Barriers to the development of continuous improvement maturity in the manufacturing company

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify barriers to the development of Continuous Improvement (CI) by using a five-stage CI Maturity Model.
Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a case study approach. One manufacturing company producing electronic devices which has been using continuous improvement principle was selected. In the study, a five-stage CI model, presented by Bessant at al., has been applied and used to identify CI maturity barriers. The case study data were primarily collected using an interview, documentary evidence and results of the survey questionnaire.
Findings – The research has led to the collation of factors/barriers that lead to the problems of development of Continuous Improvement initiatives within the manufacturing enterprise.
Research limitations/implications – The results of the research are based on a single case study; therefore, caution is required before making generalizations on the basis of the data.
Originality/value – The research allowed to identify the factors that constitute a barrier in achieving the highest level of CI maturity in the manufacturing company. That is a quite new approach from the point of Polish production enterprise. There is a lack of studies that approach this
issue in such a way.

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Continuous Improvement (CI), CI Maturity Model, barriers