Embedding good practice sharing within process improvement

Construction firms need to improve the way in which they manage their processes. Focusing on good practice and knowledge sharing within and across organisational boundaries, the purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments on a structured process improvement model developed for construction enterprises (SPICE).

A multiple holistic case study approach was taken to develop and test the presented process improvement model at a firm's level. To compare and synthesise different perspectives, respondents were selected from across a vertical cross‐section of the case study organisations. A combination of several research techniques employed for triangulation.

Provides a set of key processes to establish an essential managerial infrastructure for achieving organisation‐wide process improvement. The results highlight the need to implement the key processes in an integrated and holistic manner.

Key limitations of the presented process improvement model are closely related to the concerns raised against “process thinking.” More case studies are required to confirm or refute generalisability of the findings.

Firms need to appreciate diverse perspectives and consider norms and values of people in order to understand and improve their process capabilities in a balanced manner. Continuous diagnosis and adaptation of organisational process capability to the changing environment are required to ensure achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

This paper contributes to the process and knowledge management/organisational learning literature. It also highlights several important issues to address wider aspects of organisational process improvement, as well as future research direction.