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Thread: The father of Kaizen speaks!

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    The father of Kaizen speaks!

    This is worth reading for those who are working in the field of TQM, ISO's , Six-Sigma .. etc ...

    One Of the Quality Guru, 73-year-old Masaaki Imai, father of 'Kaizen' and 'Gemba Kaizen' has explained some of the points in recent Interview


    Managers today are obsessed by a 'growth' mentality? Do you think growth is a smart strategy?


    I can say that 99.9 per cent of all companies in the world today are obsessed by a growth mentality. These are companies that can make profits only when the market is growing.

    In real life, market demand always fluctuates. The only companies that will survive in to the next millennium will be the ones that have the flexibility to produce according to fluctuating demand.

    But lower labour cost does not equal efficiency. What makes China so efficient?

    I wouldn't call the country very efficient. They can produce a certain product, particularly consumer-related products, at a lower cost in mass production because so far many western and Japanese companies have transferred technical know-how to them.

    China has acquired the basic production capacity. Earlier the same thing happened with Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan. Today it is China's turn.

    What happened was that Japanese, American and European people have transplanted technology, they hired local people and brought machines there and trained them to do the job. So that's how they can produce.

    Japan was at its peak in the 1980s but now China is far ahead, does this suggest that the Japanese model is invalid?

    We need to distinguish between external circumstances (social, cultural and political infrastructure) and internal circumstances (like how business is conducted within the company).

    The recent negative reports about Japan relate to the external circumstances, such as governmental regulations, overprotected market in some sectors, aging society and the Big Bang needed by the monetary institutions.

    There is a realisation that Japan Inc may not be functioning as efficiently as it used to. This in no way means that Japanese management practices (internal management of the company) have proven to be inferior.

    The Japanese companies developed a very effective system of management, particularly in the manufacturing sectors, and the rest of the world has much to learn from these practices.

    What are your views about management practices in the Indian corporate sector?

    I see that Indian managers are extremely intelligent. They are abreast with latest technologies and developments. But the problem is that they completely isolate themselves from reality.

    They are under the impression that real knowledge can be gained only by reading books and attending lectures. How often do they actually roll up their sleeves and get into some action?

    They really need to make more effort [at getting into the thick of action]. They have immense knowledge, but what they lack is wisdom that comes by doing things yourself.

    Thanks!!

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to aabhisheksirohi For This Useful Post:

    satyenderdeswal (January 30th, 2012)

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