Developing a Framework to Facilitate an Organisational Culture Supporting Continuous Improvement in Saudi Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

Continuous improvement (Cont-Imp) initiatives are crucial for manufacturing companies to enhance operational efficiency, quality, and competitiveness. However, developing an organisational culture (Org-Cult) that supports Cont-Imp is essential for its effective implementation and sustainability. Heightened global competition has led to operational challenges and market survival issues among the manufacturing firms in Saudi Arabia, which incorporate local culture into their practices, which can limit their competitiveness on the global stage as compared to liberalised global companies. For this reason, local manufacturing organisations have to establish a progressive culture to be globally competitive. Addressing this research problem, this thesis aims to develop a framework to facilitate an organisational culture that supports continuous improvement in local SMFs, using qualitative grounded theory action research, with inductive analysis, in a partially controlled setting. Cont-Imp-related cultural factors were explored with self-assessment surveys of Saudi organisations’ performance relative to an idealised state. Consequently, tailored interventions were developed based on reviewed literature and focus groups for organisations to gradually pivot and transition to an ideal culture of continuous improvement. The resultant conceptual framework demonstrated organisational culture’s impact on continuous improvement via interventions. This study makes three main contributions. (1) Developing a new Org-Cult framework supporting processes of Cont-Imp, thereby contributing to the identified literature gap concerning the systematic linkage of Org-Cult to Cont-Imp for manufacturing. (2) Improving comprehension of Cont-Imp facilitators and barriers, especially for factors germane to Org-Cult, Cont-Imp, and operational efficiency. (3) Bridging the theory-practice gap with practical insights for execution to improve manufacturing Cont-Imp, offering a springboard for continuing research to extend and validate the developed framework for regional and global contexts.