ABSTRACT
Though it is widely acknowledged that involving all the people concerned is critical for the success of any improvement initiative, Soltani et al. (2005) found that lack of involvement was one of the principal barriers to success! In common with many other aspects of improvement, the various ways to involve people are relatively well understood and have been discussed for years. One aspect that is not discussed but remains a feature of every organization we have encountered is gender and how people relate to one another as individuals. Gender is typically viewed as concerning relations between men and women; we use the word in its fullest sense and hope in this chapter to show that improvement initiatives can be shaped by the relations between women and men and also between men.
