KAIZEN

Charles Darwin is often remembered, not only by Biologists and Zoologists, but by corporate and management gurus of today as well, for it was he who suggested the phrase “Survival of the Fittest”. While today, the growth rate of business, conveyance and communication has exponentially risen, and cut throat competition is on the rise, it is relatively important to stay focused and connected to the world around us. The only possibility of survival is to be fit. But ‘fit’ in what sense. ‘Fit’ doesn’t only include physical fitness of an individual; fit here implies physical, mental and emotional stability, and the capability to stay above your competition at all points in time. This is not just seen through an individualistic perspective anymore, this also applies to organisations.

Organizations have to deal with changing external environments which directly or indirectly affect its internal environment. It is imperative that organizations have a foresight of where they would like to see themselves in the future. Therefore every organisation has to devise strategies that would take them from their current position to their desired position. For this foresight to be met, organizations have to be receptive and adaptive to change. There are a number of tools designed to aid people and organisations to cope with the changing times and stay above the competition. One such important tool is ‘Kaizen’. Masaaki Imai first introduced the word 'Kaizen' to the world through his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success in 1986. It quickly became a concept and a strategy used by the corporate world. Moreover, it was translated in fourteen languages the world over. Nevertheless, Imai, the founder of a leading international management and executive recruiting firm, and consultant to over two hundred companies, became conscious that the concept wasn’t well understood and implemented by its followers. He introduced an evolved form of Kaizen in 1997 in his book Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management, to re-emphasize the importance in bringing about continual improvement in an organization.

What is ‘Kaizen’? Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on continuous improvement throughout all aspects of life. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen activities continually improve all functions of a business, from manufacturing to management and from the CEO to the assembly line workers. By improving standardized activities and processes, Kaizen aims to eliminate waste (wikipedia.org).

Kaizen is made up of two parts, the first being continuity or unending and the second part being change or improvement. So it can be collectively understood as continuous change, unending improvement and continuous improvement. Kaizen concentrates at improving the process rather than at achieving certain results. The foundation of the Kaizen consists of 5 founding elements: Teamwork, Personal discipline, Improved morale, Quality circles and Suggestions for improvement. Kaizen works through bench-marking processes and then on further improving them which goes on and forth. In other words it maintains and keeps improving processes. The objective of the maintenance function is to maintain current technological, managerial, and operating standards. The current standards are enhanced by the improvement function. Under the maintenance function, the management must first establish policies, rules, directives and standard operating procedures (SOPs) and then work towards ensuring that everybody follows SOPs. The latter is achieved through a combination of discipline and human resource development measures. Under the improvement function, management works continuously towards revising the current standards, once they have been mastered and establishing higher ones (1000ventures.com/business_guide). An important aid of Kaizen is Innovation. Innovation involves developing on a certain product or a process by elimination of waste and cutting down time, which further helps in reducing costs and maximizing profits. People at all levels of an organization can participate in Kaizen, from the CEO down, as well as external stakeholders when applicable. The format for Kaizen can be individual, small group, or large group suggestion system.

While Kaizen regularly brings about small improvements and developments, the culture of constantly united small developments and consistency, yields large results in the form of compound productivity improvement. Kaizen philosophy differs from the "command-and-control" improvement programs of the mid-twentieth century. Kaizen method includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments, which can be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested by the employees.

Kaizen helps in shortening work processes through innovation, which make the actual work less tedious and stressful. It reduces working costs and increases profitability and most of all creates an environment where employees are empowered and nurtured.

Through the ages, people have believed that ‘hard work’ is the everlasting secret to success. But in today’s world this secret has taken a different form. It is not just hard work that will reap rewards but it is ‘Smart Work’ that will fetch better rewards. This when applied through and with Kaizen is a revitalising strategy to reach or stay at the top.

- Prof. Urjeet B. Swamy