Empirical Study of Elements and Interrelation about the Current Situation of Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement, originating from the research of quality control, has been a focus in both academic and business fields. Continuous improvement activities have been carried out among the companies all over the world due to its positive effects on business operations. Based on the data of the global continuous innovation network, this paper analyzes the present situations of continuous improvement among worldwide companies. This database is composed of 586 samples of companies from some 12 countries. The characteristics of continuous improvements are measured with 34 questions in the questionnaire, which are categorized into 6 groups. The objective of the research is to explore the evaluation elements of continuous improvement and find out the interrelations among them. At the end of the paper, suggestions are made on continuous improvement for companies.