Kaizen Strategies for Improving Team Performance

Citation

Colenso, M. (2000), "Kaizen Strategies for Improving Team Performance", Team Performance Management, Vol. 6 No. 1/2, pp. 37-38. https://doi.org/10.1108/tpm.2000.6.1_2.37.2

Kaizen (continuous improvement) is a Japanese management system which can be used by organisations to create a more supportive, creative environment in which teams can work successfully. Kaizen Strategies for Improving Team Performance is aimed at busy managers and shows how, in rapidly changing times, they can use Kaizen principles to improve business performance through more effective teamworking.

Written by consultants who are associates of the UK‐based Europe Japan Centre, the book draws on the authors’ experience of both Kaizen and teams to explore how major organisations such as AXA Sunlife, Cox Pharmaceuticals, Land Rover, Nissan, Mars Confectionery, Shell and Unisys have used Kaizen principles to improve their bottom‐line performance. The book takes the reader from “Instant Kaizen – What it is and how it works” through setting up teams and the role of team leaders, explaining how self‐managed and fully‐empowered team can work effectively. Case studies are used to illustrate the various successes and pitfalls of the different stages of the Kaizen process.