Impact of continuous improvement methodologies on business competitive advantage

In recent years, the main objectives of the companies, in line with the changes in the structure of the products as a result of diversified consumer demands, has been to convey more various products to customers in a shorter time with better quality and cheaper. Continuous improvement is a management philosophy based on employee suggestions. The main philosophy of continuous improvement is 'Kaizen.. The Japanese industry has long been pursuing a strategy of continuous improvement and development. Continuous improvement ensures better results by increasing quality between operational functions. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the impact of continuous improvement methodologies (ISO 9001 QMS, Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing) on competitive advantage (low cost, delivery, product innovation and speed) and to determine which improvement techniques affect which competitive dynamics. In the research, data results of 91 firms selected randomly by stepwise stratified sampling method are included. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was found that ISO 9001 QMS and Lean manufacturing companies had an advantage over the competitive advantage of delivery and Six Sigma companies had a competitive advantage over the speed of delivering the product to the market.