Influence of team members’ characteristics on the sustainability of continuous improvement initiatives

Abstract

This article aims at examining the influence of teams’ characteristics on the sustainability of Continuous Improvement (CI) initiatives. To achieve that, two identical manufacturing cells undergoing CI implementation and subordinated to the same leadership were investigated through a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. While one team has shown a sustained and increased performance, the other could not maintain improvements and worsened its performance. As the only factor distinguishing cells is team composition, we verify which team characteristics impact on CI sustainability. Results indicate that workers’ seniority in company and in team, as well as their age positively..