Influencing Factors of Continuous Improvements and Tendency of Change

Abstract

Continuous improvement (CI) is an important means of establishing competitive advantages. Therefore, it is necessary that companies choose CI measures according to their competitive strategy. However, the actual selection of CI measures is influenced by many factors. This paper makes an empirical study about the influencing factors of CI using 2003 data of the Global Continuous Innovation Network. Structural equation models (SEM) are used to analyze the importance of the influencing factors of CI activities. The influence of the external environment changes on CI is proved and issues to be considered in CI implementation are analyzed. The paper concludes by offering some suggestions on the implementation of CI activities