Systematiskt förbättringsarbete : En fallstudie vid Parker Hannifin Corporation, QCDEurope, Tema Ingenjörsfirman AB

Background and aim: Organizations must be able to manage change in order to survive in today’s competitive society. To continue to develop and reach better results is fundamental. Case Company Parker Hannifin Corporation, Quick Coupling Division Europe, Tema Ingenjörsfirman AB, Skövde has an ambition to have an organization that manage changes and continuously improve its performance. That is the reason why this examination work arises. The aim on the examination work is to present a proposal on how the organization more systematic and effective can work with improvements. This has been done by identifying the key success factors for the improvement work in the literature, the company and through the benchmarking-company. Method: The examination work is done as a qualitative case study with an abducted approach. The data collection has been done through a variety of methods, which are past experience, literature studies, observations and interviews. The literature indicates several success factors to consider in order to achieving a successful change work. To have core values that the work can rely on and from that create an organization that continually improves. Within the organization can the continuously improvement work be divided in four different levels: individual- local-, cross functional- and global business improvement. The improvement work should in main be driven in a project form with defining roles and reach goals. By comparing the literature and the benchmarking-company are essentially the same success factors identified. Result and conclusions: The experience inside the case company is that the improvement work is unstructured and slow. The work is mostly in ad-hoc nature and a common destructive method that is uses to solve problem is “fire-extinguishing”. This examination work indicates that the organization is working unsystematic and are missing a structure with defines roles and distinct goals in order to work with changes. To create a more systematic improvement work the author has given a proposal on how the company can organize. By resting on core values and supporting infrastructure based on improvement teams that work at different levels with defined roles and clear goals is it good assumes to have a successful improvement work. Suggestions for future research: By using this examination works result, I hope that organizations can be able to achieve a successful improvement work and therefore continuously improving. This examination work delimits itself to only give proposals for actions, and does not scope how the proposals has been implemented in the organization. Therefore, I propose further studies of the implementing process of the improvement work in the organization