<Li> It helps encourage workers to take ownership for their work, and can help reinforce team working, thereby improving worker motivation . </Li> <P> The elements above are the more tactical elements of CIP . The more strategic elements include deciding how to increase the value of the delivery process output to the customer (effectiveness) and how much flexibility is valuable in the process to meet changing needs . </P> <P> The CIP - concept is also used in environmental management systems (EMS), such as ISO 14000 and EMAS . The term "continual improvement", not "continuous improvement", is used in ISO 14000, and is understood to refer to an ongoing series of small or large - scale improvements which are each done discretely, i.e. in a step-wise fashion . Several differences exist between the CIP concept as it is applied in quality management and environmental management . CIP in EMS aims to improve the natural consequences of products and activities, not the products and activities as such . Secondly, there is no client - orientation in EMS - related CIP . Also, CIP in EMS is not limited to small, incremental improvements as in Kaizen, it also includes innovations of any scale . </P> <P> In the late 1990s, the developers of the ISO 9001: 2000 standard--which addressed quality management systems and principles--debated whether or not to update the use of the word "continuous" to "continual". ISO Technical Committee 176 and regulatory representatives ultimately decided that "continuous was unenforceable because it meant an organization had to improve minute by minute, whereas, continual improvement meant step-wise improvement or improvement in segments". The committee reportedly did not base the change on dictionary definitions or the standard's vocabulary . This change ran contrary to the common usage of "continuous" in the standard and other prior business management documentation . </P>

Explain what is meant by continuous quality improvement