5S, Kaizen and organization performance: Examining the relationship and level of implementation using Rasch model in Malaysian automotive company

The study of organizational performance through the development of many highlights of the literature shows that it requires further research.This is because although the topic of organizational performance is widely discussed by researchers, particularly in the adoption of Japanese management methods such as 5S and Kaizen, it still has not found a concrete conclusion why some organizations do face failure. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between 5S, Kaizen and the organizational performance and also to examine the level of 5S and Kaizen implementation in the organization.This study used Item Response Theory (IRT) to examine the level of implementation of 5S and Kaizen in the Malaysian automotive companies. Rasch model with Winsteps 3.6 software was used in this study because of its ability in interpreting and analyzing the ability of respondents in performing difficult items.Online questionnaires were distributed to 63 automotive companies selected randomly in the Northern Region of Malaysia.The results showed that there was a relationship between 5S, Kaizen and organization performance where it was easier to implement the practice of 5S compared to Kaizen.The successful implementation of 5S and Kaizen was greatly influenced by top management commitment.