The use and importance of CI tools : a comparison of Europe and Australia

The effective implementation ofcontinuous improvement (CI) requires tools for accomplishing Cl incentives to encourage and reward employees to engage in Cl and problem finding and problem solving tools. While there is a significant range oftools and incentives available, they need to be selected to suit the organisation and its employees rather than making the employees and the organisation fit the tools. Australia traditionally lags behind Europe in the adoption of improvement tools and techniques. This paper seeks to identify if there are any significant differences in the relative importance and use ofthe Cl toolbox between European and Australian firms. The results show that there are some significant differences between the Europe and Australia and suggestions are put forward to explain these.