Mahesh Nair

Kaizen – Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the top management to all the employees. Kaikaku – Kaikaku is the Japanese word for "radical change". Kaikaku is concerned with making fundamental and radical changes to a business. Kakushin – Kakushin literally means “innovation” or reform. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. Kaizen Kaikaku Kakushin How are they different from each other When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation. An existing process being changed. Automation of certain work reports. Introduction to new & innovative production technology. This will form a complete departure from the current situation. Replacing a complete application with a new one with new technology. Moving from conventional stoarge to Cloud for data. How do they complement each other Relatively small area of improvements can be done through Kaizen when there is a new change or a new innovation. A drastic or complete change in process should be made once there is a new innovation or a new product. Existing prcoess or smaller area of improvements change post new technology or innovation. What would you lose if one of these was absent Many small improvements implemented with Kaizen produce faster results with less risk. Minor updates can help & allow drastic change in a technology for better service. Without Kaizen these small areas & regular improvements will not be possible. It is important to stay up-to date & change accordingly with the new age technology. Kaizen will help understand the drawback & help in direct change. Without Kaikaku important change in the process post & update wont be possible. It is important for an organization to stay up-to date with new technology. Standardizing a process for the entire organization where previously various groups had different processes will achieve similar goals & would be helpful for the company in terms of cost & manpower.

If you are not measuring something there are chances that you will end up assuming things are okay when maybe they are not. Yes, measurement is essential for good management. Right measurements can help make right decisions for the business. By measuring the size and scope of the problem or performance gap with the relevant Dashboards, Numbers, Metrics, CTQs, we can determine how big, how bad or how widespread it is. As per quote from Edward W Deming, even if you can’t measure something or exactly what you want, you can learn about the area with related data. You won’t be able to measure the exact benefit of a happy customer but you can get measures that give you an insight of the value & magnitude. Some of the complex concepts such as work culture, the psychological effect of a certain policy, work appreciation; these measurements cannot be done with accuracy.