Luận án TS: Yếu tố Thành công Cải tiến Liên tục trong Khu vực Dịch vụ Công Saudi - Abdullah Alhaqbani

Continuous improvement: Critical success factors in the Saudi public service sector Abdullah Mohammad Alhaqbani The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth Portsmouth Business School Operations and Systems Management University of Portsmouth January 2017 I Abstract Continuous improvement (CI) is a never-ending effort to improve an organisation’s activities that requires management and employee commitment. Although CI is considered a competitive strategy for business firms to improve their performance and deliver better services and quality products, unfortunately, it is still a choice for many public sector organisations. However, successful implementation of CI in the public service sector has received little attention and there is a lack of research. Arab businesses and governments have apparently also not received attention in relation to CI implementation.

Furthermore, successful factors for implementing CI are undefined in the context of public services in developing countries. Therefore, this research was conducted to explore the perceptions of managers and employees at Saudi Arabian public service organisations in order to determine the critical successful factors (CSFs) of CI implementation that can help public service organisations to review and measure their performance, and deliver better services. This exploration process clearly reflects a high level strategic activity and is not exploring practical experience. The research examined the differences of CSFs of CI between organisations of one sector (public service), the differences of improvement factors across management levels and determined the obstacles that face improvement activities.

This work was designed using a sequence process of research design and analysis. An empirical research studying CI in eight organisations within the Saudi Arabian public service sector was conducted in order to determine successful practices of CI and facilitate the implementation process. A mixed-method design was employed to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The research data was collected using several techniques including literature analysis, interviews, survey (closed and open questions) and focus groups.

This research reviewed 103 papers that focus on the CI concept and CSFs. These papers included studies in the public, private and manufacturing sectors in developed and developing countries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 managers of Saudi Arabian public services organisations who work in particular positions in relation to CI. The survey of 1,198 employees from the eight organisations achieved a 54.09 % response rate representing the total population.

Moreover, there are 32 participants involved in four focus groups and 11 interviews to discuss the findings of the questionnaire. The findings of this research indicated that there are differences between organisations of one sector (public service) in determining the CSFs of CI. Moreover, there are differences across management levels regarding required enablers for CI. However, the analysis showed that 12 I common factors for successful CI found across participating organisations.

These factors can be set as core CSFs of CI in Saudi Arabian public service sector. Moreover, the study investigated the key obstacles that restricted CI in Saudi Arabian public services environment. This work is considered the first empirical research to investigate the differences between organisations of one sector (public service) in determining CSFs of CI. Moreover, this work investigated the differences between management levels of the public service structure in determining CSFs of CI.

The study determined CSFs of CI in the Saudi public service environment and addressed the lack of studies that focus on CI in the public service sector, Saudi context and developing nations. The research developed “Room for Improvement Framework” to help management and improvement teams in their efforts to facilitate CI implementation. Finally, this work has developed recommendations for Saudi public service organisations to implement CI and offers suggestions for further work. II Publications Journal Article  Alhaqbani, A.

The impact of middle management commitment on improvement initiatives in public organisations. Business Process Management Journal, 22 (5), 924 - 938.1108/BPMJ-01-2016-0018 Conference Papers  Alhaqbani, A. Practical Procedures for Improving Quality Management Systems at Public Service Organisations. Paper presented at the 22nd APQO Conference 2016, Rotorua, New Zealand, 20-23 November 2016.

The impact of middle management commitment on improvement initiatives in public organisations. Paper presented at the 7th Canadian Quality Congress, Canada, Edmonton 28-29 September 2015. Required enablers for successful CI initiatives across management levels. Paper presented at the 60th EOQ Quality Conference.

Helsinki -Finland / 1-2 June 2016. The core obstacles of Continuous Improvement Implementation in the Public Sector: Some key findings from health and education sectors. Paper presented at the 18th International Conference on Quality in Higher Education, Zurich, Switzerland, 12-13 January 2016. The Impact of the Relationship between Public Organisations and their Commitment toward Service Improvement.

Paper presented at the 18th Conference of the International Academy of Management and Business, TRE University, Rome, Italy, 17-19 September 2014. An Overview of the Continuous Improvement Culture in the Saudi Public Sector. Paper presented at the 7th Saudi Students Conference in the UK - University of Edinburgh, 1-2 February 2014  Alhaqbani. Examining the readiness of organisations’ leaders towards the implementation of improvement programmes: Some key findings.

Paper presented at the 8th Saudi Students Conference. London, Imperial College, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, 31st January- 1st February 2015. III Acknowledgements First and foremost, my deepest thanks and gratitude go to Allah for providing me the ability to complete this research. Without His will and generosity, none of this or any other accomplishment would have been possible.

I hereby express my sincere appreciation to my first supervisor Dr. Debbie Reed and the members of the supervision team - Dr. Barbara Savage and Dr. Jana Ries for their support, patience, valued comments, advice, and motivation.

Without their encouragement and valuable support, this thesis would not have been possible. I want to express my thanks and appreciation to the academic staff and administrative employees in the University of Portsmouth. I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to all managers and employees at Saudi Arabian public service organisations who volunteered to participate in this research. My deepest thanks go to my parents, who were always supporting and encouraging me with their pray and best wishes.

Special thanks go to my wife, my son Mohammad and my daughters Wareef and Diem. I am deeply grateful to my brothers and sisters for their encouragement and constant emotional support along the way. IV Continuous improvement: Critical success factors in the Saudi public service sector Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth Declaration Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award.

Word count: 85,865 Abdullah Mohammad Alhaqbani V Table of Contents Abstract. V Table of Contents. VI List of Appendices. XII List of Tables.

XIII List of Figures .XIV List of Abbreviations. XV Chapter 1: Introduction .1 Brief introduction of Saudi Arabia .2 Society and Culture .3 The structure of the Saudi public sector .5 The research key themes .6 The main purpose .7 The research objectives and questions .8 The importance and contribution of the research .9 The research implications. 17 Chapter 2: Literature review Part (I) .0: An introduction to the Literature Review .1 Public Sector Reform .2 The development of Public Sector management .3 The reform of the public sector in developing countries .4 The development of the Saudi Public Sector .5 The development of the Saudi Public Services.2 The origin of continuous improvement.3 Definition of continuous improvement .4 The strategy of continuous improvement .5 Continuous improvement implementation .6 Continuous improvement and self-assessment .7 Continuous improvement methodologies .1 Total Quality Management .4 Business process re-engineering (BPR) .6 Theory of constraints .7 Summary of Continuous Improvement methodologies .8 Continuous improvement in the public sector .9 Continuous improvement and innovation .10 The benefits of continuous improvement .11 The obstacles to improvement in the public sector .3 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) .1 Overview of CSFs .2 The Structure of CSFs .3 CSFs and Continuous Improvement. 66 Chapter 2: Literature review Part (II).4 Systematic Literature Review and Analysis .2 Systematic Literature Review structure .3 Systematic Literature Review Analysis and Result .1 CSFs of CI in developing and developed countries .2 CSFs of CI in the context of public service sector.3 CSFs of CI in public and private services sectors.4 CSFs of CI across different sectors .4 Common CSFs of CI in the public sector .1 Top Management and Leadership Commitment.4 Team problem-solving .5 Training and Learning.8 Focus on Strategic Objectives and Goals / Integration of CI into Strategic Objectives .10 Ongoing Measurement and Improvement.

93 Chapter 3: Research Methodology .2 The research purpose .4 Methodological design process .6 Research design methods .7 Data collection methods .8 Data collecting techniques .9 The Pilot Studies .12 Data analysis techniques .1 Systematic Literature Review analysis .3 Factor analysis and the analysis of variance .13 Cross-Case Analysis .15 Reliability and Validity. 124 VIII Chapter 4: Analysis and Discussion .0 Introduction to Analysis and Discussion .1 Exploring the key enablers for continuous improvement .2 Characteristics of participants in the interviews .3 Analysis and discussion of the interview themes .1 The managerial job responsibilities in relation to CI .2 Performance key drivers .4 Continuous improvement obstacles .5 Key Enablers for Continuous Improvement .4 Interview Analysis Summary .2 Assessment of improvement efforts at Saudi Arabian public service organisations .3 Questionnaire Response Rate .4 Characteristics of Participant Groups .5 Analysis of Improvement efforts at Saudi Arabian public service organisations .1 Development and Learning Support (F1) .3 Strategic Performance Management (F3) .5 Process and Management Support (F5) .7 Team Problem-Solving (F7) .6 Summary of Improvement Factors Analysis .7 The Analysis of Variance.1 The Analysis of Variance across Management Levels .2 The Analysis of Variance across Research Cases.3 The Analysis of Variance of Research Cases Across Management Levels .8 Further Improvement Factors .2 Availability of Resources .3 Decentralisation at workplace .9 Improvement obstacles across Research Cases .10 The Questionnaire Findings Summary .3 Focus groups and follow-up interviews analysis .2 Suggested procedures to facilitate CI at Saudi Arabian public servic organisations .3 The level of communication between management levels .4 Required Changes to Implement CI .5 Key enablers for improving internal organisational structure .6 Focus groups and interviews Summary. 189 Chapter 5:Determining CSFs of CI in the Saudi Arabian public service sector and the “Room for Improvement” Framework .2 Key Enablers of CI across research cases .3 Key Enablers for CI across management levels .4 Core CSFs of CI in the Saudi Arabian public service sector .5 Suggested Improvement tools .6 Leader Standard Work .8 Overall Professional Effectiveness .9 Soft Systems Methodology .11 Training Within Industry. 209 Chapter 6: Conclusions and Recommendations .2 Research process summary .3 Conclusions of Research findings.

Common Factors that senior managers believe keep organisations pursuing continuous improvement. Common success factors in CI studies list of CSFs across sectors. The differences of CI practices between public service organisations in the views of their employees.4 The issues that hinder or restrict Saudi Arabian public organisations from on-going improvement .5 Core factors that will lead to successful implementation of continuous improvement in the Saudi Arabian public service sector. Ranking CSFs of CI .1 Decentralisation at workplace .2 Reviewing organisational structure.3 Selecting an appropriate improvement approach .4 Improving training and development .5 Implementing a system for motivation .6 Sharing experience between public and private sectors .7 Deploying CSFs across management levels .8 Room for improvement .9 House of Improvement .5 Limitations of the Study.