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Kaizen: a Japanese philosophy and system for business excellence

Wayne G. Macpherson (Doctor of Business and Administration graduate, Massey Business School, Massey University, New Zealand)
James C Lockhart (Senior Lecturer, School of Management, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand)
Heather Kavan (Senior Lecturer, School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.)
Anthony L. Iaquinto (Associate Professor, College of Business, Bemidji State University, Bemidji City, MN, USA.)

Journal of Business Strategy

ISSN: 0275-6668

Article publication date: 21 September 2015

6285

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a definitive and insightful working definition of kaizen for practitioners and academics in the West through which they may better understand the kaizen phenomenon and its intangible but critical underpinning philosophy.

Design/methodology/approach

A phenomenological study of the utility of kaizen within in the bounds of active kaizen environments in name Japanese industrial organisations was conducted over a three-year period in Japan. The research explored how Japanese workers acknowledge, exercise, identify and diffuse kaizen in a sustainable manner.

Findings

Kaizen is found to be a broad philosophical approach to work that serves different purposes for different members of the organisation, where no universal definition appears to exist yet differing ideologies are tolerated. Kaizen in Japan has a considerably deep meaning: it channels worker creativity and expressions of individuality into bounded environments, and creates an energy that drives a shared state of mind among employees to achieve proactive changes and innovation in the workplace.

Originality/value

This paper competently bridges the Japanese-Anglosphere cultural divide in social and business contexts. It contributes to the development of practitioner understanding of the utility of kaizen in Japan through unhindered cross-cultural research methodology, enabled by researcher competency and fluency in Japanese language and culture.

Keywords

Citation

Macpherson, W.G., Lockhart, J.C., Kavan, H. and Iaquinto, A.L. (2015), "Kaizen: a Japanese philosophy and system for business excellence", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 36 No. 5, pp. 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-07-2014-0083

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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