right is a Japanese

organizational theorist Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...

and

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

, known for his work on

quality management Quality management ensures that an organization, product or service consistently functions well. It has four main components: quality planning, quality assurance, quality control and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only ...

, specifically on

Kaizen is concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. ''Kaizen'' also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organ ...

Life and work

Born in Tokyo, Imai obtained his BA from

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in 1955, where he continued to do graduate work in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

.An Interview With Masaaki Imai
in: ''Quality digest''. June 1997 Late-1950s Imai worked for five years in Washington DC at the Japanese Productivity Center, where he was responsible to accompany groups of Japanese businessmen on visits to American plants. In 1962 in Tokyo he founded his own

Employment agency An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In developed countries, there are multiple private businesses which act as employment agencies and a publicly-funded employment agency. Public employment agencies One ...

for the

recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...

of management, executive and research personnel. In 1986 he founded the Kaizen Institute Consulting Group (KICG) to help western companies to introduce the concepts, systems and tools of

. In the same year he published, in Japan, the book on business management "Kaizen: Japanese spirit of improvement", which helped popularizing the

concept in the West.

Work

Kaizen

, Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the best", refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon

continuous improvement A continual improvement process, also often called a continuous improvement process (abbreviated as CIP or CI), is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek "incremental" improvement over time or "breakth ...

of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management. It has been applied in healthcare,

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

life-coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a '' coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''co ...

, government, banking, and other industries. Imai (1986) acknowledged that Kaizen starts with detection of needs and problem definition: :''The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need. This comes from recognition of a problem. If no problem is recognized, there is no recognition of the need for improvement. Complacency is the archenemy of

KAIZEN is concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. ''Kaizen'' also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organ ...

.'' Ishikawa (1985)Ishikawa, Kaoru (1985), What Is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way (1 ed.), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, p. 198 and Imai (1986) both defined the Seven Basic Tools of Quality. Looking back on the impact of Kaizen, Imai (1997) stated: :'' 'Kaizen' means ongoing improvement involving everybody, without spending much money. When 'Kaizen' was first published here in 1986, many U.S. products were of poor quality, and Japanese-made products were gaining market share. Since then, American companies have made great strides in improving product quality, and much of that is attributable to their implementation of kaizen principles, which incorporate TQM.''

Selected publications

* Imai, Masaaki. ''Kaizen: The key to Japan's competitive success.'' New York, itd: McGraw-Hill (1986). * Imai, Masaaki (1997-03-01). ''Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management'' (1e. ed.). McGraw-Hill

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imai, Masaaki 1930 births Living people Japanese business theorists Japanese management consultants University of Tokyo alumni People from Tokyo