Kaizen - is one of approaches for improving organization of performance. This term was coined in Japan and meant a system of interrelated activities which lead to the improvement of the quality of products, processes and management system. In the modern sense kaizen is a system of continuous quality improvement, technologies, processes, corporate culture, productivity, reliability, leadership and other aspects of the company.
The main focus of attention the system kaizen aims at "quality" of the staff, because it depends on the quality of products and services. This system involves the process of improving each employee - from the head of the upper level, to an ordinary employee.
Everyone in the organization offers small improvements regularly.
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Kaizen is based on changes wherever possible to achieve improvements.
Elements of Kaizen
The system kaizen has 5 key elements. To work normally, and be an effective tool to improve the quality in the organization the system needs to create the conditions for their implementation.
The first element - teamwork. All employees should work as one team to achieve a common goal and the desired improvement in their work. Employees at all levels should do everything possible for the good of their colleagues and the company. Teamwork involves the continuous exchange of information, mutual learning, timely execution of their duties, and so on.
The second element - personal discipline. Discipline is paramount to success. Kaizen demands each employee to increase their self-discipline in all aspects of labor - management of their time, the quality of performance of the work, observance of requirements and regulations, expenditure of material and financial resources, and so
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Regardless of whether the company manages to succeed in implementing the changes or not, staff should strive to maintain high morale. Senior management should put into practice work different motivational tools such as good working conditions, merit-based system of incentives and rewards, paid vacation, benefits and payment for medical services, the provision of loans to employees and others.
The fourth element - quality circles. This is one of the fundamental elements of kaizen. It’s necessary to organize the work of quality circles. The composition of these circles should include workers at different levels. In the circles of quality employees have the opportunity to share ideas, skills, technology and other important collaborative resources. Exchange of information and cooperation within the framework of quality circles allow employees to assess the effectiveness of their work on the basis of a comparison with the work of others, and thus try to improve their performance.
The fifth element - suggestions for improvement. It is important to give employees the freedom to suggest improvements regardless of rank occupied in the company. The offers may be any, even absurd, and they must all be taken into account and be
As a manager the three motivational methods that should be used would be to provide monetary incentives, employee recognition, and training incentives. Monetary incentives are one method that can be used by a leader or a manager in his or her workplace, these incentives is to reward an employee for his or her outrageous work-related performance. These incentives may include such as profit-sharing within the company, stock options, performance bonuses, and scheduled bonuses. These different types of monetary incentives can increase the motivation of its workers and can lead to more productive, less absenteeism, and may improve one’s quality of service. Monetary incentives when awarded to one employee may also be a morale booster can also encourage other workers to improve his or her work performance, and maintain a healthy, friendly, positive work environment. A healthy workplace is a product of a successful and productive work environment. Working in this kind of economy, monetary incentives is the excellent method to use. However, these incentives may persuade others and may not to some; the result will be the same, increased quality work
In addition, the company also concerns social needs which hope the employees have belonging feeling. For example, the company holds different interesting clubs to encourage employees to gather and share the hobbies in holidays, e.g. hiking club, biking club, running club etc. Apart from these clubs, the company also organizes annual dinner in order to offer a chance for different departments gather together in a relax atmosphere. The forth level is esteem needs. The company would reward those outstanding performance colleague though global announcement intranet system, which can strengthen employee’s confidence and create higher motivation to achieve good result in company. The last level is self-actualization, it may focus on top management how to achieve beyond its capabilities, for example, they can enjoy the bonus based on company’s profit.
Open systems perspective also suggests that organization's efficiency is equally important to it's success. An organization is efficient when it produces more outputs with less then normally required inputs, and when it's internal subsystems have good coordination among them. But this is difficult in reality. Because there are some negative elements in subsystems such as miscommunication and hostilities, which undermine efficiency of organization. These elements cannot be eliminated as subsystems of an organization are also open systems and organization gets affected by them also. (McShane & Steen, 2012, p.6)
An effective system provides enough guidance along the path so staff understand what is expected of them; enough flexibility so that individual creativity and strengths are nurtured, and; sufficient controls so that staff understand what the organization is trying to accomplish.
Concerning the quality of education offered and the employee’s needs to be an active participant in the quality improvement process, and thus they should feel that they are responsible for the quality provided. This implies that the employees should be encouraged to make suggestions that are geared towards improving the quality offered through airing their opinions without fearing the unknown circumstances that may arise such as reprisal. Moreover, there is the need for a systematic procedure that will help to will not only help to involve the workers but also will be keen towards soliciting their input. This is because the endeavor to improve the product quality is far much better compared to the cost of poor quality which exceeds the cost of attaining the best quality.
The Iowa Model is the most effective QI model to apply in this instances, as it was designed to focus on the organization as a whole
Also feedback should be given to staff in order for them to maintain or improve performance levels and recognition should be expressed for good work to maintain a high level of staff morale. Once momentum is built then it is easier to maintain and helps staff to remain enthusiastic and continue to communicate and trust their colleagues and manage their time efficiently and keeps them orientated to the important work tasks.
According to the article, seven practices make the organization successful. Firstly, Employees security is very important. If they feel so stressful about losing their jobs then they can’t focus more on their work. So employees security plays a crucial role in success of organization. Secondly, important practice is selective hiring. Companies need to have large pool of applicant to select the best. They should have clear idea about the required qualities for the position. Moreover, Skills and abilities sought to be carefully considered rather than their academic skills and they should focus on the attitude of the applicant as it cannot be changed by training or any other force. Southwest example in the article proved how important this hiring process was. Self-managed teams and decentralization as basic elements of organizational design should be practiced. An organization to be successful should have efficient teams. Everyone in team should feel the responsibility to develop the firm. Authors Jeffrey and Veiga explained this using VANCOM example. Comparatively High Compensation Contingent on Organizational Performance is also one such good practice. High compensation should be a progenitor, not a consequence of organization performance.
• Kaizen. Each one of us every day is trying to do a little better. This is infused into our training programs. We really stress teamwork and working together, while we do not does elaborate budgeting at the store level.
In order to obtain long term success, it is important to strictly follow Kotter’s Eight Step Change Model in the correct order. The first step is to create a sense of urgency among the staff. The PCA called in a meeting and introduced the concept of the change and reason for the change. It was a mandatory meeting and snacks and beverages were served. Several concerns and threats affecting the financial aspects of the company and how to maintain job security were addressed. Employees were asked one by one how they like what they are doing, why or why not they like it, what is important to them and what do they think can be done to improve it. Creating a guiding coalition and directing others in the right direction of change is the
Quality Circles as mentioned above was the key to success for better involvement of employees with management & better setting of goals related to qualified products.
Every organization strives to become a high performing organization. The essential elements of effective organizations include a practical business structure, an excellent communication strategy, competent managers, and influential leaders. The elements of success are the same for all organizations; however, the process of incorporating the elements are different because every organization is unique.
When employees to this it creates a domino effect, when employees exceed, your product quality and quantity also progress. Employees are the foundation of every business. Strong business reality and how each of the four factors managed by ASA,
In business...the process of gradual and incremental improvement in a pursuit of perfection of business activities.” Which means, it is everyone responsible to make a continuous improvement in the organizations in order to be highly competitive in industry. Furthermore, based on Kaizen, every single day should have an improvement anywhere in the organization (Al Smadi, 2009). Every improvement that been made can enhance a company competitiveness in industry. Thus, every improvements are important and should not be treat as
The kaizen method originated from the Japanese and is a concept used in management for continuous change and improvement. The Kaizen philosophy is linked with many concepts such as Total Quality Control, Quality control circles and labour relations. The foundation of the Kaizen approach consist of different elements being teamwork, personal discipline improved morale, quality circles and suggestions for improvement. Three factors of the Kaizen approach are Elimination of waste and inefficiency, 5S model and standardisation. (valuebasedmanagement.net, 2016)