Driving Change – On the possibilities to combine TQM and BPR synergistically

The thesis departs from James March’s theory on the balancing of Exploitation and Exploration. Exploitation is about refining existing practices. Exploration is about searching for new opportunities and innovation. March’s approach to the balancing of Exploitation and Exploration is mostly antithetical, meaning that the two development strategies compete for scarce resources and interfere with each other. Lately, many scholars have questioned if this balancing of Exploitation and Exploration from an antithetical position is always the best way, and propose a more synergistic approach. In order to learn more about the process of balancing the two in a practical industrial setting, Tor Tønnessen has operationalized the two, using TQM and BPR to represent forms of Exploitation and Exploration, respectively. Through case studies and action research Tor finds that balancing TQM and BPR synergistically is challenging, but promising. Leadership and company-­‐wide employee participation seem to be important enablers for this to be true. The thesis is based on Tor’s research in two Norwegian action research programs – “Enterprise Development 2000” and “Value Creation 2010”. The research was done at the International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS) where Tor held a position as Senior Vice President “Innovation and Business Development”. Currently Tor is employed at Statoil, where he is heading the company’s specialist center “Organizational Capabilities and Change”.