Operations Management Assignment 1 Research Paper

Operations Management Assignment 1 - Research Paper Example Improvement has two divisions’ kaizen and innovation. Innovation deals with radical development in the process already existing. It needs huge investment. Kaizen signify small developments due to continuous coordinated efforts by all workers (Manos, 2007). The paper focuses on the advantages of Kaizen in the success of the Japanese firms. The west people translate Kaizen as a continuous, ongoing improvement. There are authors who explain the competitive success of Japan in the global market because of the realization Kaizen idea in Japanese firms. In contrast, of the normal emphasis on innovative, revolutionary change frequently, Kaizen looks for continuous incremental change. There is room for development and continuous attempt of becoming better according to Kaizen concept. Kaizen was a vocabulary in Japan to mean improvement. Mid of 20th century saw the word acquire a strong meaning in Japans industrial companies (Manos, 2007). It represented the skill of improvement through removing waste and involving workers, without using a lot of money. The past decades saw Japanese firms use Kaizen for competitive advantage. Kaizen assists companies to reduce costs and improve on the quality and variety product. If persistent, it is a great weapon against competitors. Implementing Kaizen in firms allows improving of every element of business process in a stepwise approach, while steadily improving the skills of workers by increased improvement and educational training. Main principles in implementing Kaizen are human resources as the most crucial asset in a firm; processes must grow by steadily improving rather than drastic changes, improvement founded on quantitative or statistical evaluation of performance of process. The strategy further involves other elements of management as teamwork, improved morale, personal discipline, quality circles, and