How to cite this paper
APA: Waal, A. (2026). From effort to evidence: What accelerates time to impact in high performance organization transformations?. Management Science Letters, 16(2), 87-104.
Chicago/Turabian: Waal, A. 2026. "From effort to evidence: What accelerates time to impact in high performance organization transformations?." Management Science Letters 16, no. 2 (2026): 87-104.
AMA: Waal, A. From effort to evidence: What accelerates time to impact in high performance organization transformations?. Management Science Letters. 2026;16(2):87-104.
References
Alade, T.A., Bukoye, O.T., Roehrich, J.K., & Edelenbos, J. (2022). Cross-national collaboration in strategic transport projects: The impact on benefits realization. International Journal of Project Management, 40(4), 411-425. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2022.03.009.
Backhouse, A., & Ogunlayi, F. (2020). Quality improvement into practice. BMJ, 368, m865. doi:10.1136/bmj.m865.
Bader, M., Antony, J., Jayaraman, R., Swarnakar, V., Goonetilleke, R.S., Maalouf, M., Garza-Reyes, J.A., & Linderman, K. (2024). Why do process improvement projects fail in organizations? A review and future research agenda. Inter-national Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 15(3), 664-690. doi.org/10.1108/IJLSS-07-2023-0126.
Carcary, M. (2020). The Research Audit Trail: Methodological Guidance for Application in Practice. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 18(2). doi.org/10.34190/JBRM.18.2.008.
Cash, P., Isaksson, O., Maier, A., & Summers, J. (2022). Sampling in design research: Eight key considerations. Design Studies, 78, 101077. doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2021.101077.
Cresswell, K., Sheikh, A., Franklin, B.D., Hinder, S., Nguyen, H.T., Krasuska, M., Lane, W., Mozaffar, H., Mason, K., Eason, S., Potts, H.W.W., & Williams, R. (2022). Benefits realization management in the context of a national digi-tal transformation initiative in English provider organizations. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Associ-ation, 29(3), 536-545. doi:10.1093/jamia/ocab283.
Delisle, J., Marnewick, C., & Romero-Torres, A. (2025). Exploring temporal dimensions of benefits realisation man-agement in agile IT environments. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management, 13(4), 1-17. doi.org/10.12821/ijispm130403.
de Waal, A., Ten Have-Schoonhoven, L., & Rutten, R. (2026). Balancing Flexibility and Discipline in High-Performance Organisation Initiatives: Empirical Insights from a Healthcare Context. under review.
Endalamaw, A., Khatri, R.B., Mengistu, T.S., Erku, D., Wolka, E., Zewdie, A., & Assefa, Y. (2024). A scoping review of continuous quality improvement in healthcare system: conceptualization, models and tools, barriers and facilitators, and impact. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 487. doi:10.1186/s12913-024-10828-0.
Franken, J.C.M., van Dun D.H., & Wilderom, P.M. (2024). Kaizen Event process factors for operational performance improvement: an archival study. Production Planning & Control, 6(10), 1315-1329. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2024.2358402 doi:10.1080/09537287.2024.2358402.
Hagl, C., Kanitz, R., Gonzalez, K., & Hoegl, M. (2024). Change management interventions: Taking stock and moving forward. Human Resource Management Review, 34(1), 101000. doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2023.101000.
Harris, D., Baker, E., Svacina, J., & Funderburk, L.A. (2023). Systematic Approach to Evidence-Based Design for Measurable Health and Wellness Outcomes: Curating and Translating Evidence to Practice. HERD: Health Envi-ronments Research & Design Journal, 17(1), 17-29. doi:10.1177/19375867231209335 .
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R.L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao. H. (2021). Where Do Models for Change Management, Improvement and Implementation Meet? A Systematic Review of the Applications of Change Management Models in Healthcare. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 85-108. doi:10.2147/JHL.S289176.
Holgeid, K.K., Jørgensen, M., Volden, G.H., & Berg, H. (2022). Realising benefits in public IT projects: A multiple case study. IET Software, 17(2). doi:10.1049/sfw2.12079.
Inal, T.C., Goruroglu Ozturk, O., Kibar, F., Cetiner, S., Matyar, S., Daglioglu, G., & Yaman, A. (2018). Lean six sigma methodologies improve clinical laboratory efficiency and reduce turnaround times. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, 32(1), e22180. doi:10.1002/jcla.22180.
Isik, L., Nilsson, C., Magnusson, J., & Koutsikouri, D. (2024). Benefits realization in digital transformation: the transla-tion from policy to practice in health care. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 18(2), 303–317. doi.org/10.1108/TG-11-2023-0177.
Jager, N.W., Newig, J., Challies, E., Kochskämper, E., & von Wehrden, H. (2022). Case study meta-analysis in the so-cial sciences. Insights on data quality and reliability from a large-N case survey. Research Synthesis Methods, 13(1), 12-27. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1514.
Joseph, J., Laureiro-Martinez, D., Nigam, A., Ocasio, W., & Rerup, C. (2024). Research frontiers on the attention-based view of the firm. Strategic Organization, 22(1), 6-17. doi.org/10.1177/14761270231223397.
Käss, S., Brosig, C., Westner, M., & Strahringer, S. (2024). Short and sweet: multiple mini case studies as a form of rig-orous case study research. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 22, 351-384. doi.org/10.1007/s10257-024-00674-2.
Laux, C., Johnson, M.E., & Cada, P. (2015). LSS Green Belt Projects Planned Versus Actual Duration. The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering, 31(1), 2-18.
Meredith, J., & Zwikael, O. (2020), ”Achieving strategic benefits from project investments: appoint a project owner“, Business Horizons, 63, 61-71.
Mittal, A., Gupta, P., Kumar, V., Owad, A.A., Mahlawat, S., & Singh, S. (2023). The performance improvement analysis using Six Sigma DMAIC methodology: A case study on Indian manufacturing company. Heliyon, 9(3), e14625. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14625.
Moon, S.E.J., Hogden, A., & Eljiz, K. (2022). Sustaining improvement of hospital-wide initiative for patient safety and quality: a systematic scoping review. BMJ Open Quality, 11, e002057. doi:10.1136/bmjoq-2022-002057.
Mortimer, F., Isherwood, J., Pearce, M., Kenward, C., & Vaux, E. (2018). Sustainability in quality improvement: meas-uring impact. Future Healthcare Journal, 5(2), 94-97. doi:10.7861/futurehosp.5-2-94.
Naughton, E., Moran, R., Kharub, M., Sa, J.C., & McDermott, O. (2024). A structured model for continuous improve-ment methodology deployment and sustainment: A case study. Heliyon, 10(21), e40034. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40034.
Page, M.J., McKenzie, J.E., Bossuyt, P.M., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for report-ing systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71.
Patón-Romero, J.D., Ngereja, B.J., Hannay, J.O., & Jørgensen, M. (2025). Actual Practices from Practitioners in Bene-fits Management in Digitalization Projects. EASE '25: Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Evalua-tion and Assessment in Software Engineering), 874 - 886. doi.org/10.1145/3756681.3757055.
Pereira, L, May, E., Gonçalves, R., Dias, Á and Lopes da Costa, R. (2022). Benefits realisation management: from prob-lem solving to value delivery. International Journal of Revenue Management, 13(1-2), 19-49. doi.org/10.1504/IJRM.2022.126729.
Proctor, E.K., Bunger, A.C., Lengnick-Hall, R. et al. (2023). Ten years of implementation outcomes research: a scoping review. Implementation Science, 18, article 31. doi.org/10.1186/s13012-023-01286-z.
Proudfoot, K. (2022). Inductive/Deductive Hybrid Thematic Analysis in Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 17(3), 308-326. doi.org/10.1177/15586898221126816.
Robinson, O.C., & Bailey-Rodriguez, D. (2025). Deductive qualitative research: an integrative approach to designing studies. Qualitative Research in Psychology), 1-16. doi:10.1080/14780887.2025.2604773.
Rojon, C., Okupe, A., & McDowall, A. (2021). Utilization and development of systematic reviews in management re-search: What do we know and where do we go from here?. International Journal of Management Reviews, 23, 191-223. doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12245 .
Rousseau, D.M. (2020). The Realist Rationality Of Evidence-Based Management. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 19(3), 415-424. doi.org/10.5465/amle.2020.0050 .
Songkajorn, Y., Aujirapongpan, S., Jiraphanumes, K., & Pattanasing, K. (2022). Organizational strategic intuition for high performance: The role of knowledge based dynamic capabilities and digital transformation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3), 1-19. .oi.org/10.3390/joitmc8030117
Vissing, K.N., Knoll, M.H., & Hertzum, M. (2025). Benefits slippage: The yearlong process of implementing electronic document management in a Danish municipality. Government Information Quarterly, 42(3), 102051. doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2025.102051.
Williams, T., Vo, H., Bourne, M., Bourne, P., Cooke-Davies, T., Kirkham, R., Masterton, G., Quattrone, P., & Valette, J. (2019). A cross-national comparison of public project benefits management practices - the effectiveness of benefits management frameworks in application. Production Planning & Control, 31(8), 644-659. doi:10.1080/09537287.2019.1668980.
Williams, T., Vo, H., Bourne, M., Bourne, P., Kirkham, R., Masterton, G., Quattrone, P., & Toczycka , C. (2025). Bene-fits realisation: case studies in public major project delivery with recommendations for practice. Production Plan-ning & Control, 36(1), 127-147. doi:10.1080/09537287.2023.2256287.
Zamboni, K., Baker, U., Tyagi, M., Schellenberg, J., Hill, Z., & Hanson, C. (2020). How and under what circumstances do quality improvement collaboratives lead to better outcomes? A systematic review. Implemention Science, 15(1), 27. doi:10.1186/s13012-020-0978-z.
Zheng, Z., & Zwikael, O. (2025). From outputs to outcomes: Meeting a threshold of short-term project management success as a necessary condition for achieving long-term impact. International Journal of Project Management, 43(8), 102789. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102789.
Zurynski, Y., Ludlow, K., Testa, L. et al. (2023). Built to last? Barriers and facilitators of healthcare program sustaina-bility: a systematic integrative review. Implementation Science, 18, article 62. doi.org/10.1186/s13012-023-01315-x .
Zwikael, O., & Huemann, M. (2023). Project benefits management: Making an impact on organizations and society through projects and programs. International Journal of Project Management, 41(8), 102538. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102538.
Backhouse, A., & Ogunlayi, F. (2020). Quality improvement into practice. BMJ, 368, m865. doi:10.1136/bmj.m865.
Bader, M., Antony, J., Jayaraman, R., Swarnakar, V., Goonetilleke, R.S., Maalouf, M., Garza-Reyes, J.A., & Linderman, K. (2024). Why do process improvement projects fail in organizations? A review and future research agenda. Inter-national Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 15(3), 664-690. doi.org/10.1108/IJLSS-07-2023-0126.
Carcary, M. (2020). The Research Audit Trail: Methodological Guidance for Application in Practice. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 18(2). doi.org/10.34190/JBRM.18.2.008.
Cash, P., Isaksson, O., Maier, A., & Summers, J. (2022). Sampling in design research: Eight key considerations. Design Studies, 78, 101077. doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2021.101077.
Cresswell, K., Sheikh, A., Franklin, B.D., Hinder, S., Nguyen, H.T., Krasuska, M., Lane, W., Mozaffar, H., Mason, K., Eason, S., Potts, H.W.W., & Williams, R. (2022). Benefits realization management in the context of a national digi-tal transformation initiative in English provider organizations. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Associ-ation, 29(3), 536-545. doi:10.1093/jamia/ocab283.
Delisle, J., Marnewick, C., & Romero-Torres, A. (2025). Exploring temporal dimensions of benefits realisation man-agement in agile IT environments. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management, 13(4), 1-17. doi.org/10.12821/ijispm130403.
de Waal, A., Ten Have-Schoonhoven, L., & Rutten, R. (2026). Balancing Flexibility and Discipline in High-Performance Organisation Initiatives: Empirical Insights from a Healthcare Context. under review.
Endalamaw, A., Khatri, R.B., Mengistu, T.S., Erku, D., Wolka, E., Zewdie, A., & Assefa, Y. (2024). A scoping review of continuous quality improvement in healthcare system: conceptualization, models and tools, barriers and facilitators, and impact. BMC Health Services Research, 24(1), 487. doi:10.1186/s12913-024-10828-0.
Franken, J.C.M., van Dun D.H., & Wilderom, P.M. (2024). Kaizen Event process factors for operational performance improvement: an archival study. Production Planning & Control, 6(10), 1315-1329. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2024.2358402 doi:10.1080/09537287.2024.2358402.
Hagl, C., Kanitz, R., Gonzalez, K., & Hoegl, M. (2024). Change management interventions: Taking stock and moving forward. Human Resource Management Review, 34(1), 101000. doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2023.101000.
Harris, D., Baker, E., Svacina, J., & Funderburk, L.A. (2023). Systematic Approach to Evidence-Based Design for Measurable Health and Wellness Outcomes: Curating and Translating Evidence to Practice. HERD: Health Envi-ronments Research & Design Journal, 17(1), 17-29. doi:10.1177/19375867231209335 .
Harrison, R., Fischer, S., Walpola, R.L., Chauhan, A., Babalola, T., Mears, S., & Le-Dao. H. (2021). Where Do Models for Change Management, Improvement and Implementation Meet? A Systematic Review of the Applications of Change Management Models in Healthcare. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 85-108. doi:10.2147/JHL.S289176.
Holgeid, K.K., Jørgensen, M., Volden, G.H., & Berg, H. (2022). Realising benefits in public IT projects: A multiple case study. IET Software, 17(2). doi:10.1049/sfw2.12079.
Inal, T.C., Goruroglu Ozturk, O., Kibar, F., Cetiner, S., Matyar, S., Daglioglu, G., & Yaman, A. (2018). Lean six sigma methodologies improve clinical laboratory efficiency and reduce turnaround times. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, 32(1), e22180. doi:10.1002/jcla.22180.
Isik, L., Nilsson, C., Magnusson, J., & Koutsikouri, D. (2024). Benefits realization in digital transformation: the transla-tion from policy to practice in health care. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 18(2), 303–317. doi.org/10.1108/TG-11-2023-0177.
Jager, N.W., Newig, J., Challies, E., Kochskämper, E., & von Wehrden, H. (2022). Case study meta-analysis in the so-cial sciences. Insights on data quality and reliability from a large-N case survey. Research Synthesis Methods, 13(1), 12-27. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1514.
Joseph, J., Laureiro-Martinez, D., Nigam, A., Ocasio, W., & Rerup, C. (2024). Research frontiers on the attention-based view of the firm. Strategic Organization, 22(1), 6-17. doi.org/10.1177/14761270231223397.
Käss, S., Brosig, C., Westner, M., & Strahringer, S. (2024). Short and sweet: multiple mini case studies as a form of rig-orous case study research. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 22, 351-384. doi.org/10.1007/s10257-024-00674-2.
Laux, C., Johnson, M.E., & Cada, P. (2015). LSS Green Belt Projects Planned Versus Actual Duration. The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering, 31(1), 2-18.
Meredith, J., & Zwikael, O. (2020), ”Achieving strategic benefits from project investments: appoint a project owner“, Business Horizons, 63, 61-71.
Mittal, A., Gupta, P., Kumar, V., Owad, A.A., Mahlawat, S., & Singh, S. (2023). The performance improvement analysis using Six Sigma DMAIC methodology: A case study on Indian manufacturing company. Heliyon, 9(3), e14625. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14625.
Moon, S.E.J., Hogden, A., & Eljiz, K. (2022). Sustaining improvement of hospital-wide initiative for patient safety and quality: a systematic scoping review. BMJ Open Quality, 11, e002057. doi:10.1136/bmjoq-2022-002057.
Mortimer, F., Isherwood, J., Pearce, M., Kenward, C., & Vaux, E. (2018). Sustainability in quality improvement: meas-uring impact. Future Healthcare Journal, 5(2), 94-97. doi:10.7861/futurehosp.5-2-94.
Naughton, E., Moran, R., Kharub, M., Sa, J.C., & McDermott, O. (2024). A structured model for continuous improve-ment methodology deployment and sustainment: A case study. Heliyon, 10(21), e40034. doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40034.
Page, M.J., McKenzie, J.E., Bossuyt, P.M., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for report-ing systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71.
Patón-Romero, J.D., Ngereja, B.J., Hannay, J.O., & Jørgensen, M. (2025). Actual Practices from Practitioners in Bene-fits Management in Digitalization Projects. EASE '25: Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Evalua-tion and Assessment in Software Engineering), 874 - 886. doi.org/10.1145/3756681.3757055.
Pereira, L, May, E., Gonçalves, R., Dias, Á and Lopes da Costa, R. (2022). Benefits realisation management: from prob-lem solving to value delivery. International Journal of Revenue Management, 13(1-2), 19-49. doi.org/10.1504/IJRM.2022.126729.
Proctor, E.K., Bunger, A.C., Lengnick-Hall, R. et al. (2023). Ten years of implementation outcomes research: a scoping review. Implementation Science, 18, article 31. doi.org/10.1186/s13012-023-01286-z.
Proudfoot, K. (2022). Inductive/Deductive Hybrid Thematic Analysis in Mixed Methods Research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 17(3), 308-326. doi.org/10.1177/15586898221126816.
Robinson, O.C., & Bailey-Rodriguez, D. (2025). Deductive qualitative research: an integrative approach to designing studies. Qualitative Research in Psychology), 1-16. doi:10.1080/14780887.2025.2604773.
Rojon, C., Okupe, A., & McDowall, A. (2021). Utilization and development of systematic reviews in management re-search: What do we know and where do we go from here?. International Journal of Management Reviews, 23, 191-223. doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12245 .
Rousseau, D.M. (2020). The Realist Rationality Of Evidence-Based Management. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 19(3), 415-424. doi.org/10.5465/amle.2020.0050 .
Songkajorn, Y., Aujirapongpan, S., Jiraphanumes, K., & Pattanasing, K. (2022). Organizational strategic intuition for high performance: The role of knowledge based dynamic capabilities and digital transformation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 8(3), 1-19. .oi.org/10.3390/joitmc8030117
Vissing, K.N., Knoll, M.H., & Hertzum, M. (2025). Benefits slippage: The yearlong process of implementing electronic document management in a Danish municipality. Government Information Quarterly, 42(3), 102051. doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2025.102051.
Williams, T., Vo, H., Bourne, M., Bourne, P., Cooke-Davies, T., Kirkham, R., Masterton, G., Quattrone, P., & Valette, J. (2019). A cross-national comparison of public project benefits management practices - the effectiveness of benefits management frameworks in application. Production Planning & Control, 31(8), 644-659. doi:10.1080/09537287.2019.1668980.
Williams, T., Vo, H., Bourne, M., Bourne, P., Kirkham, R., Masterton, G., Quattrone, P., & Toczycka , C. (2025). Bene-fits realisation: case studies in public major project delivery with recommendations for practice. Production Plan-ning & Control, 36(1), 127-147. doi:10.1080/09537287.2023.2256287.
Zamboni, K., Baker, U., Tyagi, M., Schellenberg, J., Hill, Z., & Hanson, C. (2020). How and under what circumstances do quality improvement collaboratives lead to better outcomes? A systematic review. Implemention Science, 15(1), 27. doi:10.1186/s13012-020-0978-z.
Zheng, Z., & Zwikael, O. (2025). From outputs to outcomes: Meeting a threshold of short-term project management success as a necessary condition for achieving long-term impact. International Journal of Project Management, 43(8), 102789. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102789.
Zurynski, Y., Ludlow, K., Testa, L. et al. (2023). Built to last? Barriers and facilitators of healthcare program sustaina-bility: a systematic integrative review. Implementation Science, 18, article 62. doi.org/10.1186/s13012-023-01315-x .
Zwikael, O., & Huemann, M. (2023). Project benefits management: Making an impact on organizations and society through projects and programs. International Journal of Project Management, 41(8), 102538. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2023.102538.