Att skapa en infrastruktur för ständiga förbättringar : En fallstudie hos ett snabbväxande företag

Sammanfattning: The concept of continuous improvement has a critical part in quality development. Even though there is a greater understanding of the importance of working with continuous improvements, the concept is often perceived as problematic to implement and to work with in the long term.Studies show that between 60 and 80 percent of initiatives to implement the concept fail. To successfully implement continuous improvement, an organizational infrastructure is perceived tobe a critical success factor. However, much of the difficulties of working with continuous improvement partly lies in the creation of this infrastructure.  Therefore, this thesis aimed to create a conceptual model of the infrastructure needed to supportand coordinate continuous improvements. The model was thereafter used to evaluate Operations Task Force (OTF), an internal unit within a Swedish bank, and their work with continuousimprovements. Finally, based on the evaluation of OTF, 12 recommendations were created tohelp the unit improve their work with continuous improvements. The recommendations weredeveloped with inspiration from both the literature and through a benchmark with C2Management. The purpose of the benchmark was therefore to identify best practices for OTF to follow.  The conceptual model of the infrastructure consists of four enablers and six components, visualized as a house. The enablers and components each represent the foundation and columns of the house. Therefore, the enablers form the basis of the infrastructure and are thus also critical for a successful implementation of continuous improvement. The four enablers are Leadership, Communication, Culture and Resources. Furthermore, the components are the driving factors that ensure that continuous improvements are achieved and maintained over time. The six components are Strategy and Objectives, Participation and Role distribution, Education,Methods and tools and Feedback and Measurement. The model has been developed to be generalizable and can thus be used by organizations of various sizes and industry affiliations. To evaluate how well the enabler or component is integrated and used, a scale of five different levels were incorporated to the model. The evaluation of OTF showed that the unit was relatively lowfor all components and enablers, except for Leadership. A reasonable explanation why they scored low, is likely because they recently started their work with continuous improvements. Since a solid foundation is a prerequisite to successfully implement continuous improvements,OTF should prioritize strengthening the enablers. Accordingly, resources should be prioritized asthis enabler received the lowest rating of all enablers. Furthermore, leadership and training are recommendations that also should be prioritized. Leadership is a critical factor in motivating employees to participate in continuous improvement initiatives. At the same time, training canmake it easier for employees to know what they can contribute with as well as how to proceed when they want to submit an improvement proposal.