The purpose of this paper is to define a general and common construct in order to measure the level of difficulty companies experience when they implement continuous improvement (CI). Additionally, a rank of barriers is obtained together with a rank of companies.,In order to achieve the objective, first, a literature review is carried out to specify the domain of the construct; second, a sample of items is selected; third a survey is carried out in companies that have already implemented CI initiatives, the results being thus limited to this population; fourth, measures are purified by analysing the reliability and validity of the measurements, and finally results are obtained. The Rasch measurement theory will be used to provide a new perspective on a mature research topic.,It can be concluded that a new valid construct has been defined together with a rank of CI barriers, being lack of time the main barrier. A rank of companies is also obtained which is a first step in the development of future research studies.,Managers are provided with a better understanding of the barriers that can obstruct CI implementation. Thus, the rank of CI barriers guides managers through the most common and important obstacles so that they will be able to plan better CI strategies. In addition, the rank of companies allows each company to undertake a benchmarking exercise.,This work proposes a new way of analysing the difficulty in implementing CI as a continuum, rather than as independent barriers. From a theoretical point of view, it defines a new construct and offers a rank of CI barriers together with a rank of companies based on their level of difficulty when implementing CI initiatives. This is something new, as previous studies were mainly focussed on the items side. From a practical point of view, this study offers the surveyed companies the opportunity to see how they are positioned with respect to the other companies. Moreover, this rank of companies is the foundation on which to develop further studies with a practical orientation in the future.

中文翻译：

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难以实现持续改进– Rasch测量分析

本文的目的是定义一个通用的通用结构，以衡量公司实施持续改进（CI）时遇到的困难程度。另外，获得障碍的等级与公司的等级一起。为了实现该目标，首先，进行文献综述以指定构建体的域；第二，选择项目样本；第三，对已经实施CI计划的公司进行调查，结果仅限于此人群。第四，通过对测量结果的信度和效度进行分析，对测量结果进行纯化，最后得到结果。Rasch测量理论将用于提供有关成熟研究主题的新观点。可以得出的结论是，已经定义了一个新的有效构造，以及CI障碍的等级，这是缺乏时间的主要障碍。还获得了公司的排名，这是未来研究研究的第一步。向管理人员提供了对可能阻碍CI实施的障碍的更好理解。因此，CI障碍的等级可以指导经理克服最常见和最重要的障碍，以便他们能够规划更好的CI策略。此外，公司的排名允许每个公司进行基准测试。这项工作提出了一种新的方法来分析将CI作为连续体而不是作为独立障碍实施的难度。从理论上讲 它定义了一种新的结构，并根据实施CI计划时的难易程度为企业提供了CI障碍的等级。这是新事物，因为以前的研究主要集中在项目方面。从实际的角度来看，本研究为被调查公司提供了一个机会，以了解他们相对于其他公司的定位。此外，这一级别的公司是将来开展具有实用性的进一步研究的基础。