Studying continuous improvement from a knowledge perspective

This paper describes a project undertaken at BAE SYSTEMS to study the process of Continuous Improvement (CI) from a knowledge perspective. We used the Knowledge Structure Mapping (KSM) technique to identify ways of managing the underlying knowledge resource in order to share and disseminate best practice and thereby increase the effectiveness of CI on site. A secondary goal was to investigate the potential for applying KSM to other areas of the business. We provide background to the project, a discussion of the approach taken along with initial results and conclusions. q 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.