Kaizen (or Japanization) the way forward outside of Japan. An analysis of the implications for a Japanese company based in Ireland as a result of the introduction of Kaizen.

This study is based on a Japanese owned manufacturing company located in Ireland. The company was originally led by Irish managers, there was a change of management and it is now led by Japanese management. There has been more focus on Japanese principles since, and the company has introduced the Japanese system of Kaizen. Kaizen is Japanese for Continuous improvement, which means the focus is on small incremental improvements which when added together improves all aspects of the organisation. This study examines the cultural shift in thinking and examines if such a system can be transposed from Japan to a western company and what the implications are on the organisation.