Operational excellence framework for sustainability in the organisation: a design science approach

Sustainable operational excellence (OPEX) initiatives result in a competitive advantage by optimising the use of resources, contributing to profitability, and leading to expanded growth of organisations. OPEX being a practice-led initiative has no standard framework leading to sustainable OPEX efforts in organisations. In this study, we employ the Design Science Research (DSR) approach to develop a framework to assess the sustainability of OPEX initiatives in an organisation. The proposed framework evaluates OPEX initiatives based on operational, economic, environmental, and social sustainability criteria. Besides, the enablers for the sustainability of OPEX initiatives are identified. The enablers, as well as multidimensional assessment criteria of OPEX initiatives, help the organisation develop a methodological approach for implementing sustainable OPEX solutions. The current success rate for OPEX initiatives in organisations has been dismally poor, and the proposed framework will help improve the success of OPEX efforts. Practitioners can use the proposed framework first to assess their organisational readiness in terms of enablers before implementing OPEX initiatives and evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively to obtain a multidimensional perspective for sustainable solutions. The frameworks proposed in prior studies are predominantly conceptual. This study used the DSR methodology to demonstrate the validity of the proposed framework.