The role of cultural values and action learning in the CI journey: insights from a charitable organisation

Purpose This study aims to understand how their internalised organisational values impacted the effectiveness of continuous improvement (CI) initiatives in a charitable organisation, and how action learning fostered individual and teams’ ability to solve problems while reinforcing the organisational values. In addition, it examines how Shingo principles can serve as a frame for guiding cultural transformation. Design/methodology/approach This paper is exploratory in nature and adopts a single purposive case study design. A mixed methods approach was used, combining the analysis of semi-structured interviews, a survey and archival data. Findings The internalisation of cultural values and the design of the workshops using the action learning methods proved to be critical to the success of the CI journey. In turn, these workshops were also designed to reinforce specific core organisational values. Although the organisation implicitly used the Shingo model without specifically structuring its improvement journey around the model, results show that the behaviours and practices are in line with the principles advocated by the model. Practical implications This paper provides critical reflective insights designed to enable senior managers and charity practitioners to use the findings to improve the effectiveness of CI initiatives in their organisations. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the first paper to address the applicability of the Shingo model in charities. It also contributes to the current body of literature by demonstrating the importance of using organisational values as foundations for CI journeys and how action learning mechanisms are a powerful tool for accelerating and sustaining change.