Masaaki Imai: de Kaizen filosofie
Kaizen (Ky' zen) is a Japanese business philosophy first made famous by Masaaki Imai. In his book Kaizen: the Key to Japan's Competitive Success (1986, McGraw-Hill), which first introduced the Kaizen concept to the Western corporate world, Masaaki Imai defined it as: "a means of continuing improvement in personal life, home life, social life, and working life. At the workplace, Kaizen means continuing improvement involving everyone - managers and workers alike. The Kaizen business strategy involves everyone in an organization working together to make improvements without large capital investments."

The word Kaizen itself is derived from two different Japanese words, kai and zen. Kai, meaning: to change or modify; and Zen, meaning: to improve. When these two words are brought together, it's meaning becomes: gradual and orderly, continuous improvement. The interesting thing is that there is no equivalent word to Kaizen in the English language.

The history of Kaizen goes back to the 1950's when Toyota first implemented quality circles (checks) within the production process itself. In doing so, quality was inspected at every stage of production rather than checking the completed product for defects. Taiichi Ohno, former Executive Vice President, Toyota Motor Company and distinguished graduate Nagoya Institute of Technology pioneered the development of Toyota's unique Production System, commonly referred to as the Toyota Production System, and it is now used throughout the world.

Interviews with Masaaki Imai.
Quality Digest: June 1997
The Rediff Business: September 1999