Kaizen can be summarized into three key characteristics that are continuous support, incremental and participative, without either one of these characteristics Kaizen will not be successful. Kaizen required continuous support because it is viewed as a never-ending journey towards quality and efficiency and it is a long-term orientation but one of the most common misunderstandings of Kaizen is when times goes by there is little room left for improvement (Singh & Singh, 2010; Netland & Aspelund, 2014). Companies in China even claimed to have completed the lean transformation years ago, and so have no need to engage in any kaizen activities (Zhao, 2007).
Secondly, Kaizen is also required incremental, incremental in improvement such organization or technological innovation (Bessant et al., 2001; Imai, 2012). And lastly, Kaizen to be said required participative because it required the involvement and intelligence of the all the workforce. Good kaizen activities need to involve everyone, the top management, managers, or workers (James et al., 2014).
by Tan Houng Chien
