Continuous improvement practice and the stages of service operations competitiveness: a hospital case study

Abstract

Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.This paper aims to study the relationship between the continuous improvement maturity level and the stages of service operations competitiveness, relating the abilities of each continuous improvement maturity level to the aspects that are inherent to each stage of service operations competitiveness in the hospital sector. This paper was developed by means of exploratory field research using a case study method in three hospitals. The findings of this study are innovative in the research field, as this research proposes a theoretical model that seeks to identify the relationship between service operations competitiveness and its continuous improvement maturity level. As implications, the results of this study suggest that hospitals that decided to implement continuous improvement programs have better capabilities to offer services that are more competitive and continuously improve their processes to serve their patients better.