Page 113 - DMGT524_TOTAL_QUALITY_MANAGEMENT

Total Quality Management

Notes Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. The PDCA Cycle was originally conceived by …………………….
6. The objective of plan for the future is to achieve improved level of ……………………
performance.
7. …………………… phase has the objective of monitoring and evaluating the change by
tracking and studying the effectiveness of the improvement efforts.

8. Creativity plays the major role, and …………………… is the principal technique.

8.4 Kaizen

Kaizen means continuous improvement in personal life, social life and working life. When
applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuing improvement involving everyone, managers
and workmen alike.
The essence of Kaizen is simple and straightforward. Kaizen means improvement.
Kaizen and Management: In Japan, management has two major components: maintenance and
improvements. Maintenance refers to activities directed towards maintaining current
technological, managerial and operating standards and improvement refers to those directed
towards improving current standards. Under the maintenance function, management performs
the assigned tasks so that everybody in the company can follow the established Standard
Operating Procedures (SOP) i.e. policies, rules, directives and procedures. Thus, in any business
as employees work to maintain the standards, management helps by providing training and
disciple. The improvement refers to improving the standards. The higher up the manager is, the
more he is concerned with improvement. At bottom level an unskilled worker working on a
machine may spend all his time following instructions. However, as he becomes more proficient
at his work, he begins to think about improvement. He begins to contribute in the way his work
is done, either through individual suggestions or through group suggestions.

Improving standard means establishing higher standards. Once this is done it is the management’s
job to see that the new standards are observed. Lasting improvement is achieved only when
people work to higher standards. Maintenance and improvement have thus become inseparable
for most Japanese managers. The improvement can be broken down between Kaizen and
innovation. Kaizen signifies small improvements made in status quo as a result of ongoing
efforts. Innovation involves improvement in the status quo as a result of large investment in
new technology and/or equipment. In poorly managed companies, which do nothing, but
maintenance, there is no internal drive for Kaizen or innovation and change is forced on
management by market conditions and competitions.

Kaizen and TQC: The Total Quality Control (TQC) movement in Japan as part of Kaizen movement
gives us a clear perspective of Japanese approach. It is important to note that TQC activities in
Japan are not concerned solely with QC Japan has developed an elaborate system of Kaizen
strategies on management tools with in the TQC movement.
Kaizen and Competition: Western managers who have had some business experience in Japan
invariably remark on the intense competition among Japanese companies. This competition is
thought to be the driving force of the Japanese companies.
Where profit is not an important criterion for business success, it can be considered that a
company could remain unchanged for long time, but in situations as above improvement becomes
an ongoing process. Kaizen ensures that there will be continuous improvement for improvement
sake. Once the Kaizen movement is started there is no way to reverse the trend.

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