| Abstract [eng] |
Paper consists of 60 pages, 11 figures, 20 tables, 40 references. The main purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the impact of methodical and regular application of operational excellence methods and techniques on the results of operational activities in the tactical level operational units of Lithuanian business enterprises. The work has been performed in four stages – review of the literature on operational excellence, preparation of research methodology, execution of the survey, analysis of survey results. During literature review, the author found that the main general principles on which operational excellence practices are based are: 1) refining strategic objectives and linking them to indicators at the operational level; 2) operational management by standardizing processes, training staff, planning, coordinating, and controlling operations; 3) performance improvement by optimizing processes, solving problems, and ensuring error prevention; 4) methodical implementation of transformations in response to changes in the market, technologies and tools. The outlined principles has served as structural blocks of a hypothetical model of operational excellence, consisting of specific elements of operational excellence (methods and techniques). The aim of the study was to refine the structure of the model and to determine the impact of regular and methodical application of operational excellence methods and techniques on operational performance. The author found that the influence varies depending on the methodicality and regularity of the practices and the influence is greater when evaluating the elements separately in comparison when combining them into models. From this, the author concluded that in order to influence the results through operational excellence practices, a selective-programmatic approach is needed, where a unique solution is applied in each situation. The author believes that this work will contribute to the development of the theme of operational excellence in Lithuania and will provide the necessary knowledge and insights to achieve the set results of operational quality for many users of the quality management discipline. |
