What is Kaizen? The Ultimate Guide to Continuous Improvement

Key Concept Explanation 

Kaizen, a Japanese word, means improvement or better changes. Kaizen is a way of making continuous improvement based on the idea that small ongoing positive changes can make up improvements (Macpherson, Lockhart, Kavan, & Iaquinto, 2015). It is based on cooperation, commitments and firm stand in contrast to approaches that use radical changes to achieve positive changes. It is a way to know about manufacturing. It was made in the manufacturing area to reduce defects, get rid of wastes, improve productivity, to encourage working aims and accountability and make room for innovation (Shaha, Gangaramani, & Gambhire, 2016). Enforcing Kaizen is a responsibility to every individual who works at the company or organization (Randhawa & Ahuja, 2017). To understand Kaizen, many different elements may be used to understand it. They include teamwork, personal discipline, improved morale, quality circles and the suggestion for improvement. These elements are used and followed by every individual in the company to achieve the benefit of growth in the company. 

Comparison 

Compared to what I studied during the key, I have learned that Kaizen is the manufacturing term for a non –stop improvement and was initially used to explain the critical elements of the Toyota production system. It defines an environment where organizations or business individuals work actively to improve the manufacturing process. It has also become common in many companies who want to learn to manufacture. Besides Kaizen having essential elements, there are five S of kaizen. The five S are techniques that lead to systems, standard policies, rules and regulations which contribute to a positive working culture in the organization (Randhawa & Ahuja, 2017). The kaizen approach plays a significant role in employees and customer satisfaction through small non-stop changes and eliminating changes. It provides a well-organized company which contributes to better yields and productivity. The five S includes SEIRI, SEITION, SEISO, SEIKETSU-SEIKETSU, and SHITSUKE or self-discipline. 

SEIRI means to sort out. In seiri, the employees have to be organized and sort out the things well. SEITION stands for organization. It means that every item in the organization should be placed in its own space. SEISO means to shine the workplace. The workplace has to be kept clean always. The necessary documents and equipment have to be held in their respective folders and places. SEIKETSU-SEIKETSU stands for standardization. The organization has to have a set of standard rules and policies that ensure quality. Finally, SHITSUKE or self-discipline defines the need of the organization to respect the policies, rules, and regulations of the organizations. The employees have to carry themselves with self-discipline and follow work procedures. This gives a worker a sense of pride and respect for the organization. 

Article Summary 

The article chosen is "Changing quality of life through the personal Kaizen approach: A quantitative study." The authors are Manuel F. Suarez-Barraza, Juan Ramis-Pujol, and Sumi Dahlgaard-Park. They define kaizen as a means of continuous improvement in personal life, home life, social life, and working life (Suarez- Barraza, Ramis-Pujol & Mi Dahlgaard-park, 2013) . Kaizen means continuing improvement including managers and workers in the workplace. Imai states that Kaizen can take three forms which include kaizen management, group kaizen, and individual kaizen. The continuous improvement in the Japanese management approach is due to their focus on individual Kaizen. The purpose of the article was to identify how people have incorporated personal Kaizen in their lives to improve the quality of their life. The research question that drives the article is "how do some people apply personal Kaizen to improve their Quality of life?" (Suarez- Barraza, Ramis-Pujol & Mi Dahlgaard-park, 2013). The method includes using theoretical sampling. Three people who have incorporated personal Kaizen in their daily activities were recognized and interviewed. Documentary references of three cases cited in the article were used to provide a cross-case analysis of the technique used. 

The findings involved analyzing the three people who had incorporated Kaizen into their daily lives to improve their lives. The author completes the data with the theoretical framework of Kaizen and quality of life and also combines the three hypothesis. The research limitations include subjectivity to analysis and vague generalization of findings. Also, there was a theoretical gap according to the geographical region. The practical implication included the study of how the three people applied individual kaizen to change the quality of their life proved to be a value to other people who were interested in adapting to healthy behavior. The quality value of the research is that the study adds to the limited existing literature on the personal kaizen approach and also presents this information to provide guidance, impetus and the necessities for improving quality of life. 

Biblical Integration 

There are various biblical verses in reference to Kaizen approaches. First, Proverbs 1:5 KJV states that “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel”. This shows that for improvement to be recognized, it requires humility, collaboration, and even accountability (Tongo, 2016) . According to the Bible, "and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25, KJV) . This shows the importance of teamwork to achieve improvement and success. Also, in Proverbs 22:6 KJV, it states “train your child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it”. This shows that by using The Kaizen approach you will be heading the company to success and the company will continue making ways of improvement. 

Application 

Kaizen has been applied in many businesses today. The Toyota motor cooperation, Lockheed Martin and Nestle are among the companies which have used Kaizen in their organization for the improvement of the industry (Tekin, Arslandere, Etlioglu, & Tekin, 2018). Kaizen has helped these companies to make significant improvements. In Nestle, for example, Kaizen used in the company makes improvement a responsibility to every individual involved in the company. Kaizen has made it one of the largest food companies in the world due to the measures of its revenue. Toyota employees use Kaizen to get incentives for identifying limited practices and finding solutions to improve them. Lockheed Martin is also known to use kaizen in its organization. It is known as a proponent of kaizen. They use a kaizen project in material management which helped reduce the time used when moving parts from receiving to stock from 30 days to just four hours. 

Annotated Bibliography 

Macpherson, W. G., Lockhart, J. C., Kavan, H., & Iaquinto, A. L. (2015). Kaizen: a Japanese philosophy and system for business excellence. Journal of Business Strategy, 36(5), 3- 9. 

Macpherson, Lockhart, Kavan, and Iaquinto, (2015) state that Kaizen is a Japanese word which means improvement and better changes. Kaizen is a significant physiological approach to work as it as it provides different services to the members of a company. Kaizen in Japan has a significant meaning, and it is part of their culture. It focuses on worker creativity and the ability of an individual in a working environment. It also provides a focus and brings about teamwork among employees to achieve changes and innovation in a workplace. (Macpherson, Lockhart, Kavan, & Iaquinto, 2015) Japanese mainly use Kaizen approaches in their organization for improvement. Individuals in Japanese work environment follow the kaizen approach to improve their work. 

Shaha, A., Gangaramani, A., & Gambhire, G. (2016). Elimination and Combination of Processes Through Kaizen Practice. 

Shaha, Gangaramani, & Gambhire (2016) argues that every company or organization faces challenges. Every organization objective is to satisfy their customers. Wastes in business lead to an increase in production cost. Kaizen in daily business life leads to productivity improvement. Kaizen plays a role in employee management. Kaizen emphasizes three major elements which are teamwork, Quality, and flexibility. Kaizen management leads to continuous improvement in efficiency, quality, and productivity in every industry. Kaizen teaches the workers to have self-discipline in work, use scientific methods to improve the industry and also to get rid of wastes in the business activity (Shaha, Gangaramani, & Gambhire, 2016). In general, the article states that Kaizen helps in reducing human efforts; it increases productivity and also decreases the wastes in business thus leading to improvement in the organization. 

Randhawa, J. S., & Ahuja, I. S. (2017). 5S–a quality improvement tool for sustainable performance: literature review and directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 34(3), 334-361. 

Jugraj Singh Randhawa and Inderpreet Singh Ahuja explain that the Five S is Japanese physiology for the growth of any organization in any part of the world. The study in this article shows details of the five S requirements and how it can be implemented. The literature reviews the relationship of the five S with other tools, its benefits, success factor and the factors that prevent the five S. The five S contributes to production quality, safety and its significant use in the workplace of an organization and its improvement. 5S implementation is a sustainable performance of organizations. This article is essential for the people who want to improve their business and organization and how they can implement the five S into their business activity (Randhawa & Ahuja, 2017). 

Tekin, M., Arslandere, M., Etlioğlu, M., & Tekin, E. (2018, August). An Application of Kaizen in a Large-Scale Business. In The International Symposium for Production Research (pp. 515-529). Springer, Cham. 

The article portrays an application of Kaizen in a large-scale business` written by Mahmut Tekin, Murat Arslandere, Mehmet Etlioglu, and Ertugrul Tekin. The article explains that manufacturing industries aim to increase the quality and production in an industry. They face challenges in producing high quality; have high production cost and its inability to satisfy its customers. So the companies have started using the Kaizen technique which will help contribute to continuous improvement in their business life. Kaizen has been applied in different companies such as the large flour factory. Kaizen contributes to a participation of all the employees and managers in the business activity which in turn leads to improvement. For this reason, Kaizen has been applied and implemented by different organizations in the current world today such as Toyota (Tekin, Arslandere, Etlioglu & Tekin, 2018). 

Tongo, C. I. (2016). Transcendent work motivation: biblical and secular ontologies. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 13(2), 117-142. 

Tongo (2016) states that the biblical view of the Bible concerning work is significant to the Kaizen approach. Christians believe in work and its improvement. Biblically, there are many verses which are related to work and development. There is a core assumption in the bible which is related to human motivation to work. A Transcendent Work Motivation is a spiritual process which is driven by the need to improve work and welfare in the society. Christianity views on work are similar to Kaizen. Many biblical versus express the necessity of work and its importance (Tongo, 2016) In general, the article states that the biblical verses related Kaizen are many which focus on work motivation and teamwork. 

Suárez-Barraza, M. F., Ramis-Pujol, J., & Mi Dahlgaard-Park, S. (2013). Changing quality of life through the Personal Kaizen approach: a qualitative study. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 5(2), 191-207 

The article is "Changing quality of life through the personal Kaizen approach: A quantitative study” written by Manuel F. Suarez-Barraza, Juan Ramis-Pujol, and Sumi Dahl-gaard-Park. The article explains that Kaizen means a continuing improvement of the business process including managers and workers in the workplace. Imai states that Kaizen can take three forms which include kaizen management, group kaizen, and individual kaizen. The continuous improvement in the Japanese management approach is due to their focus on individual Kaizen. The purpose of the article was to identify how people have incorporated personal Kaizen in their lives to improve the quality of their life. (Suarez- Barraza, Ramis-Pujol, & Mi Dahlgaard-park, 2013) The findings involved analyzing the three people who had incorporated Kaizen into their daily lives to improve their lives the answers which included how the three people applied individual kaizen to change the quality of their life proved to be a value to other people who were interested in adapting to healthy behavior. 

References 

Macpherson, W. G., Lockhart, J. C., Kavan, H., & Iaquinto, A. L. (2015). Kaizen: a Japanese philosophy and system for business excellence. Journal of Business Strategy , 36(5), 3-9. 

Randhawa, J. S., & Ahuja, I. S. (2017). 5S–a quality improvement tool for sustainable performance: literature review and directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management , 34(3), 334-361. 

Shaha, A., Gangaramani, A., & Gambhire, G. (2016). Elimination and Combination of Processes Through Kaizen Practice . 

Suárez-Barraza, M. F., Ramis-Pujol, J., & Mi Dahlgaard-Park, S. (2013). Changing quality of life through the Personal Kaizen approach: a qualitative study. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 5(2), 191-207. 

Tekin, M., Arslandere, M., Etlioğlu, M., & Tekin, E. (2018, August). An Application of Kaizen in a Large-Scale Business. In The International Symposium for Production Research (pp. 515-529). Springer, Cham. 

Tongo, C. I. (2016). Transcendent work motivation: biblical and secular ontologies. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 13(2), 117-142.