right
is a Japanese
organizational theorist and
management consultant, known for his work on
quality management, specifically on
Kaizen.
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 method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...
.
[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 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 individua ...
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
Kaizen.
In the same year he published, in Japan, the book on business management "Kaizen: Japanese spirit of improvement", which helped popularizing the
Kaizen concept in the West.
Work
Kaizen
Kaizen, Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the best", refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon
continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management. It has been applied in healthcare,
psychotherapy,
life-coaching, government, banking, and other industries. Imai (1986) acknowledged that Kaizen starts with detection of needs and
problem
Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...
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.''
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
