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oPERATIons ImPRovEmEnT 237
two types of improvement?

The two types of distinction discussed here – ‘continuous’ versus ‘breakthrough’
improvement and ‘exploitation’ versus ‘exploration’, are not quite the same, but they
are very similar. Table 7.1 combines the two classifications and lists some of the differ-
ences between the two types of approach to improvement. But, notwithstanding the
fundamental differences between the two approaches, the continuing challenge that
is debated both by practitioners and academics is how to combine the two in order to
achieve the ambidextrous organisation.
Although these polarised distinctions are useful to expose the range of what we imply
by the seemingly simple idea of ‘improvement’, they clearly represent extremes. An
alternative approach is to imagine the type (and scale) of improvement as a continuum.
Such a scale, shown in Table 7.2, characterises process improvement as being, in order of
increasing degree of change, concerned with ‘modification’, ‘extension’, ‘development’
and ‘pioneer’ levels of change. Table 7.2 also illustrates what these degrees of process
change could mean in two types of process. Modifications to existing processes are rela-
tively small changes, where the nature of the activities within a process remains largely
the same even if there are some minor rearrangements in the details of the sequence or
arrangement of the activities within the process. At the other extreme, ‘pioneer’ change
implies adopting radically different, or at least novel to the operation, types of change
both to what is done in the process and how it is done. What we have termed ‘exten-
sion’ and ‘development’ lies in between these extremes. Continuous improvement is
usually taken to mean degrees of process change limited to ‘modification’ or ‘extension’

table 7.1 some features of continuous/exploitation improvement and breakthrough/exploration
improvement

Characteristic Continuous/exploitation Breakthrough/exploration
Strategic intention Improve existing processes and Innovate to change or introduce new
resources processes, resources or ideas
Success measured by Improved quality, speed, dependability, Rate of innovation, new services/
flexibility, cost products, growth
Pace of improvement Many gradual and constant continuous Fewer, abrupt, volatile and dramatic,
small steps large steps
Probability and time-scale of Relatively certain and short-term Risky, longer-term, radical
improvement improvements improvements
Investment Requires little investment but great Requires large investment but little
effort to maintain it effort to maintain it
Risks Spread – many projects, but potential Concentrated – ‘all (or most) eggs in
‘lost opportunity’ risk one (or few) baskets’
Competencies Operational Strategic/entrepreneurial
Organisation Formal, controlled, top-down, clear Adaptive, loose, networked, flexible,
objectives visionary

Culture Efficient, low-risk, quality, Experimental, risk-taking, challenging
customer-focused

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