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1. Introduction
Continuous improvement (CI), which implies ongoing improvement of products, services, programs, or processes, plays a critical role in organizations (Lam et al., 2015); prior research reveals CI as a journey that is directly linked to the organizational performance (Yeung et al., 2005). Over these years, CI has become a significant area of attention for researchers and practitioners owing to its high influence on organizations to lower costs, improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Nitin et al., 2005). CI consists of many approaches like total quality management (TQM), BPR, JIT, Six Sigma, Lean and many others (Carpinetti et al., 2000; Pepper and Spedding, 2010; Monden, 2011; Oakland, 2014; Hammer, 2015; Arumugam et al. 2016; Furterer, 2016; Sweis et al., 2016; Albliwi et al., 2017; Sreedharan and Sunder, 2018). Even though the definitions of TQM, Lean and Six Sigma differ, their aim seems to be common in implementation. Moreover, CIs focus on reducing waste and efficiently utilize the resources leading to better customer satisfaction and financial benefits (Andersson et al., 2006). According to Bessant et al. (1994), “CI defined as a company-wide process of focused and continuous incremental innovation.” Studies conducted by authors like Hollander of DuPont’s rayon plants and Enos in the petroleum industry laid the inception of CI concept (Schroeder and Robinson, 1991). Later, Deming (1986) adopted CI concept as his quality principle and focused on achieving it through PDCA cycles for innovative solutions. But, Imai (1986) claims that CI is a part of Japanese culture, known as “kaizen” for sustained incremental improvement. In general, CI consists of incremental improvement and radical innovation where Japanese companies focused on gradual improvement while the western firms believed in change due to the innovation with the wake of technological breakthrough (Imai, 2012). Today, organizations throughout the world are making a difference in their business by adopting CI philosophies and methodologies. Even though the names of the approach may have changed over the decades from quality improvement into total quality management. And, operational excellence into Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing, their strategy is focused on best business practices (Coronado and Antony, 2002; Sreedharan et al., 2017).
According to some literature, TQM, Six Sigma and Lean differ in definitions and...