Customer |
| area. * Employee suggestion schemes- | | | | can become involved in designing the specification |
| encouraging, recognising and rewarding employees | | | | of the product/service, so that it can be |
| for improving products and processes. | | | | customised to meet their particular needs and |
| The continuous improvement approach suggests | | | | requirements (specification). Customers can also |
| that employees have natural creativity that must | | | | be used to perform some or all of the activities, |
| be tapped into. It also acknowledges that the | | | | such as service themselves from a restaurant |
| people who are closest to the organisation's | | | | (co-production). Customers become responsible |
| operating processes, the operation staff, generally | | | | for the quality of part of the operation, for |
| know more about processes than anyone. | | | | example in assembling flat-pack furniture (quality |
| (2) Radical improvements: are designed to provide | | | | control). |
| a one-off, major advance changes in design, | | | | (2) Increased use of customer feedback to |
| operating processes and practices, and with big | | | | improve service quality Service operations need |
| investments of money and other resources, and | | | | to understand quality from the customer's |
| rely on the introduction of new technology. Top | | | | standpoint, and to identify where operations do |
| managers have a reliance on radical | | | | not meet customer expectations. |
| improvements to achieve performance | | | | |