Technological and organisational change in small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturing companies

Organisational learning in SMEs: a process improvement perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisational learning (OL) can occur through process improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors study PI practices in six engineering-oriented SMEs via interview-based case studies. The authors draw from a range of literature and use an OL conceptual framework informed by Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I framework as an analytical lens.

Findings

The OL perspective provides new insights to conceptualise the nature of PI as a multi-level practice in SMEs. Effective PI practices within SMEs are shown to be consistent with OL concepts, enabling firms to translate individually identified improvement opportunities into organisational-level changes that result in sustained benefits. A new conceptual model is presented that explains how SMEs can learn through improvement activities. The key role of management support, both operational and strategic, is highlighted. It is necessary for management to provide sufficient PI opportunities to enable and sustain beneficial learning.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on a sample of engineering-oriented SMEs located in the UK. Further case-based, longitudinal, and survey-based research studies with firms of different types will enhance the generalisability of the findings, allowing the confirmation and extension of the new conceptual model.

Practical implications

The findings provide a theoretically underpinned framework for achieving OL in engineering-oriented SMEs through PI activities. The new model highlights the key mechanisms that enable learning from improvement activities. The findings highlight the key role played by management in introducing additional learning opportunities in the form of new business that requires exploratory learning. Without this, the reduction in improvement opportunities reduces the benefits that can be realised from PI.

Originality/value

OL provides a multi-level perspective to understanding how smaller firms are able to undergo systematic improvements and the support required to continually improve.

Managing paradoxical tensions during the implementation of lean capabilities for improvement

Purpose

– Through the identification and investigation of the organisational paradoxes in lean, the purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of lean implementation intricacies, and contribute to sustaining lean in companies.

Design/methodology/approach

– Case study based on semi-structured interviews with participants in lean conversion from three companies in Denmark. The companies come from different business sectors: public transport, healthcare and finance.

Findings

– This study identifies three types of organisational paradoxes in lean: organising, performing and belonging. The study also points to a range managerial responses used for dealing with the three paradoxes and facilitating lean transformation.

Research limitations/implications

– This is a theory development paper which increases the understanding regarding the role of the organisational paradoxes in facilitating or hindering lean transformation.

Practical implications

– The study generates insights which help managers identify and deal with the individual motivations for opposing lean practices, and thus facilitates lean transformation.

Originality/value

– This study adds clarity to the process of managing lean implementation by identifying three different motivations for people to oppose lean transformation. The study also recommends managerial actions for dealing with each situation.

A framework for promoting learning in IS design and implementation

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to set out an argument for a way to design, implement and manage IS with an emphasis on first, the learning that can be created through undertaking the approach, and second, the learning that may be created through using the IS that was implemented. The paper proposes joining two areas of research namely, technology management with soft systems methodology (SSM). The framework was developed through undertaking a customer concern management project within a manufacturing organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviewing the literature on information systems management, the learning organisation, and systems theory a proposed synergy is found. The outcome of this synergy allows a number of methodologies to be identified that are argued as suitable for IS design. From these information system development (ISD) methodologies, SSM is expanded to incorporate the principles of the learning organisation and systems theory. The expanded SSM framework is applied in practice through a process of participatory action research.

Findings

The outcome of the practical work argues for a complete framework that joins the areas of research (SSM and technology management) and emphasises other thinking from the areas of systems theory and the “learning organisation”.

Research limitations/implications

The paper concludes with a discussion on the advantages of joining soft systems with technology management but also the limitations created. Such limitations have been identified as moving from the soft, tacit issues of the design phases to the harder more structured aspects of technology implementation and management. A change in philosophy may restrict other issues from being explored. This issue needs to be focussed on in future research.

Practical implications

A framework has been developed that draws on the work of soft systems methodology (SSM) and a technology management process framework (TMPF) used in the area of technology management. By expanding the SSM model and joining it with the TMPF an attempt to give individuals and teams a practical tool to help design, implement, and manage IS with an emphasis on learning the framework promotes.

Originality/value

The framework provides advantages for academics, consultants and other practitioners and gives a central focus on what issues need to be accomplished more explicitly in order to undertake an ISD project.