Kaizen as a Change

Management Tool
Israr Raja
Kaizen as a Change Management Tool

 If we want our company to stay relevant in till this century, use kaizen:
 It is the most powerful change management tool in your arsenal which avoids
all the problems associated with process reengineering.
 Kaizen might be slow, but it is sustainable and more permanent given the
gradual nature of changes.
 The whole point of Kaizen is a mindset which involves challenging the status
quo.
 The basic assumption of kaizen is that things are still not perfect, and can
forever be improved and be made better. As a result, it encourages people to
rise up to the challenges in the business environment and to adapt and seek
new business opportunities.
Kaizen as Change Management Tool

 An organization which has adopted the kaizen mindset and associated tools
such as PDCA and 5-whys will also be nimble as they are used to the idea that
they need to continually be on their feet and change in order to respond to
market conditions.
 Every day we see organizations crash and burn because they are too slow to
respond to change.
 Kaizen is slower, and occurs continuously over the lifetime of the
organization.
 Kaizen makes the improvement process easier and more palatable by making
such changes small and incremental until it becomes natural, or better yet,
people don't really notice there's been any change.
 PDCA Model
P is for Plan, D is for Do, C is for Check, A is for Act

 The PDCA model actively encourages change not by asking people to think
about large-scale projects to perform, but by asking them to consider how
their processes could be slowly improved.
 The Model believes that as incremental changes accumulate, it leads to much
larger changes and a better end product or service in the long run.
 Kaizen deals with the very nature of life: change is constant, and will allow
organizations to respond much more quickly to the ever-changing business
realities.

PDCA Model
 5-why Process Flow Chart

 The 5 Whys is a technique used in

the Analyze methodology. ...
 By repeatedly asking the question
“Why” (five is a good rule of
thumb), you can peel away the
layers of symptoms which can lead
to the root cause of a problem.
 Kaizen

 The Japanese have always been at the helm of Quality Pyramid.

 They have contributed various models to world of management.
 Kaizen, a Japanese word for “Change for better” (Kai- Change and Zen – For
Better/Good) is not a project, but a way of thinking/mindset which focuses
on Continuous Improvement rather than being happy with a single,
standalone change.
 Masaaki Imai, a Japanese management consultant and an organizational
theorist popularised the word “Kaizen” in the West through his book –
“Kaizen: Japanese Spirit of improvement”
 Kaizen

 Kaizen (改善) is the Japanese word for "improvement".

 In business, kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and
involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers.
 It also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross
organizational boundaries into the supply chain.
 It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life-coaching, government, and
banking.
 By improving standardized programmes and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate
waste (see lean manufacturing).
 Kaizen was first practiced in Japanese businesses after World War II, influenced in
part by American business and quality-management teachers, and most notably as
part of The Toyota Way.
 It has since spread throughout the world and has been applied to environments
outside business and productivity.
Kaizen means "change for better"

 The Japanese word kaizen means "change for better", with inherent meaning
of either "continuous" or "philosophy" in Japanese dictionaries and in everyday
use.
 The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small,
in the same sense as the English word "improvement".
 However, given the common practice in Japan of labelling industrial or
business improvement techniques with the word "kaizen", particularly the
practices spearheaded by Toyota, the word "kaizen" in English is typically
applied to measures for implementing continuous improvement, especially
those with a "Japanese philosophy".
 Kaizen a continuous Change

 Instead of encouraging large, radical changes to achieve desired goals, these

methods recommended that organizations introduce small improvements,
preferably ones that could be implemented on the same day.
 The essence of the approach came down to improving the use of the existing
workforce and technologies.
 5S Principle Kaizen

 It works on the 5S principle:

 Seiri, “Sort Out”
 Seiton, “organisation”
 Seiso, “Decluttering” ( keep Cleaning the mind during Change)
 Seiketsu-Seiketsu, “Standardization”
 Shitsuke. “Self-Discipline”,
 Seiri “Sort Out”
 To begin with, an individual need to “Sort Out” (Seiri) the tasks.
 The items/tasks should be labelled according to the importance and urgency.
 Dispose the items or tasks flagged as “useless” right away.
 One should avoid wastage of resources on such tasks/items.
 This step allows us to sort tasks in a new environment for change and
focus only on the critical tasks for the change.
 Seiton- “organisation”

 Seiton suggests “organisation” of objects, tasks and activities

which encourage an efficient work flow in an organization.
 One should designate a specific place to a document or object which is easy
to access depending on the usage.
 During change management, the process should be logically set in order,
allowing individual to gradually get habituated to new practices.
 The change implementation is ensured in the most resourceful manner.
Seiso- “Decluttering”

 “Decluttering” (Seiso) the processes and workstation on a regular basis

ensures a clean mindset and a work environment.
 During the change, individuals tend to clutter their workstation and also their
mind with items or tasks which are unnecessary/wasteful.
 An organization can eliminate minor problems by regular inspection of such
activities, encouraging discussions and asking questions.
 Seiketsu-Seiketsu “Standardization”

 “Standardization” (Seiketsu-Seiketsu) is an important element of Kaizen.

 The organization should set policies and procedures in place to ensure order
and quality at work.
 It aims at achieving order to an extent where every employee at a similar
work station should be able to replace another right where he has left off and
continue working at the same level of efficiency.
 In order to implement this, all the employees must know their responsibilities
without any exception to ensure standardisation of the newly implemented
change.
 Many a times, in a service industry, the quality of service changes with the
individual providing the service.
 Everyone should be on same page for the Change.
Shitsuke- “Self-Discipline”,

 “Self-Discipline”, a rarity, is the most important aspect of change

management.
 Adhering to rules and regulations is considered secondary as long as the work
gets done in the end.
 In Change Management, maintaining focus on the new practices and not
falling back to the old ones requires extreme discipline.
 It encourages an individual to embrace the change by following the rules and
regulations set upon one’s self and not wait for an instruction or a warning to
implement the change.
 Managing change effectively and continuously and not following
redundant practices requires discipline, effort, willingness to change,
motivation and communication among all the entities of an organization
Kaizen Change Management Model

 Kaizen Change management model for successful business transformation

encompasses the following key elements:
 Strategy and Vision Alignment
 Process Improvement
 Innovation of Processes / Products / Services
 People Development and Empowerment
 Sustainable Systems
 Systems

 Systems are the important foundation to support sustainable organisational

change and improvement.
 Organisations develop and standardise systems and align them with their
business processes.
 These can include
 Quality,
 Environmental, and Health & Safety management systems and
 Industry-specific management system
 Strategy

 Organisations formulate strategic roadmaps for continuous improvement using

strategic planning models and tools such as:
 Balanced Scorecard:- The balanced scorecard is a strategy performance
management tool – a semi-standard structured report, that can be used by
managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their
control and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions
 Hoshin Kanri:- Hoshin Kanri (also called Policy Deployment) is a method for
ensuring that the strategic goals of a company drive progress and action at
every level within that company. This eliminates the waste that comes from
inconsistent direction and poor communication.
 Process

 Organisations for continuous improvement in process and service quality and

operational excellence that are achieved through a combination of powerful
improvement methodologies such as:
 Lean Process:- The lean process is a method for creating a more effective
business by eliminating wasteful practices and improving efficiency. The lean
process focuses on improving products and services based on what customers
want and value.
 Six Sigma:- Six sigma is a logical structured approach to improve business
processes by implementing the best methodology and tools to analyse and
control the process
 Lean Six Sigma :- Lean Six Sigma is a method that relies on a collaborative
team effort to improve performance by systematically removing waste and
reducing variation
 People

 People are the most important assets in any organisation.

 Change starts and ends with people.
 Change can only happen when organisations engage their people in the change process and relevant
training and development.
 Organisations unleash the full potential of their most important assets through change management,
people development and organisational development.
 Some Change-driven programmes include:

 Executive Development
 Soft Skills
 Passion At Work
 Emotional Intelligence
 Customer Service
 Leadership
 Innovation

 Innovation is one of the critical elements of success in the Change

Management and could be implemented by applying breakthrough innovation
methodologies or tools such as,
 TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving):- TRIZ is "a problem-solving,
analysis and forecasting tool derived from the study of patterns of invention
in the global patent literature".
 It was developed by the Soviet inventor and science-fiction author Genrich
Altshuller and his colleagues, beginning in 1946.