كايزن

An opinion piece by Dr. Alaa Jarad, Director of the Emirates Center for Organizational Learning and an expert in the field of quality and excellence, addresses the Japanese theory of "Kaizen" or continuous improvement of production and behavior of workers and employees, thus increasing productive work and reduce waste of money and energy. This article was posted on the website of Emirates Today on August 20, 2018.

There are a large number of frameworks and theories of quality, excellence and management in general, and the common denominator between all these theories is continuous improvement. Since its inception, all quality experts have united on this concept as a key driver for the effective application of any quality model. Without real attention to improvement processes in the various organizational units and processes of any organization, no projects or initiatives will succeed, and the improvement emanates primarily from the corporate culture, the institutional culture needs years to change and develop, and it requires direct involvement of the leadership in the organization, where it cannot be strengthened. A culture of improvement is simply an awareness campaign, a dissemination or a collection of posters and publications, but it is a working style that should be reflected in everyday practices.

Japan has succeeded and became the focus of the world without quality models and without ISO certificates. As far as their interest in the application of daily improvements to the work environment and production processes and services. What does continuous improvement require? What is the form of institutional culture in support of continuous improvement? To begin with, the idea that there is always room for improvement must be accepted. All concerned to submit ideas, facilitate it using mobile applications and other means of communication. Regards

Improvement also requires access to reading and reading, comparative initiatives and activities, encouragement of staff to attend conferences and seminars, availability of modern libraries, participation in relevant scientific journals and specialized professional journals. Improvement requires managers to read and see what is new in their field, and try to implement new practices.This requires budget and resources to be sustained, so that the improvement is sustainable and not just a campaign that lasts several weeks and dies before it produces any improvement results. It is also important to reward and not ignore or punish those who develop. Lastly, continuous improvement requires modesty and a desire to learn, apply what results from learning, then measure, disseminate, and disseminate the results of the application so that everyone benefits, whether successful or failed.There is an opportunity to learn in every project and every situation, it is an endless journey.