Abstract

The interest in lean management in the UK’s civil infrastructure sector is on the rise. In parallel with this interest, a team-based, participative management technique called Continuous Improvement (CI) cells has been widely adopted by the sector. The research on the technique has been scarce even though it has been adopted widely in some sectors as part of lean management. The study presented in the paper explores implementation characteristics, benefits, challenges and roles of CI cells in other management strategies through a case study conducted at a large public client organisation in the infrastructure sector in the UK. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews, participant observation at CI cell meetings, and from organisational and team records. It was found that CI cells show some similarities and differences in application with other participative management techniques in lean management. A large set of CI cell benefits and challenges were identified. CI cells were also found linked with Visual Management, kaizen, hoshin kanri, work coordination and planning, and employee training at team level.

摘要

英国民用基础设施部门对精益管理的兴趣正在上升。伴随着这种兴趣，一种称为持续改进 (CI) 单元的基于团队的参与式管理技术已被该行业广泛采用。尽管该技术已作为精益管理的一部分在某些行业得到广泛采用，但对该技术的研究却很少。本文中介绍的研究通过在英国基础设施部门的一家大型公共客户组织进行的案例研究，探讨了 CI 单元在其他管理策略中的实施特征、优势、挑战和作用。定性和定量数据均通过访谈、CI 单元会议上的参与者观察以及组织和团队记录收集。结果发现，CI 单元在精益管理中与其他参与式管理技术的应用表现出一些异同。确定了大量 CI 电池的优势和挑战。还发现 CI 细胞与可视化管理有关，改善、方针管理、工作协调和规划，以及团队层面的员工培训。