The influence of operational excellence on the culture and agility of organizations: evidence from industry
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 8 December 2020
Issue publication date: 16 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This article offers a novel approach that brings together management, engineering and organizational behavior. It focuses on the understanding of organizational dynamics in an era of technological change, upholding the importance of organizational agility and of the cultural paradigm in the management of organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
In this work, the authors present the conclusions from a set of studies carried out in organizations operating in technical and technological industries. The authors assessed the capabilities of these organizations in terms of operational excellence maturity and its impact on the organizational culture and organizational agility.
Findings
Results show the importance of operational excellence either in developing or expanding organizational agility capabilities while reinforcing the cruciality of an excellence-oriented culture to sustain these efforts over time.
Originality/value
Increasingly unstable business environments have led to a growing interest in how to develop and maintain operational excellence in the face of continued and disruptive change. However, this interest has, so far, been advanced with little empirical evidence to support the corresponding predictions. This work offers the first practical evidence that continued focus and optimization of operations, with the right cultural alignment, helps organizations survive and thrive in increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by funds of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through PhD grant PD/BD/114149/2016.
Citation
Carvalho, A.M., Sampaio, P., Rebentisch, E., Carvalho, J.Á. and Saraiva, P. (2021), "The influence of operational excellence on the culture and agility of organizations: evidence from industry", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 1520-1549. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-07-2020-0248
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited