Improvement Trajectories in Operations and Technology Management: Concept, Process and Content Issues

This study introduces a framework for the analysis of improvement trajectories in operations and technology management. In the first part, the concept of improvement trajectories in operations is defined, grounding on the evolutionary economic issues of path dependence and dynamic capabilities. In the second part, seven dimensions of the process and content of improvement trajectories are reviewed and integrated into a research framework, and research propositions are built to ground further research on the subject. In the third part, the roles of implementation history, innovation capabilities, and strategic orientation as determinants of improvement trajectory success are discussed.