The relationship between kaizen implementation and operations performance improvement:The case of Kenyan manufacturing firms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between implementation of kaizen and operations performance improvement in Kenyan manufacturing firms. It sought to find out the extent of kaizen practices implementation in these firms as well as the challenges faced by these firms in implementing kaizen. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from operations managers or their equivalents in 13 Kenyan manufacturing firms that have implemented kaizen. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate the extent of implementation of kaizen practices and the challenges in kaizen implementation. Individual operations performance measures were regressed against the set of kaizen practices to evaluate the relationship between the two. A regression model was used to evaluate the overall relationship between kaizen implementation and operations performance improvement. The results from the study show that kaizen practices have varying degrees of implementation in Kenyan manufacturing firms; with 5S having the greatest extent of implementation and suggestion system and TPS having the least extent of implementation. On challenges faced in kaizen implementation, employee attitudes and misconceptions about kaizen posed the greatest challenge whereas lack of management support and economic constraints posed the least challenge. Results from the regression analysis show that implementation of kaizen practices in Kenyan manufacturing firms is significantly related to operations performance improvement This study has provided insights into the extent of adoption of kaizen in Kenyan manufacturing firms, and provides further evidence that kaizen implementation is significant in enhancing operations performance improvement