Two reliable models for predicting the success of change initiatives have been developed through the same research process. One model represents what is important in order to conduct successful improvements in the United States. The other model has been developed to predict successful improvement initiatives in Sweden. Through qualitative comparison between two reliable models we found some similarities and differences framing the underlying management heuristics for driving improvement initiatives. These findings are important pieces in transnational knowledge acquirement on quality improvements. They contribute a basis for discussions on transferability of management change concepts, and prompts for areas in need of considerations of adaptation before using different improvement ideas in other contexts than those for which they were developed.