Exploring operational excellence in North African manufacturing enterprises: uncovering best practices, success and failure factors

Purpose Operationnal excellence has emerged as a critical factor for organisations competitiveness. Companies in developing countries are striving to elevate their operational performance to new heights. This study aims to explore the effective best practices, drivers and challenges to operational excellence in North African business. Design/methodology/approach To address the objectives of this study, a qualitative approach is adopted. A total of 13 experienced professionals holding leads initiatives within North African enterprises are surveyed. Following, content analysis method is employed to extract, categorise and analyse the knowledge from the interviews. Findings The findings indicate that the implemented best practices include process optimisation, performance measurement, standardisation, customer-centric approach, lean manufacturing and total quality management. For a successful adoption, the results shed light on the importance of leadership commitment, upskilling, digitalisation and employee’s empowerment. However, the implementation faces several challenges incorporating unsustainable engagement, resistance to change, disconnected practices, insufficient investment, deficient improvement assessment and limited access to digitalisation. Originality/value This study contributes to exploring the best practices, enablers and barriers to successful implementation of operational excellence in emerging economies. Its findings can be used by scholars and decision-makers to advance knowledge around operational excellence, broaden the existing strategies to tailor specific contexts and promote operational performance.