Continual Improvement Concepts Applied to Organizational Responsibility

Many organizations struggle with resources to apply to social and environmental responsibility performance improvement. However, with just a few modifications of common performance improvement methods, important strategic sustainability improvements can be made without adding staff. By integrating continual improvement for social responsibility (CISR) into their existing Lean Six Sigma or Operational Excellence program, performance improvement, with little additional investment, can be achieved. Ensuring that all organizational leaders speak the language of responsibility is important. Allocating resources to social and environmental responsibility performance improvement projects happens at the juncture of leadership and operational excellence. Social and environmental responsibility performance improvements should be linked to larger organizational objectives. This chapter will discuss how many organizations are turning to their Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence resources to participate in social and environmental responsibility performance. However, the process of utilizing these existing resources is not completely straightforward. Standard Operational Excellence methods need to be modified, ever so slightly, to work well on social responsibility targets. The framework utilized includes adaptations from well-worn quality and innovation tools.