How relevant is Kaizen in 2024?

Kaizen is a continuous improvement methodology with roots in Japanese philosophy. Literally translating into “change for the good,” Kaizen is a stalwart of process and operational excellence that easily predates the likes of Lean Six Sigma or design thinking. It’s an approach that emphasizes making small, incremental changes that combine to generate larger results over time. It’s therefore considered a gentler and more employee-friendly way to institute organizational change.

Despite first being developed to improve manufacturing processes specifically, the Kaizen approach can be applied to many other working environments. For many years, businesses have applied Kaizen to improve efficiency and productivity, streamline processes and reduce waste. Toyota, Canon, Sony and Samsung are just a few of the notable organizations that have adopted the methodology.

Kaizen is based upon 10 core principles:

1. Improve continuously
2. Elimate old processes
3. Be proactive
4. Eliminate waste
5. Maintain a positive outlook
6. Gain strength through adversity
7. Be creative and don’t just spend money
8. Learn from others
9. Make informed decisions
10. Learn through action

The development of newer concepts like Six Sigma and Agile have introduced more modern change-making options for organizations. These typically put greater focus on aspects such as data and technology, offering faster and more aggressive routes to business change. When it comes to Kaizen in 2024, a pertinent question to ask is how relevant this decades-old methodology is today. Is it still an effective framework for business change, and if so, how can organizations best apply it to ensure maximum value in the modern business landscape?

Kaizen’s relevance in 2024

“I strongly believe that now, more than ever, the adaptable, incremental and people-centric approach of Kaizen proves invaluable for any organization,” Yulia Lavie, chief operating officer (COO) and partner at CWS Israel, tells PEX Network. “Its principles guide effective implementation of changes and ensure long-term success and resilience across various industries.”

There are a number of aspects in which Kaizen remains relevant for organizations in 2024, agrees Dara Kiernan, process improvement consultant at KPI Consulting. “Adopting this approach allows organizations to be agile and adaptable in a fast-paced business environment promoting small continuous improvements which make it easier for a business to respond to changes in technology, or in the market, a lot faster.”

Even those that question the extent of Kaizen’s relevance today can find some value in it, adds Sonya Barlow, award-winning entrepreneur and founder of The LMFNetwork, a careers platform and inclusion consultancy. “It may not be 100% relevant today, but we can take the core learnings and use them in a way that suits our business and lives, rather than feeling like we need to create something new.”

READ: 5 essential attributes of a kaizen leader for 2023

Kaizen’s benefits for modern businesses

Despite Kaizen’s maturity, many of its central principles can be well applied in the modern business context.

Employee engagement and empowerment

Kaizen promotes employee engagement and encourages all staff to contribute to improvements, something modern workplaces benefit from. “This improves employee morale, provides a sense of ownership and promotes collaboration between people in a number of different areas of the organization,” says Kiernan. As more and more improvements are delivered, there can be a cultural mindset change where staff are continuously reviewing how they do things and suggesting ideas for further improvements.

“In a software development company [for example], Kaizen could manifest as regular brainstorming sessions where team members suggest new features or improvements,” says Lavie.

Most successful improvements originate from the minds of the staff who are working processes daily and rarely come from a boardroom, Kiernan adds. “The obvious benefits include cost efficiency, but one not so obvious benefit includes increasing the standard of the employee’s problem-solving skills. By empowering employees to consistently test, challenge current processes and look for problems, employees tend to not only identify the issues, but also have good solutions.”

Waste reduction for sustainability, efficiency and profit

Kaizen encourages more efficient use of resources, reducing waste and promoting eco-friendly practices. Modern organizations are under increasing pressure to reach sustainability and carbon footprint reduction goals to not only meet customer expectations and regulatory requirements but to also drive revenue and profit opportunities. With a growing emphasis on sustainability, Kaizen’s principles can help modern businesses achieve sustainability/carbon footprint aims.

“As businesses prioritize sustainability, Kaizen’s waste-minimization principles become essential. A food processing plant might apply Kaizen to reduce energy consumption and food waste,” says Lavie.

What’s more, waste reduction optimizes processes and reduces operational costs, adds Muhammad Umar Ibrahim, manager of business transformation and lean at Master Group of Industries. “By continually identifying and eliminating waste in processes, Kaizen boosts efficiency, directly impacting productivity and profitability.”

Digital transformation and new technology

With its focus on driving innovation, collaboration and customer experience, Kaizen can help set the stage for digital transformation success. “The integration of digital tools is crucial in today’s business processes. Financial services firms, for instance, might use Kaizen for incremental enhancements to their online banking platforms, ensuring each update adds real value and keeps pace with FinTech innovations,” says Lavie.

Likewise, as technology advances, integrating it into processes becomes crucial. “Kaizen fosters a culture of continuous learning and adaptation, essential for leveraging new technologies effectively,” says Ibrahim.

READ: Is Kaizen the next big digital transformation strategy?

Customer focus and satisfaction

Kaizen encourages the continuous measuring and monitoring of processes for improvement. When this is done effectively, the end service or product is usually of a higher standard, which ultimately increases customer satisfaction and customer retention, says Kiernan.

“Staying aligned with customer needs is paramount,” adds Lavie. “In healthcare [for example], continuous patient feedback gathering and regular improvements in patient care, facilitated by Kaizen, can streamline appointment scheduling and enhance overall patient experience.”

Kaizen challenges and considerations

While Kaizen’s benefits remain significant for modern businesses, there are a few potential challenges to consider. Although Kaizen is often heralded for its softer approach to introducing changes over longer periods of time, some employees may be resistant to the methodology’s inherent continuous change concepts. “This is very common in organizations as people like things the way they are,” Kiernan says. “This kind of resistance can cause significant delays for improvement projects and can sometimes halt them in their tracks.”

Continuous improvement can also be resource heavy and requires ongoing allocation of resources, which might strain budgets and focus, adds Ibrahim. Furthermore, an over-focus on incremental changes at the expense of more significant, innovative leaps can also be problematic, Ibrahim says.

How to successfully apply Kaizen

Kaizen can be best applied by modern organizations by creating a continuous improvement culture within the business, says Kiernan. “Empowering and encouraging ideas from all employees provides staff with ownership and a sense of value. We all know that people can be afraid of change, and a lot of this comes from previous experience where changes have been implemented without prior consultation with employees. Quite often these changes have a negative effect on staff.”

Changing the manner in which change is embraced in an organization is so important, Kiernan says. “Set clear goals for yourself and ensure open feedback is encouraged and start slowly, however maintain momentum. Continuously monitor and measure the impact of the changes and regularly reward those who contribute.”

Ibrahim recommends educating employees at all levels about the principles and benefits of Kaizen, implementing regular meetings to identify improvement areas and track progress, leveraging technology for process monitoring and data analysis to identify improvement opportunities and ensuring leadership actively participates in and supports Kaizen initiatives.

Balancing Kaizen with other methodologies

While Kaizen remains relevant in 2024, it’s essential to balance its application with other methodologies, says Ibrahim. “The choice of methodology should align with your specific organizational goals, market demands and operational context.”

Small organizations require an adapted Kaizen method to keep learning, improving and going, especially in this current climate with reduced budgets, cost of living crisis and inflation at a high, adds Barlow.

Other methodologies for organizations to consider include:

• Lean: Focused on value creation and waste elimination, similar to Kaizen but with a broader scope.
• Six Sigma: A data-driven approach aimed at near-perfect quality and reduction of process variability.
• Agile: Emphasizes adaptability and quick response to market changes, more dynamic than traditional Kaizen.
• Total Quality Management (TQM): Focuses on long-term success through customer satisfaction, involving all members of an organization.
• Theory of Constraints (TOC): Concentrates on systematically identifying and overcoming key bottlenecks in processes.