Infrastructure under construction: continuous improvement and learning in projects

Continuous improvement and learning are popular concepts in management literature and practice. Often they are situated in an environment where the work is of a repetitive nature. However, there are a lot of organisations where (part of) the primary processes are carried out by means of projects. An example is organisations involved in management of infrastructure. A survey into the state-of-the-art of continuous improvement and learning in this sector was carried out at the end of 1997. The sector is part of the construction industry, which has some very distinctive characteristics that are not necessarily conducive to continuous improvement and learning. The survey results sketch a picture of organisations that have sufficient capabilities for carrying out and managing projects, but are not really oriented towards improvement and learning. They are struggling with these concepts, do not use available tools and techniques, and hence are depriving themselves of possibilities to improve their performance.