The Continuous Improvement Grid: An Empirical Investigation into the Effectiveness of a Systems, and Action Research, Based Continuous Improvement Intervention, for ‘New’ Organisation Development

Abstract

This paper is a rare example of a large scale (n = 1310), positivist, evaluation of an action research program. It documents how the Royal Navy used the principles of scholarly consulting and pragmatic science to develop, apply and review a systems based tool, and associated 'new organisation development' intervention, to help staff explore and share perceptions of working practices, in order to expand their awareness of their current work situation and so uncover opportunities for improvement. Survey results suggest that the majority of individuals found the interventions valuable and participants in the events enjoyed significantly higher levels of understanding of the organisation, and greater collective, and individual, benefit from it. Findings also provide empirical evidence of the importance of involvement to making successful change, especially when dealing with the change averse. Overall the experience, of which the action research based study and associated positivist survey were part, reinforce the importance of what is described as 'normative realigning pedagogy'-helping people change by facilitating their generation of new forms of understanding.

Tracking the route to sustainability: a service evaluation tool for an advance care planning model developed for community palliative care services

“…Each stage is interconnected with an explicit purpose to facilitate cultural change and embed the Model into organisational practice. As Young (2011, p. 539) advises ‘enduring benefits will only accrue when a new behavioural ‘norm’ is embedded which continues to deliver the desired results as an unconscious by‐product’ The ACP‐SET assists nurse managers to integrate ACP into routine palliative care practices not merely as an ‘add‐on’.…”

Action Research as a Meta-Methodology in the Management Field

“…Accordingly, the sample size was usually small (from one to five cases). Nevertheless, some articles based on large samples and AR are also identified, such as the paper conducted by Young (2011) with a sample of 1,310 questionnaires from employees of the company.…”

Protocol: action planning for action research about kaizen in public organizations. The case of higher education

“…Al contrario que en otros contextos, donde parece que hay una contradicción entre las propuestas teóricas y las implantaciones prácticas (Young, 2011), en servicios públicos no hay material sobre el que construir el debate, simplemente no podemos afirmar con seguridad cómo funciona la mejora continua en ellos. Analiza el potencial de la mejora continua emergente como alternativa a la mejora continua enfocada (mucho más extendida, y con éxito notable, en el sector de manufactura) (Wooddell, 2009) y reflexionar sobre las condiciones en las que puede ser válida.…”